How should cloud computing evolve?

The referenced article mostly talks about cloud in the context of data, rather than apps or services (e.g. PaaS). So for consumer apps (like iCloud, Google Docs etc) with built-in (hopefully) security it makes sense.

For corporate use, "cloud" needs to evolve in directions like providing SLAs for uptime and security commitments. I think CIOs would also want some good encryption mechanisms for their corporate data too, especially if they are looking to replace their expensive Data Warehouse appliances with write-once read-very-occasionally cloud services!

The cloud needs to simplify and become an easier architecture, which it will. Right now, Cloud is not easy and requires a lot of architecture considerations, risk mitigations, and some stop gaps too. It still makes economic sense, but there are no case studies for organizations to point to. That will also come in time.

Surely, Cloud Computing is in its infancy and must evolve. However, the article cited above focus only on two and a half important aspects:
1. Big Data which is directly related to Cloud Computing (for example in order to support Multi-Tenancy).
2. Unstructured Data which is growing in a high rate in the Data Center as well as in the Cloud.

The half is Regulations, which was only ,mentioned shortly in the article, but is very important for example in order to enable storing data in different countires.

Evolution should include many other aspects such as: Integration between Public Clouds and Private Clouds, Cloud related Security, Standardization.

First word that comes to mind is 'simplify'. Anyway you look at it, using and putting up cloud isn't as simple as has been advertised. Yes, people will say that it is still quite in stages of growth but there's high expectations out there with all the buzz it has been getting. The more people get a better grasp of it then other things such as integrations, regulations and adoption will follow.

I don't think it's the cloud that needs to evolve per se (because it just will), it's our way of thinking that needs to evolve. What I mean by this is that we have reached a point where traditional technology constraints are being broken down every day, but we are still constraining our thought and our vision to what we are comfortable with and the way things have always been...when we need to be imagining what could be possible with the cloud.

Data is just one aspect of the cloud, as a few folks here have already mentioned. But instead of thinking in constrained terms about where to store data and how to structure data, our thought process needs to be more around what we can do with that data...or even what we can do with data that doesn't yet exist today but can be enabled by the cloud. The proliferation of could-based services that enable us to do things that were never possible before in concert with the ability to collect and look at data in ways never before possible creates endless possibilities...if we can just imagine what we want to do, the cloud will naturally adapt and evolve to enable whatever we can think up.

No doubt that when we look back on this time, the Cloud will be regarded as defining moment in the history of software development and a game changer for how businesses operate.

The Cloud will continue to evolve as long as small and medium sized businesses blaze the trail. While these companies do not traditionally have much in the way of technology budget and personnel, they have come to realize the value of technology. Their minimal budgets have been a blessing so to speak as it has forced them to be creative and seek high value, low cost technology solutions. They have embraced the Cloud as a springboard to establish themselves as agile 21st century businesses that are poised to surpass their older, traditional competition who are seemingly unable to adapt (stuck in analysis paralysis) in a timely fashion. While they share many of the same concerns as their behemoths with regard to performance latency, governance and risk they view the advantages the Cloud offers them in terms of economies of scale, agility, and best practices adoption as advantages that will provide significant returns that far offset the risks associated with the Cloud.

The vendors operating in the Cloud will evolve their services meet market demands and to ensure that remain competitive and profitable. There is no doubt that the Cloud, just like the platforms that have come before it and those that will come after it, will continue to move through a period of convergence, followed by the adoption of standards, through the shakeout phase and ultimately a period of stabilization until of course the next disruptive platform comes along.

If we are talking just about using the cloud for storage of data, then no, it's not a defining moment. However, if we start looking at apps (PaaS and SaaS) then the answer is probably yes.

One of the big areas of concern with apps though is the use of HTML as the app delivery. The cloud will only be defining if apps leverage the desktop capabilities, so apps need to be delivered using technologies that synch seamlessly with the cloud, that are delivered and updated via HTTP and can leverage processing power on the client (so we are looking at Silverlight type technologies).

We should expect cloud computing to evolve rapidly to address many of the issues raised here around scalability, security, and simplicity for IT. The real question is will we learn from the consumer web experience as we move more of our corporate business applications to the cloud? Will there be the same obsession with a simplified, yet powerful user experience? As we have seen with the consumer web, exponential increases in productivity can occur when we put the user at the center. To do this this, we will need to, among other things, (1) figure out the best way to incorporate social media into business applications, (2) knit data together across cloud and premised based applications so that users have the right information when they need it, and (3) tailor the experience specifically to the needs of each user.