The economic downturn of the past few years has prompted companies to search for new ways to reduce their budgets, which is why cloud computing continues to grow increasingly more important by offering tremendous savings in the arenas of user connectivity, data storage, application usage and more.

This year has been especially good for the cloud now that a significant portion of the market has begun to adopt cloud services. Major enterprises are also turning to the cloud to handle large portions of data, and the companies that offer these services are becoming mature enough to handle the usage and security concerns that have made businesses hesitant to make the switch.

Now that 2011 is coming to a close, technology news sources have made several predictions for cloud computing in 2012 for both clients and service providers, and some have even claimed that the cloud will herald the dawn of a new app-based era in computing that will ultimately overtake the web. Here are a few of these predictions:

1. Legitimization

Gone will be the days when candidates can haphazardly claim cloud experience, as businesses will depend more on these services and start to look for those with credentials. While universities are still behind when it comes to offering cloud development coursework, this is expected to change dramatically next year.

Cloud companies will also have to show their credentials by providing legitimate services that back up their claims. No longer can they engage in “cloudwashing” to disguise services that are incapable of performing the functions of a true cloud now that experienced users are able to recognize the difference.

2. Budgeting

While businesses will save a tremendous amount on software, hardware, and IT personnel costs when switching to the cloud, they still face the challenge of budgeting for usage. Since cloud services are pay-per-use, enterprises will have to adopt a more cost effective model, especially when it comes to public usage.

3. Support

Cloud technologies are also expected to create a major upheaval in the IT department, as companies will no longer require a large in-house IT staff to manage their networks. Shadow IT will also become more prominent now that business leaders can invest in new services and develop them without direct IT involvement.

Government support may also change, and technology news sources predict that legislators will try to ban the use of nonresident cloud services as a way to preserve jobs. Enterprises that want to keep the cloud free will need to pay attention to these dangers, as some countries are already attempting this.

4. Showcasing

Corporate cloud projects and IT events such as CloudExpo are still used by developers to showcase their skills, but a growing trend towards small-scale development projects is changing the way businesses look for talent. More companies are expected to fuel this creative effort by hosting cloud services for these projects.

5. Testing

Cloud technology – while powerful – is less reliable, which is why technology news sources expect companies to adopt code testing practices from companies such as Netflix by inviting “Chaos Monkeys” to try and take down their core service. This will compel programmers to write more stable and efficient code.

Even though cloud technology has not reached the level of maturity found in client-interface and web-based computing models, it is here to stay because it offers a level of convenience and standardization that could revolutionize the way people do business.

Brandi Tolleson writes prolifically for various websites about technology, gadgets and media news.

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