# Forecasting the Future of Cloud Computing Source: https://expedient.com/knowledgebase/blog/2012-07-24-forecasting-the-future-of-cloud-computing/ [](#) # Forecasting the Future of Cloud Computing July 24, 2012 2 min Read While cloud computing as a _Buzz Word_ has been floating around the industry for a number of years, its popularity has really begun to snowball within the last 12 to 24 months. And as this recognition grows, companies around the globe are beginning to recognize the cloud as a fast, easy and inexpensive way to share and store information and expand their IT infrastructure. The question then becomes, as popularity expands, what does the future have in store for cloud computing? #### One Survey Looks at the Future of the Cloud The Future of Cloud Computing Survey, published in early 2012 by North Bridge Venture Partners, serves as a look into the minds and future plans of 785 industry experts, vendors, and end users. From it we glean that: - More than half of the people surveyed are confidant in cloud computing’s future - 88% of IT and businesses said they plan to use [Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)](https://www.expedient.com/cloud-computing/infrastructure-as-a-services/) five years from now - 57% believe that scalability will be a critical component of cloud computing’s success - 82% of respondents said that SaaS was their top budget item It’s not all success, however. 55% said that security is still the biggest issue for their companies in making the leap to cloud computing. The survey also pointed out several future changes to cloud computing and data storage and transfer, namely: - [Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)](https://www.expedient.com/cloud-computing/infrastructure-as-a-services/) and [Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)](https://www.expedient.com/cloud-computing/infrastructure-as-a-services/) are expected to grow expansively in the next five years - Hybrid clouds (private-public) usage will increase significantl - The top 3 areas of cloud computing use are backup and archiving (43 percent), business continuity (25 percent), collaboration tools (22 percent), and big data processing (19 percent) In short, the outlook is looking bright for cloud computing. As more people find that cloud computing is the easy path for storage and sharing data, and as security becomes stronger, cloud computing will continue to grow and expand. Learn how your organization can benefit from the advantages that the cloud has to offer. Contact Expedient to learn about our [cloud computing solutions](https://www.expedient.com/cloud-computing/). #### #### #### #### [ ![Brent Meadows](https://res.cloudinary.com/dvlpy3tua/image/upload/fl_sanitize/uploads/brent-meadows.jpg) Brent MeadowsSolutions Architect ](/knowledgebase/blog/authors/brent-meadows) [Cloud Computing](/knowledgebase/blog/tag/cloud%20computing) ### Related Posts [ #### The VMware Wait Tax: Why Every Quarter of Delay... Inaction on a VMware migration is widely treated as a neutral position, a de... Learn More ](/knowledgebase/blog/2026-08-04-the-vmware-wait-tax-why-every-quarter-of-delay-has-a-price-tag/)[ #### The Great Inversion What was easy is now hard. What was hard is now easy. {% include blog-key-... Learn More ](/knowledgebase/blog/2026-07-29-the-great-inversion/)[ #### Your New Cloud Strategy: Rebalancing for Cost a... {% include blog-key-takeaways.html items=page.key\_takeaways %} A few years a... Learn More ](/knowledgebase/blog/2026-07-15-your-new-cloud-strategy-rebalancing-for-cost-and-performance/) ## Subscribe to Our Blog VMware September 29th, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET ## It’s Time to Decide Your VMware Path [Join us →](https://go.expedient.com/VMWarePath) ### VMware September 29th, 2026 at 1:00 PM ET ## It’s Time to Decide Your VMware Path [Join us →](https://go.expedient.com/VMWarePath)