Monthly Archives: June 2015

Amazon AWS, Cloud computing, Cloud Services, Cloud Technology, hybrid cloud

Cisco Systems Inc. Announces Plans for Intercloud

A year ago, Cisco Systems Inc. announced its plans to invest one billion dollars in a cloud computing company to compete with six billion dollar Amazon Web Services. This plan was christened with the name Intercloud.

At the Cisco Live annual conference, the company revealed its plans to take the Intercloud a step forward. The Intercloud will not offer this cloud itself from its own data centers but will instead unify smaller cloud service providers onto a large platform of products that will be compatible with each other.  The Intercloud will prevent the smaller providers from losing customers to Amazon while allowing Cisco to continue to sell these providers hardware as they grow and develop. So, the aim of Intercloud is to enable these smaller providers and Cisco to unify and compete with Amazon.

intercloud

 

In addition, Cisco is opening the Intercloud marketplace, an app store that gives customers the tools, software, and technology they need to quickly and efficiently use their cloud. Cisco is partnering up with many tech companies like Hortonworks and Docker for this marketplace, which will 35 apps.

Cisco also announced the development of the Intercloud Fabric, which will allow customers to manage and control their data centers and Intercloud at the same time. The Inter cloud Fabric makes it easier for customers to manage what can be a very tough technology. Cloud service providers like Datalink, Peak 10, and Sungard Availability Services have already backed Cisco’s plan to develop the Intercloud Fabric.

Cisco insists that while Amazon Web Services may have a head start in the cloud computing market, cloud computing still has much room to grow, making it anyone’s game.

The post Cisco Systems Inc. Announces Plans for Intercloud appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

Uncategorized

CIO survey reveals importance of mainframe – but also the skills gap with it

(c)iStock.com/mevans

IBM celebrated the 50th anniversary of the mainframe last year – and new research from Compuware reveals the technology is still as important as ever for CIOs.

The research, which polled 350 enterprise CIOs, found almost nine in 10 (88%) see the mainframe as a “key business asset over the next decade”, while a similar number (89%) see mainframe code as “valuable corporate intellectual property” and four in five (78%) believe it is a “key enabler of innovation”.

As William Rabie, head of cloud EMEA and APAC at iland wrote in this publication earlier this month, client-server technology never completely replaced the mainframe. Even though it’s very much a legacy technology, it still has its place in industries such as banking and defence.

It’s clear that CIOs see the mainframe playing a key role in the future of the digital enterprise, there are various concerns related to its development. As the senior platform professionals retire and leave the business, who will step up and deal with the mainframe in their place? Three quarters (75%) of CIOs admit that distributed app developers have little understanding of the mainframe, and a similar figure (70%) are concerned a lack of documentation will create risk in the company.

39% of respondents said they had no explicit plans for addressing shortages in their organisation for mainframe developers. So who is going to fill the gap? Compuware CEO Chris O’Malley is concerned at the results’ findings, comparing the situation to the Millennium Bug.

“CIOs clearly need to re-prioritise investments in the mainframe in order to maximise the value IT delivers to the business and to effectively mitigate the risk associated with the generational shift in IT staffing,” he said. “Not since Y2K has the mainframe required as much CIO attention and direct involvement.

“Hope is never a good mainframe strategy,” he added.

Uncategorized

A #DevOps Interview with @MattStratton | @DevOpsSummit #IoT #Containers #Microservices

Matt and I first met in the Summer of 2014 at DevOpsDays Minneapolis. My first introduction came when he (and several other DoD alums) participated in an impressive round of DevOps Karaoke. Matt gave an IGNITE talk on day two of the event titled “How to Hire Your First DevOp” as well. I learned during that event that he co-hosted a DevOps specific podcast that was gaining in popularity. It made perfect sense.
Not long after Minneapolis, I began trading emails with the organizers of DevOpsDays Chicago when I learned that Matt was a co-organizer for that event. VictorOps (and myself) definitely needed to see what kinds of conversations were taking shape in the “Windy City”. Since then, Matt and I have stayed in touch and regularly cross paths at a number of events including this year’s ChefConf & DevOpsDays Rockies.

read more

Channel, Cisco, InterCloud, Internet of Things, News & Analysis, Telco Cloud

Cisco beefs up Intercloud strategy

Cisco is bolstering its Intercloud programme by partnering with ISVs

Cisco is bolstering its Intercloud programme by partnering with ISVs

Cisco is bolstering its Intercloud strategy this week, announcing partnerships with 35 ISVs which the company said would help create and offer a wider range of cloud services based on Cisco infrastructure.

The company announced the impending launch of an Intercloud Marketplace that will be populated with apps certified to run on Intercloud infrastructure, due to go live in autumn this year.

Cisco said it is partnering with a range of commercial app and development companies including Apprenda, Active State and Docker to make their cloud developer environments work on the Intercloud platform.

The company is also partnering with big data solution providers including MapR, Hortonworks, Cloudera and the Apache Hadoop Community to offer hybrid cloud big data implementation support. Additionally, it said it would expose APIs to enable software-based control of networking and security, a move it claims will help developers create Internet of Things services more effectively.

Cisco’s Intercloud strategy has been somewhat of a slow burner, even by Cisco’s own estimates. The company has about 100 Intercloud customers and 65 partners globally, though last month Cisco chairman and chief executive John Chambers said the programme would pick up pace as it moved into “phase 2” of the Intercloud strategy, which is what the Marketplace is all about.

“The pieces that we were missing was how do you go into this new environment where each of these “public clouds in clouds” are separate? And you have to be on different vendors or different companies’ tech to have the ability to go into it. So what we’re looking at first is an architecture and it cements our relationships in service providers. And then it really comes through to how you monetise it over time,” he said at the time.

“This will just take time to monetize, but the effect we see indirectly is already huge when you talk about a Deutsche Telekom or a Telstra and our relationships with those.”

citizens bank, Enterprise IT, IBM, Ken Starkey, Managed services, News & Analysis, Philip Guido

Citizens Bank signs 5-year managed services deal with IBM

Citizens Bank has tapped IBM for a managed services deal

Citizens Bank has tapped IBM in a managed services deal

Citizens Bank is moving its back-end technology infrastructure to a managed services environment following the signing of  a five-year IT services agreement with IBM.

Using a hybrid IT approach, IBM will optimise the bank’s existing IT infrastructure by integrating automation and predictive analytics technologies to standardise and streamline many of its internal IT systems and processes, including core banking applications, branch operations and online and mobile banking.

“Information technology plays a key role in our ability to anticipate and meet the needs of every customer, across every channel,” said Ken Starkey, chief technology officer, infrastructure services, Citizens Bank. “This agreement with IBM will provide immediate access to new technologies and capabilities, enabling us to create greater efficiencies in support of Citizens’ growth objectives.”

Under the contract, IBM will operate Citizens’ existing and future IT systems located in the bank’s data centres in Rhode Island and North Carolina. The bank already uses IBM systems and technologies. IBM also will support Citizens’ voice and data networks and provide IT support for all Citizens colleagues.

Philip Guido, general manager, IBM Global Technology Services, North America, said: “This is part of a multi-stage transformation of Citizen’s IT environment that lays the foundation for integrating additional IBM solutions in the future, making the bank more agile and responsive to the growing needs of its customers.”

Amazon, AWS, Brent Alderfer, Community Energy, Datacentre, Green America, Jerry Hunter, News & Analysis, sustainability

AWS announces huge solar project following criticisms of its green cred

AWS announced a large solar project, part of its commitment to powering all of its global infrastructure with renewables

AWS announced a large solar project, part of its commitment to powering all of its global infrastructure with renewables

Amazon announced this week that it has teamed up with Community Energy to build and operate an 80 megawatt (MW) solar farm in Virginia, which the companies claim to be the largest solar farm in the state.

The announcement comes just one day after an environmental advocacy group hit out at AWS over its carbon footprint and energy reporting practices.

The companies said the solar farm, to be named the Amazon Solar Farm US East, will start generating approximately 170,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of solar power annually as early as October 2016 – which is roughly equivalent to the amount of energy used to power approximately 15,000 US homes for a year.

Amazon said the power purchasing agreement (PPA) is part of its long-term goal announced last year of powering all of its datacentre infrastructure using 100 per cent renewables. It said as of April this year about a quarter of its infrastructure is powered by renewables.

“We continue to make significant progress towards our long-term commitment to power the global AWS infrastructure with 100 percent renewable energy,” said Jerry Hunter, vice president of infrastructure at Amazon Web Services. “Amazon Solar Farm US East – the second PPA that will serve both existing and planned AWS datacenters in the central and eastern US – has the added benefit of working to increase the availability of renewable energy in the Commonwealth of Virginia.”

Community Energy chief executive Brent Alderfer said: “We are pleased to work with Amazon Web Services to build the largest solar farm in Virginia and one of the largest east of the Mississippi. This project, which wouldn’t have been possible without AWS’ leadership, helps accelerate the commercialization and deployment of solar photovoltaic (PV) technologies at scale in Virginia.”

Earlier this week Green America, a US-based environmental advocacy group, said Amazon is far behind other datacentre operators – including some of its large competitors like Google, Microsoft, Apple and Facebook – in terms of its renewable energy use and reporting practices. Google and Apple have been particularly strong in using or generating renewable energy to power their datacentres, with Apple committed to a number of large solar projects globally.

The group launched a campaign this week aimed at convincing Amazon to alter its environmental strategy. It is calling on Amazon to commit to full use of renewables for its datacentres by 2020 (AWS hasn’t set a target date publicly); submit accurate and complete data to the Carbon Disclosure Project; and issue and annual sustainability report.

Houlin Zhao, Internet of Things, IoT, ITU, News & Analysis

ITU to address IoT standardisation for smart cities

The ITU is coordinating standardisation efforts on IoT technologies for smart cities

The ITU is coordinating standardisation efforts on IoT technologies for smart cities

The ITU has set up a working group to help set out standardisation requirements for Internet of Things (IoT) technologies in smart cities deployments. The ITU said the next five years will be crucial for IoT standards development.

The new ITU-T Study Group for “IoT and its applications, including smart cities and communities” will help coordinate international standards development on the use of IoT and M2M technologies to address urban development challenges.

The organisation said it is “well positioned” to help governments and the private sector capitalise on the potential for IoT to transform city infrastructure through smart buildings, transportation systems modernisation, smart energy and water networks.

ITU secretary-general Houlin Zhao said the new ITU-T Study Group, which will initially be hosted in Singapore, will bring together a diverse selection of stakeholders including ITU’s technical experts as well as national and metropolitan administrations responsible for urban development.

Chaesub Lee, director of the ITU Telecommunication Standardization Bureau said: “The coming five years will be crucial in ensuring that IoT technologies meet their potential. ITU-T is very active in IoT standardization, and we aim to assist cities around the world in creating the conditions necessary for IoT technologies to prove their worth in addressing urban-development challenges.”

Given the nascent state of IoT there are preciously few standards, and one of the benefits that could potentially emerge from developing them within the context of smart cities is that the number of systems requiring integration, and the diversity of their requirements, is significant. While this makes the task of securing consensus on standards more complex, it could make the standards generated more robust and widely applicable to a range of use cases.

BlueStripeMicrosoft, M&A, Mike Neil, News & Analysis

Microsoft buys BlueStripe to bolster hybrid cloud monitoring

BlueStripe will bolster Microsoft' hybrid cloud performance monitoring capabilities

BlueStripe will bolster Microsoft’ hybrid cloud performance monitoring capabilities

Microsoft has acquired BlueStripe, a vendor of infrastructure monitoring solutions for applications distributed across multiple datacentres and cloud platforms.

BlueStripe and Microsoft have worked together closely over the years and the company’s solutions are often used to extend Microsoft System Centre for application infrastructure performance monitoring on a combination of Microsoft and non-Microsoft stacks.

Microsoft said the acquisition would give a strong boost to its hybrid cloud strategy.

“More and more, businesses are turning to applications to drive innovation and gain competitive advantage. To support this explosion of applications, agile cloud development environments and more componentized architectures and micro-services are growing exponentially. Applications and data are being spread across on-premises datacentres and public, private and hosted clouds as a result. While IT teams may not operate all of the infrastructure where the applications run, they still require visibility and the ability to manage these applications in order to support and protect the business,” explained Mike Neil, general manager of enterprise cloud at Microsoft.

“BlueStripe’s enterprise-class solution enables IT professionals to move from monitoring IT at the infrastructure level to gaining visibility into applications at the transaction level. The technology discovers and maps applications and dependencies, pinpoints problems for faster resolution, and helps maintain SLAs across complex underlying infrastructure. By mapping the structure of distributed applications, BlueStripe also helps in the process of updating applications to more modern platforms and migrating to the cloud.”

Microsoft said it will integrate BlueStripe’s solution into its infrastructure and ops management offerings like System Center and Operations Management Suite (OMS), but as part of the acquisition BlueStripe will cease selling its solution in the near term.

The challenge with application monitoring is it has always implied a tradeoff between flexibility and granularity. That said, BlueStripe’s FactFinder offering could give Microsoft – a strong proponent of hybrid cloud – a big boost with enterprises looking to extend their Microsoft stacks for application deployments or vice versa.

2X RAS, Parallels Business Solutions, Parallels RAS, Remote Application Server

Win Over the Complexity of VMware Horizon Client with Parallels RAS

VMware Horizon View is a desktop virtualization software offered by VMware to provide remote desktop capabilities to users. It was initially named as VMware VDM which was renamed to ‘VMware View’ and then to ‘Horizon View’. The newest version, Horizon 6 comes with innovative features; specifically, the application publishing and remote desktop session support have […]

The post Win Over the Complexity of VMware Horizon Client with Parallels RAS appeared first on Parallels Blog.

Parallels Desktop, Parallels Desktop 10, Parallels Desktop 10 for Mac, Parallels Desktop for Mac, Roxio, Roxio Toast 12 Titanium

Perfect Pair: Parallels Desktop and Roxio Toast 12 Titanium

Featured image courtesy of Roxio. One of the most frustrating things about a lot of video applications out there is that they only do one thing. Shouldn’t there be a video conversion tool that also allows video capture? Or a tool that lets you record and then burn it to Blu-Ray disc when you’re done? So many of the […]

The post Perfect Pair: Parallels Desktop and Roxio Toast 12 Titanium appeared first on Parallels Blog.