Let’s Define Geospatial Cloud Computing

Yesterday, when I published the notice on putting a focus on geospatial cloud computing I did not provide information on exactly how we would do this.

At the Location Intelligence Conference we’ll have two panels:

The first will be to define the architecture and available platforms, such as Amazon’s EC3, to consider

The second will be to put clarity on geospatial cloud computing, the business models and companies already investing in cloud services such as GeoEye and DigitalGlobe, for example.

But what is even more basic than defining architecture or services is to cut through the jargon, nomenclature and acronyms. Wikipedia’s definition is rather clear to but I’ve come across four terms that particularly stand out as those that may confuse the issue:

SaaS: Software as a Service in some ways defines the business model of cloud computing. You offer an application that perhaps provides a "pay as you go" model.

Virtualization: The idea of purchasing 10 licenses that are shared among 100 people is not new. In the old days, many software companies issued a "dongle" to share between machines that had the software loaded. This is a little different because the software doesn’t reside on a local hard drive.

Web Service: Isn’t cloud computing just a more nebulous way of defining web services? What’s your thought?

SOA: I’m going to defer to ZDNet that just published a brief article today on how SOA and cloud computing are becoming synonymous. I’m not sure I see it that way but since both terms can have as many definitions as the people that use them, it’s still up for discussion.

Please add your comments to keep this discussion going here or @geocloud.