There are a lot of buzzwords being tossed around the Web these days when it comes to enterprise applications. But when it comes how enterprise computing environments are going to integrate with applications in the cloud they need to think about what their ultimate end goal is.

For example, if the goal is to simply outsource an application service to be managed by somebody other than IT, then existing software-as-a-service models exemplified by Salesforce.com fit the bill just fine. But if the goal is to create a set of integrated business processes that are supported by a pool of on-demand compute resources then it might be well worth your time to take a look at a CRM in the cloud approach being pioneered by Enterprise Wizard.

Enterprise Wizard isn't a well known brand name but it does count Chevron and Conde Naste Publications among hundreds of customers that wanted the ability to take advantage of a software-as-a-service model without sacrificing anything in terms of business process integration. In short, they wanted to maintain the flexibility that on-premise software can provide without having to invest in the IT infrastructure usually required to power enterprise applications.

To provide that capability Enterprise Wizard has partnered with 3Tera, a provider of grid computing resources, that now hosts the Enterprise Wizard CRM application. What makes the Enterprise Wizard CRM application different is the depth of access that Enterprise Wizard gives to its customers because each instance of the application is a unique instance rather than a shared-tenet model used widely in most software-as-a-service models.

This means that Enterprise Wizard can give customers direct access to the underlying database that powers the company's CRM application, which means they can create custom tables that are directly integrated inside the CRM application. They can also create a true peer relationship with other on-premise ERP applications to allow customers to create an integrated set of business processes that span CRM and ERP applications. In effect, that means that IT organizations can take advantage of a cloud computing architecture to deliver a CRM front end to any set of existing ERP applications across a tightly coupled set of business processes.

That model differs sharply from software-as-a-service models that provide limited access to the underlying database because that database is supporting multiple customers. In addition, support for business process integration with on premise applications is typically limited by the extent of support offered for Web Services protocols. Furthermore, should the day come that a customer decides the time has come to move its Enterprise Wizard implementation on premise, it can because the Enterprise Wizard service is based on a single tenant architecture based on J2EE standards that is relatively easy to transfer from the cloud to the customer's local servers.

There are a lot of issues that still need to be dealt with when it comes to bringing cloud computing to the enterprise, but one thing for sure is that what ultimately is arrived at is something that will look a lot more akin to a blended computing model that combines the best of on-premise and cloud computing models as opposed to one architecture becoming completely overshadowed by the other.