That may happen as early as 2015, when 30 percent of suppliers in the existing cloud computing market are expected go bust, according to IDC.
The analyst company noted that cloud computing is a relatively new market, with many players entering and leaving the playing field. It advised CIOs to ensure due diligence when selecting a cloud service provider.
After five years of “cloud hype”, real examples of its business benefits are becoming clearer, IDC said. Cloud computing is no longer just used to replace old or costly IT systems, though the market will continue to evolve over the next few years.
Chris Morris, IDC Asia-Pacific’s associate vice president for cloud services and computing, said in a media statement today that the take-up of cloud computing is being driven as much by business managers as it is by IT head honchos.
However, the necessary cloud sourcing and management skills required for a successful cloud computing strategy are still lacking in organisations.
He added that compared with last year, the cloud services market in 2012 has also seen important changes in the way cloud services are being adopted.
While the cloud was seen as a useful way to replace or augment existing IT infrastructure last year, it has now taken on an additional role as a marketplace for sourcing enterprise IT and business services by both IT and business managers, Morris said.
He said: “The cloud is no longer a marketing label as the evolution of cloud services will mean that it permeates the sourcing strategies of the CIO and business unit managers alike”.