Cloud computing needs seven
years to mature before it becomes part of mainstream IT, says
analyst firm Gartner.
Despite initial excitement and growth, cloud computing will
become the
preferred option for application development projects only
around 2015, according to a
Gartner report.
In the next three years, says Gartner, cloud computing will
begin to mature and be dominated by a select group of vendors.
After that, Gartner predicts a surge of new vendors and
subsequent consolidation as cloud computing becomes appealing to
application development organisations.
Cloud computing service-enabled applications (SEAPs) are the
foundation on which software-as-a-service solutions are built, said
Mark Driver, research vice president at Gartner.
"As SEAP technologies mature during the next several years,
Gartner foresees three distinct, but slightly overlapping, phases
of evolution," said Driver.
The first phase until 2011 will be that of the pioneers and
trailblazers; the second from 2010 to 2013 will be all about market
consolidation; while the third phase from 2012 to 2015, will see
mainstream critical mass and commoditisation.