Cloud and data first-quarter 2013: analysis and outlook

Table of Contents

  1. Summary
  2. OpenStack gets even more credibility from the larger players
  3. Rise of consumer-oriented cloud storage services
  4. Amazon gets a huge CIA contract
  5. Cloud computing taxes become an issue . . . again
  6. Cloud is overtaking the PC
  7. AWS is now a $19 billion business
  8. Oracle misses third-quarter earnings
  9. Hadoop gets easier and faster
  10. Lessons from Structure:Data 2013
  11. Big data deals in the first quarter of 2013
  12. Near-term outlook for cloud and big data
  13. Key takeaways
  14. About David S. Linthicum
  15. About Jo Maitland

1. Summary

Cloud computing is finally starting to add value to business, as those in charge of cloud within enterprises are moving from talking to doing. That much was very evident in the first quarter of 2013. The market appears to be moving from a hype-driven, early-adopter push toward solving real business problems for enterprises and government agencies. Indeed, cloud computing is becoming so successful that the United States is figuring out how to tax the cloud and investors are moving money into this space by the billons now that the viability is proven. Events this quarter included:

  • Amazon Web Services (AWS) is now valued at about $20 billion in total value.
  • OpenStack made headlines by garnering renewed interest from IBM. Oracle, meanwhile, went after existing OpenStack upstart Nimbula.
  • Consumer-oriented clouds continued to grow. These clouds are typically leveraged for device-to-device synchronization, such as iCloud and Dropbox.
  • A Strategy Analytics study shows that cloud models are quickly overtaking traditional computing models, such as mobile device usage overtaking the use of the PC.

The trends seen in the first quarter reflect a movement toward stability. The hype around cloud computing was scary for most enterprises in the past; however, now the cloud is continuing to solve real problems and is working within real budgets. As the economy continues its recovery, investment in cloud-based systems will continue, both for the use of cloud-based technologies and the creation of new services from existing providers or new upstart providers.

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