As businesses blaze new technological trails into the future of corporate computing, Cloud-based systems are positioned at the forefront. We are quickly approaching a threshold at which Cloud computing transitions from an experimental concept to a fully integrated business resource. While some of the bigger players on the field have encountered pitfalls in Cloud computing, such as Amazon’s latest outage, the game is growing more approachable.

One of the problems with evaluation and visibility regarding a new platform like the Cloud is that there’s not much empirical evidence yet. Only after a period of testing, trials, application and evaluation would we really get a good feel for results and success rates – whether the news is good or bad. While we’ve only previously heard a huge amount of hype from proponents and vendors championing the Cloud as the end-all technology, there has been only scarce reports of real, actionable historical performance data. Until recently, it was assumed the lack of data was because it simply wasn’t available yet. But it’s time for a second look.

We’re now entering a time where we should be seeing quite a few reports, results and success stories from the Cloud computing space; not just from vendors but from businesses expecting returns from a Cloud platform in which they’ve invested significant time and money. However, there is still only a paltry volume of testimonials and documented successes. At this point, the reason is most likely because companies deploying Cloud platforms are considering their developments to be trade secrets and private, sensitive assets. You might occasionally run across an article or white paper touting a company’s success with a Cloud strategy, but you can count on the fact that there are thousands more that haven’t even been published.

You also won’t be seeing too much Cloud hype anymore. This is because the inherent value and flexibility of the Cloud is becoming more apparent to business owners and CIOs. Vendors and service providers will have to rely less and less on ‘educational’ marketing and ROI-focused hype in order to convert new adopters. This is also the phase where free trials turn into annual contracts, service providers go to work managing all the clients they reaped in the hype phase, and the attention is on the engine in your new car rather than the car salesman wooing you into it.

As the Cloud is also filling in voids of demand and problems needing solving, more businesses are becoming reliant – almost captivated – within the new infrastructure. Because of the added security, the Cloud represents an email and FTP replacement option that simultaneously improves productivity and efficiency while remedying drawbacks of the older, less effective and less secure platforms. 

One of the natural barriers encountered in the shift toward Cloud computing has also been lifted recently; which is the ‘you go first’ mentality. Small businesses are reluctant to enter a space that even the behemoths of the land won’t venture into. Logically speaking, it makes sense to consider why such a universal enterprise space isn’t being pursued by the big players. But those fears have been quickly evaporating as technology titans like Google, HP, Amazon and Mircosoft enter the fray with committed strategies. That’s just one more obstacle removed from the path of a sweeping and swift movement.

Yet another indicator, which is clear and calculable regardless of reports and testimonials, is the money invested in Cloud computing. Cloud service providers and vendors are enjoying a steadily growing clientele and the profits are rising. Businesses are pouring more and more money into Cloud systems, which is often an uncontestable sign of the value of returns expected.  A company contributes funds to the areas that stand to yield the greatest returns. The Cloud is clearly becoming one of the top contenders in that arena, and rightly so.