Finally, lets consider the Open Source movement as a separate part of the cloud. The reason for separating it out is that really it’s all about program code and the cloud itself is a downstream thing:
- Open Source Web Engines (aaS): The software ecosystem first became of age (imho) with Firefox and its large population of plug-ins. Now we can add Wordpress, Drupal and Joomla, all of them web engines that also provide a wealth of plug-ins that truly qualify as an ecosystem. These products, and many others, are usually available ready loaded on any web hosting site. Associated web sites give you access to the plug-ins.
- Program Code (aaS): There are hundreds of thousands of projects on SourceForge, all containing free source code (free as long as you abide by the associated license) that you can download and use. It’s a shared resource that is used by many developers to cut development times, and it may not be intended as an open code library, but it is undoubtedly used as one by some programmers.
If we look at the whole picture here (I doubt I’ve included everything), it’s clear that the IT industry has become very “cloudy”. Also, irrespective of the success of any particular company I’ve mentioned, it’s hard to imagine that these different categories of cloud activity will not all continue to grow. I don’t even think that anyone disputes that all the movement is into the cloud. What is not clear is what it will look like when the full migration has occurred.
Note: Also relevant to this article is Vertica: Revolution in the Database World? which discusses a new product that delivers data warehouse as a service.
You may also be interested in these articles:
The PC, The Cloud, RIA and the Future
What is Cloud Computing? 10 Defining Points
What Is Cloud Computing Exactly?
How Open Source Will Prosper in the Cloud
The Cloud: Massively Scaled SaaS and PC App Migration
Why Corporate Computing is Destined for the Cloud
Microsoft: Following Google Into The Cloud
Serena: Taking the Cloud Seriously
The Cloud Client: Why Google Chrome Will Dominate
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It is exciting that so many as a Service(aaS) companies are emerging, however, I am curious if all these companies can be successful. There are so many challenges that face aaS companies: customizing their solution, billing, and monetizing their service; how can all these companies overcome these challenges? Can they all overcome these challenges and be successful?
I have heard of a few resources to support aaS companies, such as eVapt (www.eVapt.com); do you know of other resources that will help truly help “everything” become aaS?
Biggest challenge for aaS company is getting economies of scale.
There are some hosting operations such as Jamcracker, that specialize in aaS type operations, but I’v enot looked at the field in depth.
IaaS or Content as a Service is interesting. I believe the business model shouldn’t just be through advertisements — companies should look into premium content as well.
Well, to tell the truth,I simply emphasized the free aspects of this. Iaas for $ is already a thriving business. Much of what StrikeIron provides is access to information for a fee.
SaaS, MSPs, and other ‘function rentals’ are all growing in popularity – classically most business focus on ‘buying’ and ’selling’ items/services. On the ’sell’ side almost everyone would agree that salesforce.com has won and that even Seibel, who’s well know reputation of ‘under delivering’ on it’s functionality promises fueled sf.com’s success, is now OnDemand as they say. On the ‘buy’ side various purchasing SaaS plays are predominant with Ariba offering either customer adoption methodology.
However, I think when looked at from a true business/finance perspective many client’s may wish to ask whether this ‘function being rented’ – CRM, Email Messaging, Information Security, ERP, etc, etc – will be needed temporarily by the business or more likely for the next 10 to 20 years. If so then one might imagine that the recurring cost model of renting the function will be less cost efficient than bringing this function in house.
This post resonates well with what I have been seeing with regard to the shifting meaning of the phrase “Digital Divide”. I’ve blogged about this at:
http://theanthrogeek.wordpress.com/2008/07/05/the-digital-sub-divide/
What I found was a recent conflation of the old use of the phrase (to imply ANY internet access) as opposed to current uses of the term (to imply HIGH SPEED access). Although this sounds like a minor distinction that most geeks figured out a while ago, National Public Radio got it wrong last week.