This holiday season there are many reasons for businesses to be thankful for managed service providers that offer cloud solutions, especially when it comes to application development.

The appeal of private cloud platforms for mission-critical business applications is growing.

There has been a lot of talk surrounding cloud-based technologies over the past few years, and the need for IT infrastructure and those who oversee it to be ready for the complex data demands that lie ahead. According to a new projection by Cisco, cloud talk will only become more abundant in the ensuing years. Fifty-one percent of server workloads are expected migrate to the cloud, as opposed to 49 percent remaining in traditional IT systems by 2014.

As cloud computing grows in popularity among businesses both large and small, so too does the debate over which platform is most cost-effective and feasible for launching applications.

Cloud service providers have saved businesses a lot of money with their solutions. Renewed focus on U.S. government IT, especially the procurement system, has many federal technology professionals eyeing the cloud to reduce costs.