My views in a recent blog post about how cloud computing and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) relate to one another generated some interesting feedback. So, I’ve decided to delve in the cloud computing topic again to see if it can produce a similar response.

A few years ago, as the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) market began to pick up steam, a debate emerged about whether the SaaS term was the right label for this new movement. Many industry insiders became concerned that SaaS was too techie a term, and proposed an assortment of alternatives they thought would appeal more to mainstream IT and business decision-makers. Some, like ‘webware’, had their own techiness. Others were too convoluted to gain any acceptance. In the end, SaaS has won general approval because it has a clear enough meaning for most people to understand.

Although a similar debate hasn’t emerged regarding today’s hot buzzword, ‘cloud computing’, I’m beginning to wonder if it should because there seems to be a backlash brewing that could be due, in part, to the murkiness of the ‘cloud’ terminology.

Over the past few weeks, I’ve seen a flurry of articles and commentaries questioning the viability of the cloud computing concept even as the parade of new cloud computing players gets bigger. Some of the commentaries offer a healthy array of warnings and advice to ensure that customers aren’t burned by the proliferation of new cloud computing solutions.

It is another set of opinion pieces which suggest that cloud computing is only an over-hyped and fundamentally a dangerous approach to meeting an organization’s IT and business needs which concerns me. These articles and commentaries appear to be aimed at the least knowledgeable reader. They exploit the amorphous nature of the ‘cloud computing’ term. What’s harder to get your arms around and, in turn, your head? Clouds.

Like many popular phenomena, it is not easy to identify the origins of the term cloud computing and determine why it has captured such widespread attention. I’d like to believe that the growing popularity of cloud computing is being driven by the increasing number of IT/business benefit proof-points of these web-based services.

It is ironic that few companies were willing to accept the previous iteration of the cloud computing concept, despite the fact it had a far more straightforward name, ‘utility computing’. Yet, just as the application service providers (ASPs) of the past lacked the technology and business model to appeal to customers, so too did the major hardware and software vendors fail to articulate and deliver a viable value proposition and set of solutions to support the utility computing idea. It took an online retailer, Amazon, to resurrect the concept of utility computing with its S3 computing platform.

Now, the players who are coalescing around this new web-based delivery model must clearly define and properly package and promote their offerings so they can be easily understood by mainstream businesses. This may not be as easy as it looks.

Clouds are constantly changing shape. And, if you’ve ever been inside one, it feels like you are in a fog rather than on firm ground. These are not sensations that will make many non-technical decision-makers feel very comfortable without a lot of hand-holding.

For those cloud computing companies who are offering their solutions to mainstream customers, this may mean using other terminology in the same way many SaaS vendors have learned that they are better off calling their solutions on-demand, on-line or web-enabled.

In the meantime, BusinessWeek has published a special report entitled, “CEO Guide to How Cloud Computing Is Changing the World” that includes a sidebar article about how small companies are leveraging this new technology trend, “Cloud Computing: Small Companies Take Flight” which can help in the education process.

Ironically, BusinessWeek didn’t do the SaaS movement any favors by publishing a ludicrous commentary which questioned the viability of SaaS solutions a week ago. It is obvious we still have plenty of work ahead of us to educate mainstream decision-makers and influencers about the business benefits and technical capabilities of SaaS and cloud computing.

In the meantime, see how some vendors are trying to gain a legal edge in this market by trademarking the cloud.