Week 3 Task 3

Cloud computing is a rapidly growing area of technology. Before cloud computing, business applications required an extensive amount of software and hardware to run them and they required a team of experts to install and maintain them. With cloud computing, business applications are moving to Internet based applications which means organizations no longer need to spend valuable capital funds on hardware and software and it allows a companies IT managers more time to concentrate on other strategic business activities. [1] The evidence of this growing area of technology can easily be seen in the recent acquisition of Cloud.com by Citrix. Citrix knows the importance of entering the cloud provider market and has been trying to do so for years. According to Virtualization.com, “ This acquisition makes Citrix a credible player in the space and gives them an opportunity to take a lead over VMware in the cloud infrastructure segment.” [2] Not only has Citrix entered the Cloud provider arena, but Apple has also jumped in with the introduction of iCloud in June. Competing with Google, iCloud not only stores documents in the cloud, but it will also sync those documents among your devices. [3] iCloud also allows users to sync emails, contacts and calendars, store documents, sync photos, and re-download music from the cloud.

Even companies that are already leaders in cloud computing can see the future and are looking to expand their portfolios and grow their business. Salesforce.com is a leader in cloud computing that provides business software accessible on the Internet on a subscription basis. Salesforce.com recently purchased Dimdim, a real-time communication technology company. Why is this acquisition so important? Because the future in cloud computing is Cloud2. Cloud2 is a new generation of cloud computing that is social, mobile and real time. [4] This acquisition will allow Salesforce.com to enhance Chatter, a private social network for businesses, by adding real-time technologies from Dimdim to their service. Not only is the acquisition of Dimdim important for Salesforce.com to move to Cloud2 so is their January acquisition of Heroku. According to PR Newswire, “Heroku is the leading Ruby application platform and Ruby is the language of the future, driving the next generation of cloud applications that are real-time, social and mobile." [5] The acquisition of these two companies by Salesforce.com will help to push them into the Cloud2 technology to be able to compete with real-time social platforms such as Facebook.
It is obvious to see the cloud computing is the way of the future. New companies are expanding into the realm of cloud computing such as Citrix and Apple and existing cloud computing leaders such as Salesforce.com are expanding their businesses and moving on to the next generation of cloud computing, Cloud2. This growth in and move to software and storage being provided as an Internet service will help companies save on capital on use their technology resources in other areas of their business.


[1] “What is Cloud Computing.” Salesforce.com 2000-2011. Web. 19 July 2011. <http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/>.

[2] “Citrix Acquires Cloud.com: An Analysis.” CloudAve.com. 12 July 2011. Web. 20 July 2011. < http://www.cloudave.com/13848/citrix-acquires-cloud-com-an-analysis/>.

[3] “ Apple unveils iCloud -- real-time sync for the post-PC era.” Betanews. 6 June 2011. Web. 20 July 2011. < http://www.betanews.com/joewilcox/article/Apple-unveils-iCloud-realtime-sync-for-the-postPC-era/1307385197>.

[4] “ Salesforce.com Acquires Dimdim.” PR Newswire United Business Media. 6 Jan 2011. Web. 20 July 2011. < http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/salesforcecom-acquires-dimdim-113029849.html>.

[5] “ Salesforce.com Completes Acquisition of Heroku.” PR Newswire United Business Media. 3 Jan 2011. Web. 20 July 2011. < http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/salesforcecom-completes-acquisition-of-heroku-112835444.html>.