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“The global cloud
computing market will
grow from $40.7 billion
in 2011 to more than
$241 billion in 2020”
“ Our industry is going through quite a wave
of innovation, and it’s being powered by a
phenomenonwhich is referred to as the cloud.“
Steve Ballmer
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Certainly no one would argue that cloud computing is
one of the most hyped technologies in existence. The
question is, “are we dealing with something legitimate
or not?” All available statistical data seem to suggest
that cloud computing is most definitely worth the
publicity it receives. Consider this revelation from IDC:
“Recent IDC cloud research shows that Worldwide
revenue from public IT cloud services exceeded $21.5
billion in 2010 and will reach $72.9 billion in 2015,
representing a compound annual growth rate (CAGR)
of 27.6%. This rapid growth rate is over four times the
projected growth for the worldwide IT market as a whole
(6.7%).”
In other words, cloud computing is by far the fastest
growing sector of IT. What’s more, the big growth
spurt in the cloud doesn’t appear to be slowing down
at all. In fact, and it seems to be speeding up! For
example, research conducted by Forrester predicts
that:
At this point, you’re probably wondering why this kind
of growth would be needed, right? Well, one of the
areas of study which has allowed groups like Gartner,
IDC, and Forrester to make bold predictions regarding
continuing growth in the cloud are the demands
placed on data centers, Internet-related traffic, and
existing cloud services deployed through social
media. Gartner recently went on record to state that
very soon (by the year 2016), roughly 1/3 of all the
data in the world will be in the cloud. Understandably,
this has created quite a buzz in many different
circles (particularly investing). For those that don’t
understand the driving forces behind all this runaway
growth, consider the following statistics which were
compiled by Zenoss:
• The world’s entire well of information is doubling
every 2 years.
• There are around 48 hours of video added to
Youtube every single minute.
• Over the last 3 years, around 74% of data centers
increased their total server count.
• 5.75 million new servers are added each year just
to match the growth pace of online services.
• Around 55% of those surveyed were able to
connect cloud computing with a lower total coast of
ownership (TCO).
• Of those organizations in the cloud, a 21% annual
savings was reported for applications that have
been migrated to the cloud.
• For those who already utilize cloud computing,
84% have seen reduced application costs.
These are just some of the more easy-to-grasp
factoids which are floating around. The point is,
the world has an insatiable appetite for data and
storage, and it seems that traditional IT is neither
technologically capable of meeting growing demands
or providing efficient pricing. Likewise, it could be
argued that the amount of money needed to service
the expanding data demand simply might not exist
Cloud Computing’s
Growth and Hype
without more efficient
technologies (like cloud
computing) in place.
Another issue we’re
facing is the rising
energy costs across the globe. Simply put, we’re
experiencing an unprecedented global economic
situation whereby entire continents are entering
recession. One could say that cloud computing is
highly advantageous because it is able to lower
annual energy consumption costs with no loss of
capability. Moreover, cloud computing tends to
cost less when compared with traditional IT setups,
so we’re really talking about a win-win situation
here.
In terms of actual markets which are contributing
to cloud growth, large corporations, small
businesses, and individuals are all taking part.
According to a CDW report:
“28% of U.S. Organizations are Using Cloud
Computing and 38% have a written strategic plan for
the adoption of cloud computing.”
Perhaps one of the largest potential growth
markets for cloud computing is the medical field.
Ivanka Menken
For instance, KLAS research is reporting that:
“In a survey that ran the gamut from small clinics to
1,000-bed hospitals, 55% of the respondents already
had something in the cloud, whether it was clinical
applications, storage, e-mail, or picture archiving, and
communication systems. Nearly a quarter of this group
used remotely served electronic health records.”
Now, realize the growing demand that baby-boomers
for health services will create as they continue
to retire. It’s fairly obvious that the use of cloud
computing in health-related settings is a great way to
offset costs, increase efficiency of record keeping and
even reduce or eliminate mistakes associated with
patient data/human error.
So, what does this all mean, you might be wondering?
Well, if you’re a business owner or IT manager, you
need to begin analyzing your needs and evaluating
your cloud service options (IaaS is one of the fastest
growing and most attractive options for most
businesses these days). This will also mean updating
the certification standards for your IT personnel. Some
simple and affordable cloud computing certification
should do the trick. For investors and those interested
in capitalizing on the projected growth in the
cloud, cloud brokerages are becoming increasingly
attractive.