3 Cloud Networking Trends to Watch Out for in 2016

Co-authored by Chaz Bowman, Network Administrator at LoadSpring Solutions

Networks are all about connectedness. That connectedness also extends to several of the trends that are reshaping cloud networks and how cloud services such as hosted project management applications are used over those networks. Dig into one like the Internet of Things, and you find it’s linked to the move to IPv6, which then goes hand-in-hand with software-defined networking. Each of these trends is set to affect enterprises and organizations in general, opening up both challenges and opportunities.

IPv6, a License to Print Internet Addresses

You might prefer a license to print money, but in today’s web-driven world, even extra cash may not help if your enterprise is being choked by a lack of IP addresses. The problem is real. The Internet address scheme so far, based on IPv4, only allows for about 4.3 billion Internet addresses. That is not even one IP address per person on the planet. By comparison, even mobile phone subscriptions have now passed the 6 billion mark.
The solution is IPv6, which would allow each person to have billions of IP addresses (if they really wanted them.) However, the real benefit may be felt more by businesses. IPv6 allows much greater flexibility in connecting servers, PCs, and mobile computing devices to the cloud, without compromising security. Cloud networks will still need to offer both IPv4 and IPv6 connectivity as the two addressing systems are not designed to be interoperable.

The Internet of Things and (Even) Smarter Project Management

The popular press describes the IoT as an opportunity to attach your fridge to the Web. Well yes, you can – but the IoT goes much further. You can attach machines of almost any kind, equipped with sensors to capture and transmit data, and microprocessors to act on instructions sent remotely. In terms of project management, the implications may be profound. Data collected from engineering projects and healthcare research programs, for instance, can be analyzed to guide and optimize projects. Sensors built into structures like buildings and bridges can indicate lifecycles and deadlines for modernization. Estimates suggest about 25 billion ‘things’ will be connected to the Internet of Things by 2020 – thank goodness for IPv6!

Software-Defined Networks

Yesterday’s model was the dedicated network appliance, with its inflexibility and high cost. Today’s model is commodity networking hardware, where the specialization is in the software above. This makes it easier and more economical to create new services rapidly, scale them, and deliver them in ways that are tailored to end-user requirements. With software automation too, the potential increases to serve applications on-demand, while enhancing security and mobility. For example, instead of being held up because a specialized session border controller cannot handle WAN acceleration, services can be provided immediately by reconfiguring or extending the software functionality above commodity building blocks.

Guess Who’s Ahead of the Trends

By this point, you’ve probably realized that LoadSpring™ works with all of these developments today, taking Project Management into a new era of connectedness. With a focus on our customers’ business requirements, we work to get the most out of these and other emerging technologies and to help you optimize your Project Management outcomes across a wide range of industry sectors.