A head in the cloud

The increase in coverage of cloud computing has been dramatic over the last six months, the rate of increase (see chart below) making it one of the hottest issues around. The speed with which it has moved from concept to being considered by the media as central to companies’ strategy is striking.

This has been mirrored by the seniority of the company spokespeople talking about the topic. A ranking of the people being quoted most often is dominated by chief executives.

At the same time, the companies that lead on the issue show the battle-grounds that are being drawn up. Microsoft, Google, IBM, Dell, VMware and HP are all generating significant share of voice.

But this does not tell the whole story. A look at the top 50 companies gaining traction on the subject – which feature companies from Amazon to Zoho – reveals the range of companies cloud computing embraces, or vice versa.

It is also worth looking at the broader context of the coverage. An analysis of the many other themes covered in the context of cloud computing indicates the impact, and opportunity, from the growth in coverage. Take WAN optimisation, covered as the implications for bandwidth are considered, and an example of how multi-faceted coverage of technology and its implications can be.