"Cloud Computing" - Who stands to gain in the value-chain?

"The conventional wisdom is that cloud computing is about the delivery of IT services over Internet pipes at dramatically lower cost, with massive elasticity and scalability. Software as a Service, open source, Web 2.0, the consumerization of technology, globalization -- yesteryear's buzzwords -- are a piece of the story, but cloud computing is bigger than the sum of its pieces"- Gartner
Google, MS and yahoo are investing more than 5 billion USD, IBM is playing big with close to a billion dollar DC investments, and smaller vendors/service providers jumping in with their PoVs on how cloud computing can help, it would be interesting to understand as to what is in store for customers, mediators and hosting giants.

CIOs action plan for 2009-10

It started with real estate, moved to finance and now it is impacting the business sentiment in auto and retail. Amidst the global turmoil with more bad news round the corner, corporate round the world are focused on surviving this lean period. Given this scenario, when top line management is dependent on market conditions than organization strategy, the only lever for organizations is the cost.
As our focus in this blog is toward IT and related impact of IT and business, it pertinent to understand what CIO’s action plan is for 2010. Based on my understanding of what I see around at my clientele, following seem to be some relevant directives:

• Cut cost – Lean IT


• Make IT more efficient – Deliver more value with same or smaller investment


• Move to a utility based model to provide flexibility – Lower fixed cost


• Increase the visibility of business value provided by IT – Retain IT as a strategic asset


• Increase IT effective –Connect IT success with business

What is your opinion about these? Any additions or modifications to the list are welcome