BEA's Peter Laird just posted a great overview of Cloud Computing, SaaS, and Platform-as-a-Service PaaS for those who are still struggling to figure it out (and really who isn't?)
As always, the definitions are vague, yet arguable but I think they do a good job in establishing what we are talking about.
Cloud Computing
Cloud computing refers to the virtualization of the data center, such that server machines are not thought of individually but as just a commodity in a greater collection of server machines. Cloud computing solutions in general strive to eliminate the need for an application deployer to be aware of the actual physical machines that are used to host the application. Some have called this idea "hardware as a service".
SaaS
An application that is delivered through the SaaS model typically is done so:
-Over the internet
-Remotely by a third party, with little/no opportunity to bring that application in-house
-With a usage-based pricing model
PaaS
When a vendor offers a Platform as a Service, they are offering an integrated platform to build, test, and deploy custom applications.
Following on from ZDNet's Larry Dignan's post regarding a recent CNET News.com interview with Mark Benioff I got to thinking that Salesforce.com must be hedging that platform-as-a-service (PaaS) will take 10 years. I think it will happen much sooner.
As hard as it is to create a "platform" of the scale and flexibility necessary to actually be a platform, Salesforce is not starting from scratch and has the horsepower and market share to pull it off much quicker. I wonder what Mark Benioff thinks is missing? Salesforce.com already has the database, some of the applications (CRM, support etc.), and their own scripting language.
I suppose one piece that is only halfway there would be the APIs for desktop applications. And one very clear missing piece is a way to integrate the PaaS with enterprise applications--and other SaaS applications.
This leads me to believe that integration is the key to PaaS...which also may mean that Workday was extremely wise in picking up the Cape Clear fire sale. It's especially interesting in that once technology goes behind the firewall it doesn't matter if it meets anyone else's needs.
My guess is that if Salesforce.com started taking seriously the need to operate seamlessly in and out of the PaaS it would come to pass much quicker.
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