In expounding upon Brandon's previous look at the future of cloud computing....
We as a group agree with the idea that cloud computing services will become more utility-like in the near future. Eventually, we see the industry shaping up like the telecommunications industry with many regional oligopolies throughout the world that teeter on monopolies. Currently there are many small firms catering to various aspects of cloud computing but eventually the larger firms will purchase or replace the need for these smaller firms.
We expect that American IT workers will be greatly affected as all companies integrate cloud systems and are more easily able to outsource the same work to lower wage employment markets.
A key factor to consider in the future of cloud computing is going to be how the debate surrounding net neutrality plays out. For those unfamiliar, net neutrality refers to the concept of all internet traffic being treated equally. This topic is hot-button in the tech and data world because large growth companies that use large quantities of data streaming could be stifled if they were treated differently from any other users. This makes data streaming services an industry to watch. Specifically, services such as Netflix are under heavy fire for the major increase in data usage caused by their streaming service.
Improvements to cellular and wi-fi signals throughout the world will open up more markets for cloud computing. For the cloud to be efficiently integrated throughout an organization or an individual’s life functions, access to high speed internet is essential. As continued improvements are expected in those areas the result will be improvements to cloud computing.
These are all of course general aspects we can expect to occur. Likely, major, unpredictable innovation in the field will create the path for this area of the technology world.
