The Business Web has evolved from a static destination where businesses merely publish and search for information, into a set of dynamic virtual workplaces where employees create and share information in a flexible, continuously evolving way. This flexibility provided by the Internet is increasingly leading to applications being developed in the cloud. Players like IBM and Google have already positioned themselves strongly in this arena whereas others like Yahoo, Microsoft, eBay and Salesforce.com are not far behind. Wipro is also trying to leverage this lucrative opportunity and plans to start offering services around it.Cloud computing goes beyond convenience. A generation used to posting and sharing photos on orkut, instant messaging with friends and interacting online for a good chunk of its spare time is having an impact on expectations in the workplace. By reducing the traditional costs and labor associated with deploying, maintaining and upgrading business technology, IT departments are increasingly becoming free to devote their limited resources to projects more strategic to the business.
