The fledgling concept of grid computing, which would allow firms to tap into otherwise idle computer resources via the internet, may yet attract IT managers who have recently been resistant to the hype of suppliers.

The news that some of the biggest names in technology are attempting to combine the development of web services with grid-computing protocols may provide a critical boost for peer-to-peer services.

With developer support likely to follow, spare processing, storage capacity and applications will be made available to a huge audience, answering the most complex supercomputing demands.

The fact that this will be an open-source effort adds to its chances of success. As IBM has shown with Linux, mixing a blue-chip hardware, software and services brand with a community development effort is a potent cocktail.

Grid computing's maturity is approaching at a propitious time. Budgets are shrinking, making firms more willing to explore less-trodden paths to IT value.

Also, the hot startup sector today is life sciences, where there is never enough processing power or storage capacity to satisfy complex computational demands.

Standards must still be developed, and security and authentication must progress, but the grid concept has promise.