In many ways, the proliferation of cloud computing is influencing decision-makers to reevaluate their infrastructure and implement innovative tools that can optimize server performance and boost the availability of mission-critical resources.

In general, the emergence of private and public cloud computing is changing how CIOs and other decision-makers look at business operations.

Despite the widely acknowledged benefits associated with using cloud computing services in the workplace, including the ability to reduce costs and augment operations, many decision-makers were initially turned away from the cloud because of its public nature.

The advent of social, mobile and cloud computing technologies has given rise to the increased demand for innovative software that can strengthen operations and potentially reduce costs in today's tough economy.

As decision-makers increasingly turn to cloud computing to improve operations and reduce expenses, they are becoming confident in the technology and are investing more into the services.

While reducing costs is one of the most commonly touted benefits of cloud computing, decision-makers throughout the private sector often fail to understand the financial advantages of using the technology.

While cloud computing continues to gain momentum in and outside the workplace, the underlying concept behind the hosted services is not entirely new.

Although cloud computing is gaining momentum in the private sector, the term "cloud" has come to encapsulate a variety of technological initiatives.

Cloud computing is on its way to becoming the technology with the most impact on the business world, especially as decision-makers gain more confidence in the hosted services and recognize their true underlying potential.

While the cloud had a phenomenal year in 2012, 2013 is also expected to be a big year for the technology, especially as more decision-makers adopt the hosted service and become more familiar with its benefits.