I'm at the Structure 2010 conference, where panelists on the "Cloudonomics: Economics of the Cloud" session were focused on what they are seeing happening in the cloud, from their customers' perspectives.Some of the more interesting topics at the session were:

Evolving Cloud Computing Value Proposition While cost still continues to be the primary reason for enterprises to think about deploying this model, it's no longer the only reason. The benefits and value are starting to sink in with enterprises. As organizations look to remain competitive, a highly scalable, flexible, and on-demand IT environment is critical. The pertinent question is how to start the process of transforming the IT environment, and what applications and workloads can effectively and efficiently benefit from cloud. Changing CIO & IT Roles Many panelists pointed out that the disconnect between IT and line-of-business (LOB) managers continues to be challenging. IT is really not aware of who is using public cloud services and therefore, doesn't really see the need for deploying a cloud computing model that will deliver the features and functionalities that LOB managers are turning to the public cloud for. No "One-Size Fits All" The question is not about one cloud or the other, but about having the right mix. I've written before about this topic. The problem is that the solutions today are not focusing on the specific needs of the business. In order to help an enterprise choose the right model, it's necessary to understand what the business needs are. It may not be about cost efficiency more than it is about high performance or scalability. Transformation Of The Data Center Enterprises looking to leverage their IT environments for competitive advantage are, in fact, beginning to transform their data centers to deliver more resources and overall cost efficiencies through cloud computing models. The market now realizes that it is not a "one cloud fits all" world. Individual enterprises have unique needs which must be understood before a solution can be chosen that fits their needs. This requires a combination of technological and business acumen, as well as an understanding of the enterprise's specific vertical.

Virtualization and cloud computing have taken over the mantle of hottest technology that only a few years ago was held by unified communications, but that doesn't mean it's easy to align the cloud with UC--or any major initiative, for that matter. Download our report here (registration required).