TBR's Cloud Developer Report: Cloud Decision-Making Will Become Collaborative

By Christine Kern, contributing writer

In its recent Cloud Developer Report, Technology Business Research (TBR) predicts “the traditional developer-based decision-making process for bringing cloud computing into a business will become a group decision as executive, IT, and line-of-business teams collaborate more during the process over the next two years.”

TBR points out that, to date, vendors have focused on attracting developers to help create a competitive edge. But with the decision-making shifting beyond developers, executives and IT will join in on cloud computing decisions.

A ZDNet article comments, “It’s all a matter of achieving the right balance in this new team approach. If the business side has too much sway over cloud decisions, they may become over-dependent on a single vendor, thus subjecting the enterprise to lock-in.” Developers, on the other hand, can help maintain some independence from vendors.

TBR Senior Analyst Jilian Mirandi explained in the press release announcing the report, “Developers are a critical part of cloud ecosystems, expanding, customizing, and filling in portfolio gaps.”

“Cloud platform vendors will have to speak not only to developers who crave the best technology, APIs, and automation, but also to executives who require profitability and IT decision makers who will demand more security,” she added.

The Cloud Developer Report underscores the market opportunity that exists for platform providers and partners, examining nine platforms and providing insights into the development platform landscape. The study also presents key platform attributes and their impact on platform selection.