Deloitte predicts cloud providers will be big winners in 2011 -- but will that cash improve the cloud offerings for us all? Cloud computing continues to be a hot topic, but not as hot as the valuation of the cloud computing companies themselves, according to a Deloitte survey: “Mergers and acquisitions are set to increase in 2011, with cloud computing companies selling for the highest price. This was the finding of Deloitte’s twice-annual survey into U.K. technology companies, which claimed to have found a rise in optimism in the market compared to six months ago.”I’m not sure this is news — it’s been feeling a bit 1998 to me for a while now. However, the dynamics of the market are different than in the Internet heydey. In this go-round, we’re creating a small, privately held cloud computing bubble, rather than one involving publicly traded firms with widely distributed stock. I suspect this bubble will inflate throughout 2011 and perhaps well into 2012, with price-to-earnings multiples hitting 10 to 15 times revenue for some hot cloud firms.[ Get the no-nonsense explanations and advice you need to take real advantage of cloud computing in InfoWorld editors’ 21-page Cloud Computing Deep Dive PDF special report. | Stay up on the cloud with InfoWorld’s Cloud Computing Report newsletter. ] The good news is that this growth will parallel the expansion of useful cloud computing, and solid benefits are already visible today in cloud-adopting enterprises. The bad news is that few of us personally can make any money in this market — most of these cloud companies will remain privately held and never go public, given the current regulatory climate.Additional good news is that venture capitalists will race to fund the cloud computing technology space. They typically move in packs, and the pack now smells profit in the cloud. Their cash will fuel more cloud growth, which may end up resulting in more and better cloud services. However, the bad news is all hyped spaces come to an end, and the bubble will quickly deflate at some point, though I don’t think this one will burst.This article, “Money race could strengthen cloud computing,” originally appeared at InfoWorld.com. Read more of David Linthicum’s Cloud Computing blog and follow the latest developments in cloud computing at InfoWorld.com. Cloud Computing