What 2012 Meant for Cloud Computing and What Lies Ahead

There is no question that cloud computing has played an important part in the tech industry in the last couple of years. There were plenty of developments in cloud computing in 2012 alone. New start-up companies are popping up every few days with some kind of innovative cloud computing service or advancement. This industry's developments are measured in days and weeks rather than months and years. Studies predict that cloud computing technology will be a major source of revenue and employment worldwide by 2015. In fact, many industry experts go as far as to predict that by 2020 everything will be in the cloud, including hardware, software, platforms, services, and processing. However, these kinds of long-term predictions must always be taken with a grain of salt since technology can advance in unexpected ways. Regardless of this, there is no doubt that cloud technology will be a major player and driving force in the technology market in the next few years. Important cloud computing developments from the past year The demand for full time IT professionals specializing in cloud computing has exploded in the last year, more than three times as much as it was since 2009. Some of the major reasons companies have migrated to cloud computing in 2012 include reduced costs, higher efficiency, and a lower need for personnel and resources. Studies show that agility, reduced costs, and scalability are still the most important factors for companies looking to adopt cloud computing. While SaaS is still the most important cloud service and the one in which companies are investing the most, PaaS and IaaS services are gaining traction and, in the next five years, they are expected to grow dramatically in popularity and adoption. Of course, there are still obstacles in the adoption of cloud services. Many companies still hold doubts about cloud computing's security. Other problems include government regulations and compatibility and vendor issues. This is an important factor for start-up companies and businesses investing in cloud computing to consider. However, these factors are quickly becoming a non-issue as new companies  come up with technology solutions that help ameliorate these concerns. In 2012, five key sectors benefited from cloud computing the most. These were media, mobile technology, social media, data storage and handling, and online commerce. At least the security concerns are quickly being answered by new technology and cloud service providers. Enterprise facing software, archiving services, and cloud backup services have allowed many businesses to ensure that the cloud will not place their data at risk. Cloud collaboration is probably one of the most promising cloud services in the next few years. The last year saw a massive investment in cloud technology, with more than seven billion dollars invested in cloud start-up companies by venture capitalists. Cloud computing is expected to grow dramatically in the next few years According to studies by Microsoft and market watch firms, cloud computing is expected to grow impressively in the next few years. Cloud computing is expected to help create more than fourteen million jobs all around the world, many of these are concentrated in southeast Asia. Investors can also expect massive revenues, with almost 1.1 trillion dollars every year after 2015. This is especially significant because, thanks to the savings that cloud computing offers businesses, IT spending is only expected to grow sixteen percent, while jobs will increase by nearly thirty percent. The Southeast Asian market, in particular countries like Singapore, Malaysia, and Singapore, are an especially attractive target for cloud computing investors. This is due in great part to the position that these countries occupy in global business. Many of these countries act as global business hubs thanks to their privileged position geographically, advanced infrastructure, and business-friendly governments. This helps create a positive feedback loop where an increase in cloud computing investment increases job opportunities which in turn allow cloud computing technology to continue growing in these areas. Public cloud investment is expected to drive growth in the cloud computing market. Although private cloud investment will undoubtedly influence growth, it is in public clouds where most innovation and investment will occur in the next few years. The year 2015 is considered as a turning point in the future of this market, with most projections up to 2015 being extremely positive. However, with the accelerated pace of new developments in cloud technology, advancement may actually occur faster than expected.

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Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.   About the Guest Author: Nida Rasheed is a freelance writer and owner of an outsourcing company, Nida often finds herself wanting to write about the subjects that are closest to her heart. She lives in Islamabad, Pakistan and can be found on Twitter @nidarasheed.