Cloud Computing Italy 2022: 3 challenges and 4 trends
Cloud Computing plays a central role as part of Mission 1 of the PNRR, collected under the heading “digitization and innovation“.
The IT cloud is the technology that simplifies the digital transition and optimizes the adoption and management of IT resources.
The advantages of Cloud Computing, compared to traditional data centers, can be summarized as follows:
- Scalable and expandable computational infrastructures
- Flexibility and immediacy
- Cost reduction
- Energy efficiency and environmental sustainability.
In light of these points, Cloud Computing is intended to maintain an exponential growth curve directly proportional to the increase in the volume of data processed and the spread of digital services.
This growth imposes the need to implement a Cloud strategy, at a national level, which on the one hand takes into account the methods of providing services and on the other addresses the main challenges inherent in the development model.
>> Find more information here: Cloud Strategy and PSN Call
To clarify what Cloud services are and how they differ according to the resources offered, you can refer to the so-called Cloud Pyramid.
Having said that, we are now able to enter into the merits of what are expected to be the strategic challenges and opportunities (trends) that Clouding will face from 2022 onwards.
We can unify them under the following 3 macro-categories:
- Digital and technological autonomy of the country
- National security of data and services
- Resilience
#1 Cloud Computing: the challenge of autonomy
Being autonomous in the control of digital infrastructures for the Cloud means being autonomous in the storage and processing of data and software. A conditio sine qua non for managing the digital transition processes in Italy.
At present, digital services and platforms, as well as the infrastructures that allow them to function, are mostly in the hands of non-EU companies: the market shares of European companies, relative to the aforementioned infrastructures, amount to 10%.
An evident criticality that places the European States, including Italy, in a weak contractual condition in the face of the risk of unilateral changes in conditions.
What would happen if a cloud PA service, in the hands of a non-EU company, was the subject of potentially unmanageable situations? We could see the sudden (and non-negotiable) increase in delivery costs or even the interruption of the service.
This is why technological autonomy is the first challenge that Cloud Computing is faced with in order to have control over delivery and its functions.
The achievement of digital autonomy is the prerequisite for the promotion of a technological ecosystem (eg. A.I., IoT, Cloud Computing) preparatory to the organic and overall development of the country system.
#2 Cloud Computing: the challenge of control
Directly related to the issue of technological autonomy, is the challenge of the control of data processing. If, as mentioned, the management of the Cloud infrastructures is 90% in the hands of non-EU providers, the reference legislation is that in force in these countries.
This case authorizes, if the foreseen circumstances exist, any request to the Cloud service provider to grant access to the data on the systems.
By virtue of the aforementioned context, we could see the possibility for a Third Country to access the flow of sensitive and/or strategic data.
Legislative study: what does the Schrems II judgment of the CJEU say?
The Cloud Italia Strategy has provided for the classification of the data in order to identify which types can be managed by a non-EU provider (through a public Cloud) and which types of data, on the other hand, must be managed by a Qualified Cloud provider (able to satisfy stringent safety requirements).
The control of data has an impact on the geopolitical equilibrium at the international level.
#3 Cloud Computing: the resilience challenge
How does the concept of resilience apply to the IT environment and in particular to Cloud Computing?
To withstand the impact of a sudden obstacle and to overcome the resulting crisis, Cloud infrastructures must implement a series of preventive measures and emergency measures.
For example, to raise the level of resilience in the event of a cyberattack, or a technical failure, the strategy includes:
- Prevention = application of stratified security controls, according to the specific characteristics of the data processed and the services provided.
- Action = disaster recovery and service continuity functionality, in geographically identified locations and distributed throughout the country (see PSN).
The tool identified to implement both prevention and action is the qualification process of public cloud providers and their services. The Cloud Qualified PA has such technological and architectural characteristics that it can cope not only with security emergencies, such as cyber-attacks but also with scenarios related to the vendor lock-in situation.
One of the most interesting aspects of resilience in the Cloud Italy Strategy is harmonization in a European key. With this in mind, the GAIA-X 7 project was launched which aims to standardize and make the services inter-operational, in order to develop common requirements and to create a European Cloud infrastructure.
The mission of GAIA-X 7 is to establish a confederation of Cloud services within an open, transparent, homogeneous, and resilient ecosystem.
4 trends for Cloud Italy 2022
“Many times now you have suffered the onslaught of fate. You, however, did not give up, but jumped to your feet and resisted with greater resolve. Value, when challenged, multiplies.” (Seneca, Letters to Lucilius, XIII, V).
Since the challenges of Cloud Computing in Italy, as seen, are more than one and so demanding that they become programmatic, what are the valuable opportunities that can emerge from them?
The question is the starting point for the second part of the article, in which I intend to focus on 4 macro trends Cloud 2022.
1. From technological autonomy to digital sovereignty
Technological autonomy is the first challenge of the Cloud Italy strategy. Winning it has as a reward the priority of digital sovereignty for every type of organization, from companies to governments.
According to Gartner’s analysis, public cloud services will account for 90% of data and analytics innovation on a global scale. It follows that it will not be possible to achieve authentic digital sovereignty, without looking at clouding as a central element.
Every organization, public or private, in the various EU countries, will have to rely on a qualified Cloud provider from the point of view of privacy and data processing, in order to avoid the loss of control over the flow of information. Without compromises.
2. Hybrid Smart Working
The sharing of information and software in the IT cloud opens up opportunities for remote access. This translates into new ways of working and evolution of Smart Working, as experienced during the 2020 Pandemic.
From the study “Resetting Normal: Defining the New Era of Work”, carried out by Adecco Group, it emerges that the work in the near future will have a hybrid dimension. Not only remotely and not just in person.
The New Way of Work is flexible, oriented towards improving productivity, and guarantees the correct work-life balance.
The role that Cloud Computing plays is fundamental, because it will allow company teams to contribute collaboratively and interact, without necessarily being in the same place.
3. IT security
Critical targets in Europe experienced twice as many cyberattacks in 2021 as in 2020.
A fact that makes us understand how Cybersecurity is more than a transitory trend. We are talking about an area of intervention destined to become a strategic asset directly linked to the success of Cloud technology.
Without investments in security, trust, and privacy, Cloud providers will not win the challenge of control, nor that of resilience. The growth of Cloud infrastructures must therefore go hand in hand with the measures implemented by the providers to reduce the risks of cyber-attacks and with the funds intended to prevent them.
4. Cloud sustainability: the cloud is green
The trend that opens with the adoption of Cloud Computing on a large scale is part of the IT transformation process in an environmentally sustainable sector.
Is the Cloud green? The intentions of the big players in the sector seem to go in this direction.
- Amazon continues the path to power its operations with 100% renewable energy by 2025.
- Google has set the goal of operating in all data centers and campuses with carbon-free energy (24 hours a day and 7 days a week) by 2030.
According to this policy, cloud service providers work to improve the use of renewable energy and to provide more carbon-efficient platforms for applications and data.
Furthermore, the Cloud Computing model, based on the sharing of resources, makes it possible to use the servers in an optimized way. In fact, localized data centers use on average 10% of their potential as providers purchase computing and storage resources greater than their real needs.
This suggests a technology that not only facilitates access to digital information but does so with a reduced environmental impact.
Migrating to the public cloud can reduce CO2 emissions by 59 million tons per year, equivalent to taking some 22 million cars off the road.
Conclusion
The challenges of Cloud Computing Italy 2022 can only be correctly contextualized within the context of a national, European, and global strategy.
The IT cloud, in fact, due to its intrinsic characteristics is dematerialized and delocalized and this leads it to face problems related to:
- Autonomy
- Safety
- Resilience
In the scenarios of the near future, the spread of cloud services becomes functional for:
- Digital sovereignty
- New Way of Work
- Cybersecurity
- Sustainability.
Was the article interesting and did it give you an idea for developing a Cloud strategy for your company or organization?
If you are looking for professional support, I can offer you my experience as a senior manager of SaaS start-ups and put at your disposal the knowledge acquired as a member of the team appointed by the Minister of Digital Transformation in Italy to lead the Recovery Fund for Cloud Investments.