28 February 2011

Microsoft to Lose Its Cloud Computing Chief


Cloud Computing Journal
Dave Thompson, the Microsoftie responsible for shepherding Office 365 out the door sometime this year, is going to head for the pasture and put his feet up once the stuff hits the cloud. He'll miss seeing the impact of Microsoft's dicey-rolling Office Web Apps on what is now its biggest revenue-generator, its Office division, and its hand-to-hand combat with Google et al. Microsoft confirmed rumors of his impending retirement for Seattle PI. As corporate VP of Microsoft Online, Thompson is also responsible for BPOS, its Business Productivity Online Suite, which includes the webby versions of SharePoint, Exchange, Lync (née Office Communications) and Live Meeting. Thompson joined Microsoft from DEC 21 years ago to head a development group working on LAN Manager, moved to the NT team eventually becoming responsible for Active Directory, the Windows Server Product Group and Exchange. The statement Microsoft gave Seattle PI described his career as "illustrious." He will join a bunch of other long-time or highly placed veterans in exiting the company for one reason or another like Server and Tools chief Bob Muglia, Bill Gates stand-in Ray Ozzie, Office division chief Steve Elop, the Windows guys Mike Nash and Bill Veghte and Entertainment & Devices chief Robbie Bach.

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25 February 2011

Mobility – Cloud Computing’s Partner in Crime



As I mentioned last week, a reliance on cloud computingtechnologies made it very easy to move my office from point A to point B.
One aspect I intentionally skipped was our network infrastructure. The cloud is pretty useless if you don't have Internet access.
For most businesses with more than a couple employees, Internet access means getting a service provider to run a line to your business. It means a wiring closet and a router, and it means enabling connections throughout your office space.
And if you want wireless, it means setting up all access points and security, and then managing that.
Your network infrastructure is not something that lives in the cloud. It is a manual process that requires someone with some skill and it takes time. It takes phone calls to the provider, arranging times for them to come in, and then coordinating the timing such that your staff doesn't have downtime.
And, of course, the wise business manager knows ahead of time that it's flat out not going to work right the first — or even second — time around.
But what if even your network infrastructure, including Internet access, also was highly portable? If your key systems are all cloud computing based and if your network infrastructure was something that could easily be unplugged from point A and then immediately plugged back in and functional at point B, that would make your move even more painless.
We've been dabbling with Clear, an Internet service provider that broadcasts via 4G cellular technology at speeds that can approach traditional business-class cable or other providers.
With a service like Clear, you simply plug its box into a power outlet and instantly have an Internet connection. If your building already is wired for ethernet, you run an ethernet cable from your Clear box into the router.
And the neat thing about this particular service is that it offers personal wireless hot spot boxes at a very small incremental cost so you can bring Internet with you wherever you go. You can even share it with up to five other people.
For a small business, adding mobility to cloud computing services is not only very powerful, it also can save you a lot of frustration, downtime and — most importantly — money.
This was originally posted on the Central Penn Business Journal Gadget Cube.
Treff LaPlante has been involved with technology for nearly 20 years. At WorkXpress, he passionately drives the vision of making customized enterprise software easy, fast, and affordable.
Prior to joining WorkXpress, Treff was director of operations for eBay's HomesDirect. While there, he created strategic relationships with Fortune 500 companies and national broker networks and began his foray into the development of flexible workflow software technologies. He served on the management team that sold HomesDirect to eBay.
During his time at Vivendi-Universal Interactive, Treff was director of strategy. In addition to M&A activities, Treff broadly applied quantitative management principles to sales, marketing, and product line functions. Treff served as the point person for the management team that sold Cendant Software to Vivendi-Universal. Earlier positions included product management and national sales trainer for Energy Design Systems, an engineering software company. Treff began his professional career as a metals trader for Randall Trading Corp, a commodities firm that specialized in bartering and transporting various metals and coal from the then-dissolving Soviet Union.

What Is the Real Need for Speed?


Cloud Computing Journal
Cloud Computing may some day turn computing resources into a utility. Certainly that's the direction in which things are headed. The first step on this path is well underway, with Internet service becoming a presumed utility by citizens and governments worldwide. Politicians the world over are outdoing each other promising that their country will be the world leader when it comes to Internet access and speed. Admirable goals, to be sure. But arguments about the need for speed are accelerating too quickly along the Information Superhighway. It's time to step back and ask, "what is the real need for speed?" How much bandwidth do individuals really need, whether at work or at home? The NBN; Other Gigs The National Broadband Network (NBN) initiative in Australia says its a gigabit per second. It has almost $2,000 per person to build a network to prove this. I doubt this speed is sustainable or necessary; in theory it would require a massive optical cable coming into the country with 100 times the capacity of the terabit submarine cables serving much of the world today. But such plans to bring fiber optic cable to people's homes—Fiber-to-the-Home, or FTTH—are alive throughout the world, as part of a broader FTTx discussion about delivering bandwidth over the traditional "last mile" of telephonic service. Promises to deliver at least 100mbps have been made from Finland to the Philippines, with dire warnings for those who aren't on this bus. US Rep. Anna Eshoo, from Silicon Valley, referred to a recent poll by Cisco that found the US ranked 15th in the world in "broadband quality." As she wrote in an op-ed piece in a local newspaper, "we must close these gaps, and quickly." What is True? But how wide is this gap? How wide should it be? How fast is fast? What do individuals (whether at work or at home) really need? Do I sound like a hopeless Luddite if I question the current, headlong rush into trying to deliver 100mbps and gigabit service to every individual on the planet? Note: Earlier today, I tweeted my need for some real engineers to go over all this for me, as my head hurt after a few hours of studying Brewster's Angle, GPON v GEPON, birefringence, etc. I got a response almost immediately and will follow-up with this person's insights soon. Meanwhile, if you wish to contribute to the discussion, tweet me or email me!

24 February 2011

What Cloud Computing Means for the Real World


There are more than a few critics of cloud computing, even at PCWorld; I'm probably one of them. But I've been turning over in my mind different perspectives on the cloud. I've tried to set aside the views of the IT executive, who seems to dominate the debate.
Instead, I've been thinking about what it offers lowly end-users, or for programmers who create the software. What does cloud computing mean for the rest of us?
As far as computer-illiterate end-users are concerned, cloud computing offers many benefits. For example, have you ever lost a file or an update to a document, because you didn't save it before a crash happened?
With an online office suite like Google Docs, it's impossible to lose work. Files are automatically saved every few seconds. There's even revisioning, meaning that you can step back to a file when it was in a previous state. Google (GOOG) Docs isn't alone in offering this. Cloud file storage serviceDropbox lets you revert to a previous version of your files, too.
The best part is that cloud services don't even require users to understand what "saving" is. There's no longer a need to understand file systems, ushering in a level of simplicity computer engineers have been searching for since the personal computer was invented.
Cloud computing offers more permanence for your files than desktop computing. Give yourself a few minutes to think about that. CDs degrade over time. Hard disks crash. But no file will ever disappear from the cloud unless you choose to delete it.
Sure, a cloud provider can go bust. But online providers usually give you ample warning to get your data off their service if that kind of thing happens. And, try as I might, I really can't see a company like Google going under anytime soon.
How about looking at cloud computing from a programmer's point of view? For a programmer, cloud computing offers something that's been desired for years--the ability to create software that's operating system independent. If you manage to make your app work in Firefox and Chrome running on Windows, then in all likelihood, it will work well on Mac and Linux computers too. Mobile computing devices are also invited to the party, or at least contemporary devices that have the power to run such apps.
Even if a few tweaks are necessary, they'll be nothing like the complexity of recoding applications for every different platform.

Cloud Computing Player SolidFire Raises $11 Million


Cloud Computing Journal
SolidFire, a cloud computing storage platform, on Wednesday announced that the company has closed $11 million in Series A funding led by New Enterprise Associates (NEA) with current investors Valhalla Partners and Novak Biddle Venture Partners participating. NEA is a leading global venture capital firm with more than $11 billion in committed capital and a 30-year track record of successful investing including enterprise storage companies such as Data Domain, 3ware, and Fusion IO. The funding, which follows a $1 million seed round, will be used to expand the company in preparation for launch later this year. As part of this expansion, SolidFire has opened an office in Boulder, Colorado and will be hiring for engineering, marketing, and sales roles.

Cloud Leads 5 Storage Trends for 2011


CIO — As 2010 progressed, a shift in data-storing methods began to take shape. With 15 petabytes of new data being created every day, and the volume of data continuing to grow, the ability to simply store data in a secure and easily-accessible manner presents a challenge for IT departments and vendors.
Traditional methods of storage are proving costly, inefficient and unable to keep pace with client needs; and new, more efficient and intelligent methods of storage are beginning to take their place. The new face of storage for 2011 will look something like this:

1. Storage as a Cloud Service Gains Momentum.

As the volume of data grows at an exponential rate—with sources like IDC predicting a growth rate of nearly 60 percent per year—we're beginning to see a variety of different cloud storage offerings become attractive, including private, public and hybrid models. All three offer enterprises large scale, better planning capabilities and more flexibility to meet unique user demands; but with growing concerns over the vulnerability of critical information on public clouds, the majority of investment this year will go to the private model.
In fact, Gartner predicts that Global 1000 IT organizations will spend more money building private cloud computing services through 2012 than they will on offerings from public cloud-computing service providers. As those customers begin to seek out vendors who can not only store their critical information safely, but can also manage and host their cloud environments, those vendors who are investing in the cloud now will come out on top in the year ahead.

2. Goodbye Storage Status Quo

For enterprises that are driving the shift to the cloud, one thing quickly becomes apparent: status quo won't do. Old processes of storing and managing information can't continue to support the new model. The increasing data deluge matched with the economic downturn is forcing innovation.
New solutions are appearing that integrate virtual storage with other virtual system elements to create fully virtual systems, and there is going to be an increase in software aggregation that will lead to large scale, high performance or high availability solutions for a lower cost. Customers are also going to be seeking improved system efficiencies with real time compression capabilities, de-duplication and data migration.

3. Converged Infrastructure

These solutions will lead to a converged infrastructure that is held together through service management software. As categorization and automated data placement are used to ensure the right resources are being applied to the correct business need, the demands on storage will only increase. Customers will seek vendors that can offer a layer of service management that is able to integrate with servers, storage, software and networking under one offering.

VARs, Clouds and MSPs


What do VARs and Clouds as well as MSPs have in common?
Several things it turns out:
  • Some Value Added Resellers (VARS) sell cloud services or solutions
  • Some VARs are also cloud or managed solutions providers (MSPs) themselves, thus some cloud or MSPs are VARs
  • Some VARs, cloud and MSPs compete on lowest or cheapest price
  • Some VARs, cloud and MSPs have diverse product offering portfolios
  • Some VARs, cloud and MSPs compete on value (e.g. not price)
  • Some VARs cloud and MSPs value is in the trust and security or piece of mind that they provide
For some, the value of a given VAR, cloud or MSP is the ability to shop around for a resource to get the lowest price.

For others, the value of a given VAR, cloud or MSP is the ability to get the best value which may not be the lowest price, however may be the most effective overall cost, services, trust, security, experience and peace of mind.

Value to often is confused with cheap or low cost.

However value can also mean a slightly higher price that includes more thus providing a better effective option.

On the other hand, higher priced should not be confused with always being a better product or service.

Watch out for hidden fees or add on charges when evaluating and acquiring technologies or services that have an initial value of being lower cost.

You may find that the initial low cost requires other add on fees or charges for installation, surcharges for use or activity along with optional services to make the solution useful resulting in an overall higher amount to be paid.

Lowest cost may result in a bargain now and then or if that is what fits your needs, then that is what is probably best for you.

However value can also mean a better option providing an improved return on investment if the solution or service meets and exceeds your needs and expectations.

As an example, I recently switched from a cloud backup MSP (Mozy) not due to cost (costs would have gone down with their recent service plan
announcement) rather I needed more value and functionality. 

With my new cloud backup MSP I get more functionality and capability that I can continue to grow into even though the price per GByte is higher than with my previous provider. What made the change of positive is what I get in the higher fee per GByte that in the end, actually makes it more affordable, not cheaper, just better value and return on investment.
For some low cost is value while for others, value is more than lowest cost including what you get for a given fee including trust, security, service and experience among other items. Different people will have different requirements or needs for what is or is not value.
If you do not like the term value, then try price performer.

Bottom line for now, with VARs, MSPs and Cloud (Public or private) dont be scared, however look before you leap!

23 February 2011

Vendors Tap Into Cloud Security Concerns with New Encryption Tools


A handful of vendors have begun rolling out new technologies designed to let companies take advantage of cloud computing environments without exposing sensitive data.
One of these vendors, CipherCloud, a Cupertino, Calif.-based start-up, on Thursday launched a virtual appliance technology that companies can use from within their premises to encrypt or to mask sensitive data before it hits the cloud platform.
Unlike the case with encryption services offered by cloud providers, CipherCloud's technology lets enterprises have complete control over the encryption and decryption process, said Pravin Kothari, CEO and founder of the company. The only set of encryption keys resides with the enterprise and not the cloud provider, ensuring that only authorized users can view the data, Kothari said.
CipherCloud's algorithm works in a way that encrypts data without fundamentally altering the data format or function, said Kothari, whose previous start-up was ArcSight , a company acquired by Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) last year for $1.5 billion.
CipherCloud's technology also supports a tokenization feature that replaces sensitive data entered into a cloud application with anonymous dummy values. The tokenization feature, like the encryption technology, lets companies mask sensitive data while ensuring that they still retain the ability to sort, search, validate and generate reports with it, according to Kothari.
CipherCloud's technology is designed to work with any cloud provider, although the launch version works only with Salesforce.com's (CRM) cloud platform.
CipherCloud is not the only company offering such products. Another vendor offering a similar cloud encryption technology is Vormetric , which on Wednesday rolled out an encryption product for use within Amazon's Web Services platform. The Vormetric product also lets enterprises encrypt sensitive data that is stored in the cloud, while allowing them to retain full control over encryption key and policy management functions.
Voltage Security and Navajo Systems offer technologies that are similar in approach and function to CipherCloud's product. Like CipherCloud, Navajo has an offering for Salesforce.com's cloud computing platform.
Such technologies give companies an immediate way to protect data in their existing cloud applications, said Richard Stiennon, a security analyst at IT-Harvest. They also can help mitigate the data residency issues that can sometimes crop up when companies move data to the cloud, he said. Companies in certain industries for instance, can face restrictions when it comes to storing their data outside certain geographic borders. The data masking and cloud encryption tools that are becoming available today can offer a way around such issues, he said.

Mozy's Move Could Bring Storm to Unlimited Cloud Storage


Computerworld — Facing consumers with an appetite for cloud storage that has increased 50% over the past year, the world's largest consumer online storage provider said on Monday that it will no longer offer unlimited storage and will increase fees for the limited online storage it's now selling.
While Mozy may be among the first to change its pricing model for consumers, one industry analyst said most other providers will soon be forced to follow suit.
"Others are already doing things like bandwidth throttling to help control the volume of data being stored and limiting the types of files you can backup, but as far as raising prices we haven't seen that yet by others," said Gartner (IT) analyst Adam Couture.
Mozy, which is owned by EMC (EMC), opened its MozyHome consumer storage service in 2006. Since then, it has charged $4.95 per month for unlimited online backup.
While the new price and capacity points take affect immediately for new customers, existing customers will have until March 1 before they'll be required to change over to the new plans.
Today, however, Mozy services more than 1 million users, and while the majority of its customers don't abuse the service, about 10% are considered "power users" who store everything and are eating up enormous amounts of capacity.
Power users tend to not only store high-definition video, photos and music, but they also end up converting all their analog data to electronic to store that online as well, said Russ Stockdale, senior vice president of product marketing at Mozy.
Power users use as much capacity as the other 90% put together, he said. To give you an idea of how much that is, Mozy currently stores more than 70 petabytes of data for its customers.
"The analog camcorder became digital, and the digital camcorder became high-definition digital. Then all that stuff got built into your phone. Now you have people carrying high-quality digital devices and exhibiting a behavior where they reflexively store it," Stockdale said. "There's been a pressure across the industry on consumer plans that offer unlimited capacity."
Mozy said the typical size of a photo taken on an iPhone 3G takes up .5MB of storage. A photo taken on an iPhone 4 takes up 2.6MB, and one taken on a Droid X phone eats 2.3MB of capacity. When it comes to taking one minute of video on the latter phones, it consumes 82MB and 170MB, respectively.

18 February 2011

Success Factors for Upgrading Your School Wireless Network to 802.11n

5 Success Factors for Upgrading Your School Wireless Network to 802.11n – Universities and Schools
Thursday, 3rd of March 3rd at 16:00 GMT (17:00 CET)

During this live webinar you’ll learn more about the key benefits of the new 802.11n standard for universities and schools. We'll discuss how advancements in radio technologies, wireless management, and network automation are the important factors when upgrading a campus wireless network to 802.11n. The webinar will demonstrate how cloud managed wireless improves reliability and ease of use at a lower cost.

As a special offer, IT professionals from enterprise organizations who attend the webinar, will receive a free Meraki access point* with a 3-year Enterprise Cloud Controller license. See first-hand Meraki’s cloud-based wireless networking solution. Discover how to centrally manage access points without the need of an expensive hardware controller. 


If you're not familiar with Meraki, we have a unique approach to wireless. We move the complexity of the network from your infrastructure to the cloud, providing many benefits:

* Centrally manage access points from a cloud-hosted controller
* No expensive controller hardware to buy, no software to install
* Reliable coverage and high performance
* Secure access for employees, guests and devices
* Scalability for networks of all sizes 

We hope that you will join us on Thursday, 3rd of March at 16:00 GMT (17:00 CET). You can sign up at http://meraki.com/webinar/s/?form=1089&partner=cloud , or learn more about Meraki at www.meraki.com.


For full terms and conditions see http://meraki.com/webinar/free_ap_details_eu

5 Success Factors for Upgrading Your Wireless Network to 802.11n

5 Success Factors for Upgrading Your Wireless Network to 802.11n
Thursday, 24th of February at 16:00 GMT (17:00 CET)

During this live webinar, we'll discuss how advancements in radio technologies, wireless management, and network automation are the important factors when upgrading a wireless network to 802.11n. The webinar will demonstrate how cloud managed wireless improves reliability and ease of use at a lower cost.

As a special offer, IT professionals from enterprise organizations who attend the webinar, will receive a free Meraki access point* with a 3-year Enterprise Cloud Controller license. See first-hand Meraki’s cloud-based wireless networking solution. Discover how to centrally manage access points without the need of an expensive hardware controller. 

Register at http://meraki.com/webinar/s/?form=1090&partner=cloud
If you're not familiar with Meraki, we have a unique approach to wireless. We move the complexity of the network from your infrastructure to the cloud, providing many benefits:

* Centrally manage access points from a cloud-hosted controller
* No expensive controller hardware to buy, no software to install
* Reliable coverage and high performance
* Secure access for employees, guests and devices
* Scalability for networks of all sizes

British Telecom partnered with Meraki to provide the large-scale WiFi deployment at the last two LeWeb conferences in Paris. Over 17,000 other organizations depend on Meraki, including large corporations like Starbucks, retail businesses like Benetton UK, and universities such as Stanford and MIT. 

We hope that you will join us on Thursday, 24th of February at 16:00 GMT (17:00 CET). You can sign up at http://meraki.com/webinar/s/?form=1090&partner=cloud , or learn more about Meraki at www.meraki.com.

For full terms and conditions see http://meraki.com/webinar/free_ap_details_eu