The potential for Cloud Computing has been hotly debated for a while, with some banks, such as Merrill Lynch, taking the plunge and implementing large projects to try and reap the benefits of virtualisation.

While a number of companies are championing Cloud Computing others remain sceptical as to the value it can offer, suggesting that owning data centres may be more cost effective for large enterprises.

A report from McKinsey, which agrees with the latter hypothesis, has created a something of an intellectual tussle at techcrunch.com, with participants polarised over the reality vs. the hype.

Do our readers see cloud as being here and now? Is McKinsey right? The utility model of computing has been touted for a long time, with Oracle, HP, Sun and IBM all talking the talk at various points.

Interestingly the PowerPoint presentation by McKinsey’s focuses on Amazon’s product offering. Are they leading a virtualisation arms race?

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