Outlook for work in the cloud is positively sunny

The latest computer megatrend, called "cloud computing," comes with the promise of lots more jobs, according to a research report commissioned by Microsoft and released Tuesday.

The report, by research firm IDC of Framingham, Mass., predicts that the more-efficient computing technology will spur 8.8 million new jobs worldwide between 2012 and year end 2015. Estimates place about 13,250 of those jobs here in the Twin Cities, according to the IDC study.

Cloud computing, which is a rent- or pay-as-you-go model for computer services, already has saved companies big bucks because it allows firms to avoid the upfront costs for computer servers, private networks and ongoing maintenance.

"Because companies are not having to spend time doing the drudge maintenance work on their computers, they can innovate," said IDC Vice President John Gantzin an interview with the Star Tribune Tuesday. "That is where the new revenues and jobs are created. These are not IT jobs."

Cloud computing has already helped create 5 million jobs worldwide as of December 2011, said Gantz, who expects the service will create a total of 13.8 million jobs and $1.1 trillion in new business revenue worldwide by 2015.

IDC estimates that half the jobs will sprout in small and medium-size firms and half in the fields of banking, communications, manufacturing and education.

Most of the job growth is not expected to be in the IT sector. Instead the jobs will come from other industries that benefit from the cloud technology, Gantz said. Under most cloud-based models, business customers hire Microsoft, Amazon.com, Salesforce.com, Google or other cloud providers to run their computer maintenance, server space, Web applications and more.

As appealing as the technology sounds, concerns about security and privacy will slow adoption of cloud computing, which relies on Internet connections. Some tightly regulated industries, such as health care, insurance and banking, are more likely to adopt private cloud computing systems that keep all data within the company, Gantz said.

So-called "public cloud computing" stores information on third-party servers, which poses security concerns for some companies.

Happy developer

For years, Dan Grigsby, a software developer and co-owner of Drivetrain Agency in Minneapolis, worked alone. But that changed two years ago after he found a cloud computing vendor.

Grigsby first put his company calendar on "the cloud," and then his e-mail and accounting. He eventually put his shared customer files on the cloud and found it easier to focus on business. Last year, he took on two partners and two employees.

Grigsby, who has been in IT for 15 years, said he can't speak to the IDC's global estimates. But he knows cloud computing has helped "my business grow exponentially."

Gantz admitted that the rise of the cloud could prompt some corporations to shrink their IT departments. Still, he predicts they won't. Gantz said that interviews with chief information officers from around the country revealed that most looked at cloud computing as a way to free up existing resources so they can work on more innovative projects, not as a way to cut positions.

The study found that 62 percent of worldwide spending on cloud services comes from the United States.

Dee DePass • 612-673-7725