Cloud Computing

Yesterday I heard about a new company called Zuora.com from a recruiter so I looked them up. Interesting company that is all about SaaS; I guess SaaS is a bit passe these days, everyone seems to prefer discussing "cloud computing" but no matter what you call it, it is on-demand, it is efficient, it is green and I believe it is the future of a large percentge of computer applications.
I think we will see in the near future, a large shift to cloud computing. An excerpt rom K. V. Rao, President and one of Zuora's Founders that I think sums it up very well.

What you build, you should sell.

Our customers are realizing they are diverting precious resources into critical, but non-core activities like subscriber management, billing, and payments instead of dedicating them to building and enhancing differentiation in core products. They fall behind in product differentiation and competitive advantage leading to loss of market share and revenue when operational laundry lists and details are usurping time that could be spent on revenue-generating activities.

What you can't sell, you should buy (or preferably subscribe).

This becomes even more important in tough economic times, when businesses get lean and mean, regain focus on building differentiation in the core business, and divest non-core activities or outsource them.