Cloud computing is fast becoming a significant technology trend that is expected to reshape how marketers do business over the next five years.
With cloud computing, users on various types of devices -- PCs, laptops, smart phones, PDAs -- access programs, storage, processing, and even application-development platforms via the internet. Resources are kept on the service providers' servers, rather than on the users' systems.
Growth potential is enormous. Market research firm IDC expects cloud services spending to grow almost threefold, topping $42 billion, by 2012. Proponents tout the technology's advances.
"The shift to cloud computing will dramatically reduce the cost of information technology," says Russ Daniels, vice president and CTO at HP's Cloud Services Strategy. "But it goes beyond cost savings; it marks a quantum leap in the user experience. It frees customers from the expense and hassle of having to install and maintain applications locally and creates value for them."
Cloud computing, if properly implemented, can also slash computing costs. Forrester Research principal analyst James Staten says customers have found that most cloud computing solutions have such low costs that even persistent high use of their services trumps the costs of traditional hosting because of this variance.
Next page >>
