The levels of hype around cloud computing in the IT industry are "deafening," with every vendor expounding its cloud strategy and variations - such as private cloud computing and hybrid approaches - compounding the hype, according to Gartner.
"Longer-term, beyond the five-year horizon, RFID, 3-D printing, context-delivery architectures, mobile robots and human augmentation will be transformational across a range of industries," she added. While cloud computing may be at its pinnacle of hype, Fenn notes that it is one of a number of "potentially transformational technologies" - including Web 2.0, Internet TV, virtual worlds and service-oriented architecture (SOA) - that will become mainstream in the next five years.
"Technologies at the 'Peak of Inflated Expectations' during 2009 include cloud computing, e-books (such as from Amazon and Sony) and Internet TV (for example, Hulu), while social software and microblogging sites (such as Twitter) have tipped over the peak and will soon experience disillusionment among enterprise users," said Jackie Fenn, vice president and Gartner fellow, and co-author of the book "Mastering the Hype Cycle." The "Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies" is the longest-running annual Hype Cycle, according to Gartner, "providing a cross-industry perspective on the technologies and trends that IT managers should consider in developing emerging-technology portfolios." This Hype Cycle features technologies that are the focus of attention in the IT industry because of particularly high levels of hype, or those that may not be broadly acknowledged but that Gartner believes have the potential for significant impact. Each Hype Cycle provides a snapshot of key technologies and trends in a specific technology, topic, geographic region or industry domain, according to Gartner. In "Gartner's Hype Cycle Special Report for 2009," the Stamford, Conn.-based IT research and advisory firm analyzes the maturity of 1,650 technologies in 79 technology, topic and industry areas.