USA: Virtual Global, provider of cloud-enabled enterprise solutions and the TeamHost online platform for creating SaaS applications, released its "Top ten cloud computing predictions for 2010".

"Cloud computing's time has come," said Cary Landis, CEO of Virtual Global.

Landis cites multiple factors driving the adoption of the cloud, including costs, entrepreneurship, telecommuting and the more collaborative workspace.

"In 2010, we'll see infrastructure prices fall, platforms become the norm, and big IT companies struggle for new identities," noted Landis. "Ultimately, the cloud is more than just a piece of technology. It's changing the way we do business, the way we work, and even the way we think."

Virtual Global calls cloud computing "the biggest shift in business since the Industrial Revolution." The top ten predictions include:

1.    Cloud infrastructure commoditizes, and prices fall. cloud computing already provides a price advantage. The underlying hardware prices are decreasing as data center competition is increasing. Prices will fall, making it easier for thousands of SaaS providers to enter the market.

2.    Open standards emerge as dominant in cloud platforms. As the Platform as a Service space gains acceptance, the proprietary shakeout will give way to more open platforms in the cloud. This will simplify development, allow for more customization, and address the question of what happens to a company's applications if a cloud provider goes out of business.

3.    Homesourcing becomes mainstream. The era of the cubicle is over. Because applications and data no longer need to reside on the computers in front of us, the physical office is quickly becoming redundant.

4.    Corporate processes become decentralized. Larger companies take advantage of the decentralization made possible by cloud computing. This leads to more of outsourcing, which in turn triggers the need for more small companies to fill the need for those outsourced services.

5.    A new wave of entrepreneurship emerges. Cloud computing ushers in the next great dotcom boom, only this time things are different. Cloud computing has lowered the barriers to entry so entrepreneurs won't need to be programming wizards or venture backed. They only need an idea, ambition and a credit card.

6.    Smart phones evolve with cloud apps. Smart phones continue to gain functionality, and their reach extends further with access to wireless broadband. This makes smart phones more attractive as an actual working machine, and a tool for accessing productivity apps over the cloud for corporate use.

7.    The days of multi-million dollar enterprise software projects dwindle. Enterprise-level cloud computing apps will gradually replace huge on-premises implementations. The Platform as a Service space will become the norm, rather than exception for new software projects. The days of multi-million IT projects will eventually fall by the wayside along with the fall of ground-up Web 2.0 engineering.

8.    Cloud computing penetrates all areas of business management. Cloud applications will evolve to accommodate more mission-critical needs, delivering full-fledged management systems to the largest government agencies and corporations in the world.

9.    Big-name companies will struggle for new identities. The emergence of new cloud offerings will drive competition in the cloud infrastructure arena. Several new brands will emerge, both from established players and newcomers to the market.

10. Social networking systems will give way to collaborative management systems. The future of collaboration will be more focused on the emerging needs of mangers who are coping with increased complexity and reporting demands. The future will be less focused on social needs.

Cloud computing is here. Running applications on machines in an Internet-accessible data center can bring plenty of advantages. Yet wherever they run, applications are built on some kind of platform. For on-premises applications, this platform usually includes an operating system, some way to store data, and perhaps more. Applications running in the cloud need a similar foundation. The goal of Microsoft’s Windows Azure is to provide this. Part of the larger Azure Services Platform, Windows Azure is a platform for running Windows applications and storing data in the cloud.

Cloud computing is a style of computing in which dynamically scalable and often virtualized resources are provided as a service over the Internet. To deploy a new solution, most of your time and energy is spent on defining the right infrastructure, hardware and software, to put together to create that solution, Cloud computing allows people to share resources to solve new problems. Cloud computing users can avoid capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware, software, and services when they pay a provider only for what they use.