Nicolas Carr, who is probably best known for his controversial 2003 Harvard Business Review article "Does IT Matter", has written a book on utility computing called The Big Switch. Also called cloud computing, on-demand computing and software as a service, utility computing exists when the user accesses software and/or data from computing resources located on the network. Gmail from Google is an example of utility computing.
Carr compares the rise of cloud computing to the impact electric power generation had. Key quote from the book cover:
"A hundred years ago, companies stopped generating their own power with steam engines and dynamos and plugged into the newly built electric grid. The cheap power pumped out by electric utilities didn’t just change how businesses operate. It set off a chain reaction of economic and social transformations that brought the modern world into existence. Today, a similar revolution is under way. Hooked up to the Internet’s global computing grid, massive information-processing plants have begun pumping data and software code into our homes and businesses. This time, it’s computing that’s turning into a utility."
We've posted in the past on the impact of cloud computing on small business. Carr's book does a great job of explaining this shift.
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