Software-as-a-service: Phase II
Now IBM is working with a variety of software companies so that it can offer hosted software bundles on its hardware and software infrastructure. You could call this IBM's infrastructure-as-a-service, creating cookie cutter data centers that run pre-configured applications, tuned to its middleware and hardware, across the Net.
It's on-demand computing: you demand it, IBM supplies it from the front end to the back end with a healthy profit margin.
Fortunately, IBM isn't the only major vendor pushing infrastructure-as-a-service--all the usual suspects will aggessively ramp up hosted services this year. Enterprises will hold off on buying into software- and infrastructure-as-a-service because of security issues or a lack of sufficient service-level guarantees or cultural resistance. (What happens to my IT staff?) But this train has left the station. Over the next few years--as enterprises get past capital expenditures off their books and onto eBay--the concept of owning your own power plant (infrastructure) for basic applications will seem absurd. However, there are a lot of absurdities we live with for years beyond what you would think is reasonable. Owning and running your own hardware and software may be one of those...