Arguably 2014 is already turning out to be a big year for cloud. Some have even called it "The Year of the Cloud." Cloud implementation continues to play an essential role in overall IT strategy:

• A recent report says 80% of cloud adopters saw improvements within 6 months of moving to the cloud.

• According to the recent Future of Cloud Computing Survey, "organizations average 52% current use of applications that advance business priorities -underscoring the increasing value placed by organizations on facilitating the delivery of services beyond IT via the cloud."

• More than half of respondents in the same survey cited business agility (54.5%) and scalability (54.3%) as the main drivers for cloud adoption.

In today's business landscape, a variety of organizations and industries are embracing cloud as a way to make areal differencein their business.

Cisco is committed to helping our customers evolve their business and take advantage of the latest transformations in IT.  We are starting to see the results of that commitment. This is evident by the way that our customers have embraced UCS, as proved by being named#1 in blade server market share, and recently with Synergy Research naming Cisco#1 in cloud infrastructure equipment market share to deploy their cloud strategy.

So, what does Cisco being named the#1 cloud infrastructure provider mean for you?

The steady increase of cloud infrastructure equipment sales is representative of a shift in the marketplace. We've seen an increase in cloud infrastructure sales geared to service providers who in turn, sell cloud infrastructure services to their end customers. This means that both service providers and end-customers are reaping the benefits of a best-of-the-breed cloud infrastructure. These benefits include the elasticity of hybrid cloud computing environments, increased business agility, reduced costs and more.

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The fact that Synergy Research Group's report named us the top provider of cloud infrastructure to service providers (to create public cloud services) and enterprises (for private cloud) means that we have the best infrastructure to build from. It's enabling enterprises and providers alike to differentiate their business.

One of the main drivers in Synergy's report is our compute and networking offerings, which speaks to the combination of Cisco UCS and Cisco Nexus. This is significant because it speaks to the integration of cloud infrastructure rather than just the pieces of it.

Overall, our sustained market share growth is validation that our customers recognize thereal differencein cloud infrastructure. Deploying holistic solutions over a converged infrastructure that combines a hardware and software approach will continue to make the difference, now and in the future.

VisitCloud Executive Perspectivesto learn more about how our best-in-class cloud infrastructure can help your business.  

Additional Resources:

• Want to hear Cisco's POV on the top 5 questions about the Future of Cloud? Read the blog by Cisco's Dr. Gee Rittenhouse.
• Find out more about GigaOM and North Bridge Venture Partner's (methodology) 2013 Future of Cloud Computing Survey Results
• 2014 Future of Cloud Computing 4th Annual Survey Results -Look Out For The Second Cloud Front via Michael J. Skok
• View the SlideShare: 2014 Future of Cloud Computing Survey Results
• Read the article: 20 cloud computing statistics every CIO should know by Jack Woods, SiliconANGLE
• Read the blog: Cisco UCS Blades#1 -Time in a Bottle (ne Blog) by Cisco's Thomas Cloyd
• Check out the press release: Cisco Holds off HP in Leadership Battle for Cloud Infrastructure
• Subscribe to Cisco's Data Center and Cloud Blog Channel.
• Learn how  Cisco Unified Computing Servers (UCS) and Cisco Nexus can help you meet your data center needs.