The Lighter side of the Cloud - Cloud Washing vs. Cloud Clarity

The cloud computing market has now moved on from the early adopter stage and is becoming more mature. This means more demand. But with this has risen the problem of Cloud Washing where vendors label even non Cloud services as cloud. Only those with a clear and deep understanding of how cloud works can manage to avoid the mistake. Still the buzzword holds a lot of importance. Despite the apparent humour of the graphic below, this is a cause for very real concern. This survey performed on decision makers both in IT and non IT environments reflects the need for serious cloud clarity.

Source: Six Degrees Group

This though is again is contrary to the fact that the Cloud Computing market is moving towards Maturity and that a large percentage of prospective users are already familiar with its usage. Gartner has predicted that revenue for 3 major Cloud Models will touch an amount of $45.9 billion by 2015. This only represents direct investments in Cloud Computing which will in actuality be much higher, and therefore proves the Cloud to be a major and growing part of IT spending. This should mean a lot of opportunities for Cloud Consultants. As with most things, knowledge is the key when it comes to making Cloud work for a business and to avoid disguised services.