I've noticed cloud chatter picking up steadily during the past year or so, and I'm sure a lot of smaller companies are wondering: Is cloud computing the wave of the future -- or is it just a lot of hype?
Don't Miss: Cloud Computing For Your Business
Though Sun didn't have any new cloud product announcements today, it took the time to describe the differences in clouds, what the company focuses on, and what it thinks the future holds -- expect there to be many clouds, said Dave Douglas, senior vice president of the Santa Clara, Calif.-based company's cloud computing business unit -- some public, some private, and some hybrid. Douglas said he believes in the potential for these clouds to be open and compatible -- openness being critical to cloud space.
OK, but what's critical to the smaller companies that are holding back on adopting a cloud environment? Concerns about security and integration reign among the top reasons for not jumping on the cloud bandwagon, but as evidenced by an unscientific poll during bMighty's virtual event, a sense of "if it ain't broke, why fix it" was the top reason for sticking to the same old way of doing things.
So what will prompt smaller companies to dust off that inertia and switch to the cloud, considering it often costs those companies very little -- and sometimes nothing? And are vendors going to make the effort to market their wares to these businesses?
