In a column on Datamation, industry analyst Rob Enderle details the implications from the latest bout of interest in what we today call “cloud computing”. Who’s best positioned to capitalize on the trend? And who’s likely to fail?
It’s interesting that we tend to go through cycles. We started off with big centralized computers and relatively dumb terminals. Now with the rapid growth in Smartphones, the expected success of Smartbooks and Smart-Tablets (like the rumored iSlate), and the proliferation of devices like plug computers, we appear to be facing a future that looks a lot like our past.
Like with any change, vendors that are in power this decade may not be in power in the next decade unless they significantly change how they think about the market. Companies that had their roots and beginnings in large systems like EMC, HP, and IBM may have advantages in terms of services, structure and systems. But they will still have to deal with the individual users who aren’t planning on giving up any power.
Companies like Apple and Microsoft, which started off more user focused, will need to better embrace the concepts of big centralized systems or be trivialized by them. This, of course, provides a unique opportunity for new companies — like Google — to come in and dominate what is coming because they can grow into the business. But they still have to roll over the other players.