The cloud storms as a disruptive force

The cloud in its various forms (SaaS, IaaS and PaaS) trumps all market sectors by a wide margin in this two-part question. Slightly more than half (56 percent) predict that these cloud services will lead consumer technology change and shake up business the most (55 percent). Moreover, software as a service dwarfed the two other cloud-computing categories (infrastructure and platforms), with 30 percent singling out SaaS on the consumer side and 21 percent for business.
Throughout Asia, cloud is cited as a disruptive force by 72 percent and 63 percent on the consumer and business fronts respectively. Respondents from China give the cloud high marks, with 84 percent pointing to the cloud as the next must-have consumer technology and 74 percent saying it will have the greatest business impact.
Cloud redefining markets in the US
In the US the cloud is seen as a potent disruptor according to 46 percent and 53 percent on the consumer and business fronts respectively. Cloud is transforming a variety of sectors including government and consumer markets.
US technology companies, both start-ups and established players, continue to roll out cloud services at a rapid pace. As a result, cloud service providers are managing a number of business transformations including the tension between pricing flexibility and dynamic revenue models, new business considerations related to tax structures and revenue recognition criteria, and the need to continue to educate customers about key metrics such as measuring time-to-market. From a US vendor perspective, the cloud sales cycles are shortening.
Embracing the cloud in China
Today, there are five designated Cloud Computing Service Innovation Pilot Cities in China: Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Wuxi and Hangzhou. With significant government incentives, leading-edge projects in cloud, including R&D, are in abundance and produce a gamut of services to quench the appetite from business and consumer markets. The cloud is already ubiquitous in China; many consumers don’t realize how often they access it for services like emails, mobile apps and social networking. The Asia Cloud Computing Association reported the Chinese government’s plan to invest $154 billion to boost the cloud industry over the next few years. The capital will no doubt encourage further involvement from local players and foreign direct investments (FDI).
Mobile madness in the forefront
When it comes to breaking the mold, the broad category of mobile (communications, commerce, platforms and software and applications) comes close to the cloud’s potential. Nearly half (44 percent) forecast mobile as the next indispensable consumer technology while more than one-third (36 percent) predict mobile will be the leading game-changer in the enterprise market. Of the four mobile sub-categories, mobile communications leads the pack.
Select geographic markets favor mobile over the cloud as the top change agent. In Israel, for instance, 64 percent believe mobile will lead the next generation of consumer technologies while 58 percent feel the same way about the enterprise market. Additionally, in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region (EMEA), 54 percent foresee mobile as the most likely technology to shake up consumer markets in the next three years.
In one more measure of mobile’s impact, smartphones and tablets lead as the next technology breakthrough that will provoke the greatest business transformation four years from now (according to 22 percent of respondents), followed by cloud computing and storage, at 18 percent.
In the swiftly advancing mobile commerce sector, where consumers are shifting to buying items on handheld devices rather than personal computers, Google, Facebook and Amazon net the most responses (34 percent) for leading this change. Respondents from China strongly agree, paradoxically; Facebook is blocked and Google has withdrawn from the local market

From “FUTURE DISRUPTIVE TECHNOLOGIES” by KPMG Technology