A survey conducted by Luth Research and Vanson Bourne for CA Technologies confirmed that cloud computing delivers all of its major promises.  It lives up to the hype, and many of the predicted and/or perceived problems are not actually being reported.

Of course, you have to consider the sources of this kind of positive data.  Vendors who sell clouds see clouds as a positive force.  That said, the survey data pretty much matches up with my experiences, meaning that more is going right than wrong, when it comes to cloud computing.

The fact of the matter is that many predicted huge issues with cloud computing, including performance problems, outages, and security issues.  Generally speaking, these problems did not materialize.  While many view the NSA scandal as an issue with cloud computing, it has nothing to do with the ability for cloud providers to deliver the goods.

Of course, this technology is still fairly new.  The cloud computing industry is just getting started, despite the fact that it feels like day three of a 3-day rave.