Industry analysts at IDC figure that if largely cloud-based things like mobile apps, big data, and social media are counted, over the next six years almost 90 percent of new spending on Internet and communications technologies, a $5 trillion global business, will be on cloud-based technology. - Mitchell Tsai

Amazon and Google won’t say how many servers they run in linked data centers around the world, but estimates are as high as 10 million computer servers, for each. Microsoft’s Azure service runs close to one million servers. - Mitchell Tsai

And the scale at which the big companies operate creates all sorts of advantages. “We see folks at traditional computing companies, and we can’t even have the same conversation anymore,” said David Campbell, who oversees technology at Azure. “They’re just not learning what we do about power and software when we get past one million servers.” - Mitchell Tsai

Google has developed its own semiconductors optimized for the cloud, executives say, while Amazon has in at least one case re-engineered how a 50-megawatt power substation feeds one of its computing centers. - Mitchell Tsai

Take data storage, now as low as a penny a gigabyte on AWS. That is about one-hundredth of its cost when AWS began. That kind of price collapse is about six times faster than posited by Moore’s Law, ...twice as much capability every 18 to 24 months. - Mitchell Tsai

“Now you can get microprocessors for 25 cents that have a network connection to the cloud, where computing systems can understand context, and how to optimize behavior,” Mr. Campbell said. “We’ll create an amazing amount of economic value.” - Mitchell Tsai

He added: “Historically, we’ve been in a world where computing was a scarce resource. Now it is moving to being an abundant resource. Anybody who claims to have a crystal ball about where this is heading is kidding themselves.” - Mitchell Tsai