Cloud computing will be as influential as e-business, according
to
analyst Gartner.
Gartner said the confusion that surrounds the term "cloud
computing" signifies its potential to change the IT market.
Gartner defines cloud computing as scalable, IT-related
capabilities provided as a service on the internet.
"During the past 15 years, a continuing trend towards IT
industrialisation has grown in popularity, as IT services delivered
via hardware, software and people are becoming repeatable and
usable by a wide range of customers and service providers," said
Daryl Plummer, a Gartner analyst.
"This is due to the commoditisation and standardisation of
technologies, including virtualisation and the rise of
service-oriented software architectures, and, most importantly, to
the dramatic growth in popularity of the Internet."
Plummer said these trends provided an opportunity to shape the
relationship between IT service suppliers and consumers.
Users will be able to focus on what the service provides rather
than how the services are implemented or hosted, he said.
Gartner said names had come into vogue at different times -
"utility computing", "software as a service (SaaS)" and
"application service providers" - but none had found widespread
acceptance as the central theme for how IT-related services can be
delivered.
Cloud IT services are wide-reaching. Users can use central
processing unit (CPU) cycles without buying computers.
Storage services for data and documents dispense with the need
to grow storage networks and servers.
SaaS companies offer customer relationship management (CRM)
services through shared facilities, so clients can manage their
customers without buying software.
These represent only the beginning for delivering all kinds of
complex capabilities to businesses and individuals, said
Gartner.
"When organisations cross the threshold between the internet as
a communications channel and the deliberate delivery of service
over the internet, then we truly start to head for an economy based
on consumption of everything from storage to computation to video
to finance deduction management," said Plummer.
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