Cloud Computing Trends: What to Expect in 2012

What the cloud computing industry saw in 2011 was a rise in cloud data management and integration solutions. In general, we saw a sharp increase of cloud computing services all across the board. This included services as varied as cloud storage, cloud backup and cloud data-based music applications. As companies began running IT departments on a shoestring budget, cloud backup services became more and more appealing to small, medium and large enterprise organizations. Why? Most cloud services are more accessible and more affordable than most traditional cloud data management systems found in large and expensive cloud computing data centers.

With that in mind, change is definitely on the rise for the cloud computing industry in 2012. For the most part, 2012 will be all about problem solving. With the widespread deployment of cloud-based services, there have been a host of problems that have come with that.

Cloud Computing Trends Expected in 2012

Let's take a look at some of the most likely cloud computing trends of 2012.

Emergency Management

Natural disasters, cloud data security breaches and other significant crises have paved the way for data emergency management companies. In a nutshell, these companies will be contracted to ensure your cloud systems stay up and running in the event of an emergency. This will be especially important if your organization relies heavily on cloud computing applications for day-to-day operations.

Hybrid Cloud Computing

The debate over the public and private cloud computing have been front and center throughout 2011. This has begged the question, what about a hybrid cloud computing solution? Emerging cloud service providers are actively seeking to create a stable option that includes cloud computing technology that relies on both public and private cloud-based data management systems. A hybrid cloud option will be the key to ending this debate, and increasing efficiency in IT departments all over the globe. How does this increase efficiency? Well, the bottom line is that most IT professionals are dead set on using private and closed private systems.

Cloud Security

Cloud security was easily the biggest issue of 2011, and it will continue to be a major issue in 2012. In fact, security is the single issue that can make or break the cloud computing industry. These concerns were brought to the forefront as major cloud computing companies were the victims of anonymous hacker attacks. Most IT department heads list security as the number one reason to hold off on migrating data to a cloud service. In 2012, we will see more and more data security companies rise up, as well as an increase of critics openly voicing concerns over the cloud's lack of overall security.

The Expansion of the Cloud Computing Service Providers

In 2011, we saw the rise of cloud computing service providers in record numbers. If these new cloud computing companies really catch on, we are likely to see massive expansion in 2012. Short term, there will be some initial push back from IT big shots all over the world. But the adoption of cloud technology on a massive scale is unavoidable. This is great news for the cloud computing industry, but not such great news for traditional cloud data centers and other cloud data management facilities.