As you continue to plow through the finishing touches of an e-mail that is stream-of-consciousness disguised as a project plan, you glance at the clock and see that it is 12:57 when you click Send. You promised to deploy the e-mail by 1:00. Crisis averted…but only momentarily. Something has gone terribly wrong. Your screen goes blank and as you click your e-mail icon, “Server Unresponsive” appears on your screen. Really, in this day and age? Yes…really, but not if you were e-mailing via the cloud.
Cloud computing is the wave of the future—so says the many bloggers, journalists, analysts… and well, us. And why not? We’re talking about using systems where the sky is the limit, where you no longer have to worry about being tethered to traditional rules and regulations. And with email, there are no limits to how you communicate with your users.
Maybe as a cloud email provider, we’re a little biased, so let’s look at the facts.
What does the future hold for cloud computing?
Let’s turn to Gartner for the answer. They crunch data, look at marketplace trends, and receive lots of respect from pundits across the globe. According to a 2012 report, Gartner says:
- The public cloud services market would grow by 19.6% in 2012 reaching $109 billion dollars in revenue.
- SaaS is forecasted to grow to $14.4 billion in 2012, but by 2016, IaaS will catch up.
- North America will yield the greatest growth with 61% share from 2010 – 2016, and will be followed by Western Europe with a 17% share.
Where are companies utilizing cloud services?
CIO.com released a top ten list of enterprise applications for public clouds, listed below. No surprises here—email hits at #8 and is one of the areas in which more and more companies are realizing massive benefits.
- Development and Testing
- Development Platform Servers
- Training Servers
- One-time Big Data Projects
- Website
- Customer Relationship Management
- Project Management, Expense Reporting & Time Management
- Human Resources
- Cloud-Based Anti-Spam and Anti-Virus Services
What is driving this rapid adoption?
North Bridge Venture Partners performed a survey and scalability, agility, and cost were the leading reasons why companies were moving to the cloud. Companies just don’t want to be burdened by clunky servers that require expensive time and resources to maintain. Instead, they want to outsource key services to specialists so they can focus on being nimble and innovative with their products. Maybe that is why email made CIO’s top ten list.
What does it mean for the job market?
According to a recent IDC report, there will be seven million new cloud-related IT jobs globally by 2015. Here are some stats pulled from their report:
- Globally, almost two-thirds of enterprises are planning, implementing, or using cloud computing, and more than 50% of businesses agree that cloud computing is a high priority.
- However, more than three-quarters of businesses have apprehension about the security, access, or data control of cloud computing.
- Lack of training, certification, or experience are the top three reasons why cloud positions are not filled.
- However, cloud-related skills represent virtually all the growth opportunities in IT employment worldwide and demand for cloud-related positions will grow by 26% annually through 2015.
So, it seems like the outlook for blue skies is bright. Cloud computing is the future and SendGrid is riding the wave. See, we weren’t just tooting our own horn—we had the facts to back it up! To learn more about the value we provide in the cloud, download the Top Ten Reasons You Need SendGrid. Okay…now we’re tooting our own horn.