Software as a service, has emerged as a key battleground for industry titans like Google and Microsoft, will be a $14 billion industry by 2013, according to new global research from Gartner.

This year, SaaS, a.k.a., cloud-computing services, is on pace to grow 17.7% from $6.4 billion in 2008 to $7.5 billion.

"I don't find the numbers too surprising," writes Network World's 'Head in the Cloud" column , "but the success of software-as-a-service is in stark contrast to many other portions of the recession-plagued IT industry."

"Microsoft, for its part, continues to grow its cloud offerings," notes the Seattle Post-Intelligencer's Microsoft Blog. "Office Web Apps, part of the upcoming release of Office 2010, will take on Google Apps ... And Microsoft continues to finalize Windows Azure, a platform for developers who want to create cloud applications."

But while the cloud is "out there,' those who favour the safety of a lockable office door, the privacy of their local PC and the ability to guarantee accessibility to data, the cloud will remain a mystery.

Is the cloud ready for prime time? For many YES, but not for all.

Vinnie Mirchandani points to a debate going on at The Economist... and it's actually framed as a debate, with a proponent and opponent elaborating their positions with respect to the motion, "Cloud Computing: This house believes that the cloud can't be entirely trusted." (http://www.economist.com/debate/days/vie.../showCommentModule:1) The rebuttal statements are offered by Stephen Elop (President, Microsoft Business Division) and Marc Benioff (Chairman & CEO, salesforce.com). Needless to say, the twittersphere is all, uh, a-twitter. The moderator of the debate, Ludwig Siegele, noted on Friday:

After the first day's voting went heavily in favour of not trusting the cloud (71% versus 29%), some started a campaign on Twitter calling on people to vote "no" and "show support for trust in the cloud", to quote one of the many tweets (some of which seemed to have been sent by Salesforce employees: see: twitter.com/search?q=cloud%20economist). This is the most likely explanation why, on the second day, 69% had voted "no" and only 31% "yes".... Both (Benioff and Elop)are ... making their points more forcefully. "Can the cloud be all things to all businesses?", asks Mr Benioff, and adds: "That's certainly the direction in which we are headed. One thing that astonishes me on an almost daily basis is the expanding universe of applications available in the cloud." Mr Elop comes to a different conclusion: "The issue is about trust in the cloud, and whether or not all data and applications make sense in the cloud. The reality is that some scenarios are ideal for the cloud, and some are not, while others still are best served by a hybrid environment."

Mirchandani, in his post, strikes a decidely ironic tone as he generates a list of vendor incumbent practices which cloud offerings, in comparison, seem to trump. Check out his post here:
dealarchitect.typepad.com/deal_architect...cloud-computing.html

Hat tip to Vinnie Mirchandani
www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d...9e20120a69eff0d970b and The Economist.

Like everything in IT, there are no absolutes. Which makes the whole "should I trust the cloud?" issue a bit of a canard. Whether we like it or not, this is where infrastructure is heading.

Will the cloud completely remove the need for locally installed application infrastructure? No. In typical IT fashion, we'll end up with a mixture of technologies that all aim to address particular business needs. It's up to the individual IT shop to decide which ones make the most sense - and those decisions will be based not on whether the cloud label is attached to the products or services in question, but in whether they hit the performance/price/security/usability goals that have always applied here.

Carmi