Cloud Computing Will Create More Jobs than the Internet

Good read. Atleast im in the right place at the right time for once.

Yes Virginia -- Cloud Computing Will Create More Jobs than the Internet! - Forbes

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MacGuffin

I agree that if this is true then my future just got a lot brighter. What I am skeptical about is the job creation claims. I'm relatively certain that there will be a short "burst" of jobs as the concept of cloud computing catches on. I'm just not sure this will last long term. This "cloud" thing might just be a fad. There's a number of things I can think of that could disrupt this rush to the "cloud", the primary disruptions being economic and technologic.

veritas_libertas

The article was written by SAP. That is something you need to keep in mind when reading it.

Overview | Cloud Computing | SAP

Zartanasaurus

Unless I missed it, the article isn't claiming cloud computing will create more IT jobs.

WafflesAndRootbeer

Unless we get national broadband just about everywhere in fly over country, it won't be a boon to the job market. End of story.

erpadmin

Zartanasaurus wrote: »

Unless I missed it, the article isn't claiming cloud computing will create more IT jobs.

I also didn't see a comparison on how many jobs were created outside of the US, compared to the 80,000 jobs created in the US.

I'm going to have to do some homework on this and other cloud-related issues such as data governance.

ptilsen

I have to reject the very premise of the statement. It's like saying "Compact cars will create more jobs than roads." The claim is invalid because you cannot attribute many, if any jobs to compact cars that are not equally attributable to roads, if not more so. Similarly, claiming that an almost 100% Internet-reliant "technology" will create more jobs than the technology upon which it relies is invalid. The "cloud" is an application of the Internet, not a technology which can be compared and contrasted to the Internet.

Even if I get past the semantics, it is a stretch to say cloud computing will truly create jobs. If the cloud replaces traditional infrastructure services, it will simply move the jobs of the professionals developing, designing, and supporting it. If it makes other organizations more efficient or profitable in some way, it will almost certainly be as a result of decreased staffing needs. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, per se -- more efficiency is almost always a good thing, even if it costs jobs. However, I have to reject any claims that more cloud implementations will have an immediate or short-term increase in employment.

MacGuffin

If I understand the claim made in the article the claim for more jobs will come from the lowered barrier to entry for small businesses. These businesses will be able to get started with lower costs, be able to grow quickly because of the lowered costs, and continue to grow quickly because of the lowered costs. This will allow jobs to be created that otherwise could not in a pre-cloud economy.

Think of this as a comparison to the development of steam power. Before steam power we had only wind power, beasts of burden, and the sweat of our own brow. Once steam got started the costs of moving just about everything just went down. This meant all kinds of jobs that cost too much before could now exist. This meant that people that were training horses and oxen were now doing other work more directly related to producing product. People that were shoveling manure before were now shoveling coal, two very similar tasks but one produced more valuable output than the other.

This is what I believe they claim is happening right now. That the cloud is some kind of game changing technology that will make a shift in the economy. A shift that like steam power will make us all more productive since we've been freed from some of the mundane IT and clerical tasks that we had before.

I'm not sure I believe the claim, I'm just thinking this is what the claim is being made.