By Thomas Bittman, a member of the Gartner Blog Network, posted September 22, 2009
The electricity utility example doesn’t work. Neither does the water utility. There are two reasons: (1) Computing is a rapidly evolving technology, and (2) Service requirements vary widely for computing. Electricity production and distribution hasn’t evolved much since the invention of AC that made distance distribution possible. How many forms of water are needed around the world? It’s H2O— maybe it can be potable, purified, or come at a special temperature, but it’s still pretty basic stuff.
Analogies are never perfect, but done well, they can be illustrative. I think the best analogy for cloud computing services is transmitted music. Bear with me. Read more
