According to the research firm Gartner, Inc, revenues from Internet-based computing will reach at least 14 billion dollars annually by the end of 2013.. On the other hand, earnings from businesses that use programs hosted online as services, or Software as a Service (SaaS), will make a total of 7.5 billion dollars by the end of 2009. This amount is a 17.7 percent increase over the 2008 levels.
This growth, Gartner believes, is an aftereffect of the economic recession. Businesses that sought to cut down costs while still retaining their levels or amount of services looked to the clouds for more affordable solutions.
Of particular notice is that even simple office productivity computing was completed and hosted in the clouds. The reason? Cloud computing allowed the firms to rent applications and space that run text, spreadsheets, and calendars. This situation resulted in savings as the required updates and maintenance of old software versions was not required.
"The adoption of SaaS continues to grow and evolve within the enterprise application markets," said Sharon Mertz, the Gartner Research Director.
Due to the increase and varied needs demanded by customers for cloud computing, vendors are expanding the range of online computing services that they offer to the public. Recently, Microsoft announced price cuts in its online-run versions of Exchange and Sharepoint. In addition, Microsoft formed partnerships with telecom companies such as Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom to deliver cloud computing services to clients in Taiwan.
The Seattle-based technology firm, which is primarily known for its PC-run applications, is aggressively pursuing a cloud-based strategy. Microsoft has also recently launched a set of project standards for use by developers of open source technologies.
On the other hand, Sun Microsystems recently announced the release of its new desktop virtualization program, Sun Ray Software 5, which focuses on data center efficiency. The program also features capabilities for running virtual Windows, Linux or Solaris Operating System desktop to nearly any client device.
