Cloud computing may be a relatively new concept for some businesses and consumers. But even though some businesses are only starting to adopt and realizing the advantages of cloud computing, industry giants are already looking forward to the next big step of cloud computing.
For now, cloud computing could be easily identified with grid computing wherein the “cloud” become the application for business purposes. Although grid computing is more focused on the server capabilities of the application, their similarities are based on the focus on providing online and on-time services to the enterprise.
But cloud computing is so much more than simplified “cloud” processing. The business aim of getting things done no matter where they are without the necessary of a local or desktop software is realized. The ease of data processing with real time interaction and company-wide availability of data in an instant could be done through proper implementation of cloud computing. Best of all, these processes are aimed to be available with very little to no downtime.
The future of cloud computing should be highly considered by businesses in any industry. The possibility of full adaptation of cloud computing by almost any industry is slowly starting to happen. If a business will not consider their future in cloud computing, the challenges as well as the advantages of cloud computing may not be addressed and fully harnessed.
Level of Competition in Cloud Computing Industry
Competition is always good in any industry. Through competition, the best services as well as the most competitive prices will come out. The cloud computing industry is no exception to this rule. Companies such as Amazon, Google, Sun Microsystems and SalesForce.com are only some of the highly recognized companies in the cloud computing industry. These companies offer advantages that will fit the need of any businesses.
But the level of competition, as some industry experts predict, could soon be gone. The previously mentioned companies are aggressively promoting their services so that they could become the leader in the industry. These companies are now spending millions of dollars in hardware upgrades, human resources and even in advertising. Unfortunately, not every company will come out strong. Some industry experts predict that one of the companies will come out of top and might even become the synonym for cloud computing.
On the other hand, smaller companies who provide personalized services for cloud computing are slowly coming out in the open. Their personalized services would be limited to few clients which will give them the ability optimize the services to their clients.
Standardization of Services
The downside in competition among industry giants is the lack of standardization. Although there are companies who offer platform based services such as Ajax or Ruby on Rails, other companies are offering proprietary functionalities to cater to the need of the business.
The differences in application implementation will increase the difficult of the enterprise to be fully flexible of their options. Data migration alone could be a nightmare for the enterprise if they opt to transfer from one provider that offer proprietary functions to platform based functions. It will take days or even months with considerable resources spent to ensure proper migration to a new provider.
But just like OpenAjax Alliance, the possibility of standardization or at least agreement between industry giants will be there. This is almost an imperative for companies as agreement on functions will be an added advantage.
Security
The number one concern of any businesses in dealing with cloud computing today is security. Unfortunately, security will continue to be the number one concern of the enterprise in the future. If an industry giant becomes the sole leader in this type of industry, the security as well as the privacy of users as well as businesses will be a lot less.
Hacks on the system will continue to be there as well. The attack that users experience today will also evolve to adapt to different types of security measures. Since the “cloud” will always be online, the possibility of attack will always be there.
The future of cloud computing has its ups and downs. From the possibility of monopoly to security problem, businesses and industry giants have to be ready for these changes to ensure success of cloud computing.
