
Adrian DeLuca is the CTO of Hitachi Data Solutions. In recent comment made from the Innovation Forum 2014 conference in Singapore, DeLuca discussed in detail what he saw as the future of the cloud from his perspective as a CTO. DeLuca first noted that market indicators show that there is an “Overwhelming desire” for organizations in the APAC region to begin using hybrid cloud. As you remember, a hybrid cloud is the use both public and privately hosting cloud resources. However, one of the traditional problems with a hybrid cloud setup is easily moving apps from public to private.
DeLuca says, “One of the big problems that still exists with cloud computing is being able to mobilize those workloads. This is where we are seeing technologies like [open source containerization platform] Docker coming to the fore. Docker allows people to containerize workloads and shift the workloads in and out of hybrid clouds.” DeLuca also adds that nearly 70% of organizations in the APAC region are either in evaluation periods, in the process of signing a contract or they have fully implemented a hybrid cloud.
DeLuca’s comments continued when he veered into the world of data privacy as it relates to cloud. DeLuca noted, “Before, we used to think about data protection in the context of securing the data within the company and protecting intellectual property [IP]. Now, that needs to be balanced with protecting the identity of users and critical information; Data leakages are increasing and they have catastrophic affects for a lot of organizations. As we continue to rely on all of the technologies, being able to marry your IT strategy with governance is important.”
DeLuca also commented on the rise of smart cities which will be powered by cloud. DeLuca said, “Countries in Asia Pacific will continue to invest in smart city technology to deal with rapid urbanisation and social/demographic challenges.” China and Singapore recently signed a deal to pilot smart city communities. These communities would be heavily influenced by the Internet of Things, Big Data and automation using the cloud. The idea of the project is to take a glimpse at what cities cloud look like in 2040.