The cloud networking market is broken

Published: December 3, 2022

The cloud networking market is broken.

From businesses to individual users, everybody seems to be using the cloud. And, with organizations migrating more and more towards a remote or hybrid work model, cloud computing is simply going to get bigger and bigger. 

The market's overall value exceeded $368 billion in 2021, and this is expected to grow at a staggering annual rate of 15.7% between now and 2030.  

This fast expansion together with a considerable rise in demand is bringing quite a few challenges as the sector struggles to keep up with new trends, tools, and cyber threats.   

This was exactly the scenario that ex-IBM cloud engineer Alex Feiszli and former colleague, now business partner, Dillon Carns encountered about a year ago when they decided to set up their own cloud network system. 

"The newest trends [in cloud computing] are about building more distributed applications. There are things like IoT, edge computing, and multi-hybrid cloud. All of these new patterns involve running applications in differently networked environments. But there's not really a solution, or a good solution, for controlling the networking across these different infrastructures," Feiszli told TechRadar.

"That's the gap we're aiming to solve: automating and integrating the networking between these different distributed environments."

Cloud computing, or networking, refers to the infrastructure delivering on-demand computing services over the internet. Starting off with the cloud as a secure storage space, its more recent use is a way to process and link different accounts and applications over a remote virtual network. 

"I think there's a bit of a skill gap in the industry where there's just not enough developers focused on networking. I don't think we see nearly as much innovation in the networking space as we do in other spaces, but it's really needed," said Feiszli. 

A lack of expertise able to keep up with new trends in cloud computing is one of the main issues affecting organizations, according to a recent survey conducted by US computer software company Flexera.  

Other limitations dragging down new developments in cloud networking are: 

Limited control over the cloud infrastructure hinders the correct management and implementation of procedures in line with organizations' goals; 
Difficulty in promoting security practices able to protect organizations from a diverse range of cyber threats;
Compliance with several local data regulations and laws;
Cost and issues of managing multiple clouds.