The Dissipation of Cloud Computing

Any cloud by definition is amorphous and prone to dissipation. So some folks are starting to ask when cloud computing will become so pervasive that it just melts into the enterprise.

Clearly, we're still in the early days of cloud computing adoption. But Chris Weitz, a director with Deloitte Consulting, sees a time within the next three years the architecture will be unified across public, private and hybrid cloud computing modes. Once that happens, you can't help but wonder if the whole concept loses its unique identity as it becomes the norm.

In fact, Weitz argues that the first sign of maturity for any new technology is when it becomes so endemic that the term associated with it essentially disappears.

Weitz also says it's inevitable during the next three years that the balance of power between technology suppliers and buyers will shift toward the buyer, which is already beginning with purchasing alliances. The only real question, he adds, is which suppliers will be able to stand up to that pressure as buyers continue to squeeze the margins out of IT services delivered via the cloud.

In the meantime, IT organizations would be well advised to make sure they know the questions to ask their cloud computing provider and take the time to fully understand the types of applications they can realistically expect to run in the cloud.