I have an aversion to the end of year ‘top things that have happened this year’ or ‘will happen next.’ This blog  is not a 2 hour TV program counting down the 100 must see TV moments  or even the top predictions for Cloud in 2012, which the title may suggest – it’s simply my thoughts being put together in terms of where I may need to pay some focus in 2012 when I’ve got my cloud hat on:

1. Africa – very interesting place to do business and with broadband coming on stream faster and faster through submarine cable deployment and the removal of a level of reliance on satellite, I think the uptake of cloud will skyrocket. Why? – Unencumbered with more traditional deployment types, smart people will deliver the services and use IaaS providers to ensure they don’t get caught with expensive CAPEX in doing so.
2. Telco delivering consumer cloud services -  Many conversations I have around telcos and cloud are the delivery of these services to enterprises. I think they are starting to understand that the consumer is looking for these services too. Can the telco give me NAS type of capabilities for all devices in my home – if yes, it’s a winner.  The consumer is starting to understand cloud more but the telco’s problem may be that other vendors such as Apple have commercialized it to a level that they’ll have difficulty competing with.
3. Security and Reliability – ever since I started to work in the cloud space, security and reliability have been waved around. Reliability is supposed to be there with redundant systems, multiple locations , etc. – well, are you paying for those as part of your agreement with your Cloud Service Provider? We’ve seen cloud outages this year, and we’ll see them again.  Security is something that can be much more serious. Centralized systems with important data have been breached before when they were supposed to be internal systems. How secure are the current systems? – well , I think in 2012 I think it will become up front and central to our thinking.
4. Consumers – Cloud is something that has been entering the mind of the consumer over the last couple of years, maybe with cloud storage or backup as part of a service, maybe as an area where there is expected to be job creation in a difficult economic environment. 2011, however, saw that change with the services becoming more novel and relevant to the consumers and what they want to do.  Access to services, music, movies, integrating communications and all from multiple devices will expand in 2012 and even the consumer with their head in the sand won’t leave 2012 without knowing about it.

Oh I have other thoughts and ideas in terms of Cloud and where we are going but these ones have floated to the topic in my current stream of conscious.

Have you any thoughts about cloud and where we are going that you would like to share?