Monday, December 22, 2008

Cloud computing looms larger on corporate horizon - Boston.com

This appears to be a very interesting case study…

Todd Pierce recently put his job on the line.

To meet the computing needs of 16,300 employees and contractors at Genentech Inc., Pierce took a chance and decided not to rely entirely on business software from Microsoft, IBM or another long-established supplier that would have let Genentech own the technology. Instead, Pierce decided to rent these indispensable products from Google Inc.

The Internet search and advertising leader will run Genentech's e-mail, as well as some word processing, spreadsheet and calendar applications, and it will do it over an online connection -- an unconventional approach called "cloud computing."

… until you get to this brief mention, later in the article:

Genentech's chief executive, Arthur Levinson, sits on Google's board of directors, but Pierce insists those ties didn't propel his leap of faith.

Cloud computing looms larger on corporate horizon - Boston.com

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