Six years ago, Trend Micro Inc (趨勢科技) decided to try using an open source software to fix its technology glitches. The company was pleased with the outcome, but little did it know at the time that the technology would evolve into “cloud computing,” now a top IT trend.
“It wasn’t even called cloud computing at the time, but the solution we used solved our technical problems. The outcome surprised us,” said Oscar Chang (張偉欽), Trend Micro’s chief of development.
“Computer users found that our new anti-virus solutions took up less memory and the scanning process was faster and smoother,” Chang said of integrating cloud computing into the company’s software.
Trend Micro is a one of a handful of local firms eyeing the benefits of cloud computing, an emerging technology that allows users to access data saved on remote servers through phones or computers.
According to researcher Gartner Inc, global revenues from cloud computing services are likely to exceed US$56.3 billion this year — a 21.3 percent increase from last year’s revenue of US$46.4 billion.
The market is expected to reach US$150.1 billion in 2013.
Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), the nation’s largest telecom service provider, is putting a third of its annual NT$30 billion (NT$1 billion) in capital spending toward improving its broadband infrastructure, with a focus on cloud computing.
That will give end users faster access to the Internet and improve the function of multimedia applications on their PCs or phones, said Chunghwa Telecom’s senior managing director Chung Fu-kuei (鍾福貴).
While the nation’s markets for mobile voice services and fixed-line broadband are saturated, more people are accessing broadband through devices such as smartphones and netbooks, which could become a cash cow if Chunghwa invests in cloud computing, he said.
Although more companies are jumping on the cloud-computing bandwagon, pundits told a forum yesterday that there were key obstacles.
Information privacy and safety and overreliance on a single technology provider are problems that have yet to be resolved, said George Wang (王瑋), executive vice president of the Institute for Information Industry (資策會).
“The government should take the lead in showing the industry how to implement cloud computing successfully,” he said.
Cloud technology could be integrated into six rising industries touted by the government, he said, referring to cultural and creative industries; tourism; the medical sector; green energy; high-quality agriculture; and biotechnology.
Taking culture and creative industries as an example, he said Taiwanese firms could benefit from the e-reading sector by incorporating cloud technology.
This would allow publishers to introduce e-publications more frequently, with tech companies tailoring solutions that allow seamless content viewing on e-readers, PCs and cellphones alike, he said.
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