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Grid computing is an environment where you can link together disparate computing resources to form a single virtual computing resource. Computing grids can be used to drive higher throughput by taking advantage of parallel processing and for the virtualization of distributed computing resources.

Several sources have varying definitions of grid computing because many people focus on the solutions, however most of the variations stem from focusing on solutions rather than defining the term.

Benefits of Grid Computing
Most of the major hardware vendors offer grid solutions - managing and tying together large numbers of disparate systems and driving higher utilization of existing resources.

As companies move from real-world experiments to simulation, intensive computer resources are required. Grid computing allows for improved decision making and services delivered from IT.

Businesses that require vast computer power such as the finance industry would benefit from leveraging the power of grid computing.

For example, a financial institution could use the idle time of computers on its Local Area Network to carry out financial operations.

A recent Computerworld article noted that financial services firm Wachovia uses grid computing to increase the speed of its transaction applications. The company has experienced a performance increase on some transactions from 10 milliseconds to 2 milliseconds.

Adding Optimization Tools
Even with grid computing, companies need to understand their utilization/capacity needs. An IT department’s reputation could be at stake without properly using the right tools.

IT must understand where the capacity exists, predict capacity needs, and identify and diagnose performance issues. In addition, additional software could be used to determine the proper placement of work on the grid.

By complementing grid computing with optimization software, organizations can increase data center capacity, reduce risk and lower costs.

Other Uses for Grid Computing
When the top developer of a company leaves, everyone around would like to know what was on his mind. Using the power of grid computing could enable the company to retain some of this valued employee’s information - knowledge management.

Knowledge management addresses the fact that much of the knowledge capital of a company remains in the brains of its current employee base. Several companies have developed these networks. To improve the effectiveness of these networks, employees must be empowered to feed the company’s knowledge networks, participate in discussions and identify themselves as experts on certain subjects.

Another use of grid computing involves distributed intelligence. Lacking automation, the users of eBay use this technique to grade sellers and buyers.

Depending on the history or experience someone has with an individual, this individual receives a grade to let others know if this person should be a trusted resource.

Businesses could use this to identify the best vendors; consumers could use it to notify each other of the best financial institutions. The idea is to take advantage of individual behaviors to create an improved collective intelligence.