Adopting the Cloud – has the chasm been crossed?

In May last year, I wrote a blog entitled “Crossing the Chasm – does it require A Bridge Too Far” when I referred to an article in Wikipedia on Crossing the Chasm: Marketing and Selling High-Tech Products to Mainstream Customers a marketing book by Geoffrey A. Moore that focuses on the specifics of marketing high tech products during the early start up period.
I was attempting to illustrate how the principal expounded in that article applied to Cloud Computing and where the adoption of Cloud technology was positioned in the Technology Adoption Cycle:
Looking back at this some 15 months later I find that the position on Cloud Technology is somewhat mixed – in some areas, I have no doubt that it is well into the early majority stage. I recently attended the Cloud Computing World Forum at Olympia where it was obvious from the technology on show that, in some areas, the Cloud has become a multi billion dollar industry,Microsoft – at that forum – stated that currently 70% of their developers are working on cloud technology – by the end of the year it will be 90%. If that isn’t a statement of intent then nothing is!

However, when I look at other areas – such as the accountancy profession, the needle of progress is very firmly stuck in the early adopter segment, and I am not entirely certain as to what side of the chasm it is positioned. There are a number of enlightened accountancy practices that have adopted the Cloud and have appreciated the advantages it brings to adding value to client services.

There are many more, however, who are firmly stuck in the 20th Century and to whom the Cloud is of no relevance – it will be interesting to see how this position changes over the next 15 months.