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2.
Differences in Pricing Policies
Differences in pricing policies are one reason for the slow take‐off and
confusion in the Cloud Computing market. There are often traditional,
conservative and inflexible pricing policies that go against the basic Cloud
principles of adaptability, flexibility and scalability. Customers make
uninformed Cloud adoption decision, and by choosing the “cheapest” or
“
simplest” offer in the market, without analysing whether or not it suits
their long term needs. Bad decisions lead to great frustrations, constituting a
bad precedent for the Cloud Computing market in general.
3.
Absence of neutral market place
The arrival and evolution of Cloud computing has been revolutionary,
especially with regards to competition in the marketplace. There is no doubt
that Cloud computing represents an enormous milestone for IT engineering.
There are, however, many elements to be improved in the Cloud computing
evolution process, in order for it to continue being as positive as it has been
so far. One of these elements is the absence of a neutral marketplace and
the consequent appearance of market monopolies.
Clearly, the rise of market monopolies in Cloud computing directly leads to
the reduction of Cloud service providers, which is counterproductive to the
markets positive evolution and growth. It would also leave customers with
fewer choices to suit their needs.
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4.
Lack of technical standardization
Cloud Computing is a relatively new market for IT engineering and IT
businesses. At this point it is impossible to generalise about providers'
implementation and quality approaches.
Since the Cloud Computing market continues to evolve, there is an evident
gap regarding best‐practice policies and the establishment of technical
standards. This lack of standard slows the take‐off of the market as it leads
to customer apprehensions and insecurities when considering Cloud
adoption.
The powerful market leaders that embrace quality and adaptability are yet
to be established. Those who manage to offer solutions with transparent
technical standards, interoperability and compatibility seem to win the
battle in the long‐term over the big historical names in the IT market.
Customers' interest and knowledge in Cloud Computing is clearly increasing
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An expanded version of this chapter can be found under
