Cloud Computing & SaaS – Clearing up the confusion using some humor
With all the hype today about Cloud Computing and SaaS, there is a lot of confusion and misinformation out there. First, Cloud Computing and SaaS are two different things. Here is a short definition to help clear things up. SaaS stands for Software as a Service. SaaS is basically web hosted software that is for rent rather than for sale. Cloud Computing is not SaaS. Cloud Computing is simply a computing architecture that SaaS is built upon. Wikipedia has excellent definitions for both SaaS and Cloud Computing so if you are interested in a real definition, then click here: SaaS, Cloud Computing
Now if you are in the mood for a comical definition of Cloud Computing, watch this video interview of Larry Ellison, the CEO of Oracle. Setting the jokes aside, SaaS if a fundamental shift in the software industry to provide enterprise grade LIMS to all laboratories while Cloud Computing is the technology architecture that makes SaaS practical and cost effective. It is just too bad that the technology has been given such a stupid name.
