Grid Meter » Still searching for enterprise Grid's first 'killer app'

November 21, 2005 | Comments: (0)

Still searching for enterprise Grid's first 'killer app'

TAGS: None

When the IT industry scrutinizes nascent technology platforms, one of our favorite criteria is often the emergence (or lack of emergence) of a "killer app."

From mobile devices to interactive television - the burden of proof for a new platform is whether it enables people to do something compelling that they couldn't do before, and to what extent that new capability creates a groundswell of people actually adopting the new platform.

Finding cures for diseases, finding extraterrestrial life, being able to predict the weather and the location of the next big earthquake, and even being able to predict the direction of financial markets are all the noblest of goals - and these have been Grid's first 'killer apps' in research and science, and the financial services industry. But these applications are hardly common scenarios for the average InfoWorld reader, and Grid computing has yet to truly compel the mainstream enterprise end user with a new capability that cannot be derived through other means.

So what will Grid's first killer app for mainstream acceptance be?

One area that I find to be an interesting opportunity for Grid computing in enterprise is digital rights management. With the availability of new hardware devices and mobiled data and media networks - our formerly home-bound / office-bound data is now "on the road." The DRM security issues (whether you're talking about protecting copyrighted entertainment media, or intellectual property) are complex. In addition, inherent differences between devices can require data translation from the distribution channel, through the primary consumer device to the secondary portable consumer device. Which can at times have computationally-heavy requirements to pull this off. These common themes are all in the "wheelhouse" of Grid computing.

While Grid computing has traditionally been tied to various quests for knowledge, the killer app for Grid may be one that more reflects our desire as a society to turn off our brains, sit back, and be entertained.

Posted by Greg Nawrocki on November 21, 2005 11:23 AM

RATE THIS ARTICLE: