Did you know that cloud computing can be viewed as an evolution of various concepts and technologies that date back to the late 1950s? Even greater parallels to cloud computing were developed in the 1970s, as mainframe computer time-sharing emerged. Current offerings are the latest manifestation of this trend.
While cloud services adoption will reach a crescendo in 2014, it's just the beginning of the next wave of enterprise computing evolution. Juniper Research expects the total enterprise cloud computing market to reach a value of $90.7 billion by 2018, with both IaaS and PaaS expected to grow rapidly.
Moreover, revenues generated from enterprise Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) will reach $53.5 billion in 2018, representing 59 percent of the enterprise public cloud computing market -- that's rising from $23.2 billion in 2013.
Addressing Security and Compliance Concerns
According to the Juniper assessment, SaaS will likely remain the dominant cloud model in the foreseeable future. This is due in part to the relative maturity and widespread acceptance of the model, as well as recognition of the comparative benefits and risks of commissioning cloud-based software.
However, they believe that enterprise adoption of PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) solutions may have been adversely impacted by some lingering concerns over data security, regulatory compliance and portability.
Upside for PaaS and IaaS Offerings
Nevertheless, findings from Juniper's market study uncovered expectations that both PaaS and IaaS will experience significant growth over the forecast period as new applications, developed specifically for the cloud to harness workloads such as big data analysis, benefit from the PaaS fast-track model.
Cloud service providers are increasingly providing multi-lingual support, and improving portability through open-source initiatives, while consolidation of PaaS as an extension of other cloud services is showing a rising trend.
Meanwhile, IaaS is becoming increasingly attractive to small-to-medium-sized businesses and enterprises alike -- due to a high-level of control over the software stack and security implementation, alongside a growing understanding of the need for proper risk assessment.
Besides, any remaining concerns about data security or regulatory compliance will be alleviated by the growing trend towards Open Hybrid Cloud services that incorporate both public and private data center infrastructure.
Other key findings from the market study include:
While cloud services adoption will reach a crescendo in 2014, it's just the beginning of the next wave of enterprise computing evolution. Juniper Research expects the total enterprise cloud computing market to reach a value of $90.7 billion by 2018, with both IaaS and PaaS expected to grow rapidly.
Moreover, revenues generated from enterprise Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) will reach $53.5 billion in 2018, representing 59 percent of the enterprise public cloud computing market -- that's rising from $23.2 billion in 2013.
Addressing Security and Compliance Concerns
According to the Juniper assessment, SaaS will likely remain the dominant cloud model in the foreseeable future. This is due in part to the relative maturity and widespread acceptance of the model, as well as recognition of the comparative benefits and risks of commissioning cloud-based software.
However, they believe that enterprise adoption of PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) and IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) solutions may have been adversely impacted by some lingering concerns over data security, regulatory compliance and portability.
Upside for PaaS and IaaS Offerings
Nevertheless, findings from Juniper's market study uncovered expectations that both PaaS and IaaS will experience significant growth over the forecast period as new applications, developed specifically for the cloud to harness workloads such as big data analysis, benefit from the PaaS fast-track model.
Cloud service providers are increasingly providing multi-lingual support, and improving portability through open-source initiatives, while consolidation of PaaS as an extension of other cloud services is showing a rising trend.
Meanwhile, IaaS is becoming increasingly attractive to small-to-medium-sized businesses and enterprises alike -- due to a high-level of control over the software stack and security implementation, alongside a growing understanding of the need for proper risk assessment.
Besides, any remaining concerns about data security or regulatory compliance will be alleviated by the growing trend towards Open Hybrid Cloud services that incorporate both public and private data center infrastructure.
Other key findings from the market study include:
- Confidence in the public cloud has suffered following Edward Snowden’s NSA (National Security Agency) revelations; obliging service providers to (re)build trust.
- Due diligence is essential for potential customers to establish if, and what services can be deployed in the cloud.