Sun fails SaaS
- TAGS:cloud computing, Java, MuleSource, SaaS, Sun Microsystems
- IT TOPICS:Applications, Development, Enterprise Apps, Internet, Web Apps
Cloud computing, or software as a service (SaaS), is not reaching its full potential and won't for years, in part because "Sun has failed cloud computing." That's the contention of Dave Rosenberg, CEO of San Francisco-based MuleSource Inc, an open source enterprise service bus supplier for both on-premises and SaaS environments.
Why pick on Sun Microsystems? Rosenberg argues that so much of SaaS technology is built around Java (think Salesforce.com, Mule and more), yet Sun, which just completed the open source process for Java last week, has yet to deliver or even indicate it will offer Java with a multi-tenant support, an essential capability for SaaS.
Without a strong language like Java with which to build cloud-based apps, the ability to do enterprise-quality data integration is hampered, Rosenberg says. Today, he notes, users of the SaaS version of Mule Enterprise Service Bus "are only doing basic stuff." Whereas the 80-odd Fortune 1000 companies using the on-premises edition "are doing a lot more hard-core data integration."
Sun's no-show in the cloud opens an opportunity for Microsoft with its services + software approach because Windows developers can lean on .NET to do the integration work. However, Rosenberg points out that means users will be even more dependent on Windows, something he sees as a mistake in an ideally vendor-independent cloud computing world.
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