Gartner reports on the hype around cloud computing in 2009
Virtualization vendors are already looking toward the cloud, even if you aren't yet buying into the hype.
Follow @infoworldAccording to a report coming out of Gartner, cloud computing has reached the apex of the analyst firm's Hype Cycle of Emerging Technologies for 2009. The technology is said to be 2 to 5 years away from mainstream adoption, and it must still go through the eerie Trough of Disillusionment before it can reach the Slope of Enlightenment or the Plateau of Productivity.
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In order to get to enlightenment, IT managers are going to need to cut through much of the hype that currently surrounds the cloud. The report states, "The levels of hype around cloud computing in the IT industry are deafening, with every vendor expounding its cloud strategy and variations, such as private cloud computing and hybrid approaches, compounding the hype."
David Mitchell Smith, Gartner vice president and fellow, notes in the report that "vendor organizations must clarify their cloud strategies in the next 12 months, while user organizations must demand road maps for the cloud from their vendors today."
To get to where they need to be, enterprise IT organizations should already be studying the cloud. Most have probably already started using and implementing a key component of the cloud: virtualization. Thomas Bittman, VP distinguished analyst at Gartner, says virtualization unlocks the door to cloud computing and pushes organizations faster in that direction.
Bittman outlines five things on his blog that virtualization does to "unlock the door" to the cloud:
