The 2012 winners for the annual Cloud Awards Program have been announced today.

Cloud computing is a field of IT and computer systems where services are typically offered remotely as a service, as opposed to within the organization’s own firewall. Judged among almost 200 entries, the final winners represent "the best of the best in their fields."

The annual cloud computing awards program, open internationally across the US and EMEA regions, recognizes and celebrates industry leaders and pioneers in the field of cloud computing. Categories include B2B Customer Strategy, Best Cloud Infrastructure, Data Innovation of the Year, Developer of the Year, Most Promising Start-Up, Best Platform as a Service, Security Innovation, Best Software as a Service and Web Services Excellence.

Cloud Awards organizer Larry Johnson said: "Almost 200 organizations entered the program, which is among the first of its kind. We were swamped by entries, and the standard was remarkably high. Judging the submissions was a challenging task. But we’re happy to endorse all of the winners as among the best of the best in their respective fields.

Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/2012-cloud-computing-award-winners-announced-2012-01-10