Exclusive Q&As

The Cloud Is the Future and Big Data Enables New Products

Mon, 21 May 2012 09:00:00 EDT

“Big Data eliminates the data silos that formerly existed, improving the depth and quality of analysis that can take place,” observed Scott Kinka, Chief Technology Officer at Evolve IP, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “Without these barriers, Kinka continued, “we gain access to information that was never before available. We can see where there are underserved markets, opportunities, problems that need to be addressed.” Agree or disagree? – "While the IT savings aspect is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility." Scott Kinka: Agree and disagree. You can’t really separate the two. Here’s why: agility is the ability to not buy more than you need. It is the ability to add resources when you need them rather than having to overspend and overbuy upfront on the idea that one day you might need more.

Big Data – A Sea Change of Capabilities in IT

Mon, 21 May 2012 07:45:00 EDT

“Big data represents a sea change of capabilities in IT” notes Matt McLarty, Vice President, Client Solutions at Layer 7, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. McLarty continued: “In conjunction with mobile and cloud, I think Big Data will provide a technological makeover to the typical enterprise infrastructure, drawing a hard API border in front of core business services while blurring the line between logic and data services.” Cloud Computing Journal: Agree or disagree? – "While the IT savings aspect is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility." Matt McLarty: Agree. We have a number of customers who are able to use Layer 7 Gateways to protect their cloud deployments, and leverage the elastic scaling model of the cloud to handle seasonal or sporadic bursts of traffic dynamically. Historically, these companies would have to try and forecast this and risk over-buying infrastructure. So there is a big cost savings, but dynamic scaling is a new capability that only comes with the cloud model.

Big Data: Information Spawns Innovation

Thu, 10 May 2012 03:45:00 EDT

“The speed of businesses is accelerating, requiring continuous tuning and optimization of business processes and operations,” noted Bruce Fingles, CIO and VP of Product Quality at Xsigo Systems, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “IT organizations must have an infrastructure that enables them to partner with business leaders and respond quickly to changes that can help drive the business forward,” Fingles concluded. Cloud Computing Journal: Agree or disagree? – "While the IT savings aspect is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility." Bruce Fingles: Yes. The speed of businesses is accelerating, requiring continuous tuning and optimization of business processes and operations. IT organizations must have an infrastructure that enables them to partner with business leaders and respond quickly to changes that can help drive the business forward.

Safeguarding Management and Security in the Cloud

Mon, 07 May 2012 11:30:00 EDT

“One of the greatest challenges to security in the cloud is management,” noted David Meizlik, Vice President of Marketing at Dome9 Security, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “With cloud computing,” Meizlik explained, “the infrastructure is owned and maintained by a third party, so you can’t just walk down the hall to get to your infrastructure.” Cloud computing represents the advent of a global computing utility that transcends national boundaries. Is that what makes clouds a challenge from a security point of view? Globalization is more a challenge from a governance and compliance perspective. The greatest challenge to security in the cloud is that traditional security models don’t apply. Take, for example, the firewall. Firewalls were designed to protect the perimeter. The cloud, however, is outside any perimeter, and thus a traditional enterprise IT approach to firewalling is simply not practical. Fundamentally, as we re-architect our infrastructure we need to re-architect our security. It’s an opportunity and not just a challenge.

Big Data: The ‘Perfect Storm’ Syndrome

Sat, 05 May 2012 19:00:00 EDT

“Cloud computing represents a paradigm shift for IT, transforming computing power into a utility,” observed James Weir, CTO and Co-Founder of UShareSoft, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “While cloud adoption remains in the early stages,” Weir continued, “this shift means that the overall market will grow massively in the coming years.” Cloud Computing Journal: Agree or disagree? – "While the IT savings aspect is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility." James Weir: Agree. Cloud computing is not just about cost savings but adding value and creating new business opportunities. Many of the customers I speak to definitely see these benefits too. Cloud computing enhances business agility by providing "self-service" access to compute, network and storage resources through automation. And we're now seeing enterprise customers and cloud providers start to focus on the next big open question: software agility. Software delivery to the cloud needs to benefit from the same automated process to provide users with on-demand access to IT applications. UShareSoft's tools are designed to do just that.

The Ever-Expanding Role of Big Data

Fri, 04 May 2012 05:00:00 EDT

“Security standards for moving data into and out of the cloud and for hosting it within the cloud will dramatically help accelerate adoption of the cloud as a secure computing platform,” observed Dr. William L. Bain, founder and CEO of ScaleOut Software, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. Bain also noted that “additional standards for creating elastic clusters that are physically co-located and use high speed networking will also help in hosting applications that analyze Big Data.” Cloud Computing Journal: Agree or disagree? – "While the IT savings aspect is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility." Dr. William L. Bain: Agree. The cloud opens up huge opportunities for everything from cloud bursting to meet peak demand to hosting a scalable data analysis platform. This full range of use cases serves to enhance business agility.

SHI Sees Rapid Growth in Cloud Demand

Thu, 03 May 2012 05:00:00 EDT

“The ability to flexibly and quickly adjust infrastructure allows IT to respond to line-of-business requirements in a way that was impossible prior to the advent of cloud computing,” noted Henry Fastert, Chief Technologist & Managing Partner, SHI Enterprise Solutions Services Group, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. Cloud Computing Journal: Agree or disagree? – "While the IT savings aspect is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility." Henry Fastert: Agree. The ability to flexibly and quickly adjust infrastructure allows IT to respond to line-of-business requirements in a way that was impossible prior to the advent of cloud computing.

The Business Agility of Cloud Computing

Thu, 03 May 2012 04:00:00 EDT

“Big Data is not simply code for lots of information,” observed Victoria Kouyoumjian, Sr. Business and Technologies Strategist at Esri, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “Instead,” Kouyoumjian noted, “Big Data refers to information in myriad different formats from varying sources – and many of these digital formats and streams haven’t existed until recently.” Cloud Computing Journal: Agree or disagree? – "While the IT savings aspect is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility." Victoria Kouyoumjian: Agree. Many organizations are initially attracted to Cloud Computing as the new bright shiny object that can potentially improve their IT portfolio. At the top of the list of benefits is cost savings, including reducing overall operational costs and exposing more cost avoidance opportunities. However, if the pay-as-you-go model does not fit with the business model of the organization, the savings aspect using the predominant cloud cost model cannot unanimously be adopted. For example, a Federal government agency accustomed to committing spend and decrementing after, or a public company with budgeting forecasting mandates might not have the same business needs as a commercial organization. Additionally, sitting down and doing the math on those cloud-hosted services that run 365 days a year may not equate to a compelling case for significant IT savings.

Public and Private Clouds – Standardization Is Key

Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:00:00 EDT

“The definition of cloud and cloud services continues to evolve,” observed Robert Crespi, VP, CIO at Cervalis, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “As such it is difficult to predict the growth,” Crespi continued, “we see more and more customers migrating to a cloud model with virtualization as it core.” Cloud Computing Journal: Agree or disagree? – "While the IT savings aspect is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility." Robert Crespi: Agree, the flexibility afforded by cloud computing is the strongest benefit

Achieving the Most from Your Cloud Computing Strategy

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 05:00:00 EST

“Much like the “100% paperless” or “100% wireless” enterprise, we’re not likely to see a ‘100% public cloud,’” noted Willie Tejada, Senior Vice President, Enterprise Cloud at Akamai Technologies, Inc., in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. However, Tejada does believe that “we will continue to see enterprises adopting a variety of cloud models – public, private and hybrid – according to the computing, budget, and delivery needs of their business.” Cloud Computing: How fast will the last remaining barriers to enterprise-wide cloud adoption melt away - are secure public clouds feasible, for example, or only private ones? Willie Tejada: Much like the “100% paperless” or “100% wireless” enterprise, we’re not likely to see a “100% public cloud” enterprise. It’s more likely that a best-in-breed mixture of traditional and cloud methodology will emerge as a standard. But it’s important to note that the reason isn’t likely to be security concerns, or performance concerns or any of the traditional barriers to cloud computing we hear so much about. Those barriers are already falling away. In fact, there are highly secure, highly performing public cloud solutions being used by enterprises every day.

Embracing Cloud Data Protection and Recovery

Mon, 07 Nov 2011 06:00:00 EST

“At the end of the day what’s important to technology users are their applications and their data, whether this be personal pictures and music files or corporate databases,” observed Alan Dayley, Sr. Director of Product Management at i365, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “The newest trend is ensuring access to these applications and data in the way the customer wants to access it,” Dayley concluded. Cloud computing has been on the fringe for many years and with different names. But like any monumental shift in technology, the momentum has been slowly building and is on the verge of exploding. Secure public clouds are very feasible, and may be more secure than a local IT environment, as cloud providers understand the importance of ensuring the privacy of customers' data and information and can do so in a more scalable way. SMB/SMEs will continue to look to public cloud computing to reduce overhead and to better manage their IT needs. A key need and current headache is data protection. Small businesses can embrace cloud data protection and recovery through a company like i365 to ensure that their data is secure and always available.

Cloud Computing Architectures: A Paradigm Shift

Mon, 31 Oct 2011 08:15:00 EDT

“As more and more people become comfortable with the idea, businesses will move more workloads to Public Clouds,” stated Joe Seibel, CFA, CFO & VP of Strategic Development at Hexagrid, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “I like to compare it to the history of electricity when every business had its own generator even though there was a central utility,” Seibel continued. “Eventually, as businesses saw the stability and became comfortable, they got rid of the generator. For the immediate and mid-term future, I believe private clouds, including hosted private clouds, will be the preference.”

Evaluating Cloud Computing: Achieve Performance and Financial Goals

Fri, 28 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EDT

“There is no doubt that the federal government’s support of cloud computing is driving additional demand,” stated Paul Carmody, SVP, Product Management & Business Development at Internap, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. However, Carmody noted, “Enterprises are evaluating the cloud based on their own needs and the merits of the cloud offerings available to them.” How fast will the last remaining barriers to enterprise-wide cloud adoption melt away – are secure public clouds feasible, for example, or only private ones? Paul Carmody: We’re seeing some enterprises move to the cloud immediately, especially for public-facing web applications. There are multiple reasons for this. For one thing, new applications are being developed and optimized to fit cloud environments right out of the gate. In addition, the cloud’s provisioning flexibility, which lets organizations spin up instances on demand, and its ability to handle bursts of demand in an economically efficient way are both highly attractive features.

Defining Cloud Computing

Tue, 18 Oct 2011 06:00:00 EDT

“Adoption of new technologies by large enterprises and government agencies legitimize the technology and speed up adoption,” noted Ran Nahmias, Director of Virtualization & Cloud Solutions at Net Optics, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “The government has been very thorough and loud about the move to the cloud,” Nahmias continued, “and there’s no doubt that the public endorsement – backed by solid reasoning – have been very helpful in cloud growth, especially in the US.” A fundamental question is: what is the definition of cloud? I think the general consensus is that the cloud is any computing workload that is running and performing in virtual environments, and in many cases remotely. All of our enterprise customers are continuing to adopt and deploy virtualization across their data centers and business processes and the adoption rate and pace are both growing steadily. In the past 12–18 months, we’ve seen a steady adoption in mission-critical areas that historically were taboo from virtualization.

Cloud Computing: It's All About Self-Service

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:30:00 EDT

“Cloud computing is all about automation and self-service and [at CloudExpo] we'll be showing attendees how they can extend that to the application layer,” stated James Weir, CTO and co-founder of UShareSoft in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “I will be speaking at the conference on how cloud providers can build dynamic app stores where enterprises and ISVs can share and consume applications,” Weir continued, “and how enterprises can migrate applications to the cloud with full software governance.”

The Journey to Full Cloud Adoption

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EDT

“There is a move to build more cloud-like capabilities into virtual environments, such as standard instance sizes and software stacks,” noted Andrew Hillier, CTO and co-founder of CiRBA, Inc., in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “This is a step toward cloud,” Hillier continued, “and is typically very effective, as it provides many of the benefits without the need to go to a full self-service model.” Cloud Computing Journal: How fast will the last remaining barriers to enterprise-wide cloud adoption melt away – are secure public clouds feasible, for example, or only private ones? Andrew Hillier: Secure public clouds are feasible from a technical perspective, but the question is whether they are feasible from a legal, risk management and general “control” perspective. For example, it is possible to structure legal contracts that guarantee that no customer data will be exposed, but such agreements are almost worthless if such data actually ends up being exposed. In such situations there may be financial penalties, but no amount of money can undo what was done, and there may simply be no remedies for the damages incurred. Arguments such as this are very compelling to those charged with managing the risk, reputation and even brands of large organizations, and may prove to be the biggest impediment to public cloud adoption.

Hybrid Cloud Computing Strategies: Deploying Enterprise Applications

Wed, 05 Oct 2011 10:45:00 EDT

“We believe that ‘cloud’ as a specialized concept will rapidly give way to cloud as simply a dominant enterprise IT paradigm,” noted Lawrence Guillory, CEO of Racemi Inc., in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan, “where public and private cloud resources both have roles in an enterprise’s virtual data center.” We believe that many enterprises will start by implementing low-risk private clouds and test the public cloud waters with public cloud-specific applications and services. As the benefits and flaws of each materialize and as enterprise applications and management tools for the cloud mature, we believe enterprises will look more and more to hybrid strategies for deploying enterprise applications in order to marry the benefits of both cloud paradigms. Supported by clearly defined best practices and tools to rapidly deploy and test apps in the cloud, an increasingly large percentage of IT will run in some kind of cloud infrastructure within the next three years or so.

Accelerating the Enterprise Use of Private Clouds

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EDT

“The Obama/Kundra effect of pushing more government data to the web and promoting the application of cloud scale efficiencies has been felt across all markets,” noted Bart Copeland, President & CEO of ActiveState Software, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “The thought leadership and leadership by example,” Copeland continued, “has raised both the visibility and spurred the growth of a number of important projects.” Cloud Computing Journal: How fast will the last remaining barriers to enterprise-wide cloud adoption melt away – are secure public clouds feasible, for example, or only private ones? Bart Copeland: Enterprise adoption of private IaaS is definitely on the rise as one solution for eliminating these barriers. We believe that the advent of Private PaaS solutions such as Stackato will further accelerate enterprise use of private clouds. As for "secure," this has a number of connotations. In the sense that your container is impenetrable by others housed on the same servers or cloud – yes, we believe this is feasible. In the sense that data privacy is protected, this may only become a reality on private clouds. We are still seeing governance and compliance issues with the public cloud. Our customers are asking for recommendations for geo-location specific hosting services, which tells us this is going to be an issue for some time.

Take the Concept of the Internet to the Next Level with Cloud Computing

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 07:00:00 EDT

“The cloud provides access to an endless range of services and applications,” noted Uri Mishol, co-founder and CEO, Xoreax Software, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “Without these up-to-date applications companies run the risk of being left behind, an option that on one cannot afford in today’s global market,” concluded Mishol. Cloud Computing Journal: A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises – grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time – why is everyone so convinced it will now work?

On-Premise Private Clouds: Effective On-Ramp to Cloud Computing Adoption

Fri, 24 Jun 2011 06:15:00 EDT

“Cloud computing has evolved from a point product solution that addressed a particular pain point (for example, high performance computing grids designed to analyze massive data sets) to an integrated and key component of a whole product solution designed to address a broad array of computing challenges for the enterprise,” noted Thomas Bryant, Director of Advanced Technology & Products for Quest Software, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. Bryant concluded that “The best of today’s cloud computing environments enable enterprises to leverage their existing infrastructure investments more efficiently, and easily integrate with existing processes and management solutions.”

Virtualization – The Engine that Enables Cloud Computing

Mon, 20 Jun 2011 10:15:00 EDT

“Most cloud environments – public, private, or hybrid – run on virtualized infrastructure that share CPU, memory and storage between applications,” noted Bryan Semple, Chief Marketing Officer at VKernel in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “These shared resource environments behave a lot like mainframes and hence require the same level of capacity planning,” concluded Semple. A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises – grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time – why is everyone so convinced it will now work?

Innovations in Cloud Computing

Sun, 12 Jun 2011 17:00:00 EDT

“What makes Cloud Computing more likely to be successful today are both technological and attitudinal changes in the market,” noted Tom Trainer, Director of Product Marketing at Gluster, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “First, commodity computing and storage and virtualization techniques mean that these services can be delivered at price points that make it more than economically feasible,” Trainer continued. “Second, Internet bandwidths make it possible to upload large amounts of data to and from these cloud-based infrastructures, easing the choice of platform.”

The Next Big Thing for Cloud Computing

Sun, 05 Jun 2011 07:30:00 EDT

“For many customers, the Cloud is still just an idea, and they do not know how the Cloud is built and operates,” observed Joe Bromley, Systems Consultant at Texas Memory Systems, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “Cloud providers should continue to educate customers on how easy it is to take advantage of their services,” Bromley continued, “and let customers know the hardware that is in place that is being used to serve and protect their data.” Cloud computing has become more affordable, and is now a cost-effective option for the mainstream. In the past, the costs involved with cloud computing made it very difficult for most companies to justify the price. With the continual rise in the power of x86 hardware, and the use of less expensive, and open source, file systems, the infrastructure costs have dropped dramatically over the last five years, and this savings has been passed along to the customers.

Cloud Computing: Creating a Circle of Innovation

Wed, 18 May 2011 10:15:00 EDT

“How we communicate, how we do business, and how we get along through the day has required that we look at new and better ways of improving our businesses and our civilization. This demand is requiring organizations to be better and more efficient at bringing services to market,” stated JP Blaho, Senior Product Marketing Manager and Cloud Security Strategist for Crossbeam, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “As we become smarter and faster, the economies of scale go into effect. These cost savings are then passed on to the user, creating a circle of innovation (demand, efficiency, and savings),” Blaho concluded.

Cloud Computing: A Shift in the Way IT Departments Work

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 11:30:00 EDT

“By outsourcing a big chunk of operations to the cloud, IT can shift from an operational cost center to a true partner and enabler of business success,” noted Rodrigo Coutinho, Senior Product Marketing Manager, OutSystems, Inc., in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “The cloud offers IT the possibility to have a centralized platform for developing and running enterprise applications,” Coutinho concluded. Cloud Computing Journal: A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises – grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time – why is everyone so convinced it will now work? Rodrigo Coutinho: I believe the cloud is going to work, because of two main reasons. First, the technology is now mature enough in terms of reliability, ease of use, available offer, and price. The fact that you can provision a server with a few clicks and a credit card proves that, maturity wise, we’re ready for prime time.

Cloud Computing: A Trusted Service

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 10:00:00 EDT

“Cloud Computing removes the risk and allows you to try before buying,” stated Carlos Polo, CEO & Founder of Doocuments, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. Polo continued, “Cloud Computing helps you save money and stay focused on your business and eliminates technology complexity.” Cloud Computing Journal: A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises – grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time – why is everyone so convinced it will now work? Carlos Polo: It is easier for everyone to believe and start adopting a trend once the market is massively pushing a technology. Cloud Computing (or whatever name used for this topic) is a technology that helps you save money, helps you stay focused on your business and eliminates technology complexity. Communications, security and software technology is also mature enough to support this revolution. These are the main reasons why we think Cloud Computing is convincing everybody.

A Hybrid Approach to Cloud Computing

Tue, 19 Apr 2011 09:45:00 EDT

“Cloud or the concept of ‘Data Center–centric’ computing is going to be around for a long time,” stated Rick German, Co-founder, CEO and Chief Technology Officer of Stoneware, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “We might tire of the word ‘cloud,’” he continued, “however, the need to shift from a client-centric delivery model to a centralized model cannot be avoided.” Cloud Computing Journal: A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises – grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time – why is everyone so convinced it will now work? Rick German: Cloud computing describes the shift from a client-centric computing model to a data-centric computing model. Applications, data, services are moving into the data center whether they can be locally or publicly hosted for the end user. This transition is as much about the change in client technologies as it is about utility computing, grid, and other cloud buzzwords. The explosion in the “sub-netbook” device market has created a new category of devices from smartphones to netbooks and pads that are typically unmanaged, personal in nature, and running a variety of local operating systems. The centralized, hosted nature of cloud computing has created a platform from which applications and services can be delivered independent of the device. The rapidly changing device market almost ensures that cloud computing will be the next compute model.

Cloud Computing – The Foundation for How We Consume Technology

Thu, 14 Apr 2011 17:00:00 EDT

“Cloud computing arrived at a time when the industry was being asked to do more with less,” explained Eric Olden, CEO & Founder of Symplified, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “Cloud computing offers a solution to that problem,” Olden continues, “on demand access to virtually limitless, cost-effective resources and for many this means entirely new capabilities that level the playing field. The ability and flexibility to pay only for what you use is a huge operational advantage.”

Cloud Computing: Creating a Functioning Market for Capacity

Tue, 12 Apr 2011 09:45:00 EDT

“Cloud puts control back in the hands of the consumers,” noted Andrew Hillier, CTO and co-founder of CiRBA, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “Cloud computing creates a functioning market for capacity, it gives consumers choices," Hillier continued. “This forces everyone to sharpen their game, from Cloud providers to outsourcers to internal IT. As such, Cloud computing is more of a shift in business model than it is a technology change, and this is what makes it truly different.” Cloud Computing: A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises – grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time – why is everyone so convinced it will now work?

Development-as-a-Service Platform Cloud9 IDE

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 16:11:00 EST

Ajax.org just launched Cloud9 IDE, bringing web and mobile app development into the total cloud with a commercial PaaS. Cloud9 IDE provides the first cloud-based Integrated Development Environment for JavaScript incorporating HTML5, and supporting Python, Ruby and PHP. We sat down with the CEO to get the scoop. We want it to be the premier online development environment for JavaScript and HTML5 developers. Cloud9 aims to be more than an IDE by providing the entire infrastructure a developer needs to start, run and debug a project without hassle.

Instant-On Enterprises & Cloud Computing

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 06:15:00 EST

HP’s strategy is centered on empowering both commercial and enterprise class cloud computing. Research from HP indicates that senior business, government and technology executives believe that by 2015, 18 percent of their IT delivery will be through the public cloud and 28 percent by the private cloud. That leaves the remainder of IT delivery to be handled by traditional delivery methods, either managed in-house, outsourced, or both.

Realizing the Benefits of Virtualization and Cloud Computing

Fri, 04 Feb 2011 06:00:00 EST

“We’ve done some pretty deep analysis here looking at deploying on-premises or with the different cloud providers,” stated Lawrence Guillory, CEO of Racemi, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan. “We’ve found the cost to deploy an application can quickly exceed the benefits of moving it to the cloud. That’s where our technology comes into play for on-boarding to the cloud.” In this Q&A Guillory also touches on Racemi’s image-based provisioning solutions, DynaCenter software, and more. Racemi’s cloud migration software addresses the number one requirement from data center managers who are seeking to move workloads to private or public clouds to reduce their cost and increase flexibility. Racemi’s server imaging and cloud migration technology enables enterprises to quickly capture, clone and migrate their server images anywhere within their datacenter or a private or public cloud. The Racemi automation software uses image-based provisioning to migrate server images regardless of the underlying operating system, application software, configuration, or even the physical, virtual, or cloud infrastructure. It will even translate hypervisors to ensure that virtual machines work in the new cloud environment, such as converting VMware virtual machines to Hyper-V or Xen virtual machines.

Enterprise Cloud Computing: Exclusive Q&A with a Cloud Revolutionary

Sat, 09 Oct 2010 18:00:00 EDT

Founder, Chairman and CEO of Adaptivity, Inc, the company that is putting "IT Blueprinting" on the map of Enterprise IT, is adamant: IT must invest in architecture and engineering, and it must do so right away, here and now in 2010, 2011 and beyond. An innovative IT executive, with an excellent track record in strategy, design, and the implementation of business-aligned enterprise technology platforms across large organizations, before founding Adaptivity Bishop served as SVP and Chief Architect of Wachovia's Corporate Investment Banking Technology Group, where his team designed, built, and implemented a leading-edge service-oriented architecture and utility computing infrastructure. So he knows whereof he speaks. And speak he does, including an upcoming keynote on The Enterprise Cloud Revolution that he is due to deliver next month at Cloud Expo Silicon Valley, the seventh in the worldwide Cloud Expo series and the biggest yet (November 1-4, 2010 | Santa Clara Convention Center, Santa Clara, CA). He also blogs and appears on discussion panels, in newspaper interviews, and indeed anywhere that enterprise-grade industry thought leadership is to be found.

Oracle OpenWorld2010 – F5 Oracle Application Ready Solutions

Mon, 20 Sep 2010 16:45:00 EDT

I visit with one of my favorite F5 Solutions Engineer, Chris Akker as he whiteboards some of the F5 Application Ready Solutions for Oracle. ps Technorati Tags: F5, infrastructure 2.0, integration, Pete Silva, security, business, education, technology, application delivery, cloud, virtualization, oracle, oow twitter: @psilvas

IBM Drives Cloud Computing Development in Vietnam

Thu, 05 Aug 2010 09:31:00 EDT

The IBM Cloud Lab in Vietnam--originally called the Cloud Computing Center at Vietnam--was opened on September 24th, 2008. IBM has partnered with other industry innovators and dedicated more than 200 full-time researchers to this effort and more than $100 million over the three-year period from 2009 to 2012. Cloud Computing is a global phenomenon. Unlike many IT breakthroughs of the past--such as personal computers, the World Wide Web, and SOA--which saw their initial growth in the developed markets of North America and Western Europe, Cloud Computing is seemingly billowing up simultaneously throughout the world.

The Accelerated Time-to-Benefits of Cloud Computing

Mon, 14 Jun 2010 09:30:00 EDT

“We’ve moved beyond the question of how long cloud computing will exert its pull on the modern day enterprise,” noted Vishal Sharma, Senior Director of Business Development at NaviSite, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Chair Jeremy Geelan. Sharma then concluded that “Cloud computing represents a transformative – and permanent – change to the way IT resources are managed and delivered.” Cloud Computing Journal: A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises - grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time - why is everyone so convinced it will now work? Vishal Sharma: There is a synergistic confluence of factors driving the interest in cloud computing. First, enterprises now understand – and can quantify – the tangible benefits of underlying cloud computing technologies. Virtualization allows enterprises to use resources more efficiently – turning them on and off, as required – while eliminating high capex barriers associated with new or expanding IT initiatives.

The Cloud Evolution Has Started

Wed, 02 Jun 2010 09:15:00 EDT

“Cloud is an evolution,” stated Tony Bishop, Founder and CEO of Adaptivity, in the exclusive post-show Q&A with Cloud Expo Chair Jeremy Geelan. “It coalesces grid, utility, virtualization and web standards into a delivery paradigm,” he continued. “The difference is each of these components are building blocks that solve the specific point problems of abstracted, on-demand, distributed processing.” Cloud Computing Journal: A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises – grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time – why is everyone so convinced it will now work?

What's Driving CIOs Toward the Cloud?

Mon, 31 May 2010 09:00:00 EDT

The three main factors driving CIOs to the cloud are lower costs, dynamic capacity, ease-of-use/management, and offsite data protection, according to Jeff Bell, director of corporate marketing for Cloud Expo exhibitor Zetta. In this exclusive post-show Q&A, Zetta’s Jeff Bell speaks with Cloud Expo Chair Jeremy Geelan about his views on the cloud, what is driving it and how Zetta’s on-demand storage directly addresses key IT needs and concerns.

The Next Chapter in the Virtualization Story Begins

Mon, 31 May 2010 06:45:00 EDT

Cloud Computing Journal recently caught up with Pete Malcolm, CEO of cloud management innovators Abiquo - a major new player in the fast-emerging Cloud ecosystem and Platinum Plus Sponsor of 6th Cloud Expo being held in Prague, the Czech Republic, 21-22 June 2010. Malcolm is keynoting at the event. His theme will be "An Open Cloud Ecosystem - the Gathering Storm."

Cloud Computing: The Next Era of Corporate Infrastructure

Tue, 25 May 2010 14:15:00 EDT

“Business drivers have changed,” noted Mike Donaldson, VP of Marketing, at Ping Identity in this post-show Q&A with Cloud Expo Chair Jeremy Geelan. And Donaldson believes “this has created a real demand for Cloud Computing.” A very general question first, about Cloud Computing itself: Surely we’ve heard all of this before in various forms and guises - grid computing / utility computing, etc.? What is different this time – why is everyone so convinced it will now work?