24 Dec 2008

Uptake in hosted IT services 'set to rise'

An increasing number of businesses could be set to introduce hosted IT services provided through cloud computing in order to make the most of the range of benefits offered, an expert has said.

Tom Austin, head of software research at Gartner, told ComputerWeekly that there are a number of advantages to be gained from adopting the software.

One of the major attractions is the "scaleability" of cloud computing, which Mr Austin hailed as "a new class of outsourcing" that could reduce costs for businesses.

"[It] exploits hundreds of thousands of central processing units as a single compute engine, at a cost per CPU and per CPU cycle that is dramatically lower than you could ever do internally," he told the website.

Mr Austin added that the uptake is now moving into the "early majority" stage, with adoption of the technology likely to "accelerate dramatically" by 2013.

Earlier this week, editor of InfoWorld Eric Knorr also expressed his belief that an increasing number of business might switch to cloud computing technology in 2009.