Will the economic downturn accelerate Cloud Computing ?

Yes I think ecomomic downturn will accelerate cloud computing. In  economic downturn it's very difficult for the organisation to raise money because organizations are not trusting each other. It's happening in US where in spite of lot of stimulus package credit off take is not picking. In this scenario lot of B rated companies who has difficulty in raising fund will opt for cloud computing environment where they just have to pay monthly rental.

This will also useful in developing countries like India where funds are little expensive and difficult for B-C rated companies to raise it.      

I too agree with you Mr.Narayanan that economic downturn will accelerate Cloud Computing.

Important advantage of SaaS and cloud computing is that pay for what you have used.Due to low cost of entry companies will take a much closer look at cloud computing which will accelerate the use of cloud computing.