2012 Prediction: Dome9 Security

3 Predictions for the Cloud in 2012

2011 was a banner year for the cloud. We saw significant growth in adoption, a plethora of new services and increased focus from both the enterprise and government – this despite a tumultuous global economy.

There’s little doubt that we’ll continue to see great things from the cloud in 2012, especially as (fingers crossed) economic conditions stabilize, if not improve. As folks are lining up to make predictions about the future, as an industry veteran I’d be remiss not to add a few of my own. Here are a few “cloudy” predictions for how I see things coming in 2012, with a focus on one of the leaders in the space:

AWS Will Leave the Nest

In late 2012, Amazon will publically unveil the financials of its Web services unit, and announce plans to spin off from the e-tail giant. Supporting a significantly higher valuation, the soon-to-be publically traded cloud computing super power will garner greater resource and increased agility, and make a lot of money for its shareholders.

New Cloud Brand Will Emerge

Consolidation forces and private equity funding will drive to create a new mega cloud brand to offer vast portfolio of services, multiple datacenters, and a strong API. This new cloud will be designed to compete head to head with AWS.

AWS Will Unveil a New Cloud Marketplace

Not just a directory, but an e-tail shop (yes – taking a page out of its parent company) where it sells and distributes thousands of third-party applications and services directly into its infrastructure. The new cloud marketplace (or “App” store) will provide enhanced services to customers, such as security and development tools, a tremendous channel for partners, and a significant advertising and sales revenue stream for AWS.