Cloud Miracles of 2014

Grazed from TheStreet. Author: Dana Blankenhorn.

The big cloud computing headline is that we may soon stop using the term. Cloud has become the mainstream of computing, just as e-commerce has become the mainstream of commerce. Cloud is not an option. Virtual operating systems and infinite scaling, a "barbell" in which the high-end hosts and hand-held device makers crush the computing middle class — that’s the reality for businesses and investors.

The question for 2014 is how many public clouds will survive the coming shakeout. Amazon.com’s (AMZN_) vicious price war has given it most of the market, so Google (GOOG_) and Microsoft (MSFT_) have matched prices and features. IBM (IBM_) is promising "big things" for early next year, but it’s unclear whether any new features it offers can make a difference…

If IBM can’t make a dent in Amazon’s lead, what chance do companies like Hewlett-Packard (HPQ_), AT&T (T_), Verizon (VZ_), CenturyLink (CTL_), or Rackspace (RAX_) have? With Amazon’s infrastructure system becoming an industry standard, what chance do VMware (VMW_), Citrix (CTXS_) or RedHat (RHT_) have?…

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