Cloud Computing

I’ve given a few talks lately and I was surprised to get a few questions about “what is cloud computing?” I guess I really do live in the bubble. Then again I have had my share of what is YouTube? eBay? iTunes? questions lately too. I guess there are other bubbles.
And it is actually much more than providing applications like Zoho and Google Docs.
Anyway, here’s a link:
10 Cloud Computing Companies to Watch
“Cloud computing is spreading through the IT world like wildfire, with innovative start-ups and established vendors alike clamoring for customer attention. Generally speaking, cloud providers fall into three categories: software-as-a-service providers (SaaS); infrastructure-as-a-service vendors that offer Web-based access to storage and computing power; and platform-as-a-service vendors that give developers the tools to build and host Web applications.”
Read the article but who are those companies?:
1. Amazon
2. AT&T
3. Enomaly
4. Google
5. GoGrid
6. Microsoft
7. NetSuite
8. Rackspace
9. Rightscale
10. Salesforce.com
It is a who’s who of IT companies.
SirsiDynix offers both SaaS and hosting. The good news is that this architecture offers savings on TCO (total cost of ownership) of up to 50%. We have well over 550 library systems on SaaS already including some high security environments. In these difficult economic times there is no reason not to consider SaaS architectures.
Stephen