EC2 is one of the more innovative uses of grid computing and middleware, but it is far from the only one, and will certainly not be the last. Grid computing has been hyped for several years, but to date has not yet lived up to the hype.

Robert Rosenberg, president of the analyst firm Insight Research, has been tracking grid computing for at least four years, and says, "There's some progress in grid computing, but we hoped that it would be further along than it is by now."

Rosenberg says that a lack of widely accepted standards, and the complexities of grid programming, have held back grid computing to date. But a service like EC2, he believes, may spur wider use of grids because of its simplicity, and because the price range is reachable for even small businesses.

He estimates that US$1.6 billion will be spent on grid computing in 2006, which will rise to $24 billion by 2011. Amazon, clearly, wants a piece of that pie. It's still not clear yet, though, whether the company will be able to replicate its e-tailing success with EC2 and other services aimed at the IT crowd.

More information on the EC2 can be found .