Category Archives: News & Analysis

Content & Applications, Mendix, News & Analysis, Platform as a service, SIG

Mendix targets technical debt avoidance with PaaS release

Mendix aPaaSApplication platform as a service (aPaaS) vendor Mendix has launched a new Application Quality Monitor service, in partnership with software quality advisor SIG. The cloud-based service will initially monitor the upkeep of Mendix applications.

Bimodal IT specialist Mendix claims to help companies create a two-tier service, combining the basic foundations of a reliable but conventional IT infrastructure with the option for ‘Mode 2 capabilities’ to provide better speed and agility. According to Mendix, many CIOs fail to pay enough attention to detail when implementing Mode 2, which can lead to mistake on refactoring and ballooning ‘technical debt’.

Technical debt is defined by researcher Gartner as the loose ends that need resolving and the refactoring required as a result of the development process. The debt may take many forms, from design debt, to documentation debt, to unused and duplicated code. Addressing technical debt will be one of the big challenges of the cloud, according to Gartner. A new genre of cloud vendors will be needed to ensure that software is well-designed, well-written and maintainable, it says.

“Anyone can go faster; the challenge is doing so sustainably,” says Gartner analyst Mary Mesaglio in an April report released by the firm.

The Mendix Application Quality Monitor performs a daily monitoring of software quality, improving maintainability and cutting lifecycle costs. The cloud service is powered by SIG, which performs a static analysis of Mendix application models according to ISO 25010 standard for maintainability. The analysis covers key aspects of the application such as the ability to analyse, modify and divide it into modules. It rates the applications on values such as volume, duplication, unit complexity and dependencies. A dashboard offers the quality rating on a scale from 1 to 5, and highlights potential areas for further investigation. The ratings are based on benchmarks of thousands of projects.

There’s a strong correlation between the cost and effort of handling issues and enhancements and the maintainability rating of an application, according to Joost Visser, head of research at SIG and Professor of Large Scale Software Systems at Radboud University. “Issue resolution time and enhancement effort increase exponentially for applications with lower ratings,” he said.

container, containers, ElasticHosts, News & Analysis

ElasticHosts launches elastic containers – could cut some running costs by 50%

containersCloud server company ElasticHosts has announced its new model of container technology can adapt automatically to fit volatile shifts in demand for resource and bill clients accordingly. The new Linux containers are designed to make management easier for resellers, service providers, web developers and web hosting companies.

ElasticHosts’ new containers are now available with cPanel v11.52, from third party control panel vendor cPanel. ElasticHosts claims it offers the first containers to integrate with cPanel v11.52, which now creates the possibility for much more precise billing according to the usage of server resources such as memory, processing power and storage. It also gives service providers the option to automatically adapt to changing circumstances, so clients only ever have to pay for what they use while there is no risk of hitting a performance barrier in periods of intense activity.

The control panel from cPanel can streamline the process of creating and managing websites, claims its vendor. Prior to the new release cPanel could only run on virtual machine servers with licensing according to the virtual private server (VPS) model. The new ability to ‘autoscale’ and the capacity for exact billing will lower costs for clients, according to ElasticHosts. The usage-based billing offered by containers means website owners no longer have to pay for periods when server capacity is underutilised or the site is idle, typically saving up to 50% on hosting costs, it claims.

“We worked closely with cPanel integrating and testing the product to make this a reality and believe our technologies complement each other well,” said ElasticHosts CEO Richard Davies, “containers are gaining real momentum.”

“Linux containers are an exciting technology and we have recognized the groundswell behind them in the internet community right now,” said Aaron Phillips, Chief Business Officer at cPanel.

cognitive computing, Germany, IBM, Internet of Things Telecoms, IoT, News & Analysis, Watson

IBM aims to take Watson IoT to the next level with new global HQ

HighLight Munich Business TowersUS IT giant IBM has made a major statement of intent towards IoT by opening a global HQ dedicated to its Watson Internet of Things offering in Germany, reports Telecoms.com.

Watson is IBM’s cognitive computing unit, designed to use machine learning and natural language processing to analyse unstructured data. At the core of IoT will be the ability to collect vast amounts of data from billions of different sources and make sense of it. IBM is betting that positioning itself as one of the companies best able to help with that process is the way forward.

The Watson IoT HQ in Munich (pictured) will apparently employ 1,000 IBM developers, consultants, researchers and designers all exploring at the intersection of cognitive computing and IoT. IBM sees Europe as the hub of global IoT development and this HQ is its most extensive European investment in over 20 years.

“The Internet of Things will soon be the largest single source of data on the planet, yet almost 90 percent of that data is never acted upon,” said Harriet Green, GM of Watson IoT and Education. “With its unique abilities to sense, reason and learn, Watson opens the door for enterprises, governments and individuals to finally harness this real-time data, compare it with historical data sets and deep reservoirs of accumulated knowledge, and then find unexpected correlations that generate new insights to benefit business and society alike.”

One early Watson IoT partner is the smart building arm of Siemens. “By bringing asset management and analytics together with a deep technical understanding of how buildings perform, Siemens will make customers’ building operations more reliable, cost-optimized and sustainable,” said Matthias Rebellius, CEO of Siemens Building Technologies. “We are excited to stretch the envelope of what is possible in optimizing building performance by combining the asset management and database technologies from IBM’s Watson IoT business unit with our market leading building automation domain know-how.”

IoT is perhaps the defining technological trend for the next decade, encompassing every part of the ICT spectrum. IBM is right to say that all these embedded sensors and smart devices are pointless unless we use all the data they will generate to make useful decisions. In many ways this is the natural evolution of Big Data and it will be no less challenging to demonstrate ROI on IoT.

acquisition, Dell, EMC, M&A, News & Analysis, VMware

Dell EMC takeover raises questions about Virtustream and Perot Systems

Dell office logoTwo new developments have been reported this week as Dell and EMC attempt to resolve the $67 billion question of how to finance one of the biggest mergers in the history of technology.

Cloud software giant VMware has withdrawn from a previous commitment to the Virtustream cloud service venture with parent company EMC, it has disclosed to regulators.

The new direction comes as Dell, the proposed new owner of EMC and a potentially controlling stakeholder in VMware, is allegedly looking at new options to finance the $67 billion deal. According to sources quoted in Re/code Dell is looking for a buyer for its $5 billion valued technology outsourcing business Perot Systems. The funds raised would help reduce the level of debt Dell must take on if the EMC takeover is to proceed.

In November, BCN reported how questions of financing of Dell’s takeover of EMC could scupper the deal, which BCN first revealed in October. A week after the deal was announced, EMC and VMware unveiled plans for a joint, equal partnership to create cloud service Virtustream, but unease about the announcement wiped 25% off VMware share values, according to some analysts. Since Dell and its backers were planning to use share value as a means of funding the transaction the decline in stock market value threatened to undermine the funding of the deal.

Shareholders in both EMC and VMware are allegedly unhappy with the idea of the Virtustream project, which appeared to be a “dumping ground” for money-losing assets, it’s claimed.

VMware shares fell 25 cents to $58.80 by mid-morning Monday.

Meanwhile, as Dell seeks to raise $10 billion in cash to lighten the potential burden of debt, it is allegedly courting suitors for Perot Systems, an outsourcing outfit it bought in 2009 for $3.9 billion.

According to reports, Dell has been in talks with India-based Tata Consultancy Services, French outsourcing giant Atos, New York based IT services company Genpact and Canadian IT firm CGI. Talks with Tata stalled on a disagreement about the valuation or Perot Systems, say reports.

According to Re/Code sources Dell began trying to sell Perot Systems three months ago and the cash realised would be a crucial enabler for the EMC acquisition. However, a range of potential buyers who were sounded out, including IBM, Infosys and Hewlett Packard Enterprise, have passed on the opportunity.

Cloudyn, Financing, hybrid cloud, News & Analysis

Cloudyn gets $11 million to take cloud monitoring global

Cloud monitoring service Cloudyn has raised $11 million to fund global expansion, brand raising and service integration from a Series B round of financing.

The latest cash injection comes 15 months after it was awarded for $4 million as investors noted how it had grown to monitor 8% of all Amazon Web Services. With cloud computing operators now generating $321billion a year, according to 451 Research, the monitoring of both infrastructure and platform services (IaaS and PaaS) is becoming increasingly critical.

The popularity of hybrid clouds, which straddle both public and private premises, has added complexity to the management task, creating a need for specialist monitors such as Isreal-based start up Cloudyn. A study conducted by 451 Research predicts that many companies plan to spend up to 50% of their cloud budget on these services.

Since 2014, when Cloudyn received $4 million in funding, the company says it has focused on winning clients among Fortune 1000 enterprises and managed service providers. Cloudyn has tripled its revenue for three consecutive years while doubling its head count. It currently monitors 200,000 virtual machines and 12,000 concurrent applications.

The new round of venture funding was led by Carmel Ventures and included contributions from previous investors Titanium Investments and RDSeed. Ronen Nir, General Partner at Carmel, will join Cloudyn’s board of directors.

There’s growing need for enterprises to perfect their resource allocation, boost performance and cut reducing cloud spend, according to Ronen Nir, the cloud specialist at Carmel Ventures. “Cloudyn’s technology provides meaningful and actionable data which has both operational and financial metrics,” said Nir.

“The funding will allow us to build on this momentum and increase our market share in North America and global markets,” said Sharon Wagner, CEO of Cloudyn.

Datacentre, News & Analysis, Safe Harbour, Skyhigh Networks

Skyhigh Networks opens European data centre to resolve Safe Harbour fears

datacentreCloud security vendor Skyhigh Networks has opened a new data centre in Germany as it moves to strengthen its support of European customers and multi-nationals.

The Frankfurt facility is a response to increasing demand for data localisation within Europe, which has been stoked by the recent Safe Harbour ruling by the European Court of Justices.

In October BCN reported how a Court of Justice of the European Union (CREU) ruling puts many companies at risk of prosecution by European privacy regulators if they transfer the data of EU citizen’s to the US without a demonstrable set of privacy safeguards.

The 4,000 firms that transfer their clients’ personal data to the United States currently have no means of demonstrating compliance to EC privacy regulations. As the legal situation currently stands, EU data protection law says companies cannot transfer EU citizens’ personal data to countries outside the EU which have insufficient privacy safeguards.

The new data centre will use a Hadoop cluster to analyse traffic analysis and identify and report on the risk of cloud services. It will provide interception, inspection, encryption and decryption services. The system will also run anomaly detection, reporting and data leak prevention services to secure SkyHigh’s clients’ cloud services.

SkyHigh said the new data centre gives customers a choice over where their data is processed and better performance in addition to privacy and sovereignty. The data centre is on a site owned and managed by European employees.

“We are delighted that Skyhigh Networks has opened a data centre in Europe,” said David Cahill, Security Strategy and Architecture Manager at AIB, a bank with 2.6 million customers and 14,000 employees. Cahill said that conforming to existing European data protection laws and the General Data Protection Regulation expected in 2016 need to be taken “very seriously”.

M&A, News & Analysis, Sophos, SurfRight

Sophos drops $32m on SurfRight to enhance threat detection

Cybersecurity2Security vendor Sophos has bought Dutch cloud security vendor SurfRight, which specialises in endpoint threat detection and response (ETDR) and threat prevention, for $31.8 million.

Sophos said it will immediately integrate the SurfRight technology into its line of endpoint security systems and on completion will make the technology available via its global channel of 15,000 partners.

Sophos will continue development and support for SurfRight’s existing product line including its popular HitmanPro range of malware scanning and removal tools, which has 20 million users worldwide. Sophos will retain all SurfRight employees and the company’s office in Hengelo. SurfRight CEO Mark Loman will join the Sophos Enduser Security Group.

Hengelo-based SurfRight develops technology that detects and stops attacks by interrupting the malware and advanced persistent threat (APT) vectors. The software spots any dubious looking memory manipulations, which are often a hallmark of malicious code that might be running furtive activity. The ability to nip these exploits in the bud can fortify endpoint security mechanisms, by thwarting malicious code’s abuses of processor and memory resources. Surfright’s portfolio also includes anti-espionage and anti-ransom software to prevent the growing threat of malware software such as CryptoLocker.

The logic of the deal, for SurfRight, is a high-growth industry leader with a world channel and the support of specialized product development teams, according to SurfRight CEO Mark Loman. “We built this technology to address every vector of an APT attack in an auto-responding, coordinated manner,” he said.

Sophos’ security strategy uses multiple components of security protection, including network security and endpoint security that continuously communicate with each other. This, says Sophos, makes for faster threat detection and cuts the time and resources needed for investigating security incidents.

Interrupting and mitigating custom-made malware is becoming increasingly important as traditional antivirus and network-based intrusion detection systems cannot cope with the speed of threats generated in the modern cloud environment, according to Dan Schiappa, senior VP of Enduser Security at Sophos.

Big Data, CDN, Database, Google, MySQL, News & Analysis

Google upgrades Cloud SQL, promises managed MySQL offerings

Google officeGoogle has announced the beta availability of a new improved Cloud SQL for Google Cloud Platform – and an alpha version of its much anticipated Content Delivery Network offering.

In a blog post Brett Hesterberg, Product Manager for Google’s Cloud Platform, says the second generation of Cloud SQL will aim to give better performance and more ‘scalability per dollar’.

In Google’s internal testing, the second generation Cloud SQL proved seven times faster than the first generation and it now scales to 10TB of data, 15,000 IOPS and 104GB of RAM per instance, Hesterberg said.

The upshot is that transactional databases now have a flexibility that was unachievable with traditional relational databases. “With Cloud SQL we’ve changed that,” Hesterberg said. “Flexibility means easily scaling a database up and down.”

Databases can now ramp up and down in size and the number of queries per day. The allocation of resources like CPU cores and RAM can be more skilfully adapted with Cloud SQL, using a variety of tools such as MySQL Workbench, Toad and the MySQL command-line. Another promised improvement is that any client can be used for access, including Compute Engine, Managed VMs, Container Engine and workstations.

In the new cloud environment databases need to be easier to stop and restart if they are only used on occasion for brief or infrequent tasks, according to Hesterberg. Cloud SQL now caters for these increasingly common cloud applications of database technology through the Cloud Console, the command line within Google’s gCloud SDK or a RESTful API. This makes admin a scriptable job and minimises costs by only running the databases when necessary.

Cloud SQL will create more manageable MySQL databases, claims Hesterberg, since Google will apply patches and updates to MySQL, manage backups, configure replication and provide automatic failover for High Availability (HA) in the event of a zone outage. “It means you get Google’s operational expertise for your MySQL database,” says Hesterberg. Subscribers signed up for Google Cloud Platform can now get a $300 credit to test drive Cloud SQL, it announced.

Meanwhile in another Google blog, it announced an alpha release of its own content delivery network, Google Cloud CDN. The system may not be consistent and is not recommended for production use, Google warned.

Google Cloud CDN will speed up its cloud services using distributed edge caches to bring content closer to users in a bid to compensate for its relatively low global data centre coverage against rivals AWS and Azure.

Adobe, Content & Applications, Creative Cloud, Financial Results, News & Analysis, Software as a service

Adobe posts 22% Q4 revenue growth, driven by Creative Cloud

AdobeAdobe Systems has claimed it is only just starting to gain from cloud adoption, after reporting record earnings.

Strong growth in subscriptions to Adobe Systems’ Creative Cloud has contributed to the ninth consecutive quarter in which the software vendor topped market expectations, as it reported revenue of $1.31b in Q4 of the fiscal year ending in November 2015. Of this, revenue from its digital media business, including Creative Cloud, rose by 35% to $875.3 million.

The vendor added 833,000 new subscribers to the Creative Cloud in the three months ending in November, some 150,000 more than market analysts expected. Meanwhile, Adobe Marketing Cloud brought in $352 million in revenue thanks to an unexpectedly strong adoption of its software as a service (SaaS) offerings.

Adobe’s strong growth from Creative Cloud has come as enterprises and professionals have adopted the new model of purchasing apps like graphic design tool Photoshop, web design software Dreamweaver and web video building application Flash. According to Adobe 52% of its customers subscribe to the full Creative Cloud bundle, with the remaining 48% subscribing to individual products within the portfolio.

Adobe Systems’ Photoshop Lightroom is now the fastest growing app in its Creative Cloud, CFO Mark Garrett told Reuters. “It’s growing the most because it’s attracting hobbyists and consumers,” he said. Since these were people that would never buy Adobe’s products before, the Creative Cloud and the switch from traditional licensing to web based subscription has expanded its market, Garrett said. “Our financials show that the benefits of our move to the cloud are just beginning.”

Adobe’s digital marketing business, which makes software that analyses customer interactions and manages social media content, grew by just 2.3% in comparison, to $382.7 million.

The company’s shares jumped 4.7% to $93.10 following the release of its latest trading figures.

Financing, News & Analysis, SnapLogic

SnapLogic raises $37.5m in venture capital for cloud integration innovation

Dollar SignsOne of the first cloud computing start ups has re-launched with a completely new offering, after industry evolution jinxed its first ground breaking invention.

SnapLogic has announced the receipt of $37.5 million in venture funding for a second major launch. The money was released from a Series E round of funding from backers including Microsoft and Silver Lake Waterman. The new incarnation of SnapLogic will concentrate on making technology that simplifies the process of shifting data between major platforms. It creates software that acts as a control plane which runs in the cloud and another set of software which acts as a data plane which can run anywhere.

This, according to SnapLogic, makes it easier for customers to shift data from, say, Salesforce’s customer relationship management apps into Workday. Another application would be in the emerging Internet of Things sector, where SnapLogic software makes it easier for data gathered from industrial sensors to be flowed into Hadoop data lakes. SnapLogic can be accessed on the cloud via a browser and can support hundreds of simultaneous users at a site.

SnapLogic is one of the few start ups to survive having the rug pulled from it by a major shift in demand, according to CEO Gaurav Dhillon, who launched the company on its search for capital. When it received its first round of investment, led by venture capitalist Andreessen Horowitz in 2009, it offered customers “snaps” to connect cloud applications with on-premise applications, allowing them to shift data between the two. However, a combination of the increasing popularity of hybrid cloud alternatives, and SnapLogic’s proprietary nature, gradually undermined the popularity of this solution.

SnapLogic didn’t work in “pure cloud fashion,” Dhillon told the The Wall Street Journal, since every customer needed to create its own SnapLogic software, running on its own premises, to connect to its cloud apps.

Despite being abandoned by some of the original backers, SnapDragon has made a transition to create a new set of cloud system integration problems. Other contributors to the new round of funding include Andreessen Horowitz, Ignition Partners and Triangle Peak Partners. SnapLogic has now raised nearly $90 million in five rounds of funding.