The Cloud Connect conference concluded last week in Santa Clara, I attended and spoke at the conference, and here are my observations:

First, the conference was crowded but the hype level was low.  Most end user organizations were there to learn how to carry out a cloud migration, but now know full well what cloud computing means.  Most of the providers have moved on to more sophisticated messages.

Second, much of the focus is now on reinventing the data center for cloud computing, as much as leveraging public clouds.  Of course, everything is now software defined.

Third, OpenStack is now the acceptable alternative to AWS, and there was a lot of talk around OpenStack for private cloud implementation.  There are many new OpenStack-driven upstarts out there now, and they are well funded.

Finally, the case studies are beginning to emerge.  We’re moving above and beyond the case studies from technology innovators, such as Netflix, to rank-and-file companies that are just getting their first cloud computing systems up-and-running.

I suspect that future conferences will follow the same patterns, as the cloud computing market moves from emerging, to a more steady state.