http://tycoon.hpl.hp.com

Product: Tycoon

Developers: Bernardo Huberman, Kevin Lai and economists and computer scientists at HP's Information Dynamics Lab

CIOs are constantly challenged to stretch IT resources on limited budgets, leaving few assets for innovation. But what if IT systems could be allocated based on actual use and need?

That's the idea behind Hewlett-Packard Co.'s Tycoon, a virtualized, market-based system for delegating computer resources. Tycoon pulls a company's IT resources into an abstract utility layer. Users can bid or barter for computer resources within their own companies or with other companies in a broader market.