A couple of weeks ago Larry Ellison was onstage at TechPulse360 and he made a point of eviscerating the imprecise term “cloud computing.”

It is clear that Larry Ellison isn’t against cloud computing, but rather against an over-hyped term that seems to mean everything and that really isn’t new. He makes some very good points, but there can be no denying that there is a fresh momentum among companies to examine services that offer them key benefits provided by the cloud.

At least one organization is trying to take on defining cloud computing. Last week I linked to a recent IDC post that tries to add some precision to the term “cloud computing.” They do a good job outlining the eight key aspects of a cloud-based solution as well as some of the key benefits consumers of these services should expect. In particular these solutions should be easier to consume both in installation and ongoing maintenance as well as far more cost effective than on premise solutions.

In my experience the true benefit of cloud computing is in accessibility. The cost advantages of services in the cloud open up world class IT infrastructure, technology and specialized expertise to cost-constrained organizations. Cloud computing terminology could use further precision, but whatever you call it, businesses benefit from the advance of this technology.