Cloud services represent another way to go vertical
BT is already targeting four specific markets -- financial markets, global commerce, consumer package goods, government and health care -- developing specific knowledge of those industries and using that knowledge to create industry-specific services. Verizon, which has created business units around key verticals such as the health care industry, is also creating industry-specific cloud services. This is one area in which network service providers can distinguish themselves from Web-based offers, although they will face competition here from large systems integrators, and have to invest in industry-specific expertise to succeed:

Mobility and cloud services are a natural fit
As more mobile users need access to data from smartphones and tablets, putting that data in the cloud makes sense. But the real winners are the companies that not only provide access to the data but also have the ability to use that data in meaningful ways, and combine with other capabilities such as presence and policy. This only gets more compelling as machine-to-machine (M2M) communications takes hold, says Verizon's Chris Geselle. (See Verizon Biz Supports 'Bring Your Own Device' ). There are many partnership options for cloud services
Even the smallest of service providers can get into cloud relatively quickly, because there are a lot of companies eager to help. At the Carrier Cloud Forum, firms such as Parallels Holdings Ltd. , AppDirect and CHR Solutions Inc. were on hand to share expertise, and we'll have more on their efforts in coming days. (See Charter Clouds Up For SMBs.)

Still very early days for cloud, change is on the way
Security, particularly for customer data, is critical, but so are a range of service-level agreements (SLAs) for availability, performance and other characteristics yet to develop. Cloud needs to remain on-demand and pay-as-you-go, but beyond that will likely evolve in many different directions:

Previous page: Too Soon for Standards?

— Carol Wilson, Chief Editor, Events, Light Reading