We actually do exactly what you're looking for today, and have been doing it for the last 8 years. Whether it's one application, all your applications, or the complete company, companies like IVDesk have been hosting applications that are being accessed via the Internet via Citrix and RDP.

Not as sexy as all your apps as web based .NET or Java applications, but our solution get delivered to businesses everywhere. We host and run all of a companies applications and provide access from everywhere. Cost effective, 24x7 support, the works.

Our belief is that by providing a company the ability to host all their applications in a low cost monthly model, we offer the technology of a Fortune 500 company to small and mid-sized businesses.

You can take a look at www.IVDesk.com and make it a reality with no servers, no large startup fees, etc.

Big need that's being underserved and Google Apps just doesn't deliver.

Thanks,
Bill

Trevor,

I would enjoy being a helping hand with your effort to launch an application in the cloud. Everything I do now is "in the cloud": VoIP, web hosting, databases, etc. You'll find that I rank very well on Google for "ec2 consulting".

I look forward to your response.

Kudos to the Cloud Crowd for Re-Inventing the Wheel!

One thing 30 years in the IT industry has taught me is that the more things change, the more they stay the same. Another is that the only memory we seem to access is short-term. A third is that techno-marketeers rely on that, so they can put labels like "revolutionary" and "innovative" on platforms, products and services that are mere re-inventions of the wheel ... and often poor copies at that.

A good example is all the latest buzz about "Cloud Computing" in general and "SaaS" (software as a service) in particular:

http://tinyurl.com/6let8x

Both terms are bogus. The only true cloud computing takes place in aircraft. What they're actually referring to by "the cloud" is a large-scale and often remotely and/or centrally managed hardware platform. We have had those since the dawn of automated IT. IBM calls them "mainframes":

http://tinyurl.com/5kdhcb

The only innovation offered by today's cloud crowd is actually more of a speculation, i.e. that server farms can deliver the same solid performance as Big Iron. And even that's not original. Anyone remember Datapoint's ARCnet, or DEC's VAXclusters? Whatever happened to those guys, anyway...?

And as for SaaS, selling the sizzle while keeping the steak is a marketing ploy most rightfully accredited to society's oldest profession. Its first application in IT was (and for many still is) known as the "service bureau". And I don't mean the contemporary service bureau (mis)conception labelled "Service 2.0" by a Wikipedia contributor whose historical perspective is apparently constrained to four years:

http://tinyurl.com/5fpb8e

Instead, I mean the computer service bureau industry that spawned ADAPSO (the Association of Data Processing Service Organizations) in 1960, and whose chronology comprises a notable part of the IEEE's "Annals of the History of Computing":

http://tinyurl.com/5lvjdl

So ... for any of you slide rule-toting, pocket-protected keypunch-card cowboys who may be just coming out of a fifty-year coma, let me give you a quick IT update:

1. "Mainframe" is now "Cloud" (with concomitant ethereal substance).

2. "Terminal" is now "Web Browser" (with much cooler games, and infinitely more distractions).

3. "Service Bureau" is now "Saas" (but app upgrades are just as painful, and custom mods equally elusive).

4. Most IT buzzwords boil down to techno-hyped BS (just as they always have).

Bruce Arnold, Web Design Miami Florida
http://www.PervasivePersuasion.com

Hi Trevor, we at CohesiveFT would love to help you and anyone else in this position. You can use our 'Elastic Server' web service to achieve your goals extremely easily and quickly - certainly in time to create your report! Go to www.ElasticServer.com and you can provision servers for multiple clouds / VM formats in minutes. Your application can be saved as a 'recipe' so that it is portable across clouds both public and 'private' ie. VM based. Through a management console you can see what is running, configure security, etc. A longer description of this, albeit somewhat technical in style, is here: http://www.infoq.com/news/2008/04/elasticserver .... Or just check out the service on our site. Any questions or problems please contact me (firstname, secondname, at cohesiveft dot com). Best wishes, and good luck, alexis richardson