​Like a mature garden that has become overgrown and untidy, it needed more than a bit of weeding. XP needed to be dug up and re-laid. With Vista, Microsoft brought in the landscapers to put down new paths, build new fences and create new beds and features to make it a nice, rich experience. Windows 7 extends Vista with new features, but compared with Vista its scope is more limited.

So how should enterprises respond?

​A recent global survey of C‐level executives and IT decision makers shows that most companies are using Software‐as‐a‐Service (SaaS) for critical applications that they consider differentiators for their businesses. In fact, many companies are diving into the use of SaaS with multiple providers and most deployments are fairly new (less than a year). Finally, companies plan to increase usage in the next year, as noted in the October 2009 Global Survey of Cloud Computing report.

​Cloud computing promises to change the IT industry in 2010. Many organizations remain highly cost-sensitive and cloud computing represents cost cutting opportunities for some companies. Analysts expect global IT spending and transformation projects to continue to be slow or stopped through the first half of 2010. However, there has been a startling shift in attitudes and adoption of cloud computing. A recent global survey of C-level executives and IT decision makers reveals the first real-world indications of an embrace of cloud computing, including huge increases in those who are testing or have plans to implement the emerging technology. And, key data shows the majority of companies that have begun implementing are taking a hybrid approach to adoption.

And while companies are becoming more comfortable with cloud computing in total, many have already embraced the adoption of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications - one of several types of cloud computing services. Once companies adopt SaaS, they are hooked, the study found. SaaS brings a fundamental change for how IT services are provisioned and consumed. What SaaS means for businesses:

• Increased business “operational elasticity”
• Faster time-to-market, easier to enter or exit new markets
• IT cost reduction, shift focus to strategic, vs. maintenance related efforts
• Increased connection, collaboration with customers, partners, suppliers and others