I first met Peter Coffee earlier ths year at a Salesforce.com customer event. He offered a fresh and unashamedly candid view of the different cloud computing solutions in the market. This time around I asked him to talk about the five questions CIOs must ask themselves prior to deciding what the next move will be in the road to cloud computing.

Hafid Saba travels around the region as a senior solutions specialist for Asia Pacific with NetIQ. He notes the growing interest in Cloud Computing, and the equally growing confusion around what it is. Much of the confusion stems from the technical jargon associated with cloud computing. So he explains it in terms even business managers can relate to.

Software-as-a-Service is a service approach that IT organizations are considering for meeting their IT service management needs. With a SaaS model, IT organizations can focus their staff and infrastructure on high-priority activities and initiatives while still enjoying access to IT service management productivity solutions. Paul Avenant, BMC Software senior vice president of Enterprise Service Management Products and Strategy, explains the key drivers of why organizations are considering the SaaS model and the business benefits it provides.

Cloud computing is the buzzword for 2010. There is much confusion as to what it really is. Dr Steve Hodgkinson, research director, public sector at OVUM, begins the discussion with a definition. He also needs at the conditions by which cloud computing can take its roots in Asia. He believes that cloud computing is being driven by a need to do things better.

The burden on governments are multi-fold: improve citizen and business service deliver while keeping cost down. A service in the cloud model offers a way to continue delivering service, at a fraction of a cost, and mitigate risks associated with technology lifecycle, security and lack of skills. Nigel Mendonca, regional director for Symantec Hosted Services in Asia tells why SaaS is the way to go.

CDC Software Corporation has completed a definitive agreement to acquire Truition Inc., an On Demand e-Commerce platform provider for retailers and brand manufacturers.