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Once More, with Feeling: We Demand On Demand

The age of on-demand and utility computing is upon us now. This time we really mean it.
Written by Joe McKendrick, Contributing Writer
The age of on-demand and utility computing is upon us now. This time we really mean it.
Okay, okay; we have been hearing about ASPs and other xSPs, and all forms of third-party application sourcing, for almost a decade now. I first heard IBM talk about the concept of computing as a utility in the mid 1990s. But we can't seem to agree on the most effective model to deliver software as a service or even if it's happening yet. Analyst group Yankee Group released some details of a study which concedes that there are few "referenceable implementations" for utility or on-demand computing, and vendors have some work to do before it can become a reality. Yankee did look at some of the early adopters, and concludes that flexibility, not cost savings, is the main impetus for utility or on-demand computing. The study's authors noted in a previous interview that utility and on-demand computing will not become a reality until vendors make substantial investments in moving it forward. (What have they been doing all this time, then?) Until then, for most of the industry Yankee concludes, it's wait and see until utility and on-demand finally mature as business models.
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