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Platform-as-a-Service, a core layer of cloud computing, will be driving the future of the cloud, according to a report from IT research firm Gartner. PaaS is the layer of the cloud that contains all application infrastructure services, eWeek said, and Gartner said all major vendors will have PaaS offerings by the end of 2013.

Although cost savings and the use of new technology are great reasons for moving to a cloud computing solution, Robert Youngjohns, president of Microsoft North Amerca, told a room full of IT vendors that business should be what drives companies into the cloud instead of any of the flash and frills, according to the Tampa Bay Business Journal.

After Bangalore, India-based Aditi purchased a Seattle cloud computing startup, Pradeep Rathinam, Aditi's CEO, spoke with InforamtionWeek and said he believes that most of the enterprise apps will be in the cloud soon.

Keeping in line with the rest of the U.S. government, the Army is looking to make its first move into cloud computing. The Army recently gave a five-year, $250 million contract for an Army Private Cloud, or APC2, to multiple providers.

With a volatile market and many companies looking to reduce the amount of money they pay and increase efficiency, many Wall Street firms are starting to look at what cloud computing could bring them, according to Wall Street and Tech.

While moving to cloud computing could be a great way for businesses to make the next push into technology, Neil Glentworth, managing director of Glentworth, writes on Dynamic Business that companies should take their time when making the move into the cloud.

One outsourcing company believes that cloud computing will play an extremely important role in 2012. Logica CIO David King called the cloud "the railway of the 21st century," saying just as the railways made it easy to move around the country, the cloud will make it easier for companies to share information across the world.

As far as Alan Priestley, strategic marketing director of EMEA, is concerned, 2012 will be the year of cloud computing. He writes on ZDnet that the cloud barriers companies faced last year should dissipate, resulting in more widespread adoption of the technology.

With $100,000 in funding, two doctorate candidates at Indiana University Bloomington's School of informatics and Computing will look to study cloud computing and bioinformatics. The funding came from Persistent Systems, and each student will get half of the total to fund the work in their field.

Although some businesses think the more agility a cloud solution provides, the more it will cost, Bernard Golden writes on Network World that cost and flexibility are not mutually exclusive, and both can be had within the cloud.