Back in 2001, I attended a seminar in which Microsoft introduced the .NET Framework. I distinctly remember the discussion surrounding the concept of software being offered as a service via the Internet. Over the years there has been many offerings in this regard and more potential customers of this option have grown accustomed to and interested in the concept.
As the .NET Framework matured and the tools to create web applications became more powerful, the appearance of applications being offered on the Internet became more frequent. The straight-forward term of "Software as a Service" became a more visual and marketable "Computing in the Cloud" which could very well draw The Rolling Stones in again for someone's marketing campaign.
The database world has not been left out of this brave new world. There are many on-line database service offerings that are making their claim in the cloud such as Intuit, Amazon.com, IBM and Google. Most interesting to the SQL Server crowd is Microsoft's offering called SQL Server Data Services (SSDS). This product offers on-line data storage, query and manipulation. While SSDS will not offer the entire suite of features of SQL Server when it is released, there will be many features that will make it a serious contender in the current "database in the cloud" market.
The marketing information indicates that SSDS will have a "flexible data model" and further describes it as "no schemas required". With elements such as entities, containers and "flat scalar property bags" developing in the SSDS environment may require a bit of a learning curve for the Database Developer; but it is a very exciting opportunity for those willing to go off into the "wild blue yonder".
There is much more to learn about SSDS and I am looking forward to getting my hands on it. This product is not yet in Beta; but Microsoft is taking applications for participating in the Beta program. You can sign up to participate in the Beta as well as learn more about SSDS at the following link: http://www.microsoft.com/sql/dataservices/default.mspx