The cloud goes critical in 2018: Deep learning, smart cloud infrastructure, and more

From cut-throat competition, eyebrow-raising co-opetition, and major advances in cloud-based machine learning, 2017 was a pivotal - and productive - year for the cloud, setting the stage for what looks likely to be the most exciting year yet. The market swing is already in full force. Thanks to a full-fledged embrace by the enterprise, the cloud is undergoing dramatic transformation as vendors rush to meet the infrastructure and business needs of today's top companies. According to Gartner, the overall market likely grew by close to 20 percent in 2017, and IaaS in particular saw close to 40 percent growth. With digital transformation at the top of every executive's mind, it's likely that this trend will only accelerate.