The question and the answers show just how much confusion there is around this subject. Cloud Computing and SaaS are not two totally different concepts. The point about all SaaS not being created equal is correct - many on-premise vendors have simply re-purposed on-premise technology, hosted it themselves or with a third-party and provided it via the internet - just because software is hosted and provided via the Internet does not make it Cloud Computing.
Cloud Computing comes in 3 primary flavors; Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Popular examples, in order, include: Amazon EC2, Force.com, and Google Apps. These technologies are consumed and delivered 'as a Service' via the Internet, multitenant, scalable, elastic based on use (metered), and shared. These technologies offer increased functionality, improved performance, and better security than on-premise solutions.
Economics, not technology, dictates that Cloud Computing will continue to become the primary way IT services are delivered and consumed. IT is a general purpose technology - it will continue to move to a utility model (i.e. electricity).
Cloud Computing is not a niche or buzzword but already the dominate paradigm in which people interact with IT services. Google.com, Amazon, eBay, GMail, Yahoo Mail, etc. are absolutely based on new technologies and are not a sales technique (the "Private Cloud" terminology is a selling technique for on-premise technologies namely virtualization). These technologies which started with consumers are now taking hold in business. Salesforce.com is $1B company and growing; Los Angeles, the country's second largest city, just moved to Google Apps; Amazon Web Services consumes more resources than Amazon.com; and the move by MSFT, the world's leading on-premise software manufacturer, to offer Cloud services with the Business Productivity Online Suite and Azure clearly shows where the industry is heading. It would be prudent to begin to develop skills on one of these new platforms immediately.
IT services are not a core competency of most businesses, the business exists to provide some other good or service. They will not continue to dedicate internal IT resources as alternatives gain in mind share. Until recently firms have had no other choice than to provide IT services with internal resources - this is no longer the most efficient or economical option. Cloud computing is not around the corner, it is already here.
Ultimately all IT services will be Cloud Computing. The dominate Cloud Computing vendors are already well established and they will continue to take market share from client/server vendors. However, client/server vendors will not disappear overnight, IBM is still alive and kicking from the mainframe days, but their relevance and influence within IT has clearly peaked.
Cloud Computing comes in 3 primary flavors; Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS). Popular examples, in order, include: Amazon EC2, Force.com, and Google Apps. These technologies are consumed and delivered 'as a Service' via the Internet, multitenant, scalable, elastic based on use (metered), and shared. These technologies offer increased functionality, improved performance, and better security than on-premise solutions.
Economics, not technology, dictates that Cloud Computing will continue to become the primary way IT services are delivered and consumed. IT is a general purpose technology - it will continue to move to a utility model (i.e. electricity).
Cloud Computing is not a niche or buzzword but already the dominate paradigm in which people interact with IT services. Google.com, Amazon, eBay, GMail, Yahoo Mail, etc. are absolutely based on new technologies and are not a sales technique (the "Private Cloud" terminology is a selling technique for on-premise technologies namely virtualization). These technologies which started with consumers are now taking hold in business. Salesforce.com is $1B company and growing; Los Angeles, the country's second largest city, just moved to Google Apps; Amazon Web Services consumes more resources than Amazon.com; and the move by MSFT, the world's leading on-premise software manufacturer, to offer Cloud services with the Business Productivity Online Suite and Azure clearly shows where the industry is heading. It would be prudent to begin to develop skills on one of these new platforms immediately.
IT services are not a core competency of most businesses, the business exists to provide some other good or service. They will not continue to dedicate internal IT resources as alternatives gain in mind share. Until recently firms have had no other choice than to provide IT services with internal resources - this is no longer the most efficient or economical option. Cloud computing is not around the corner, it is already here.
Ultimately all IT services will be Cloud Computing. The dominate Cloud Computing vendors are already well established and they will continue to take market share from client/server vendors. However, client/server vendors will not disappear overnight, IBM is still alive and kicking from the mainframe days, but their relevance and influence within IT has clearly peaked.
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