A third implication of APIs is the change in the architecture of applications. Instead of applications being a monolithic chunk of code written by one organization, they are assemblages of code and external services, which can pose challenges in terms of bug tracking, support responsibility, performance testing, and the like. As one person noted during the session, your application is only as strong as the weakest external service link.

Overall, I couldn't help but compare the themes of these two conferences. While The Business of Cloud Computing indicated the enthusiasm of end user organizations for cloud computing, it also illustrated the tentative pace of "official" adoption. Meanwhile, the companies represented at Structure are busily engaged in dismantling existing application design patterns and substituting vastly different approaches to architecting, implementing, and managing applications--and achieving success one application at a time. One can't help but feel that IT is experiencing the phenomenon of being undermined from within, as individual application groups make decisions falling outside the approved approaches, leaving the long-term implications of the decisions to be worked out by a later set of executives. I firmly believe that we are on the cusp of more change in IT than we have seen throughout its history, and those of us working in the field have the enviable opportunity to be immersed in this transformation.

Bernard Golden is CEO of consulting firm , which specializes in virtualization, cloud computing and related issues. He is also the author of "Virtualization for Dummies," the best-selling book on virtualization to date.

Follow Bernard Golden on Twitter . Follow everything from CIO.com on Twitter