Market of cloud computing: 10 main events of 2011

In 2011 cloud computing drew more attention to themselves. There were progress and failures, innovations and much less advertizing chatter, than in previous years. In 2011 the IT cloud took the distinct form, there was obvious its value. There are 10 events which edition CRN considers main in this market in 2011.

10. OpenStack develops

Joint open-source the project of a cloud OpenStack begun by Rackspace company and NASA in July of last year made real progress in 2011. There was already the fourth release under the name Diablo. More than 120 companies, including Cisco, Citrix, Dell and others participate in the project now. Recently announced HP intention to participate in OpenStack. The project totals also about 300 active developers, and the number of loadings from a code repository exceeded 50 thousand (apart from loadings from other sources). In 2011 also the cloud of Rackspace Cloud started, Private Edition is reference architecture based on OpenStack which is available to the elected system integrators to cloud implementations. In 2012 Rackspace intends to create OpenStack Foundation which will undertake project management and will become the owner of the trademark and copyright of OpenStack.

9. The government - at the head of changes

The federal U.S. Government continued "resettlement" in a cloud to reduce the state IT expenses and to move innovations, and vendors tried not to miss public contracts in 2011. From the receiving certification on FISMA (The Federal law of the USA on information security management) which caused the whole skirmish between Microsoft and Google before start of cloud services for civil services of GovCloud - vendors aimed to grasp solid state orders. And with an ulterior motive: about two thirds of federal bodies have the appendices which are subject to transfer in a cloud.

8. Boom of "cloud" financing

Do you remember a ring of coins in cash registers to which the megahit of the Pink Floyd group of 1973, "Money" begins? In 2011 myriads of the cloud companies beginners filled up the bank accounts using venture capitalists and investment firms. The whole shaft of multimillion injections helped beginners to take off. Box.net who offered services of cloud data storage received 162 mln. dollars of Boundary received 4 mln. dollars of Intacct - more than 12 mln. dollars, and many others also hit a jackpot on a cloud boom.

7. iCloud birth

Apple had serious strategy in a cloud in 2011, and most of all it is obvious in iCloud. This service of cloud storage with synchronization allows to store music, photos, applications, calendars, documents, etc. and automatically pushes this content on mobile devices (to 10). The iCloud service which was provided by the now deceased general manager of Apple Steve Jobs on WWDC 2011 contains also popular applications of Apple: calendar, mail and contacts. Responses about iCloud were contradictory, but the fact that the company aimed a cloud, is significant and confirms that the market ripened for approach.

6. To do shopping - in a cloud

Not only telecom operators spread the large amounts for cloud computing to fill up the service portfolio. Purchases in this market held the first places in 2011. Purchase of the developer of cloud infrastructure of OpSource by global integrator Dimension Data was one of the largest. Another was purchase of Autonomy, the large player in the market of cloud services of data management, for 10.3 bln. dollars, perfect HP. CA also continued the acquisitions in this market in 2011, having added WatchMouse, the developer of monitoring of cloud and mobile applications. Even cloud VAR'Y joined the game: the supplier of cloud services of Appirio purchased three companies only this year, and Cloud Sherpas, the large partner of Google, made three purchases to expand the scope on new territories.

5. VAR'Y test as ISV

Hardly anyone will argue: to cover this new market, solution providers should change. Cloud services require a new business model. A permanent flow of income - here a new main goal in transition from former model of complete payment for everything and at once. And in many cases of VAR'Y adopt some lines usually characteristic of independent software suppliers (ISV). They create applications to order and repeatedly used software blocks to cover new clients and to gain a foothold in the area of applied infrastructure, and over all this offer cloud services. In many cases of the application make the cloud value, and capability to create this value brought solid income to Var'am ready to make such transition. And to these they begin that some already called "Channel 2.0".

4. "Cloud fever" of telecoms

Verizon there began this year with purchase of the supplier of a cloud of Terremark for 1.4 bln. dollars in January, having initiated the whole wave of "cloud" purchases: traditional telecoms, telecom operators and service providers aimed to find a point of support in a cloud. The whole shaft of purchases followed: Time Warner Cable purchased NaviSite for 220 mln. dollars, CenturyLink became the owner of Savvis in the multi-billion transaction. AT&T also promises large investments into a cloud so this market was the new arena of fight for telecoms in 2011.

3. Vseproniknoveniye of social networks

It is worth entrusting - taking the general manager of Salesforce.com Mark Benyoff it the cloud market which he helped to create and to disperse it to space speed. Thanks to Benyoff's vision - future "socialization" of the world of business and revolution of social networks - the rate which the cloud follows changed for the better. The merge of mobile, open cloud platforms and social networks which is a cornerstone of corporate "socialization" will make the companies more mobile, will simplify interaction and will facilitate work. For Salesforce.com it began with Benyoff's love to Facebook and its dream - to see interaction, similar to Facebook, in the world of business. But not only Salesforce.com is aimed at social networks. Google and others this year rushed to build in elements of social networks standard workflows. According to the recent research conducted by the supplier of cloud services of Bluewolf, 61% of the companies consider implementation of functions of social networks as an important priority, and solution providers can reap the fruits from this interest.

2. The cloud comes

It is possible to write off it for tablet revolution, or to point a finger at iPhone. Whom consider responsible for changes, the fact from it does not change: in 2011 the cloud became mobile - as nobody could imagine. On a wave of mobile applications cloud services for mobile devices received powerful start. The accessibility to the applications stored in other place from the device which is anywhere became new valuable suggestion of the cloud offering immense increase in productivity, and solution providers should now not only provide cloud services, but also make them available from favourite devices of the customer. The supplier of cloud solutions of Model Metrics who is recently purchased by Salesforce.com company conducted a research at the beginning of this year which showed that 80% of his customers have plans of acceptance of smartphones and tablets as a part of the programs of implementation of cloud services now. By the way, the number of the mobile Model Metrics projects trebled this year.

1. Frightening failures

From the very beginning the cloud was subject to failures. But it could also be expected. First failures, though gave an inconvenience, were small. But everything changed in April, 2011 when there was a large failure in a cloud of Amazon which deprived of online presence a number of very large customers for several days. First "radio silence" of the largest supplier of a cloud followed, but several days later Amazon regained consciousness, having explained total failure with an avalanche of search of a mirror, and apologized clients, having urged to trust in the best. After this many other suppliers of a cloud experienced similar failures. Several times BPOS services and the Office 365 cloud applicaions at Microsoft refused, some cloud services of Google, including Gmail, Google App Engine and Google Docs, and many others, including Intuit, Jive and Yahoo did not work. Amazon had two more failures. But the first memorable failure of Amazon in April set many thinking: whether really cloud services are so reliable strategy in IT on which it is possible to build the business?

Source: Andrew R. Hiki, CRN/USA