Cloud Computing

A host of providers including Amazon, Salesforce.com, IBM, Oracle, and Microsoft are helping corporate clients use the Internet to tap into everything from extra server space to software that helps manage customer relationships. Assigning these computing tasks to some remote location—rather than, say, a desktop computer, handheld machine, or a company's own servers—is referred to collectively as cloud computing. In 10 years, which company will own the cloud computing space? By 2018, cloud computing will likely be evaluated based on three generic criteria: transactions, user experience, and presence. And as with any active market, it's a safe bet there will be plenty of companies that best showcase each of them.