Where is the Cloud Headed in 2013?

Posted on November 25, 2012

Posted by Gerben Meijer in Industry News 0 Comments

There are multiple predictions about changes that will happen to cloud computing over the next year, even over the next decade. Most of these predictions examine how the functioning of the cloud will adapt to fit the changing needs of business owners and consumers. Some of these changes, however, will have more tangible effects. Most notably, consumers will see bigger databases, smaller phones, and different business models thanks to cloud computing.

Check out our reasoning below for why these three effects are the more notable ones to come from cloud computing:

Bigger Databases

Improved centralized databases will reach previously unimaginable sizes. As technology expands, these aggregate databases will be populated with valuable information that anyone can access. The possibilities are endless, but users should imagine databases that allow investors to look at the behavior of a stock over a ten year period, or databases that allow health care providers to examine years worth of clinical data in ways that will help them to improve how they care for patients.

Smaller Phones

As mobile computing continues to expand, mobile applications will become more reliant on the cloud. This means that these phones will have increased capabilities with a decreased need for memory. Thus, they will become smaller and more powerful.

Different Business Models

According to Dr. James Bellini, a futurologist based in the UK, many future businesses will have no chief executives, no brick and mortar headquarters, and no IT infrastructure. Instead, these businesses will use an ecosystem based approach where as much as 80 percent of their staff works off site and as much as 100 percent of their functions happen on a cloud. This trend is already starting in the UK where most businesses have adopted some cloud services and where millions of workers already function as free agents.

One of the key motivators for this shift, according to John Jester, the general manager for Microsoft’s Enterprise and Partner Group in the UK, is cost. Businesses now spend about 80 percent of their IT budget on running and maintaining infrastructure, and by switching to cloud based applications, these costs can be significantly lowered.

Those are our predictions, leave us yours in the comment section below.

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