Work is where the server is.
Every cloud can bring a little rain, and the Internet cloud has proven that it can rain on the parade of instant access anywhere, rich media content, and application solutions. At the same time that Akamai and Inktomi technology was being deployed in edge caching servers simply to optimize the speed of serving Web pages anywhere in the network, others were beginning to provide Web-hosting services to simplify the operations of enterprise clients. During this parallel and intertwined evolution of technologies and financial models to address Internet realities it became clear that increasingly sophisticated business and technical solutions will require the combined involvement of alliances. In fact, a recent IDG analysis of the implications of the ASP marketplace in particular and of 'new economy' networked computing in general concludes that alliances among all manner of ASP's, hardware makers, software vendors, network service providers, integrators, and business model consultants will be absolutely essential to succeed. So everyone has to cooperate, hold hands, and jump in the pool as a team, and also hold your breath long enough to survive revenue exhaustion until you bob to the surface.