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Utility computing - hailed as the biggest paradigm shift since the first disk drive spun up -- has stalled. One basic definition defines utility as an on-demand computing resource. On-demand computing allows companies to outsource significant portions of their datacenters, and even ratchet resource requirements up and down quickly and easily depending on need. The on-demand version of utility computing is the one closest to fruition. This year, Sun Microsystems has been the noisiest of the bunch, recently announcing that it wants to be the electric company of offsite computing cycles. The grand concept of utility computing is a solution for three key problems: 1. wasteful technology purchases, 2. unnecessarily laborious IT processes, and 3. rigid IT capabilities that by definition paralyze business processes. Grids provide a perfect entry into the utility-computing space because they follow the golden rule of offering more for less: namely, the power of a supercomputer for the price of a few workstations.
