"Much like the "100% paperless" or "100% wireless" enterprise, we're not likely to see a ‘100% public cloud,'" noted Willie Tejada, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Cloud at Akamai Technologies, Inc., in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. However, Tejada does believe that "we will continue to see enterprises adopting a variety of cloud models - public, private and hybrid - according to the computing, budget, and delivery needs of their business."

Cloud Computing Journal: How fast will the last remaining barriers to enterprise-wide cloud adoption melt away - are secure public clouds feasible, for example, or only private ones?

Willie Tejada: Much like the "100% paperless" or "100% wireless" enterprise, we're not likely to see a "100% public cloud" enterprise. It's more likely that a best-in-breed mixture of traditional and cloud methodology will emerge as a standard. But it's important to note that the reason isn't likely to be security concerns, or performance concerns or any of the traditional barriers to cloud computing we hear so much about. Those barriers are already falling away. In fact, there are highly secure, highly performing public cloud solutions being used by enterprises every day.

I believe we will continue to see enterprises adopting a variety of cloud models - public, private and hybrid - according to the computing, budget, and delivery needs of their business. These fundamental requirements will drive the decision about where to build and host tomorrow's enterprise applications.

Cloud Computing Journal: What is the biggest new dimension of consumer cloud computing? Is it Cloud Telecoms, Cloud TV, Cloud Music, or what?

Tejada: I believe that the consumer cloud will not come to be dominated by a single element, say music or TV or movies, but rather by a broader category of cloud entertainment. With the increasing popularity of tablet computers, we'll continue seeing users demand instant accessibility to a nearly unlimited supply of books, music, movies, TV, games and other content.

In the area of video entertainment, for example, the industry is working diligently through efforts such as TV Everywhere and Ultraviolet to ensure that performance, rights management and security are in place to provide an optimal user experience while at the same time protecting the investment and intellectual property rights of the content producers. Consumer clouds will be an integral factor in connecting the multi-device lifestyles we live with into a seamless computing experience.

Cloud Computing Journal: How much of an influence on cloud adoption is the US Government's continuing support of cloud strategies for all government agencies?

Tejada: The impact cannot be denied. The US government has not simply given its blessing for cloud computing, but has told its agencies that cloud is the preferred platform for computing whenever feasible. That kind of directive has a direct impact on adoption within both the public and private sector. Companies that want to do business with the Federal Government as well as organizations that may have been skeptical about cloud security and/or performance now have a "seal of approval" to get their cloud strategies in place.


Willie Tejada keynotes on Day 3 at 9th Cloud Expo in Silicon Valley, CA

Cloud Computing Journal: What impact does the arrival of Microsoft, Oracle, Dell, IBM, Cisco and the other giants have on the smaller cloud players?

Tejada: Cloud computing offers numerous opportunities to vendors of all sizes. As we've seen more than once, enterprises task vendors of all shapes and sizes to help meet their computing requirements. We'll see the same dynamics in the cloud computing realm.

There will be some consolidation, and we'll see some vendors find their niche and we'll see the industry continue to evolve as vendors find their natural markets and target customers. What's interesting is that many of the larger industry players are embracing the larger cloud computing eco-system. For example, many open source collaborations directed at enabling cloud computing are today backed by the major industry players. They know they're part of the solution, but at the same time they're not trying to monopolize or single source it. I believe this will lead to a truly functional and scalable mixture of the right technologies for the enterprise consumer.

Cloud Computing Journal: What did Cloud Expo attendees see from you in Santa Clara last week?

Tejada: Attendees saw the different ways Akamai can help them achieve the most from their cloud computing strategy. Akamai plays a role in almost every facet of cloud computing. Our intelligent platform is, we believe, integral to enabling enterprise class cloud computing control, performance, availability, and scalability. And as part of the event's conference program, I discussed all the methods of cloud computing that are popular today, their challenges, and how Akamai can help provide unified control and strong value across all of them.