Cloud Computing provides users a way to access IT-related capabilities “as a service” “in the cloud”, without knowledge of, expertise with, or control over the technology infrastructure that supports them. The “Cloud” is a metaphor for the Internet because network diagrams typically draw the internet as a cloud icon. In 2007 the term “cloud” became commonplace, and in 2008, the building of services for the “cloud” has become a hot area of development.
In March 2007, after acquiring the domain name cloudcomputing.com in February 2007, Dell tried to register the term “Cloud Computing” as a trademark. Dell argued that it sought the trademark to defend the domain name from potential challenges.
The United States Patent and Trademark Office though has ruled that the phrase “cloud computing” is too generic to be a trademark. Good thing for SaaS vendors. Gartner is forecasting 22.1 percent growth of software as a services through 2011 for enterprise software. So “cloud computing” is a term that can now freely be used by all in the SaaS software space.
