Cloud term to 'lose usefulness' by 2020

The word on everyone's lips could be an anachronism before the end of this decade, says Forrester

Cloud computing may vanish from the IT vernacular as quickly as it emerged, according to Forrester.

The analyst says the terms cloud and mobility will have "lost their usefulness" by 2020 as they become victims of their own ubiquity.

This is one of several predictions made by Forrester as it examined how the technology landscape will change over the coming decade.

"[The two terms] will be so ingrained in business culture that the need for distinction will have faded from conversation," said principal analyst Phil Murphy.

"Large-scale, on-premises computing will be the exception, no longer the rule. The security, data privacy, multi-tenancy and pricing roadblocks that surround these platforms will have been solved, creating whole new opportunities and threats."

Murphy added that software will be "everywhere; embedded in everything" by 2020.

"Virtually everything will be programmable and interactive with the environment around it. Roads, buildings, traffic, clothing – you won't so much carry a computing device as wear one/become one, enabling you, through software, to interact with your environment," he concluded.