In today's computing world, it can often feel like we are drowning in wave after wave of new trends such as mashups, service oriented architecture and cloud computing. This sea of concepts is simply the manifestation of an underlying change in IT. Our industry is moving from a product to a service based economy. This shift is a result of the commoditisation of IT, but then again not all IT is being commoditised, some is still an innovation, isn't it?

This talk will explore this issue. We will first introduce the main concepts behind commoditisation and innovation before explaining what is going on in IT. Focusing on the field of cloud computing we will examine the benefits and downsides of this change and how standardisation can create more innovation and not less. We will then dive into the management challenges this brings, why open source is essential for the future and why you have little choice but to adapt.