New solutions and innovative use cases: Here we briefly present the most important developments in IoT, Kubernetes or Cloud of the last months in the Tech sector and explain how the Cloud can support the adoption of Tech trends.
As the year begins and the end of the COVID 19 pandemic finally seems in sight, market researchers and IT consultancies around the world conducted studies and ventured predictions regarding the current tech hopefuls and trends. We summarize here the most important technology trends for 2021.
In numerous surveys, IT decision-makers and opinion leaders named the cloud as the undisputed leader among technology trends. According to a study by the renowned market research company Gartner, two-thirds of all companies worldwide will rely on cloud data hosting in 2022. Cloud computing is expected to continue to grow over the next few years, and according to a senior Gartner researcher, the cloud "delivered on all promises" even during the COVID-19 crisis. Application and IT environment requirements can change rapidly - and not just during exceptional years like 2020 - depending on the order situation or team development. One of the biggest advantages of cloud-based infrastructure is its high scalability. During the pandemic, it became apparent that the cloud plays an important role not only in upscaling, but also in downscaling. This means that IT infrastructure can be easily adapted when demand or traffic decreases.
Own on-premise servers, on the other hand, are expensive and in most SMEs not permanently utilized. Purchasing cloud server services from an external partner like Xelon and billing monthly based on effective usage is easier on the budget. Cloud storage is often billed monthly, making it the best option for businesses that can't or don't want to make huge upfront payments. "Regardless of what industry you're in (government, startups, agriculture, healthcare, banking), plan to migrate to the cloud, as the entire world is moving to the cloud sooner rather than later," predicts Medium publication Towards Data Science in a summary of 2021 software trends.
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According to the swiss made software developer survey, container technologies and especially Kubernetes are among the 2021 technology trends alongside the cloud, ranking first in the "Like to use" category and third in "Adopt". Introduced in 2014 by a Google team, the open source software Kubernetes is becoming increasingly popular among developers due to its stability and scalability. In a survey by German IT consulting firm Avenga, Kubernetes and Docker were also viewed extremely positively by IT decision-makers. For 54 percent of respondents, container technologies were a hope for the future.
Kubernetes is also known as K8s and is an open source software for end-to-end automation of deployment and scaling processes as well as centralized management of Linux container clusters. The K8s software is based on the dynamic allocation of management resources between pods.
In the meantime, it is hard to imagine software development without Kubernetes. The cycle of development, test and operation and all possible intermediate steps is massively simplified by automatic container orchestration. The open source software makes it possible to easily move containers from one stage to another, automating many steps in the process. Kubernetes supports end-to-end optimization of software deployments as well as management processes, providing scripts for increased fault tolerance, horizontal scaling, and self-repairing systems. With the ability to place containers on multiple hosts simultaneously, changes can be made to copies without interrupting all work processes.
Xelon added Kubernetes to its portfolio primarily because of its high scalability. The software reduces the need for additional hardware when scaling. Horizontal scaling is significantly more cost-efficient than struggling with server load peaks in the vertical method. Thanks to its high level of abstraction, getting started with Kubernetes in most cases doesn't require a closer look at the inner workings of the software. "That said, it is not a ready-made solution. Software or application developers need to rely on a strong partner to develop customized solutions when moving to Kubernetes. We help development teams and SaaS providers take the complexity out of the topic as well as overcome barriers to entry. This way, the potential of Kubernetes can be fully exploited even by smaller companies without a huge IT budget," says Xelon CEO Michael Dudli.
According to the study authors of the swiss made software developer survey, many so-called "hype technologies (such as IoT) are treated more quietly and distantly among developers than in many media". A frequently mentioned newcomer in this category is the Internet of Things (IoT), while edge computing continues to lag behind and a large proportion of developers remain sceptical about blockchain. Clearly at the top continues to be Machine Learning. The most popular programming languages are Python, Golang, Kotlin and TypeScript.
Whether Internet of Things (IoT), machine learning or application development: developers depend on a stable, secure and flexible IT infrastructure. It is essential that applications and the IT environment are always available. This is the only way to provide the development team with a functioning working environment. For innovative companies, it is also essential that the IT environment can be expanded within a very short time. Reasons for this can be new customers, additional projects or the hiring of new team members. Machine learning projects in particular are often faced with the challenge of having to make high initial investments for powerful servers - while the performance of the IT infrastructure is rarely fully utilized.
With the purchase of cloud services, the required computing power can be continuously adjusted as needed. In Xelon HQ, new servers can be configured and more computing power can be activated within minutes. Cloud storage space is usually invoiced on a monthly basis and therefore no large upfront payments need to be made. Thanks to an attractive pay-as-you-go payment model, only resources that are actually used are paid for with Xelon HQ.
Xelon takes care that your cloud infrastructure runs stable. Access to the rented cloud resources is possible from anywhere in the world and at any time, the only requirement is an internet connection. Thanks to reliable hosting, software developers can access all files from a wide range of devices and test new applications with ease. The cloud is accessible around the clock, which enables flexible working hours and minimizes downtime. Security is also taken care of: in addition to integrated security programs, automatic recording, continuous operation and emergency planning are also included in our cloud packages. We also take responsibility for software as well as hardware and perform regular patching of the systems, which minimizes security risks and ensures the best possible functioning of the systems.