Sanjeev Prasad, executive vice president and business head, APAC and Cloud, Coforge

In the evolving cloud landscape, companies such as Coforge are helping businesses build a future-ready cloud infrastructure. Coforge combines domain and technology with engineering practices to help businesses understand, measure, rethink, redefine, evolve and future-proof themselves for a multi-cloud environment. In an interview with tele.net, Sanjeev Prasad, executive vice president and business head, APAC and Cloud, Coforge, discusses the evolving cloud computing space and future trends in the cloud domain…

What are the benefits of a hybrid/ multi-cloud environment? What is the role of cloud computing in business growth and development?

Today, the IT ecosystem of any enterprise comprises a complex mix of legacy systems, cloud platforms and emerging technologies. With the Covid-19 pandemic upsetting the functioning of organisations, there has been a significant growth in the overall adoption of cloud-based solutions. However, this comes with complexities. Every organisation is at a different point in its infrastructure and hybrid cloud journey. Therefore, it is necessary for enterprises to engage with the right partners and have a comprehensive cloud strategy.

Most businesses undergoing digital transformation usually start with a hybrid cloud environment and gradually shift to full-scale cloud deployments. A hybrid clo­ud solution allows workloads, application orchestration and data portability ac­ross multiple environments. Further, a multi-cloud strategy provides the flexibility needed for rapid innovation and lets organisations take advantage of the best-in-class cl­o­ud service that each cloud pro­vider offers along with the best price without having to compromise due to provider limitations.

Cloud computing is the future of businesses as it en­ables them to streamline op­e­rations and eventually open up new reve­nue streams. Further, cloud app­lications also offer flexibility and enable organisations to adapt as per the latest business requirements to stay agile and sustain the hyper-competition in the market.

How is 5G technology relying on cloud natives?

With the 5G roll-out, technology leaders are asserting cloud-native innovation as an essential technology for the competitive edge. The nature of the 5G network is dy­namic, configurable and agile and it would require cloud natives to unlock the full po­tential of 5G. The traditional approach, with monolithic virtualised network functions, would take years to deploy or up­gr­ade and will not be able to keep up with the pace of the new 5G landscape. The cloud-native app­roach uses web-scale, containerised network functions that are resilient, decomposed into microservices and, as much as possible, open source.

What is the role of the cloud in metaverse?

Cloud computing, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and blockchain are the few ground-breaking technology concepts that have captured the IT industry. Metaverse is the latest trend in the industry that has piqued the interest of the global technology sector to the point that it has become a major goal for several global digital players.

Cloud technology evolution has played a significant role in the creation of metaverse. The metaverse is a realm in which cloud computing is a component that cannot be ignored. It is a converging point wh­e­re multiple immersive technologies such as augmented reality (AR), head-mo­unted display AR, internet of things (IoT), 5G, spatial technology and AI, combine to deliver the ultimate user experience that all­ows users to connect with other humans or digital entities in a virtual environment. Also, considering the amount of storage and processing required to support a virtual reality universe, the demand for cloud storage is expected to grow exponentially.

What are the skill sets required for the current cloud-agnostic domain?

It is evident that the pandemic outbreak has accelerated digital transformations across sectors. This has led to growth and demand for professionals with the skill sets required for the latest technologies, which are bringing about paradigm shifts. These professio­nals must constantly keep skilling and re­skilling themselves to keep up with the latest technological trends to stay relevant. A few skills required to excel in the current clo­ud-agnostic domain are as follows:

  • Cloud security and data analytics
  • Machine learning and AI
  • Cloud migration and deployment
  • DevOps, programming languages and serverless architecture
  • Automation and quality assurance

How can blockchain disrupt cloud computing?

Cloud infrastructure providers and hyperscalers have transformed the way businesses use storage and computing. However, with all the business information going digital, cybersecurity has become a major concern. This is where blockchain technology has proved to be a blessing in disguise for the cloud storage industry.

Blockchain technology incorporated with the cloud is a superior alternative that is incredibly immutable and holds immen­se potential to provide a cheap, scalable and more secure system. It adds an additional layer of security and distributes data within the network using block­chain features such as hashing, key en­cryp­tions and transaction ledgers. As each section is stored in a de­centralised location, hackers will never be able to access the whole file.