Five big provider trends in 2013: The future of cloud computing is PaaS

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Tom Nolle.

By all appearances, 2012 seemed to be a good year for cloud computing. In addition to being the darling of the media for all of last year, the cloud gained a lot of ground in terms of the number of businesses that have adopted cloud computing in some form. But despite this traction, the cloud is still largely a spectator sport for providers from a financial perspective. Even by optimistic estimates, the market has realized less than 1% of its total opportunity.

Cloud providers or prospective providers are concerned; how can a service already be turning into a commodity when it’s hardly begun to succeed? Fortunately, key improvements on both the buyer and seller sides of a cloud transaction will drive the future of cloud computing in 2013…

Five changes stand out as major trends cloud providers should be following this year.

1. PaaS becomes king
First among the cloud drivers is a shift toward Platform as a Service (PaaS) as the preferred cloud services model. Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) products dominate the market today, but they’re already falling prey to crushing price and margin pressures; moreover, it’s clear that the IaaS business proposition isn’t easily articulated anymore. But more significant is the fact that both cloud-literate buyers and cloud providers are asking, "If the cloud is so different from other service delivery models, why won’t it spawn its own flood of cloud-specific applications?"…

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