As reported by CMSWire last week, there will soon be a SaaS (Software as a Service) version of Drupal, the popular and extremely extendable content management system. Drupal Gardens will be offered by Acquia, a commercial arm of the open source platform.

Drupal Gardens could have quite an impact. Many organizations and companies would benefit from using Drupal as their Web site platform. While installation of Drupal is quite easy (similar to WordPress and Joomla), customization and configuration to meet specific needs requires a steeper learning curve. If this new SaaS version can simplify life for many users, while retaining a good share of the extendability, Drupal may grow even faster than it does now.

I do have one quibble with the writer of the article, however. He states:

If you look at the open source web content management market, there are 3 dominant products: WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. These three packages are not terribly similar, but they do compete heavily in the lower end of the market. WordPress.com exists. DrupalGardens.com exists. And dear Joomla, when shall we expect you to join us?

Er, SaaS for Joomla DOES exist, in at least one place. SimplWeb has been providing a fully hosted and supported Joomla environment for at least a year now.