Laurent Lachal, Senior Analyst, Ovum Software

Cloud computing has emerged as a major disruptive force for both IT vendors and users. It is still very early days, and 2013 will see cloud computing continue to evolve rapidly as vendors and enterprises get to grips with the opportunities and challenges it represents. In the Ovum report, 2013 Trends to Watch: Cloud Computing, Ovum points out that cloud computing is an increasingly crucial IT and business enabler.

Enterprises are slowly coming to terms with it, and vendors are experiencing similar issues as those faced by enterprise users, only on a larger scale. In the meantime, apart from its roles as a user and regulator, the public sector is increasingly focusing on its economy-manager role, and many countries have ambitions to use cloud computing to boost the local economy as they continue to face economic difficulties.

A quick search on Google Trends reveals …