Cloud Computing is here to stay, but what is driving growth in this area over the next 12-18 months?

Whether it’s saving costs, a need for more efficient IT processes or a desire for the latest technology upgrades, organisations are looking at options to become more agile in IT consumption and remove the expensive boxes in their computer rooms by outsourcing key IT services to third party providers. Vendors are beginning to make this transition easier by offering pay-as-you-go services from the cloud at an affordable monthly cost, which of course is enhancing their own profitability at the same time.

We’ll see this accelerate at pace over the next six months, with most vendors offering cloud based solutions that will enable organisations to make the transition. As confidence in the cloud model increases, and the benefits start becoming a reality, over the next 12 months organisations will start to use the cloud for more and more, well, for everything in fact; including the server, telephony services, CRM, desktop software licenses, line of business systems, accountancy services, email services and security.

The result – small businesses will no longer need a computer room because their network applications and services will be in the ‘cloud’; management and software costs will plummet. Completely scalable, the cloud will also enable them to increase or decrease their IT based on business requirements. Complex licensing will begin to be a thing of the past, as will static contracts tying you to systems that don’t adapt to changing business needs.

This complete transition to the cloud will revolutionise the IT department, freeing up resource from the daily, time intensive, tasks of making sure everything ticks over; instead allowing time to innovate and look at what technology can deliver the organisation to gain business knowledge, competitive advantage and get ahead of the curve.

And what about new products? Microsoft Office 365 and Lync are now entering the market. Combined, and hosted from a secure cloud platform, this will provide organisations with their tried and trusted business tools, tied together with extra integration and flexibility. Lync is especially exciting, bringing the telephone and video to your desktop, enabling users to see what other people are doing at any point in time, from any geographic location, and communicate in the most productive and appropriate way. It is the ultimate communication tool. Saving money on lengthy travel, as well as improving productivity, collaboration and time management, Office 365 and Lync will allow business transactions to happen significantly quicker. Unified Communications tools like this, supported by the cloud delivery model, is a great indicator of how the future of business technology is evolving.

Looking even further into the future (let’s say 2015), the make-up of a business workforce will be truly mobile. As smart phones and tablets penetrate the business more and more, most organisations will have an entirely mobile workforce. Working on smart devices, anytime and anywhere, that are linked to the network, and synchronised with social networking sites and the central collaboration server. Companies will be able to pull project teams together via Facebook or Twitter, without anyone needing to come back to the office – online collaboration will start to become the norm. It’s products like Office 365 with Lync and the maturing adoption of the cloud model that is taking us there – and beyond!