Cloud Computing to Drive $6.4 Billion in Server Hardware Spending by 2014
Cloud computing is really changing the landscape because it gives executives and managers IT options that scale with complexity, as well as offer flexible pricing models. But let’s not forget, cloud computing is just another term for network computing, or processing information across machines instead of on one local machine. In a lot of ways the entire internet is one machine, with redundancy across the system, and copies of information across wide sets of individual nodes (think of mp3s and movies even).
What we’re watching is the emergence of network computing applications, and that is what is driving the broader narrative. If it’s Amazon’s Elastic Infrastructure, or Google’s App Engine, or XZ Backup’s White Label Backup program (had to drop a plug), then it’s a service which takes advantage of networked machines to do jobs ranging from serving websites, to backing up local data to an offsite and redundant system.
Cloud adoption isn’t just about the industrial infrastructure required to support users from only desktop machines, but increasingly with phones and the emerging tablet market. Verizon’s new Droid is getting great reviews, and has iPhone customers in it’s targets, so healthy competition is revving up. Also wireless networks such as 4g LTE and WiMax are being built as fast as they can get the capital. In a lot of ways the ground work is being laid, and the future looks bright for the IT sector.
Check out the latest research from IDC for numbers and analysis.
Cloud Computing to Drive $6.4 Billion in Server Hardware Spending by 2014
Cloud Computing to Drive $6.4 Billion in Server Hardware Spending by 2014
FRAMINGHAM, Mass., July 30, 2010 – Cloud computing presents a viable option for IT organizations seeking to reduce the complexity within their IT environments, either by means of converged systems that arrive pre-integrated and ready to use (for private clouds) or systems that are offsite entirely (public cloud). In both scenarios, the pursuit of cloud computing options will drive new spending on server hardware. International Data Corporation (IDC) forecasts that server hardware revenue for public cloud computing will grow from $582 million in 2009 to $718 million in 2014. Server revenue for the larger private cloud market will grow from $2.6 billion to $5.7 billion in the same time period.
“Many IT decision makers are seriously considering cloud computing as a way to dramatically simply their sprawling virtual and physical infrastructure,” said Katherine Broderick, research analyst, Enterprise Platforms and Datacenter Trends. “However, there is still some lingering apprehension over issues like integration, availability, security, and costs. These concerns, and how they are addressed by IT vendors, will continue to guide the adoption of cloud computing over the next several years.”IDC defines cloud services to be business and consumer products, services, and solutions delivered and consumed in real-time over the Internet. Public cloud computing is characterized as being open to a largely unrestricted universe of potential users; designed for a market, rather than for a single enterprise. In contrast, private cloud computing is designed for, and access restricted to, a single enterprise (or extended enterprise); an internal shared resource, not a commercial offering; IT organization as “vendor” of a shared/standard service to its users.
Additional findings from IDC’s research include the following:
Public cloud computing has lower ASVs than an average x86-based server
Public cloud seems less likely to be broadly adopted than private
Public clouds will be less enterprise focused than private clouds
According to recent IDC survey results, almost half of respondents, 44%, are considering private clouds
