In it's most basic form, Utility Computing is yet another cost cutting measure of helping an IT reduce it's cost of service; both current and future, at today's scale and tomorrows. But, quite honestly, there's a top line benefit to go along with the bottom line benefit... the top line is represented by a utility community ... a Co-op in typical energy terms where a variety of participants can “add value” to the collective, and the collective is enriched by the the value of the collective whole.

I'm really excited about the opportunity for Sun Grid to establish a network where components representing Intellectual Capital can be established, to finally create a “capital market” for software..

Think about it, what represents a capital market:

1. There are instruments that have inherent and stable value
2. There is the enduring ability to exchange value for value across instruments
3. There is a permanent marketplace / exchange that is a designated place where people can go to exchange value.
4. There is sufficient fluidity in the market to allow the market to be established and maintained

(attrib: hal stern)

Recently (well in March), we established our intent to create Sun Grid Utility Compute and Storage cycles as instruments for exchange with our partner Archipelago Holdings, and this is massively exciting because it just breathes of transparency just like any other commodity market.

So back to Sun Grid, we were talking about Intellectual Capital, represented in components, stored in Sun Grid's asset manager, and properly meta tagged for use by developers. When these components finally become commonplace, I'd expect the best components float to the top and make a lot of $, and the worst components just sit gathering dust in the asset repository until they are aged out of the system. I can even see competitive exchanges for components at development time - finally compete on implementation vs. integration, and eventually even move the components upstream to include entire business micro-processes... things that vertical markets may need, to comply with specific state/local/federal/international laws, but for whom the market was to small for a “software company”; but with a fully automated exchange for value, these processes can afford to be maintained (I'll elaborate this more later because I think that it's potentially the most exciting paradigm shift enabled by the Sun Grid.

'Night!

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