Datapipe has acquired AWS assessment, automation, and migration company DualSpark. DualSpark’s AWS consulting services simplify the experience of moving apps and critical infrastructure to the AWS cloud.
“DualSpark has extensive cloud-native experience helping enterprises modernize and refactor applications around site and system reliability, distributed configuration management and automation at all levels,” said Robb Allen, CEO, Datapipe. “Datapipe has been consistently enhancing our AWS managed services offering for more than six years. Today’s acquisition is our latest step forward to help enterprises take full advantage of the AWS public cloud, all backed by Datapipe’s highly experienced, certified professionals.”
Archivo mensual: septiembre 2015
BMC Software: Retooling for Digital By @TheEbizWizard | @CloudExpo @BMCSoftware #Cloud
In the two years since going private, BMC Software has been retooling its enterprise software product line. Today, it’s announcing a wide assortment of new and updated products at its Engage customer event.
The big picture: BMC is doubling down on digital. “BMC is delivering on the promise of its Digital Enterprise Management blueprint,” says BMC CEO Bob Beauchamp. “We’ve spent more than $100 million dollars reengineering ourselves to pass our competitors.”
Disruption Day – Where to Start? By @DinkoEror | @CloudExpo #Cloud
In my last post I discussed how all major business models are facing a software-enterprise threat, and that IT will need to tackle this head on in order for businesses to remain successful.
However: how can previous generation businesses ACTUALLY succeed in this new software-defined world?
Last year Gartner introduced the concept of ‘bimodal IT’: a new organizational model for enterprise IT in which IT organizations have two different modes of IT, each designed to address different technology and information goals. The first mode will focus on stability, scalability and efficiency, the second being more experimental and agile, with a focus on speed. They predicted that by 2017, 75% of IT organizations will have bimodal capacity (though 50% may make a mess of it).
[session] Developing with @SoftLayer, an IBM Company By @underscorePhil | @CloudExpo #Cloud
In his session at 17th Cloud Expo, Phil Jackson, Lead Technology Evangelist at SoftLayer, an IBM Company, will provide an introduction to IBM Cloud’s SoftLayer platform, including some of the most useful services and how to best make use of them in your projects. He will walk you through the SoftLayer portal, a demonstration of the capabilities of the API, and offer some well-rounded advice on how to succeed on SoftLayer’s platform.
[session] Infrastructure as Code – Powered by @SoftLayer By @allmightyspiff | @CloudExpo #Cloud
Using code to define your infrastructure is a trend that is quickly becoming common practice and a critical part of any successful deployment
In his session at 17th Cloud Expo, Christopher Gallo, Developer Advocate at SoftLayer, an IBM Company, will discuss what it means to be powered by SoftLayer, and some really awesome tools to help you make your deployments agile.
Google and Alcatel announce content delivery network upgrades to cloud services
Two major content delivery network (CDN) technology announcements have highlighted the strategic importance of CDN in delivering content without lag and latency.
Google’s Cloud Platform is to be sped up by the addition of four new content delivery networks, it has announced. The addition of CloudFlare, Fastly, Highwinds Network and Level 3 Communications to Google’s network of 70 points of presence in 33 countries forms part of Google’s new CDN Interconnect programme, which falls within the Google Cloud Interconnect line.
The plan is to cut prices for joint customers of the CDN providers and Google Cloud Platform when the customer’s traffic moves from the Google cloud to the CDN, it said. Google’s Cloud Platform product manager Ofir Roval said the additions are needed to speed delivery of rich media payloads from the Google Cloud Platform to end-user devices. Emerging web and mobile apps ‘carry hefty media assets’ which, he blogged, explains the need for new CDN additions, according to a report in The Light Reading. In time dependent enterprise business systems, users are unlikely to tolerate ‘laggy’ unresponsive applications, said Roval.
In November the cloud vendor launched Google Carrier Interconnect, to help link enterprise customers to the Google cloud. Partners in the initiative included Verizon, Equinix, Level 3 and Tata Communications.
Meanwhile, Alcatel-Lucent has moved to bolster it cloud-based IP video storage and content delivery technologies with a new Cloud DVR platform and a new Elastic content delivery network. The plan allows service providers to manage network capacity more dynamically as they deal with growing customer demand, according to Alcatel-Lucent.
The Cloud DVR platform incorporates a number of advances in storage resulting from Alcatel-Lucent’s collaboration with Intel and uses the Intel Intelligent Storage Acceleration Library.
With functions moved to the cloud, the Elastic CDN allows resources to be allocated more flexibly, said Paul Larbey, head of Alcatel-Lucent’s IP Video business. “Our IP Video portfolio helps customers better manage the changes in traffic that they are seeing. We can help providers deliver video content more intelligently and efficiently to dramatically improve the end-user experience, in line with demand but without increasing costs.”
Telco TalkTalk has tested components of the enhanced Cloud DVR in a live network environment.
Elastic CDN will be made commercially available in 2016.
VMworld 2015: Day Two Recap
In this post, I’ll recap Day 2 of VMworld 2015 (you can find a recap of day 1 here).
Over the past several years, Tuesday’s general session has been focused on the End User Computing space, and this year was no exception. Sanjay Poonen, the head of VMware’s EUC business unit, kicked things off by talking about how the overall VMware SDDC strategy is making the desktop/application virtualization story stronger than ever. He highlighted tighter integration between AirWatch, Horizon, and NSX as being keys to the future success of the EUC business unit. There was a lot of focus on VMware’s recently released Identity Management solution. This solution comes in two flavors, one being embedded in specific editions of the AirWatch mobile management platform and the second being a standalone product which does utilize some of the Airwatch back end functionality. Both are primarily SaaS base offerings. In my mind, this is a shot across the bow of Microsoft as more and more customers continue to migrate data into O365. VMware sees this as a huge threat, not because of the email migration, but because many customers are also deploying O365/Azure based Active Directory services and they see Microsoft “owning” or becoming the authoritative source for all authentication to all apps. VMware wants to be in the game of being that hub at the center of the authentication chain.
Sanjay then brought up Jim Alkove from Microsoft to the stage. So, you’re probably thinking, based on the last paragraph, “why would VMware and Microsoft be holding hands on stage at VMworld?” Well, Microsoft is a big company and while there is a lot of competition between the two in some areas (Azure, Hyper-V, etc), there is a good amount of cooperation in others (Windows 10 in this case). Jim and Sanjay talked about how VMware has made use of some of the new Windows 10 embedded management features to greatly expand the AirWatch platform capabilities around Windows 10 management. While this won’t have an immediate impact, as organizations make the move to Windows 10, AirWatch can provide a very solid management platform that spans just about any type of device a user could have (iOS to Android to a Windows based desktop/laptop/tablet). Along with this was the announcement of Project A2. This is a combination of AppVolumes application virtualization capabilities being managed by AirWatch to enable virtual apps to be pushed to physical Windows 10 based machines. Again, a big expansion of mobile management into a more traditional desktop/laptop platform.
Next up, finally, was Pat Gelsinger (CEO of VMware). His presentation was much different this year as he focused very high level and in general (non-VMware specific) terms about 5 imperatives for businesses across any vertical to succeed in the mobile/cloud world. Below is a synopsis of those 5 imperatives.
1. Innovate like a start-up, deliver like an enterprise: Nimble startups are thriving in the mobile-cloud era, while large, stagnant corporations are being threatened for failing to innovate. As Eric Pearson, CIO of IHG, said earlier this week, “It’s no longer the big companies beating the small companies, it’s now the fast beating the slow.”
2. Embrace Unified Hybrid Cloud: The journey to the cloud is maturing as the industry shifts from experimentation to professional delivery. Unified hybrid cloud is bridging the gap between personal and private cloud so that organizations can take advantage of the best of both worlds.
3. Architect with security in mind: Instead of adding security in as a last minute feature, organizations need to choose solutions that have robust security capabilities built in from the start. Virtualization helps provide the foundational level of security to protect the people, apps, and data that keep organizations running.
4. Automate everything to predict (almost) anything: The next major wave of innovative technology is automated smart technology that knows what to do before you tell it to. Apps, big data, and analytics are the building blocks behind these emerging forms of proactive technology, and the businesses that know how to use them will come out on top.
5. Take risks to stand out: Businesses that don’t take risks and focus on innovation will not survive the next decade. And, as IT professionals, we must constantly lead the charge for change.
In the next post, I’ll summarize all the major announcements around the VMware solutions set that came out of the event.
GreenPages is hosting a webinar on 9/16, “How to Increase Your IT Equity: Deploying a Build-Operate-Transform Model for IT Operations” . Learn how to create long-term value for your organization and meet the increasing demand for services. Register Now!
By Chris Ward, CTO
New Kid on the Block: Frictionless Security | @CloudExpo #Cloud
The mobility and flexibility of modern business practice has created a demand to extend any application to virtually anyone. While this can bring many benefits to organisations, such as enabling employees to work remotely, cutting costs by using the cloud to simplify IT deployment and permitting contractors and supply chain members to self-serve their accounts, there is also a dark side.
Think about it: by extending every application to virtually everyone, each users’ specific needs and uses of the application aren’t being taken into consideration. Does every employee really need to be granted remote access, and does each contractor hired really require the ability to enter the entire network? Of course not; after all, applications that are easier to share are also easier to hack.
Salesforce would be more effective if it was more mobile, workers tell survey
Customer relationship management leader (CRM) Salesforce needs to improve the employee experience before its clients can get the most out of it, says a new report.
The advice comes in the fourth annual State of Salesforce report, from consultancy Bluewolf, a partner agency to world’s top CRM vendor. It suggests that while customers of companies that use Salesforce feel more connected, the users of the CRM system aren’t as happy. The main complaints are inconsistent data quality and a lack of mobile options. However, the majority of the survey sample plan to ramp up their investment in the system.
Based on the feedback from 1,500 Salesforce customers worldwide, the 2015-2016 report suggests that the concerns of employees should be the next priority for Salesforce as it seeks to fine tune its CRM software.
The demand for better mobility was made by 77 per cent of salespeople surveyed. Their most time-consuming task was identified as ‘opportunity management’ which, the report concludes, could be improved by better mobile applications. The study also says that employees were twice as likely to believe that Salesforce makes their job easier if it could be accessed from a mobile device.
Bluewolf’s report suggests that Salesforce’s priorities in 2016 should be to invest more three areas: the mobile workforce, predictive analytics and improving the sales team’s experience of using apps.
In the modern obsession with customer experience, it is easily forgotten that employees create the customer success, according to Bluewolf CEO Eric Berridge. “While innovation is essential to improving employee experiences, companies must combine it with data, design and an employee culture.”
However, the report does indicate that companies are happy with Salesforce, since 64 per cent plan to increase their budget. Half, 49 per cent, have at least two Salesforce clouds and 22 per cent have at least three. A significant minority, 11 per cent, say they are planning to spend at least half as much again next year on Salesforce services.
That investment is planned because 59 per cent of Salesforce users say the CRM system is much simpler to use than it was a year ago.
Meanwhile, many companies are taking the employee matter into their own hand, says the report. One in three companies has already invested in agent productivity apps and one in five is planning to invest.
InsideSales.com announces world’s first predictive cloud for sales
A new cloud system driven by a neuralytics predictive engine could help users to use the intelligence gathered from 100 billion sales interactions.
The Predictive Cloud, from InsideSales.com, uses the knowledge of self-learning machines gathered from multiple sources across the globe to improve applications, business processes and sales practices, it maker claims.
Predictive analytics can be used as a platform, as a service or as a sales acceleration application, according to InsideSales. Independent software vendors (ISVs) can use Predictive-as-a-Platform using an open application programming interface to add predictive functions to their own apps. Users of Predictive-as-a-Service can get up to speed more rapidly through cloud delivery, says the vendor. The Sales Acceleration apps aim to improve sales communications, email and web tracking, predictive forecasting, lead and opportunity scoring, sales gamification and sales hiring.
The vision for the Predictive Cloud dates back to the founding of the company in 2004 according to founder Dave Elkington, InsideSales CEO. The rationale was to create a system that intelligently analyses billions of data points instantly. Having performed this instant analysis, it then recommends the optimal next steps for almost any application or business process. After building on this foundation, InsideSales plans to apply predictive technology beyond the realm of sales organisations, so it can deliver benefits to sectors such as government, healthcare and retail. Eventually predictive analytics could be used in any industry, said Elkington: “We are building an Amazon-style recommendation engine for business.”
InsideSales.com has partnered with Cloudbilt, the makers of MapAnything, CloudCraze, Demandbase, Dynamic Signal, Eventboard and LogMeIn.
“At this extreme scale, data science is critical in matching the right product to the right customer,” said Larry D’Angelo, senior sales VP at LogMeIn. “Predictive Cloud is taking analytics to a new level that can boost sales productivity.”
In May 2015 InsideSales closed a $60 million funding round led by Salesforce.
The system is due to be showcased at the Dreamforce conference in San Francisco on September 15th.
Predictive analytics could be the key to sales acceleration, according to Forrester Research’s principal analyst Kate Leggett. Speeding a prospect through the sales funnel will be driven by prescriptive insights, Leggett predicted in Forrester’s July 2015 report, CRM Sales Automation Software for Every User. “The insights driven by predictive analytics layer on domain-specific business logic resulting in context-specific, actionable prompts for individual salespeople,” Leggett reported.