Cloud services delivery as a new model or delivery method is without doubt the future of computing but of course this will very much depend on how responsive businesses will be to take up this new model. There are a great many benefits with using the ‘cloud’ but the main one is lowering costs For example, it is possible to pay for software and other services as you use it, so for example, to pay per minute rather than having to pay hundreds of £’s upfront or for companies, tens of thousands of £’s. To draw an analogy, you wouldn’t necessarily buy a DVD of a film when you can rent it for an evening at a fraction of the price.
As more large vendors enter the market, both the profile and credibility of Cloud Computing will be increased as sometimes people might not be comfortable with new business models and delivery mechanisms especially with regard to business critical applications. What was once seen as leading edge and risky soon makes way for being seen as the norm. Furthermore, other service providers will enter this market including hosting companies, infrastructure providers and systems’ integrators, e.g. companies that provide hosting & network support services, as they seek new and more effective ways of generating business.
Figures from Gartner, the market research and Analyst Company suggest that revenues for services will reach $150.1 billion by 2013.
Furthermore, Gartner predict that cloud infrastructure computing will grow by some 28% year on year.