As the definition of cloud computing evolves, InfoWorld's new cloud computing blogger weighs in with a bold proposal Two weeks ago I wrote a blog post expressing my frustration with the way vendors are hijacking cloud computing to mean anything they want it to mean.That sparked a number of responses, including a conversation with Andy Rhodes, head of global marketing at Dell’s Datacenter Solutions Division. He agreed with my basic premise that the phrase “cloud computing” has two meanings: cloud services (such as Amazon EC2) provided over the Internet, and the architecture and technology that providers use to deliver those services.[ For InfoWorld’s complete definition of cloud computing, see “What cloud computing really means.” ] Dell’s play is to provide the picks and shovels for cloud service providers, including consulting and customized systems. Andy says that Dell has developed quite a successful business selling to those providers. He acknowledged, though, that it’s going to take awhile for the architecture and technology employed by service providers to trickle down to enterprises at large. “We don’t have a corporate cloud solution, and I don’t think anyone does,” he said frankly.InfoWorld’s new cloud computing blogger, William Hurley (or “whurley” as he prefers to be known), took a similar reality-based stance in his first post, “Romanticizing cloud computing will destroy it.” A chief architect at BMC and an IBM Master Inventor who holds 11 patents, whurley knows what he’s talking about when he says, “I hate to break it to you, but cloud computing is not going to cure everything from datacenter sprawl to diminishing budgets.”But the cloud isn’t a worthless pile of marketing hype, either. In an inspired open letter to President Obama, whurley called for a government-funded computing cloud for use by all colleges and universities. According to whurley, “public cloud computing would dramatically improve our collaboration and innovation as a nation.” For consumers of cloud services, be they universities or corporations, the ability to add capabilities quickly without capital investment is the real benefit of the cloud. Used to best advantage, that additional capacity can become a platform for innovation. And ultimately the only viable way to overcome the economic adversity staring us all in the face is to innovate our way out of it. Technology Industry