With $13 billion expected to be spent by American businesses alone in 2014, the cloud should no longer be considered an alternative IT model. The demand for hardware to run traditional infrastructures is in a nosedive. IBM is spending $1 billion this year, matching the amount it spent in 2013, on “workforce rebalancing” (the company’s lingo for widespread layoffs). Cisco is experiencing a similarly negative impact, with a 4% decline in revenue for its equipment expected this year.
Despite those pieces of bad news for major technology brands, the cloud ultimately represents not closure, but change. It’s been a gradual transition from the established to the innovative, in large part due to concerns over security. Cloud security experts scored a major victory in 2011 when Gen. Keith Alexander announced that the Pentagon would be deploying the new technological approach.