Zev

Google and IBM are the leaders when it comes to cloud computing, according to a recent survey of developers from market research firm Evans Data.

The twice yearly Evans Cloud Development Survey found that 40 percent of software developers picked Google as the top player in public cloud computing, while roughly 30 percent picked IBM as the best private cloud provider. The survey queried more than 400 software developers at the end of June 2010.

"Most developers expect to be in a hybrid situation going forward with respect to application deployment in the cloud," said Janel Garvin, CEO, Evans Data, in a statement. "And these two vendors are perceived of as best filling the two main requirements for either public or private clouds; i.e., security and reliability. With no other vendors even cloud in perceived leadership, it's likely that we'll see IBM and Google dominating the cloudscape for the foreseeable future."

The Evans Data survey comes on the heels of a report from research firm BTC Logic that listed Amazon and IBM as the top cloud providers.

Evans Data found that developers perceive Google as the leader when it comes to setup, infrastructure and application management in public clouds. The developers surveyed felt similarly about IBM and how those attributes play in its private cloud offerings, Evans Data found.

According to Evans Data, developers also found that the ability to move applications between public and private clouds is becoming increasingly important, and ability to move from the public cloud to the private cloud is especially important.

Along with highlighting that Google and IBM are leading the cloud computing charge, Evans Data also found that 80 percent of developers surveyed found that it's important for cloud providers to give 100 percent backward compatibility as their cloud infrastructure matures. Additionally, 60 percent of developers are concerned with government geographical restrictions with cloud deployments. Lastly, the majority of developers agreed that better encryption is the most sought after security improvement for public cloud computing.