Cloud computing technology as most companies use it now has not been in existence for more than a few years. What was originally simply virtualized server technology and limited VPS options has turned into a host of IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS options that can assist almost any business in getting their work done. A great deal of work still remains to be done, however, and many companies are unsure exactly what the cloud means for them, or means in the broader scope.
The cloud has been given a great deal of meanings by a great many people, ranging from the broad “Internet” or “innovation” to the specific “SaaS,” “SOA,” or “virtualization.” Some people consider the cloud to be no more than a buzzword, a way for companies like Microsoft and Amazon to cash in on consumer dollars and sell them something that has existed for years. That’s the main complaint about cloud tech: that all of it’s components, from SaaS and PaaS to VPS and storage, were already in existence and do not create a new concept when bundled together.
The trouble with that interpretation, however, lies in things like the Kindle. Amazon took technologies that have been around for years, combined them with some new ideas and created a product that has taken the world by storm. It is not the individual components that make the difference in the eBook market, it is their cohesion and function as an overall concept, a total package, that makes the difference. The same is now arguably true of the cloud; it is the presentation of abstract technology as an underlying, functioning package that amazes and makes the cloud more than the sum of its parts.
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