Cloud Predictions for 2014

December has begun and that means it is prediction time.  People love to wrap up a year by making predictions about what the upcoming year may hold for their area of expertise and cloud computing is no exception.  It may only be December 2^nd, but the articles about the future of cloud computing have already started rolling in.  Today, we’ve rounded up a few articles written by cloud computing experts and enthusiasts that discuss some interesting ideas about what the cloud may look like in 2014.

One of the most trusted IT research and analysis firms, Gartner Inc., released it’s top 10 list of technology trends for 2014 in late October.  Several items on the Gartner list addressed cloud technology specifically.  Most notable perhaps is their Era of Personal Cloud prediction: “The personal cloud era will mark a power shift away from devices toward services. In this new world, the specifics of devices will become less important for the organization to worry about, although the devices will still be necessary. Users will use a collection of devices, with the PC remaining one of many options, but no one device will be the primary hub. Rather, the personal cloud will take on that role. Access to the cloud and the content stored or shared from the cloud will be managed and secured, rather than solely focusing on the device itself.” Click on the link above to view the entire top 10 list from Gartner, or read the Forbes article covering this list for a nice synopsis. 

Kent Landry, a cloud computing consultant, shared an article this week about his thoughts on where the cloud is headed in 2014 in Eyes on the Cloud: Six Predictions for 2014. His predictions include increased mobility, hybrid cloud growth, an increase in application interoperability, and something everyone would most likely love to see more of – demystification of the cloud. Landry states, “In 2013, cloud service providers and end users began to clarify the confusing and often inconsistent cloud lexicon, a trend that will continue to evolve in 2014 as more discrete solutions and concrete definitions around the cloud are solidified, allowing for more seamless integration of cloud technologies and, by design, increased benefits to organizations.”  Click on the link above to read Landry’s article in its entirety. 

Patrick White shares a brief article that includes three predictions for 2014, The Future of Enterprise Cloud.  As with many of the cloud computing prediction lists we have seen, White envisions an increase in hybrid cloud deployments: “Many organizations are adopting a hybrid approach that allows them to enjoy some of the advantages of the cloud while keeping greater control over some of their data. This is a particularly attractive option for companies that are subject to strict security or compliance policies.”

Do you have some predictions about where cloud computing is headed in 2014? Please share your insights or a link to your cloud predictions list in a comment below.  And don’t forget to follow The Vested Group on Twitter at @TheVestedGroup and like The Vested Group on Facebook so you can be sure to keep up with all of our important news and announcements as well as new posts to The Vested Group’s blog.