Today's 3 Best Cloud Computing Articles

Cloud Computing to Grow to "Billions and Billions"
— "IDC forecasts a 2009-2013 CAGR of 26% for the worldwide cloud services market, which includes software-as-a-service offerings," explains Mary Johnston Turner, research director for enterprise system management software at IDC. "As more and more organizations implement public cloud and SaaS solutions they will need access to monitoring capabilities that provide end-to-end visibility across internally run applications and public services and can be deployed just as quickly as the services they are monitoring."

Sorting Through the Cloud Jargon
— Over the last two weeks, I have fully immersed myself in the world of cloud. Thanks to conference keynotes, breakout sessions, customer briefings, and ad hoc discussions, I have not had much time to not think or talk about cloud. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, I do have to admit, something has been gnawing at me over these past two weeks: There is too much overloaded, confusing, or misunderstood cloud jargon.

Cloud Facilitators: A New Route to Market for Cloud Vendors
— As Cloud Computing moves into the large enterprise and becomes an embedded part of IT and the business, customers are turning to a new wave of Cloud Facilitator to help guide them through Cloud-based consulting, implementation and management challenges.
Cloud Facilitators like Acumen, Appirio, Astadia, Bluewolf, Cloud Sherpas, CoreMatrix, Global One, Model Metrics and Revevol (among others) provide a range of services that help clients move to the Cloud. These include business and IT consulting related to Cloud strategy, implementation and integration, custom development, and Cloudsourcing. Cloudsourcing is the key business innovation of new wave Facilitators, weaving together and innovating on partner Cloud solutions, platforms and infrastructure and charging for these services on both a project and subscription basis.