Is cloud computing like teenage sex?

It was once said back in the early ‘90s that “Client/server computing is a little like teenage sex – everyone talks about it, few actually do it, and even fewer do it right.  Nevertheless, many people believe client/server computing is the next major step in the evolution of corporate information systems.”

Can the same be said about cloud computing, today?

It is evident that cloud computing is the next major step in computing, in general.  But is it the next major step in the evolution of corporate information systems?  Everyone is certainly talking about it; but who is actually doing it?

According to Pew Research, anyone with a Gmail or YouTube account is participating in the cloud computing revolution.  Perhaps I need to change my perspective about cloud computing in order to agree with them.  The Pew report focuses on end-user adoption of cloud-based services, or SaaS.  The way I see it, end-users don’t engage in cloud-based computing.  End-users use applications.  Regardless, neither Gmail nor YouTube represent an evolution in corporate information systems.

So again, what corporations are engaged in cloud computing?

Kevin Jackson and Peter Laird have started some interesting analysis on Cloud Computing mindshare.  It is not surprising that, in Kevin’s analysis, the usual suspects show up in the top three (3):  Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.  But these three represent companies that have made huge infrastructure investments and are figuring out how to gain further returns from those investments.  What they don’t represent is the adoption of cloud computing by the managers of corporate information systems.

It seems that information on which companies are adopting cloud computing is hard to come by.  For this reason, Peter Laird issues a call to action at the end of his post; “Cloud vendors, what can you say about your customers?  Please reveal.”

For now, at least, it looks like cloud vendors don’t kiss and tell.  That said, I can’t wait to be enlightened.

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