Way back in my first Appistry blog post, "Cross-pollination, Beehives, the Game of Life, and You," I wrote about synthesis. I always find it fascinating how ideas morph, migrate across disciplines, and concepts either over time, or in a single, "eureka" instant. Cloud computing is an excellent example. Cloud computing is the new "next"   thing coming tomorrow. However, much of the technology behind the cloud is mature and ready today.

For many, the phrase "grid" continues to carry the baggage of first generation grid computing, which was marked by complexity, rigidity and worst of all a lack of relevance for the vast majority of problems faced by mainstream businesses.