“When you talk about utility computing or on-demand computing, these are still nebulous terms that can mean different things in different contexts,” said Jason Bloomberg, an analyst at Waltham, Mass.-based ZapThink Llc.

Wall Street firms are looking at all the possible approaches, however, because utility computing can save money and improve flexibility, he said. “The cost savings come fundamentally because when you go out and buy computers, you have to buy enough computers to handle peak demand,” he said. “That’s usually the most important time for your systems to work. That means that, most of the time, they’re sitting mostly idle. That’s money being wasted. Utility computing is a way to deal with those peak demands.”

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