Latest News from IT as a Service

Stealth Cloud Computing Startup To Launch at Cloud Expo

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 15:30:00 EDT

Cloud Computing Journal caught up with the CEO of a major new player in the fast-emerging Cloud ecosystem - a CEO who has taken an interesting and unusual decision. While signing up as the Platinum Plus Sponsor of the 5th International Cloud Expo, he and his company have decided to remain completely anonymous. Who or what might this company might be, only seasoned industry analysts can even guess at, let alone know. But perhaps there are some inadvertent clues among the answers given here to the latest in our "Exclusive Q&A" series. Enjoy!

Cloud Computing Bootcamp Returns to New York City April 20, 2010

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 11:00:00 EDT

No one can properly understand anything related to enterprise-level Cloud Computing without having first gained a deep understanding of the capabilities of different Cloud players. SYS-CON's pioneering Cloud Computing Bootcamp is designed with that in mind. It is a one-day, fully immersive deep-dive into the Cloud, in which the sessions during the day seek to give delegates a deep understanding of the capabilities of different Cloud players and how they address rapidly changing market demands. The ever-popular Bootcamp, which is now held regularly around the world, is being held next in conjunction the 5th Cloud Expo in New York, NY (April 20, 2010). It is led by our 2010 Bootcamp Instructor Larry Carvalho.

Cloud Computing Bootcamp Returns to Cloud Expo in New York April 20, 2010

Thu, 18 Mar 2010 07:30:00 EDT

Introducing the Concept of the "Resource Cloud" at Cloud Expo 2010 in New York

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 09:00:00 EST

Samuel Taylor Coleridge, whom most people know as an English poet, also wrote some very nice prose about words. For example he was the one who summed up poetry itself as being about, above all, choosing "the best possible words in the best possible order."

Another fellow who knew a thing or two about words was a predecessor of mine - by a few hundred years! - at Trinity College, Cambridge. His name was Archbishop Richard Chevenix Trench and he produced, among another things, a little volume call On The Study of Words. This was back in 1852.

At one point in this book, Trench is musing on the power of words and, in particular, the role that words play in paving the way for the public acceptance of ideas.

Some ideas, he notes, just don't seem to catch on until the right words are found to "nail" them down.

I was strongly reminded of Coleridge, and of Trench, when interviewing a technology CEO the other day about Cloud Computing. Because this particular CEO seemed to be a beacon of light amid the murky fog surrounding Cloud Computing. And what stuck in my mind particularly was his ability, just as Archbishop Trench noted, to "nail down" the essential value proposition of Cloud Computing.

One new term that he used and that struck me as particularly insightful was this: "Resource Cloud."

This term definitely resonates immediately with me as being one that will not just help, it will triumph. Instead of talking of hardware, of physical servers, what the world needs to do is think of there as existing a "Resource Cloud" in which providers of resources and consumers who use compute power are matched up.

"Those consumers don't need to know, and indeed don't care, where the resources are," said my CEO. "So let the providers with the hardware push it into the cloud while the consumers consume it by creating virtual machines."

He continued:

"'I need X terabytes of storage at this kind of performance level, let us say Grade A performance, and I need 30 CPU cores,' the consumer might say, and the providers will run the hardware necessary to supply that need. IT runs the hardware side, but it doesn't manage the virtual side. That is done by the customer at via their Virtual Data Center."

So this is his vision, the vision also known loosely as "Virtualization 2.0"

But to my ear, "Resource Cloud" is the stronger metaphor, with more likelihood of catching on. And in 21 days' time I will revisit this posting to add the name of the CEO concerned. He already has established himself as thought leader in the world of technology. I haven't a doubt that he will come very soon to be recognized too as the man who put datacenter virtualization on the map forever and for always with the introduction of this one colloquy: REsource Cloud."

What do you think? Is it the best term? Do you have a better one?

Forget the Cloud; Automate the Network

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 01:55:00 EST

When VMware entered the production data center it was the beginning of a massive IT disruption with profound implications for careers, vendors and the next tech innovation cycle, driven by deep reductions in network operating expenses and equally uplifting increases in network flexibility and intelligence. VMware set the stage for the multibillion dollar system virtualization category

The End of IT 1.0 As We Know It Has Begun

Fri, 05 Mar 2010 01:00:00 EST

You may wonder whether it’s too early to make the call given the lack of interoperability standards, security concerns, and common definition of cloud computing. Well, the IPTV space shares many of the same similarities – emerging technology, emerging standards, emerging adoption, varying definitions, and yet the call was made in that space. Cloud computing is a shot across the bow for the giants of the IT industry. They are on notice. Certainly, some will make the transition, slowly, at the speed which the overall market develops or slower, as they have no incentive to drive the market and rapidly cannibalize their existing businesses for a less lucrative business model even if it is more cost effective, flexible, and efficient for most of their clients.

The Service Orientation of IT

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 04:45:00 EST

We are entering a new phase of IT where organizations must orient delivery of service across the entire IT supply chain to behave and operate in a real-time manner. Those organizations that don’t embark on this transformational journey will not deliver the desired business growth and maximized shareholder value that is the fiduciary responsibilities of IT executives in support of their businesses.

Hubspan to Present at Cloud Expo April 19-21 in New York City

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 18:45:00 EST

There’s PaaS (Platform as a Service), IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service), SaaS (Software as a Service) and a growing number of “aaS” solutions on the market. But which one is right for you and will address your company’s needs? In his session at the 5th International Cloud Expo, Max Coburn, Chief Architect and a product strategist for Hubspan Inc, will take you through the many different “aaS”es on the market today, sorting through the hype and acronyms and giving real-world examples of when these consumption models work and when they don’t. He will also explore the "build vs. buy" decision and when it may be the right time for you to consider outsourcing.

Innovation and Risk in the Clouds - III

Wed, 17 Feb 2010 19:00:00 EST

In part 1 and part 2 we covered the alignment between strategy, organizational culture, innovation, and cloud computing; and discussed the risk of innovation in the cloud. Now lets turn our attention towards our respective organizations. Innovation in the world of business occurs in organizations ready to take an acceptable level of managed, calculated, and measured risks. While it’s true that an airplane is safest in the hangar, that’s not what airplanes are for, and it would likely make for one unhappy pilot, wasting her skill, education, and training while she does nothing more than continuous upkeep on the airplane in the hangar, for a flight that won’t happen. Success is not guaranteed. That is the nature of risk taking.

An Exclusive Interview with Adaptivity, Cloud Expo 2010 Platinum Plus Sponsor

Tue, 02 Feb 2010 10:45:00 EST

Adaptivity provides integrated solutions that automate IT Delivery optimization across enterprise computing environments. In this exclusive Q&A for Cloud Computing Journal with SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Expo Conference Chair, Jeremy Geelan, Tony Bishop – CEO of Adaptivity – discusses Adaptivity’s “IT Transformation Factory” and their Cloud Computing strategy.

Achieving Business Impact with Cloud-Based Integration

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 22:00:00 EST

It’s essential that companies of all sizes automate critical business processes and collaborate with internal and external partners effectively and economically. Addressing this need is a new generation of SaaS-based integration solutions. This whitepaper by leading SaaS analyst Jeff Kaplan of THINKstrategies examines how a cloud-based integration platform streamlines and accelerates workflow processes and provides real business impact.

Genetic Cloud: Cloud Computing Is For Everyone Every Day

Mon, 01 Feb 2010 07:55:00 EST

Complex optimization tasks, like travelling salesman problem, can be solved by simple algorithms with random searching component. Genetic algorithm is one of such approaches. It gives better solution on the big population sizes, but the execution time grows non-linear with population size growth. Another way to increase accuracy is to have several parallel runs. The additional resources for parallel runs could be taken in a Cloud.

Cisco ROI Tool Doesn’t Really Help the IaaS Shopper

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 13:44:00 EST

So Cisco just released it new flashy ROI calculator for cloud service providers looking to buy kit and get into the game. Check it out here: http://www.cisco.com/assets/sol/sp/iaas/flash/roi_calculator/index.html While the movement to create easy to use tools to help simplify purchasing decisions should be applauded, Cisco’s online tool doesn’t really help the customer out. Here’s why: Comparing [...]

What Does Elastic Really Mean?

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 14:00:00 EST

In terms of cloud computing in application environments, elasticity is perhaps one of the more alluring and potentially beneficial aspects of this new delivery model. I’m sure that to many of those responsible for the operational and administrative aspects of these application environments, the idea that applications and associated infrastructure grows and shrinks based purely on demand, without human intervention mind you, sounds close to a utopia. While I would never dispute that such capability can make life easier and your environments much more responsive and efficient, it’s important to define what elasticity means for you before you embark down this path. In this way, you can balance your expectations against any proposed solutions.

Open Systems Provide Way to Exit Money Pit

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:45:00 EST

Now is the time to examine the TCO migrating from Unix to the more cost-effective open systems platforms. This white paper explores the costs associated with legacy data centers and the benefits of migrating to an open systems architecture.

Cloud Economics – Amazon, Microsoft, Google Compared

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST

Any new technology adoption happens because of one of the three reasons: Capability: It allows us to do something which was not feasible earlier Convenience: It simplifies Cost: It significantly reduces cost of doing something What is our expectation from cloud computing? As I had stated earlier, it is all about cost saving … (1) through elastic capacity and [...]

The American Dream Is Alive with Cloud Computing

Thu, 21 Jan 2010 12:45:00 EST

The principles and freedoms of the American dream are finding themselves resurrected again with cloud computing. The following blog will outline background, details and living proof that cloud computing is one of the catalysts of the future that will bring the American dream back! As an immigrant and soon to be citizen of the United States of America, I have experienced first hand and continue to experience the greatness of this country and rewards of the American dream.

Good Fences Between Apps and OS Make Good Neighbors in the Cloud

Wed, 20 Jan 2010 16:15:00 EST

Did you ever have the invisible dream? I don’t like it. It’s the one where I have “the answer” to a big problem (usually involving giant, malevolent aliens) but everyone walks right past me because I’m invisible. I had that feeling yesterday reading James Urquhart’s blog titled, “Application packaging for cloud computing: A proposal”. He'd written a series of posts considering deployment and operations in infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) environments. Looking at the impact of cloud computing on the use of virtual machines and operating systems, Urquhart wrote, "The very heart and soul of software systems design is being challenged by the decoupling of infrastructure architectures from the software architectures that run on them."

SaaS BPM Acceptance for Process Improvement

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 16:00:00 EST

Cordys, a leading provider of software for business process innovation, is mentioned by research firm Ovum in its recent report “SaaS BPM - Silencing the skeptics”, as the best fit in an emerging category of BPM platforms. Ovum observes that a distinct category of BPM platforms is emerging and prominent among these are vendors that provide a full development and execution environment in the SaaS mode, while maintaining a functional focus on process management and process improvement.

Research Institute Leverages Software-as-a-Service

Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:30:00 EST

Ultimate Software on Wednesday announced that Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (SBRI), the largest independent, nonprofit organization in the U.S. focused solely on infectious disease research, is experiencing IT improvements since switching from an on-premise human resource management system (HRMS) to UltiPro delivered through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS).

Kemp Makes SaaS Load Balancing Possible

Tue, 12 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

Kemp Technologies has launched a virtual version of its load balancing appliance, initially pricing the widget specifically for managed hosting providers and managed service providers, significantly undercutting the competition. The new Virtual Loadmaster (VLM) will be sold under a Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) that starts at $99 per user per month with no start-up or set-up fees. The price point will let MHPs and MSPs offer the functionality to a much broader range of business customers even, say, SMBs with only two servers.

The Guillotine Effect of Cloud Computing

Sat, 09 Jan 2010 20:30:00 EST

David Linthicum wrote an intriguing article titled "Cloud Computing will kill these three technologies" in which he writes obituaries for: i) design-time governance ii) older and smaller clouds iii) and Tier 2 enterprise software providers. Of these predictions, the one that resonates most is design-time governance.

I.T. Spend is Back

Fri, 08 Jan 2010 09:00:00 EST

It is now 2010 and things are looking up but IT fundamentals have shifted and spending must be closely monitored. Some of the leading names in IT will be meeting to discuss planning and spending in the first quarter of 2010 at the CIO US Summit held by GDS International. The recession felt globally has changed the priorities in IT. One of the key changes has focused on cloud options and if investments into internal data centers is really the path forward.

An Exclusive Interview with Oracle, Cloud Expo 2010 Diamond Sponsor

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 12:00:00 EST

"We believe that cloud is an important trend that we will support. We have two objectives. The first is to ensure that cloud computing is fully enterprise grade, meaning high performance, scalability, reliability, availability, security and standards-based for portability and interoperability. Second, we will support both public and private cloud computing in order to give customers choice," says Richard Sarwal, SVP Product Development for Oracle Enterprise Manager - and upcoming Keynote Speaker at SYS-CON's 4th International Cloud Computing Expo - in this Exclusive Q&A with Cloud Computing Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan.

Cloud Computing Instrumental in IT Recovery for 2010

Mon, 04 Jan 2010 13:00:00 EST

IDC, the tech industry analysts, have come out with their predictions for 2010 – and it’s a model that heavily involves the development and growth of the Cloud. First some general IT industry forecasts: growth is expected to return to the IT industry, and IDC is forecasting a more than 3% expansion for the year.

Virtualization Expo New York Call for Papers to Expire January 15, 2010

Wed, 30 Dec 2009 11:15:00 EST

Delegates will leave Virtualization Expo with a full understanding of the interaction between virtual servers and the rest of the data center infrastructure. Indeed our overall aim is to ensure that all attendees leave the Jacob Javits Convention Center with abundant resources, ideas and examples they can apply immediately to leveraging Virtualization in their own corporate datacenter, on the desktop, and elsewhere. If you wish to submit a speaking proposal for the 8th Virtualization Expo, April 19–21, 2010, then you can do so right here

Cloud Expo New York Call for Papers to Expire January 15, 2010

Mon, 28 Dec 2009 23:45:00 EST

In response to massive demand, the world's largest Cloud event - the International Cloud Computing Expo series - is expanding its number of tracks and sessions for April 2010. The deadline for the very popular Call for Papers, which resulted in a greater deluge of submissions than ever seen before, is being extended to the other side of the holiday period - to January 15. Additionally, SYS-CON Events announces the addition of additional tracks, additional session slots, and a general all-round expansion of the program in line with the expectations of the 5,000 delegates who are expected to register for the event.

ISV Cloud Computing Onboarding: A New Business Environment

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST

In the recent past, ISVs and SaaS vendors were increasingly evaluating the impact of cloud computing trends on their business. Cloud strategy has an all-round impact on ISVs, their customers and system integrators. From an ISV’s perspective, cloud strategy acts as a revenue and customer-growth engine, facilitating penetration to wider customer segments and geographies.

The Busy Executive’s Quick Cloud Computing Reference Guide

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST

As an executive, you may be hearing many different viewpoints about Cloud Computing; some of them promising significant IT cost reductions and reductions in capital expenditures. Don't get caught off guard regarding all the technical complexities of developing and offering Cloud Computing services, the whole reason you're considering this option is so others will take care of these factors for you. Although you still need to be an educated consumer, you don't need to be in the weeds to ensure you're not caught with your pants around your ankles if you decide to use Cloud Computing services.

Behind the Scenes, SANta Claus Global Cloud Story

Fri, 25 Dec 2009 03:00:00 EST

There is a ton of discussion, stories, articles, videos, conferences and blogs about the benefits and value proposition of cloud computing. Not to mention, discussion or debates about what is or what is not a cloud or cloud product, service or architecture including some perspectives and polls from me.

Now SANta does not really care about these and other similar debates I have learned. However he is concerned with who has been naughty and nice as well watching out for impersonators or members of his crew who misbehave.

Via ABC news

In the spirit of the holidays, how about a quick look at how SANta leverages cloud technologies to support his global operations.

Many in IT think that SANta bases his operations out of the North Pole as it is convenient for him to cool all of his servers, storage, networks and telecom equipment (which it is). However its also centrally located (See chart) for the northern hemisphere (folks down under may get serviced via SANtas secret Antarctica base of operations). Just like ANC (Anchorage International Airport) is a popular cargo transient, transload and refueling base for cargo carriers, SANta also leverages the north and South Pole regions to his advantage.

SANtas Global Reach via Great Circle Mapper

Now do not worry if you have never heard about SANta dual redundant South Pole operations, its one of his better kept secrets. Many organizations including SANtas partners such as Microsoft that have global mega IT operations and logistics centers have followed SANtas lead of leveraging various locations outside of the pacific northwest. Granted like some of his partners and managed service providers, he does maintain a presence in Washington Columbia river basin which provides a nice PR among other benefits.

Likewise, many in business as well as those in IT think that SANta leverages cloud technologies for cost savings or avoidance which is partially the case. However he also leverages cloud, hosting, managed service provider (MSP), virtual data centers, virtual operations centers, Xaas, SaaS or SOA technologies, services, protocols and products that are transparent and complimentary to his own in house resources addressing various business and service requirement needs.

What this has to do with the holidays and clouds is that you may not realize how Santa or St. Nick if you prefer (feel free to plug in whoever you like if Santa or St. Nick does not turn your crank) extensively relies on flexible and scalable resilient technologies for boosting productivity in a cost effective manner. Some of it is IT related, some of it is not. For example, from the GPS and Radar along with recently added RNP and RNAV enhanced capabilities to his increasingly high tech bio fueled powered sleigh, not to mention his information technology (IT) that powers his global operations, old St Nick has got it together when it comes to technology.

SANtas Bio Fuel Powered Sleigh

The heart or brains of the SANta operation is his global system operations center (SOC) or network operation center (NOC) that rivals those seen at NASA among others with multiple data feeds. The SOC is a 24x365 operations function that covers all aspects from transportation, logistics, distribution, assembly or packaging, financials back office, CRM, IT and communications among other functions.

SOCs and NOCs that enable SANta to get those SOCKs above fireplace filled!

Naturally, like the Apollo moon shots whose Grumman built LEM Lunar lander had to have 100% availability in that to get off of the moon, their engines only had to fire once, however it had to work 100% of the time! This thought process is said to have had leveraged principles from SANtas operations guide where he has one night a year to accomplish the impossible.

I should mention, while I cannot disclose (due to NDA) the exact locations of the SOCs, data or logistics centers, not to mention the vendors or the technology being used, I can tell you that they are all around you! The fully redundant SOCs, data and call centers as well as logistics sites (including staff, facilities, technology) leverage different time zones for efficiency.

SANtas staff have also found that the redundant SOCs, part of an approach across Santa entire vast organization has helped to guard against global epidemics and pandemics including SARs and H1N1 among others by isolating workers while providing appropriate coverage and availability, something many large organizations have since followed.

Carrying through on the philosophy of redundant SOCs, all other aspects of SANtas operations are distributed yet with centralized coordinated management, leveraging real-time situation awareness, event and activity correlation (what we used to call or refer to as AI), cross technology domain management, proactive monitoring and planning yet with ability for on the spot decision making.

What this means is that the various locations have ability to make localized decisions on the spot. However coordinated with primary operations or mission control to streamline global operations focus on strategic activity along with exceptions handling to be more effective. Thus it is not fully distributed nor fully centralized, rather a hybrid in terms of management, technologies and the way they work.

For example, to handle the diverse applications, there are some primary large processing and data retention facilities that backup, replicate information to other peer sites as well as smaller regional remote office branch offices close to where information services are needed. To say the environment is highly virtualized would be an understatement.

Likewise, optimization is key not just to keep costs low or avoid overheating some of SANtas facilities that are located in the Arctic and Antarctic regions that could melt the ice cap; they are also optimized to keep response time as low as possible while boosting productivity.

Thus, SANta has to rely on very robust and diverse communications networking leveraging LAN, SAN, MAN, WAN, POTS and PANs among other technologies. For example, his communications portfolio is said to involves landlines (copper and optical), RF including microwave and other radio based commutations supporting or using 3G, 4G, MPLS, SONET/SCH, xWDM, Microwave and Free space optics among others.

SANtas networking and communications elves are also said to be working with 5G and 100GbE multiplexed on 256 lambda WDM trunk circuits in non core trunk applications. Of course given the airborne operations, satellite and ACARS are a must to avoid over flying a destination while remaining in positive control during low visibility. Note that Santa routinely makes more CAT 3+ low visibility landings than most of the worlds airlines, air freight companies combined.

SANtas has GUI and Management Displays in his Sleigh

My sources also tell me that SANta has virtual desktop capability leveraging PCoIP and other optimizations on his primary and backup sleighs enabling rapid reconfiguration for changing workload conditions. He also is fully equipped with onboard social media capabilities for updates via twitter, Face book and Linked In among others designed by his chief social networking elf.

Consequently, given the vast amount of information needed to support his operations from CRM, shipping, tracking not to mention historical and profiling needs, transactional volumes both on the data as well as voice and social media networks dwarf the stock market trading volume.

Feeding SANtas vast organizations are online highly available robust databases for transactions purposes, reference unstructured data material including videos, websites and more. Some of which look hauntingly familiar given those that are part of SANtas eWorld Helpers initiative including: Sears, Amazon, NetFlix, Target, Albertsons, Staples, EMC, Wall mart, Overstock, RadioShack, Landsend, Dell, HP, eBay, Lowes, Publix, emusic, Riteaid and Supervalu among others (Im just sayin...).

The actual size of SANta information repository is a closely regarded secret as is the exact topology, schema and content structure. However it is understood that on peak days SANtas highly distributed high performance, low latency data warehouse sees upwards of 1,225PBytes of data added, one that is rumored to make Larry Ellison gush with excitement over its growth possibilities.

How does SANta pull this all off is by leveraging virtualization, automation, efficient and enabling technologies that allow him and elves (excuse me, associates or team members) to be more productivity in their areas of focus that is the envy of the universe.

Some of their efficiency is measured in terms of:

How many packages can be processed per elf with minimum or no mistakes
Number of calls, requests, inquiries per day per elf in a friendly and understandable manner
Knowing who has been naughty or nice in the blink of an eye including historical profiles
Virtual machines (VM) or physical machine (PM) servers managed per team member
Databases and applications, local and remote, logical and physical per team member
Storage in terms of PByte and Exabyte managed to given service level per team member
Network circuits and bandwidth with fewest dropped packets (or packages) per member
Fewest misdirected packages as well as aborted landings per crew
Fewest pounds gained from consumption of most milk and cookies per crew

From how many packages can be processed per hour, to the number of virtual servers per person, PBytes of data managed per person, network connections and circuits per person, databases and applications per person to takes and landings (SANta has the top of the list for this one), they are all highly efficient and effective.

Likewise, SANta leverages the partners in his SANtas eWORLD Helpers initiative network to help out where of course he looks for value; however value is not just lowest price per VM, lowest cost per TByte or cost per bandwidth. For SANta it is also very focused on performance, availability, capacity and economic efficiency not to mention quality with an environmentally friendly green supply chain.

By having a green supply chain, SANta leverages from a responsible, global approach that also makes economic sense on where to manufacture and produce or procure products. Contrary to growing popular belief, locally produced may not always be the most environmentally as well as economically favorable approach. For example (read more here), instead of growing flowers and plans in western Europe where they are consumed, a process that would require more energy for heat, lights, not to mention water and other resources. SANta has bucked the trend instead relying on the economics and environmental benefit of leveraging flowers and plants grown in warmer, sunnier climates.

Granted and rest assured, SANta still has an army of elves busily putting things together in his own factories along with managing IT related activities in a economically positive manner.

SANta has also leveraged this thinking to his data and information and communications networks leveraging sites such as in the arctic where solar power can be used during summer months along with cooling economizers to offset the impact of batteries, workload is shifted around the world as needed. This approach is rumored to be the envy of the US EPA Energy Star for Server, Storage and Data Center crew not to mention their followers.

How does SANta make sure all of the data and information is protected and available? Its a combination of best practices, techniques, technologies including hardware, software, data protection management tools, disk, dedupe, compression, tape and cloud among others.

Rest assured, if it is in the technology buzzword bingo book, it is a good bet that it has been tested in one of SANtas facilities, or, partner sites long before you hear about it even under a strict NDA discussion with one of his elves (opps, I mean supplier partners).

When asked of the importance of his information and data networks, resources and cloud enabled highly virtualized efficient operations SANta responded with a simple:

Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas to all, and to all, a good night!

As you sit back and relax, reflect, recreate, recoup or recharge, or whatever it is that you do this time of the year, take a moment to think about and thank all of SANtas helpers. They are the ones that work behind the scenes in SANtas facilities as well as his partners or suppliers, some in the clouds, some on or underground to make the worlds largest single event day (excuse me, night) possible! Or, is this SANta and cloud thing all just one big fantasy?

Happy and safe holidays or whatever you want to refer to it as, best wishes and thanks!

BTW: FTC disclosure information can be found here!

Me on a break during tour SANta site tour

Cheers and seasons greetings gs

Greg Schulz - StorageIO, Author "The Green and Virtual Data Center" (CRC)

A Cloud Computing Wish List for 2010

Wed, 23 Dec 2009 00:30:00 EST

A cloud spot market allows commercial cloud service providers the ability to announce surplus or idle processing and storage capacity to a cloud exchange. The exchange allows buyers to locate available cloud processing capacity, negotiate prices (within milliseconds), and deliver the commodity to customers on-demand.

In-House or SaaS? How About Both?

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 21:15:00 EST

Chuck Hollis just penned another interested blog post about the economics behind private clouds for the enterprise. There is a lot of talk about on-premise versus on-demand SaaS these days in the BI community (and when I say SaaS I mean either private or public). From a financial standpoint, the two models are fairly well established. Basically, on-premise is budgeted as capital expenditure, while on-demand is budgeted as operational expenditure. Much like the difference between buying your TV and paying for your electric bill on a monthly basis, or the difference between buying and leasing a car.

Rackspace’s Popular Cloud Computing Tools Ecosystem

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 14:30:00 EST

The Rackspace® Cloud, the cloud computing division of Rackspace Hosting (NYSE:RAX), today announced the latest addition to Rackspace’s popular Cloud Tools ecosystem. FathomDB, a leader in Database-as-a-Service (DaaS), enables businesses and developers to easily manage their MySQL databases in the cloud. Now built on The Rackspace Cloud’s open, standards-based API, FathomDB provides a seamless database management experience that leverages Cloud Servers and frees users from time-consuming system administration tasks.

HP Manages Cloud Elasticity for Enterprises

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 12:45:00 EST

We examine how quality control for cloud applications in development reduces the total cost of supporting applications, while allowing for elastic capacity planning and tuning of services. This provides a new and appropriate way of managing applications -- new and old -- for operational efficiency across multiple cloud scenarios.

Five Proven Benefits of Cloud Services

Mon, 21 Dec 2009 11:00:00 EST

How can your company get started with cloud computing? Well, consider following the market leaders. With a few more months of client experience, Forrester Research recently addressed the major questions that executives have about the adoption of cloud services. The key benefits that most early adopters report do not start with costs -- but rather with business flexibility. According to those that have deployed it, the benefits of cloud computing, in order of importance, are:

Amazon Cloud Storm Outage

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 14:00:00 EST

This week, as storms engulfed the East Coast, Amazon Web Services (AWS), the cloud-computing giant, lost power for six hours in one of its four availability zones – due to connectivity issues. I read though that a monitoring firm – which both uses AWS and provides monitoring services to its customers using AWS – measured the outage more accurately than Amazon disclosed from multiple locations across the country (at 44 minutes and 42 or 44 seconds), depending on location.

True Value of Cloud Computing

Thu, 17 Dec 2009 02:45:00 EST

As the fog slowly lifts with respect to defining cloud computing, enterprises must now decide where the value proposition lies within the platform. For most large enterprises, the IT department typically offers services internally to various departments. These services are mostly at the infrastructure level such as maintaining existing servers or provisioning new servers.

Amazon’s Virtual Private Cloud Computing Floats into Beta

Wed, 16 Dec 2009 18:45:00 EST

Amazon Web Services (AWS) sent its enterprise-directed Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) widgetry into full public beta Monday. The thing’s been in limited public beta since the summer and before that it was in private beta. VPC is Amazon’s way of creating hybrid clouds by letting an enterprise connect its existing infrastructure to a set of isolated AWS compute resources via a virtual private network (VPN) – a bog standard encrypted IPsec tunnel – and use its own existing security services, firewalls and intrusion detection systems for the EC2 instances and traffic. Ditto whatever third-party management software it’s using.

Cloud Expo Sponsor Secures $10M Funding

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 20:15:00 EST

SOASTA, the leader in cloud testing, today announced the successful close of $10 million in Series C funding as it prepares its global expansion. The round was led by UV Partners, and included participation from all existing investors Canaan Partners, Formative Ventures and The Entrepreneurs’ Fund. The company’s growth plan includes the opening of offices in Europe, broadening of the reseller channel and increasing its technology roadmap with product enhancements to address the growing demand for SOASTA’s cloud-based testing service.

SOASTA Named "Bronze Sponsor" of World's Largest Cloud Computing Event

Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:45:00 EST

SYS-CON Events announced today that SOASTA, the leader in cloud testing, has been named "Bronze Sponsor" of 5th Cloud Computing Expo (www.CloudComputingExpo.com), which will take place April 19-21, 2010, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City. SOASTA also recently $10 million in Series C funding as it prepares its global expansion in 2010.

CA Wants More Than a Few Good Men

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 14:45:00 EST

CA is looking for talent in EMEA: associate account managers, directors of solution sales, senior solution strategists, sales account managers, technical sales consultants and alliance account managers. It says it’s launched a large-scale recruitment drive and it’s not often big companies put out press releases saying so. It says it means to capitalize on cloud computing and virtualization.

The Character of Cloud Computing

Sun, 13 Dec 2009 13:15:00 EST

Here's an important reminder for cloud service providers: character counts. Ethics, Values, and Trust are table stakes – for anyone who wants to succeed in business long term – but especially for cloud service providers. As a cloud customer, I am not simply buying/renting your hardware and software. I am grafting my company onto yours. We are intermingling our corporate DNA. I am loading my databases on your disk drives. I am modifying my internal processes to map to your services.

The Transition to Cloud Computing: What Does It Mean For You?

Thu, 10 Dec 2009 04:45:00 EST

We are standing on the threshold of a new transition in information technology and communications; a radical departure from current practice that promises to bring us new levels of efficiency at a vastly reduced cost. Cloud computing is full of potential, bursting with opportunity and within our grasp. But, remember, that clouds always appear to be within our grasp and bursting clouds promise only one thing: rain!

Why Grid Computing Makes Economic Sense

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 23:30:00 EST

With IT - just like other corporate departments - under the gun from senior management to centralize and reap economies of scale, distributed systems seem the dream answer to cost-cutting directives from above. To be sum it all up, distributed systems offer an attractive solution - centralized control along with dispersed physical assets and overhead. In a recent article I read, the author put it just right: "The relentlessly increasing cost and complexity of maintaining IT departments and infrastructure makes on-tap computing power very attractive to modern enterprises." But beyond this simple cost-efficiency based explanation of the benefits of cloud computing for businesses, here are five reasons to make the switch.

The Five Layers within Cloud Computing

Sun, 06 Dec 2009 13:45:00 EST

As a preface to the series of articles I will be writing on the Value Proposition and Business Cases for Cloud Computing, I wanted to discuss the layers below and within the cloud. It is important to understand what each of the layers is composed of, what the intended function of that layer is, and how these layers interact with each other. By simplifying the cloud computing concept into layers, it is easier to define the roles within the overall structure and explain where your business fits into the model.

EMC Re-orgs

Sat, 05 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST

EMC has cut its 2009 guidance because it’s going to take a $100 million to restructure its international operations into a single existing international holding company that’s supposed to be cheaper to run. It’s not anticipating any layoffs but it cut projected Q4 earnings from 21 cents to 16 cents and took a nickel off the full-year’s earnings now expected to be 50 cents.

Marc Benioff Takes Us Behind the Cloud

Fri, 04 Dec 2009 04:00:00 EST

Salesforce.com Co-Founder, Chairman and CEO, Marc Benioff, shares untold details of how the company went from idea to billion-dollar phenomenon and revolutionized an industry. Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM), the enterprise cloud computing company announced the availability of "Behind the Cloud," a new book by Founder and CEO Marc Benioff and published by Jossey-Bass, an imprint of Wiley. "Behind the Cloud" will, for the first time, offer a personal insider's view of the creation of a cloud computing giant and tell the story of how salesforce.com brought businesses into the cloud in an era dominated by mass consumer cloud services like Facebook, Google and Twitter. Benioff shares personal stories of the pivotal situations that salesforce.com encountered on its ascent.

Understanding Global Carrier Ethernet with Mark Fishburn at CENX

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST

I first met Mark Fishburn at the Convergence Technology Council (CTC) in Calabasas, California. Mark was a director in the organization, and had very strong ideas about networking and Ethernet. Going beyond the standard role we all play at professional networking venues, he distinguished himself from the group by presenting a passion for teaching others, and presenting his ideas in language nearly anybody could easily understand. Mark was always easy to find at CTC meetings, as he was the center of the largest groups of people who wanted to hear what he had to say.

11 Questions Every CIO Should Ask Their IT Manager

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 14:15:00 EST

Making the right choices around technology is critical to the success of your business. Finding out becomes a lot easier when you know the right questions to ask. This brief provides tips to get you started and how Red Hat can help.

Supreme Court Case Could Freeze Innovation

Thu, 03 Dec 2009 13:30:00 EST

In the High-Tech industry, the machinations of the US Supreme Court are, at best, fodder for dinner party trivia questions. There is one case on the Supreme Court docket this year that has the potential to change the way intellectual property protected in the United States, and have a major effect on the software companies who rely on the patent process. It could also have a devastating effect on innovation.