Cloud Computing and the Emerging Market

Abstract

The aim of this chapter is to review the range of emerging ‘cloud’ marketing alternatives from dedicated private communication solutions to multi- tenanted public solutions. Cloud computing is a global trend which promises to be the single biggest growth area in ICT. Current estimates are that by 2020, approxi- mately 14% of all digital information will be stored in the cloud. Organizations look at cloud computing as a utility to lower ICT costs and boost effectiveness and are seek to move from fi xed capital expenditure investments to variable operating expenses , using these resources to withstand seasonal peaks and for improved share- holder value. Cloud vendor organizations are developing, so they are well placed to take advantage of this technology trend and the anticipated market growth. This requires investing in leading software and virtualised hardware so as to offer customers security, speed, lower costs and service reliability over high-performance networks. Cloud computing is an evolving market opportunity for both customer and cloud vendor alike. However, in the development of cloud-marketing strategies and cam- paigns, there are signifi cant risks for both vendor and consumer. These are discussed in this chapter.