GigaSpaces Technologies on Monday announced it has completely re-architected its Cloudify offering to provide Intelligent Orchestration of applications on the cloud. With this product rewrite, the new Cloudify orchestration platform simplifies the application deployment, management and scaling experience on OpenStack, VMware vSphere and other clouds and environments.
In current orchestration models, most tools focus primarily on application installation, while much of application management occurs after deployment. As a result, vast custom tool chains are often used to manually manage post-deployment processes such as monitoring and logging, leading to significant overhead, complexity and inconsistency across systems.
Cloudify’s redesign provides a simple solution for managing the full application lifecycle. The new intelligent orchestration model introduces a feedback loop that automates fixes and updates without manual intervention, all with a single platform that integrates with any tool chain. Cloudify 3.0 reduces the complexity of cloud application management and ensures that managed applications meet their desired SLA.
Monthly Archives: July 2014
How Risky Are Your APIs?
It is a mistake to think we can secure APIs using the same methods and technology that we used to secure the conventional, browser-centric web.
Andi Mann from CA Technologies recently pointed out that, at every turn, customers are interacting more and more with businesses through applications. “Think of real estate businesses like Trulia, Zillow and Realtor.com,” he wrote in Wired’s Innovation Insights. “Or think about restaurants. It used to be that we’d call a restaurant to make a reservation, or even drop in and make a reservation. Now it’s all on-line, through OpenTable, or Foursquare.” This is the emergence of the Application Economy, where the application becomes the primary point of contact between the business and the customer.
Much of this is being made possible through the use of Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to link front-end applications to back-end information systems. This approach is exploding in popularity because it builds on well-understood techniques from the web and leverages some existing infrastructure.
What We Really Mean by Digital Transformation
Even Cloud-driven transformation isn’t the end of the story. The move to Agile Architecture is a move to continuous business transformation – where the organization is as agile as it wants to be, and is able to deal with change as a routine part of how it does business. Continuous business transformation, of course, has always been the center of the Agile Architecture story – and is what we really mean when we say we want Digital Transformation.
Harnessing Big Data for Product Improvement
By adopting HP Vertica, Systems Mechanics improved how their products best deliver business intelligence, analytics streaming, and data analysis.
Three years ago, Systems Mechanics Limited used relational databases to assemble and analyze some 20 different data sources in near real-time. But most relational database appliances used 1980s technical approaches, and the ability to connect more data and manage more events capped off. The runway for their business expansion just ended.
ERPGovCloud: Your Path to DCAA Compliance
So you won your first Government Contract… Congratulations!
Among the new issues you will need to consider, your accounting systems, both practices and technology, will need to pass muster with Defense Contract Audit Agency (DCAA) auditors. This will require a combination of internal processes and controls. Your accounting system will need to properly delineate direct and indirect costs, must properly pool indirect costs, and must properly handle unallowable costs.
Esri Named “Bronze Sponsor” of Cloud Expo Silicon Valley
SYS-CON Events announced today that Esri has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 15th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Esri inspires and enables people to positively impact the future through a deeper, geographic understanding of the changing world around them.
For more information, visit http://www.esri.com.
My Mini-Manifesto for the IoT
We are formally announcing the IoT Project Framework at @ThingsExpo Nov 4-6 in Santa Clara, CA. it will feature four overriding goals for the IoT in the year 2040:
1. To reduce poverty & disease
2. To eliminate violence as a way of settling disputes
3. To spur beneficial economic development in all corners of the world
4. To produce political and societal leaders who will maintain progress
You can participate by joining our list. There is no cost, no obligation, and we will not share this information with anyone! We will merely keep you informed about our progress & let you know of opportunities to participate further as they arise.
We realize that achieving even small, incremental global progress is a difficult task. But why not try?
Cinolla shores up its data centre defences with SaaS Assured
Software as a service (SaaS) provider Cinolla has signed up with SaaS Assured, which enables its services to stay online even if the data centre hits the skids.
The company, which manages bookings and scheduling for outdoor activity providers, signed up to the SaaS Assured initiative to provide peace of mind for its clients.
SaaS Assured, which is provided by NCC Group, “helps to ‘keep the lights on’ while allowing time for end user to source and transition to an alternative solution that fits their requirements,” according to the NCC Group website.
This is particularly interesting news given the spate of downtime issues experienced by big cloudy vendors in recent months. CloudTech broke the news earlier this month that CRM provider Autotask was suffering serious downtime, whilst a Joyent server also went west recently due to what’s known in the trade as a fat finger.
“The SaaS Assured agreement gives our customers extra confidence to invest in our service,” said Rob Brasington of Cinolla in a statement. “The agreement is simple enough for all decision makers to understand, while the legalities are straightforward and clear.
“I’d highly recommend it to SaaS providers looking to strengthen their offering.”
SaaS Assured’s solution ensures that data will be available even if the company goes bust, with customers assured that they can access their application for three months continuously after a failure.
“SaaS Assured adds significant value to a SaaS provider’s offering, removing one of the major barriers to cloud adoption,” said Daniel Liptrott, managing director of NCC Group’s escrow division.
“Cinolla should be commended for being proactive about business continuity and addressing this common customer concern.”
New Zealand case shows why the CFO is “critical” to next phase of cloud adoption
Chief financial officers “hold the keys” to the next phase of cloud adoption, according to analyst house IDC, because they are among the last ones to move into cloud services.
The analysts, who have collected their findings in the latest Asia Pacific cloud survey, say the CFO has an important role to play in terms of moving to a more optimised business model. In other words, it’s to ensure that the CFO sees cloud as a strategic differentiator for companies, as opposed to just being a cost-cutting exercise.
IDC believes that this won’t be an overnight change, but will be “balanced in the short term by the rest of the CXO table.”
The Asia-Pacific report, of 2,300 businesses, examines how in New Zealand 100% of organisations polled have a cloud budget forecast by 2016. Almost four in five (79%) claim they are using between two and five cloud services already.
Similarly, the researchers note a correlation between enabling business projects and barriers to adoption decreasing was noted. The most frequently cited pain point was ensuring data was secure, according to 36% of respondents. This was followed by constraints of legacy architecture, cited by 16% of those polled.
Yet overall it was New Zealand, considered the fourth most mature Asia Pacific cloud nation excluding Japan, which was praised for its approach in the report.
Cloud is bringing the competitive landscape of NZ businesses closer than ever before
Adam Dodds, IDC New Zealand research manager, said: “Cloud is bringing the competitive landscape of NZ businesses closer than ever before. All business sizes and industries are adopting to the opportunity of leveraging compute services provided from outside of their premises to create go to market and business operations opportunities.
“The challenge to all is how you untangle your legacy infrastructure and align your organisation – with people and processes – to adopt cloud appropriately,” he added.
New Zealand’s prowess in the Asia Pacific arena was also noted by the Asian Cloud Computing Association (ACCA), who placed NZ second only to Japan in its latest rankings, calling it an “ever-ready leader.”
Compare and contrast with the 2012 verdict, which placed New Zealand in sixth, noting improvements in freedom of information and data privacy but placing dead last in international connectivity. This year, while still being the area of weakness, NZ outscored the four lowest ranked nations – China, Indonesia, India and Vietnam – as well as its Pacific rival Australia. New Zealand scored highest in green policy.
Do you agree with the view of the CFO in cloud?
Why the Network Is Critical to Cloud Success
It’s certainly no secret that cloud solutions have become an important and increasingly necessary part of how companies do business today. For enterprises, implementing cloud-based services can help boost productivity, enhance efficiency and reduce costs.
Private cloud solutions take the cloud concept one step further: A private cloud configuration looks and acts like the public cloud, giving enterprises the same levels of speed, agility and cost savings – but in a far more secure environment in which dedicated bandwidth and security are guaranteed.