Cloud Computing Thoughts

As i work on setting up a new SaaS business I've begun to research non-traditional computing environments that the business can utilize that will minimize capital requirements, maintenance effort and bring piece of mind to customers that the service will be available when they need it and secure. Amazon's EC2 is one of these services along with the storage back-end they provide S3 and now a database server. there are also similar platforms provided by other vendors.

these platforms bring me to question the long-term viability of the traditional IT model of build the infrastructure and host the applications on these platforms. In this model the organization that supports the organization has to support both the infrastructure and applications that support the business potentially distracting company resources (executive talent and capital) away from their core business. Where as cloud computing if done well would allow the business the latitude to control the applications (and potentially focus more resources there) without the burden of supporting the infrastructure (at least minimize it) while maintaining a fair amt of control which many fear the loss of and have experienced in traditional outsourcing agreements. In the cloud computing model the organization can run the apps they want when they want with very little friction (compared to traditional IT models and/or sourcing models). If executed properly it will also minimize the ongoing costs associated with corporate compliance.

Could IT be following the same cycle of manufacturers? If so, would manufacturers be considered to be in a more advanced stage than IT.

Quick Note:

- I ran across an interesting blog post by Robert Bazinet that discussing the problems with the dependence on "the cloud".

- Google has entered the cloud computing space. Lookout Amazon. Where's Microsoft? One of the differences between Amazon and Google appears to have written an additional abstraction layer. You have to utilize their APIs and Development environment. With Amazon you utilize their API for infrastructure access but Linux for the rest. Which one is better? Is lock-in to a development environment what we need\require?