Tech Lover 9

The latest IDG Enterprise report on cloud computing says 49 percent of business executives see the cloud as strategic to their business, according to Forbes. Another 40 percent say they’ve asked their IT departments to research how they can use the cloud more effectively in the business. As the interest in cloud computing increases, so do the ways in which a business uses the cloud.

Hybrid Cloud Computing

As companies migrate their operations into the cloud, they are choosing multiple cloud platforms as opposed to relying on a single IaaS vendor. Businesses look for different vendors to meet the needs of various areas of their business. They may depend on one vendor for their CRM needs and another for order processing. The choice depends on the SaaS options that each vendor offers.

Performance in the Clouds

To meet the demands of business computing, cloud vendors are focusing on performance of platforms and applications in the cloud. Functionality and availability have been the concern of the cloud evolution. Vendors must now be able to compete on performance to attract business customers. Reliability and uptime is more of a concern as companies do more of their processing in the cloud.

High Tech Cloud Computing

For those companies with tech savvy staff and a tight budget, IaaS offers them a way to create their own infrastructure in the cloud. Special hardware requirements are being met in the cloud allowing companies to move more sensitive operations there. Such functions as vendor managed inventory, material testing, and compliance reporting are finding their way into the cloud.

Disaster Recover and the Cloud

As the reliability of cloud computing increases, businesses are looking at how it can help them with their disaster planning and recovery efforts. Storing large amounts of data in the cloud for a system recovery takes the burden of storage off of a company. The 24/7 availability from any device with a wireless Internet card means no waiting for backup files to start a recovery procedure.
Other significant findings in the IDG Enterprise Cloud Computing report include:

• Total cost of ownership is still a key driver for moving to the cloud
• Most organizations believe that they can keep their data secure in the cloud
• Enterprise organizations are spending more to move large systems into the cloud

Moving the Cloud Into the Future

Big Data as a Service

Companies of all sizes are using large data sets to make product and marketing decisions. The concept of doing analysis of this data in the cloud is appealing. This scalable solution to large data processing puts it into reach of any business.

Balancing Performance

As performance continues to be addressed by cloud vendors, companies may be given the option to choose the performance they want for a given application. An overnight run of payroll doesn’t need the same performance as an online order tracking application you give to your customers.

Paying for Cloud Computing

In conjunction with the performance options, a new model for paying for the cloud may evolve. Instead of the current subscription model, customers may pay for the space and performance they use. This creates a greater spread between companies that need little in the way of storage but high speed, and those companies with massive storage requirements.