... it should be noted that "utility" was silent i.e. "as a [utility] service".
Concepts of compute as a utility date back to 1960s - Parkhill, McCarthy etc. The utility aspect was a distinction from earlier ASP models which were more "as a [rental] service".
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... but if you're struggling to find definitive sources ... I am not surprised. There was so much noise, re-invention, waffle ... it was the dark ages of transition. Oodles of confusion, followed by post event editing etc.
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Of course, if you're looking for who was first, then I'll mention Sivowitch's Law of First. "Whenever you prove who was first, the harder you look you will find someone else who was more first" ... good luck chasing that rabbit hole.
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Gosh, just read the wikipedia page. Quite painful. Open Source with SaaS / FaaS (an early term for PaaS) / HaaS (an early term for IaaS) was part of my OSCON keynote in 2007 ... oh, that reminds me. PaaS really didn't start to appear until mid 2007. It was floating about.
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Simon, SaaS was common-ish parlance by late 2006 and we were using it in board papers at BT by then. When I met you at your then offices on the river near Parliament (were you with canonical then?) we spoke about the old-wine-new-bottles aspect of all that.
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Oh, agreed ... SaaS & HaaS was, the post I mention is March 2006. But I have the sneaky impression that PaaS appeared mid / late 2007. My memory might be faulty. Certainly I used FaaS before then (Framework as a Service) but PaaS ... well, it was sometime around 2006 /07.
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Anyway, the real question is ... why care? The most important part is most missed the whole utility aspect, confused it with ASP, didn't understand the gameplay (i.e. ILC) or their inertia and hopeless giants with all the advantage lost their future to a chap called Bezos.
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I always think twice before triggering Simon on this subject, it’s like waving a flag with “private cloud” on it and yelling “Hulk, SMASH!”
Worth it though 🤣
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Don't get me started on private cloud ... up there with "hybrid" aka how do I justify my investment in private cloud wasn't foolish ... with more foolishness!
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