2014 Australia - Cloud Computing, Data Centres and M2M

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Last updated: 22 Oct 2014 Update History

Report Status: Archived

Report Pages: 123

Analyst: Paul Budde

Publication Overview

This annual report offers a wealth of information on the all important IT developments in the telecoms sector and is a key resource of insights, statistics, examples and trends. The industry is in transformation driven by cloud computing, which allows for a range of new OTT (over-the-top) services undermining many traditional business models across many different industry sectors. Subjects covered include:-

  • Cloud Computing and Big Data
  • Data Centres
  • Wearable Devices
  • M2M and The Internet of Things
  • Connected Homes

Researcher:- Paul Budde
Current publication date:- October 2014 (2nd Edition)

Executive Summary

Technologies that are shaping the Digital Economy

Cloud Computing and Big Data

Already more than a decade ago BuddeComm started talking about the great potential of Application Service Providers (ASPs) but, together with the data centres, they were dunked in the dotcom crisis. Even then we indicated that the concept was sound and that it had great potential.

Now over a decade later they are back, but this time under the name of cloud computing. This term describes the shift towards providing virtual data processing, communications and software services to a customer’s location from a variety of different places.

The development of cloud computing takes the form of a business transition and company strategies and policies will need to be changed before its potential can be monetised by businesses. A key factor here is that organisations will have to lift ICT from the level of an infrastructure issue to that of a business opportunity. Cloud computing will need to be seen as a valuable business tool – one that will differentiate the company from others.

However, in order to successfully implement cloud computing far more robust infrastructure is required than what currently is available. The NBN could provides that robust infrastructure needed for high-speed information processing, distributed computing as well as many other applications that can be processed, analysed and managed – all in real time over a cloud computer based IT platform. However, this will to a large extend depend on what quality the NBN will deliver. Capacity, robustness, reliability, low latency, affordability and security will all be crucial and far more attention needs to be given to this infrastructure in order to ensure that these new large-scale developments can indeed be implemented across the economy.. This is of national importance. So while cloud computing will have a golden future its implementation will be more gradual over a larger number of years.

Data Centres

Also here a rather slow start, we have been supportive of the data centre market since the 1990s. However, it took nearly 20 years for the industry to reach its current position. The arrival of high-speed broadband networks allowed for a large range of new services and applications, especially aimed at small and medium organisations.

The data centre market includes telehousing facilities, co-location facilities, cloud and IT services, content hosting, connectivity and interconnection. They are important for a range of business and government applications including new developments of cloud computing and the Internet of Things (M2M).

The NBN in Australia has given an enormous boost to the data centre market, with investments totalling $5 billion over the 2011-2016 period. Currently the developments are highly centralised in the capital cities, but a more decentralised trend is expected to develop over time.

This report overviews the different forms of data centres, the growth of neutral facilities, and gives an insight into the size of the general data centre market, the trends occurring in it, and the major players in the sector. Of the major players the role of the telcos is included and a number of smaller independent providers are profiled.

Wearable Devices

Wearable technology emerged as a hot topic over the last couple of years and the interest in this sector continues to grow in 2014. Led mostly by wearable fitness trackers; the wearable devices market is quickly moving towards mainstream as mobile operators begin to offer smart watches and fitness trackers as part of bundled packages. Smart watches, augmented reality glasses; fitness activity trackers and home and remote patient monitoring devices are examples of wearable devices and innovative devices and concepts are continuously emerging ranging from Smart glasses to assist with jet lag to smart rings that do your bidding with just a gesture.

While the success and failure of the various individual devices is yet to be decided; there is general consensus that the wearable technologies trend is here to stay and will attract billions in spending in the coming years.

This report provides overall global statistics and trends for the wearable technologies market, supported by examples where applicable.

M2M and The Internet of Things

With the NBN and LTE now well and truly underway it is important to look at what will be the real value of this new infrastructure.

The infrastructure that is now being built offers a range of features such as ubiquitousness, affordability, low latency, high speed and high capacity. It will link millions of devices, such as sensors, that will enable us to manage our environment, traffic, infrastructures, and our society as a whole much more efficiently and effectively.

This ‘Internet of Things’ – other names used include: M2M, Pervasive Internet and Industrial Internet - is going to be a real game-changer. It will transform every single sector of society and the economy and it will be out of this environment that new businesses – and indeed new industries – will be born. This is one of the reasons so many overseas ICT companies are increasing their presence in Australia. The LTE will take a leadership role in the development of M2M but the NBN is also an ideal test-bed for such developments. A great deal of attention is being paid to cloud computing and the NBN can be viewed as one gigantic cloud.

The number of connected M2M devices will grow to somewhere between 25 million and 50 million by 2020.

Connected Homes

The connected home covers many areas, from data, video and audio delivery, through to smart appliances, security and home automation. While the technologies in these domains have both existed and evolved for many years, implementing connected home solutions has traditionally been costly and complex.

People are becoming more connected, with an ever-increasing number using broadband, wider and deeper uptake of tablets, smartphones and a range of other devices, and the services.

The ‘Broadband Connected Home’ can be viewed as a fixed location/premise where a number of devices share a connection to the outside world. It is recognised that there can be multiple separate networks within the home, and also multiple points of connection to the Internet.

Data in this report is the latest available at the time of preparation and may not be for the current year

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