A recent TechNavio report predicts that the global government cloud computing market will grow by an average annual rate of 6.2 percent through 2016 as governments began moving their data onto the cloud.

The report pinpointed governments’ need to reduce costs, noting this as a major driver behind the transition to efficient cloud-based technologies. But, TechNavio added, concerns about the data’s security are preventing governments from moving more quickly into the space.

In that regard, governments are not terribly different from a variety of entities looking to move toward cloud-based technologies. The “State of the Cloud” survey from technology company DCW noted that about half of responding U.S. organizations — businesses, education, government, etc. — still cited security concerns as the biggest barrier to entry. But that is a big change from previous surveys, DCW mentions, when security was a dominant roadblock. Now, industries also list concerns about technological problems with integration, or whether cloud services will deliver their promised efficiencies.

For U.S. state and local government, the No. 1 use for cloud services is storage, with nearly 20 percent of surveyed organizations primarily using the cloud to hold data — businesses and educational organizations reported storage as their No. 1, as well. Federal government groups, by contrast, primarily used it for conferencing and collaborating.

In international governments, TechNavio reports that U.S. vendors dominate the cloud computing market; Amazon.com, IBM Corp., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp. and Salesforce.com Inc. are the top players. Cloud is even trickling down into smaller businesses abroad. In the high-growth, emerging market of India, Technavio puts the average annual growth rate between 16 and 25 percent, thanks to huge demand for greater efficiency.

Given the levels of cloud adoption on all sides, demand is increasing for more data specialists and a greater focus on training cloud technology. Some areas are already feeling the squeeze. A December 2012 white paper from Microsoft notes that cloud-related skills represent nearly all the growth opportunities in IT employment worldwide, and demand for positions will grow by 26 percent annually through 2015. But IT hiring managers report that they failed to fill the 1.7 million open jobs in 2012 because job-seekers didn’t have the necessary training and certification.

The white paper mentions that Microsoft itself is hoping to change that, reinventing its certification programs to directly address technology’s increasing evolution to the cloud. In addition, the company is changing programs such as Microsoft IT Academy, which provides high school and college students with technology-based skills, and Microsoft Virtual Academy, a program that connects IT professionals with free, self-paced training resources, to educate future IT workers employed in cloud computing.

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