T
he media industry is awash with stories about the
irresistible rise of cloud as a new transforming
force within the IT industry. The figures are certainly compelling: Gartner put the value of public
cloud services at $131 billion at the end of 2013,
rising to an estimated $180 billion by 2015. 60% of server
workloads were virtualised last year. 60% of CIOs have
indicated that cloud computing is their top priority. One-third
of all IT budget spend last year went on cloud. The statistics
are seemingly endless, and although one has to wonder
about the accuracy, there’s no doubting the general buzz.
Cloud is a disruptive technology. It lessens the need for
physical infrastructure like servers and related hardware,
whilst creating new business opportunities