Does anyone has any detail about cloud computing?

I am looking for a solution on cloud computing for mid size company of 100 staff. Wants to reduce infrastructure cost. The applications which I am looking for is CRM, Collaboration, Office Tools, Mailing, Backup, etc.

Any ideas or thoughts on this?

Thanks,

Robert

If you are into open source there are many open source platforms for cloud computing

http://gigaom.com/2009/11/06/10-top-open-s...loud-computing/

I have experience with Microsoft Cloud Computing like the OneApp platform where you use the Microsoft clouds or APIs to access many services like yahoo, facebook, twitter, etc... but it is expensive. Clouds use compact XMLs or JSON for data exchange.

Cloud computing is all the rage. "It's become the phrase du jour," says Gartner senior analyst Ben Pring, echoing many of his peers. The problem is that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different definition.

As a metaphor for the Internet, "the cloud" is a familiar cliché, but when combined with "computing," the meaning gets bigger and fuzzier. Some analysts and vendors define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers available over the Internet. Others go very broad, arguing anything you consume outside the firewall is "in the cloud," including conventional outsourcing.

Here is a good article to read about cloud computing.

Another advantage of cloud computing is that the client can be thinner and cheaper that can access a Cloud (web service or api) hosted by a server that will do most of the processing.