Cloud Computing Gets IT Thumbs Up

Grazed from AutomationWorld. Author: Editorial Staff.

The cloud-computing concept has garnered headlines over the past few years through it’s application by giants like Amazon.com, but has made few solid inroads in the industrial sector. That may soon change as IT groups increasingly embrace the idea of cloud computing.

With more than half of IT professionals across industries saying there are significant business benefits to the use of cloud computing, it’s now safe to say that the concept has reached an important acceptance milestone. Unless something dramatic occurs to inhibit wider implementation of the technology in manufacturing in the next few years, I predict that its implementation will follow much the same path as industrial Ethernet has over the last several years…

Ten years ago, most engineers I spoke with considered Ethernet to be a purely front-office technology unsuitable for use on the plant floor. Now, according to Automation World research, many engineers consider the incorporation of Ethernet into automation to be the most significant automation innovation of the past decade.

Research conducted by Qumu (a video platform provider) of more than 700 IT professionals, revealed that 44.4 percent of respondents plan to move applications to the cloud within the next 12 months. Thirty-three percent says this move to the cloud will comprise half of the applications they run…

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