Cloud Computing has been notoriously difficult to define. Often those people most involved with technology have been least likely to embrace the term. However for consumers the experience of social networking and other free-to-use Internet sites is making it attractive. For financial directors in large companies it even holds the promise of turning Cap Ex into Op Ex where internal ‘non-core’ applications can be reasonably replaced with Cloud services.
Whether we see Cloud Computing as a new delivery model, a systems architecture, a new type of Outsourcing or just a marketing mantra, I believe the subject will mature significantly in 2010. In particular:
- The adoption of ‘… as a Service’ applications by small and medium business will continue to dominate the Cloud Computing news for the first few months of the year.
- Large American ISVs like Google, Yahoo and Microsoft will build out from their current consumer focus to address pay-per-use business applications.
- However many traditional CIOs in large organisations have a greater challenge in mixing legacy and Cloud applications together. You should expect to see an increase in data centre transformation and private Cloud Computing development services from vendors such as IBM, HP, Fujitsu and Cisco as a result.
During the year I also expect a whole slew of new Service Providers and wholesalers to emerge providing ‘horizontal outsourcing’ through in depth industry sector and/or business process skills. Beyond ITC I’ve heard it say that ‘outsourcing begins with the canteen and the car parking’ – similarly in 2010 we can expect many companies to outsource non-core business applications such as email and printing to a growing number of ‘… as a Service’ providers. You may be interested in reading more of my analysis of Cloud Computing, which is covered extensively on my own site.
Filed under: Cloud Computing
Let us hear some comments on the thoughts on growth of cloud! I agee with Martin on the 2010 outlook. Specifically on cloud emerging in parallel to legacy platforms. In my view that mix will complicate life initially for IT managers. Expect a post shortly post on my own blog on cloud from the perspective of storage and content.
[...] as individuals speculate could change the landscape. Martin Hingley, on January 11th, stated in his blog that 2010 will become a profitable delivery mechanism. And Martin is specifically addressing what [...]