Cloud computing technologies have come a long way since 2009, when the U.S. government first pioneered the idea of widespread cloud computing solutions with the Cloud First Policy.

Since then, businesses and companies around the world have realized the benefits of investing in cloud hosting services. By the end of this year, businesses throughout the U.S. will have spent an astonishing $13 billion on these technologies.

And currently, about 32% of Americans say they think cloud solutions are a thing of the future — but this might be a misleading statistic, considering how much experts expect cloud computing technology to grow through the end of the decade.

In fact, it is estimated that the market for cloud computing will reach $79.1 billion by about 2018!

This is because cloud computing offers a huge number of advantages to businesses, including downsizing, cost-efficiency, energy savings, flexibility, data security, ease of use and much more. By storing information on a remote server, workers can access their projects from literally anywhere in the world, expanding opportunities for telecommuting as well.

In addition, many of the services and applications individuals use today are run on cloud technology, and it’s likely that current cloud-based services like Netflix and Google apps will be joined by a multitude of other services meant to make our lives easier and more entertaining.

So while only a little more than a quarter of Americans say they think cloud computing solutions are the future, it’s clear that cloud-based technologies will play a much bigger role in our futures than we may think.

What do you think about the predicted growth of cloud computing solutions? Has your business already switched over to cloud computing, or not yet? Share your experiences and thoughts with us in the comments below! Read this for more.