The concept of cloud computing was born in the 1960s. It was J.C.R. Licklider and John McCarthy who envisioned computation in the form of a global network. Their objective was to frame computation as a public utility. Flash forward to 1997, Ramnath Chellappa (information system professor) was the first to use the term “cloud computing”. Within a few years, the prominence of cloud became worldwide. Companies began choosing cloud services due to benefits such as reduction in capital costs and ease in IT staffing issues.

What the statistics say?

2009, revenue for cloud services was over $58.6 billion.

2011, IT spending crossed $2.6 trillion with cloud computing accounting for 2.3 percent of that global market. The research firm Gartner has predicted there’s plenty of room for growth, with revenue for cloud services expected to approach $152.1 billion in 2014.

Cloud Benefits

Among the several benefits of cloud, one factor that has been driving demand for cloud computing is the explosive growth of data. As per the prediction made by Century Link, in the next two years there will be a four-fold increase in the amount of data being created and replicated. Considering this fact, enterprises will need to store the data securely and enable end-users to use it efficiently.

In fact, cloud computing has also helped enterprises carve a good impression upon employees. Wonder how? Well, according to a recent Carbon Disclosure Project report, companies that migrate to a virtualized setup to improve IT performance not only reduce capital expenditures but also shrink energy consumption and carbon emissions. As predicted, by 2020, U.S. organizations that move to the cloud can save $12.3 billion in energy costs (which is equivalent to 200 million barrels of oil).

What has cloud computing introduced?

The inclusion of cloud computing in small and large enterprises has resulted in faster and broader access to computing resources. However, it has also brought about a significant shift in job descriptions and a need for vendors and enterprises to reconsider the type of working relationships they have.

In the words of an IT evangelist – ‘’Expect to see new categories of jobs along with new breeds of IT vendors arising from cloud computing.’’

To substantiate the prediction further, here’s a snippet of the study of 500 IT and business professionals and 400 IT firms, released by CompTIA. (It is an IT vendor industry association which has conducted its third annual study of cloud patterns.)

3 out of 5 companies – have integrated new types of skill sets to their IT departments to keep up with growing cloud requirements. Some examples of these skill sets include –

·         Private cloud developers

·         Integration specialists

·         Cloud architects

·         Departmental liaisons

·         Compliance specialists.

3/4^th of the IT service suppliers - have beefed up their vendor-neutral credentials highlighting expertise in cloud computing.

2/3^rd of companies - have undergone an IT department restructuring and have also reported providing training to their IT staff to build new skills. IT managers are taking the initiative to build these new skills. They are also involved in designing the business’s go-to-market plan, and identify technology resources that will help the strategy materialize in the most proficient way.

In the words of CompTIA report - ‘The new roles have resulted to a scenario where the IT team is more tightly incorporated with lines of business. It comprehends business strategy as a prime objective, and then uses technology to achieve that.’

Author’s Bio:Kiran Soniis an experienced technical writer. She has written several articles and blogs on cloud computing course. In this article, she talks about the popularity of cloud computing course and discusses a few of its important aspects.