As the end of 2012 approaches, there is one clear takeaway about the cloud computing market — enterprise use has arrived. Cloud use is no longer solely hiding in the shadows, IT departments are no longer denying it’s happening in their company, and legitimate budgeting around cloud is now taking place. According to the latest Forrsights surveys, nearly half of all enterprises in North America and Europe will set aside budget for private cloud investments in 2013 and nearly as many software development managers are planning to deploy applications to the cloud.

So what does that mean for the coming year? In short, cloud use in 2013 will get real. “We can stop speculating, hopefully stop cloudwashing, and get down to the real business of incorporating cloud services and platforms into our formal IT portfolios,” blogs Analyst James Staten. “As we get real about cloud, we will institute some substantial changes in our cultures and approaches to cloud investments.” 

For the full list of Forrester’s 2013 cloud predictions, continue reading James Staten’s blog here.