Category Archives: News & Analysis

Channel, Exponential-e, News & Analysis

Exponential-e launches CloudPort automated cloud portal for the channel

Cloud and network provider Exponential-e has launched a cloud pricing portal, CloudPort, to help its sales channel partner providers run their cloud reselling businesses more efficiently.

The system aims to make it easier for dealers of cloud services to install and manage their accounts, with quicker installation times and a fine tuned sales process that could help Exponential-e’s partners win more deals. Dealers can use the portal to get access to live a quotation tracking system that is designed to create price protection for Exponential-e’s business partners.

Exponential-e owns a 100 Gigabit Ethernet Layer 2 VPLS Network and integrates with third party providers and bespoke applications for both enterprise and SME clients. By tapping into Exponential-e’s product portfolio and carrier network CloudPort gives resellers access to suite of enterprise cloud services, including cloud compute, storage, server replication, colocation, online backup, SIP, internet and networking circuits.

According to researcher IDC global spending on cloud computing infrastructure is expected to grow by 21 per cent year over year to $32 billion in 2015. CloudPort will empower partners to meet this growing customer demand for cloud services and channel partners will be able to seamlessly tap into Exponential-e’s cloud solution portfolio and build systems to order for their clients, according to Exponential-e CEO Lee Wade. “CloudPort is a game-changer in cloud service delivery for the channel,” he said.

Resellers will also be able to configure services in order to adapt them for customers, according to Exponetial-e’s Head of Channel Strategy Michala Hart. “We will work with our partners to incorporate additional functionality into this new automated portal in the coming year. The portal will continue to evolve providing new solutions and services to our partners, facilitating innovation,” said Hart. The system is due to go live on December 14.

Abraxas, Datacentre, Huawei, News & Analysis, Switzerland

Abraxas uses Huawei Cloud Fabric for SDN datacentre

Cloud service provider Abraxas has built a new a virtualized multi-tenant cloud datacentre in Geneva, Switzerland using Huawei’s Cloud Fabric systems.

Huawei’s Cloud Fabric will give the datacentre the foundations on which to build a software defined network later, according to outsourcing giant Abraxas, which runs cloud computing services for enterprises, government agencies and scientific research institutions across Europe.

The Cloud Fabric is built out of a network of Huawei’s CloudEngine datacentre switches to create what Huawei describes as a Transparent Interconnection of Lots of Links (TRILL) and Ethernet Virtual Network (EVN). The Huawei equipment helped Abraxas build an ultra-large cross-datacentre Layer 2 network, which it says will give datacentre managers and cloud operators complete flexibility when installing Virtual Machine (VM) resources.

Virtualization of these core switches, using a technique that Huawei describes as “1: N”, helps to lower the running cost of the network and gives more service options with its variety of Virtual Switches (vSwitches), each of which can create completely independent autonomous sub-networks. The CloudEngine datacentre switches, when used with Huawei’s Agile Controller, can create the right conditions for a completely software defined network, when the time comes.

Abraxas needed to make more efficient use of its IT resources and to create the foundation for a strategy to migrate services onto its datacentres, said Olaf Sonderegger, ICT Architect, Infrastructure Management at Abraxas. But it also had to prepare for the virtualised future, said Sonderegger. “In order to fulfil sustainable service development, our datacentre network architecture has to be flexible enough to evolve into SDN-enabled architecture,” said Sonderegger.

Enterprise IT, IBM, News & Analysis, Verizon

Verizon announces IBM integration partnership for SCI customers

VerizonVerizon has announced IBM as the latest partner in its Secure Cloud Interconnect (SCI) service, bringing the total to eight cloud service options for its clients.

Verizon Secure Cloud Interconnect customers can now connect to IBM Cloud data centre sites in Dallas and San Jose in the US and Tokyo and Sydney in the Asia Pacific region. Two additional sites are planned in Europe for the beginning of 2016.

The Verizon Interconnect supports IBM’s broader portfolio of Direct Link services, which allow customers to link their existing IT infrastructure and the cloud compute resources on the IBM Cloud. The service has three offerings, Cloud Exchange, Network Service Provider (NSP) and Colocation, in a range it says will cover all public, private and hybrid eventualities.

The new IBM Cloud addition means Verizon’s Secure Cloud Interconnect now offers access to eight cloud providers. It already has links with AWS, Google CloudPlatform, HPE Rapid Connect, Microsoft ExpressRoute for Office 365TM, Microsoft Azure ExpressRoute, Microsoft Azure Government and Verizon’s own cloud service along with service from data centre providers Coresite, Equinix and Verizon. Its service is available at 50 global locations in the Americas, Latin America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Users of Verizon’s Secure Cloud Interconnect are promised a direct line to IBM Cloud services through a secure, flexible private link that promises to move workloads easily between clouds. Verizon says it gives enterprise clients more options for storing data. The new service brings a variety of settings, which means data can be stored in a traditional IT environment, a dedicated on- or-off premises cloud and a shared off-premises cloud. This, says Verizon, makes the adoption of a hybrid cloud more achievable and provides a cloud computing estate that is easier to adjust according as business requirements change.

“With SDN at the heart of our Secure Cloud Interconnect solution, IBM customers will find it delivers an unbeatable combination,” said Shawn Hakl, VP of enterprise networking and innovation for Verizon. Yesterday Telecoms.com reported on a similar deal between HPE and NTT.

Elsewhere, Verizon has also announced the expansion of its IoT portfolio, as it launched what it claims is the world’s first Cat1 LTE network feature for IoT. In addition, it announced that it will be giving developers additional tools on its ThingSpace platform, with more application programme interfaces (APIs) and application enablement platforms (AEPs) including an integration of its Bug Labs’ dweet APIs and freeboard visualisation engine.

Apple, News & Analysis, Open Source, Swift

Apple opens sources Swift programming language

Apple SwiftApple has made its Swift programming language open source in a bid to invite more contributions from developers.

According to Apple community website 9to5Mac, developers have been reluctant to commit to a relatively new language whose code base may disappear at the whim of its monopolist owner. Though it was only introduced in 2014, Swift is the fastest growing programming language in history. According to analyst Redmonk’s Programming Language Rankings, June 2015 report, Swift has “the performance and efficiency of compiled languages and the simplicity and interactivity of popular scripting languages”.

As an open source language, Apple said, a broad community of developers from education institutions to enterprises could contribute new Swift features and help bring it to new computing platforms.

The Swift open source code is available via GitHub and includes support for Apple’s iOS, OS X, watchOS and tvOS software platforms as well as Linux. Components available include the Swift compiler, debugger, standard library, foundation libraries, package manager and REPL. Swift is licensed under the Apache 2.0 open source license with a runtime library exception, meaning users can incorporate Swift into their own software and port the language to new platforms.

In support Apple has published a web site, Swift.org, which explains Swift open source with technical documents, community resources and links to download the Swift source code.

“Swift’s power and ease of use will inspire a new generation to get into coding and take their ideas anywhere, from mobile devices to the cloud,” said Craig Federighi, Apple’s senior VP of Software Engineering, “By making Swift open source the entire developer community can bring it to even more platforms.”

Apple’s Swift team has now posted source code for the Swift compiler and standard library functions and objects.

Datacentre, Google, Green, News & Analysis, Power

Google signs five deals for green powering its cloud services

Cloud service giant Google has announced five new deals to buy 781MW of renewable energy from suppliers in the US, Sweden and Chile, according to a report on Bloomberg.

The deals add up to the biggest-ever purchase of renewable energy ever by a company that is not a utility, according to Michael Terrell, Google’s principal of energy and global infrastructure.

Google will buy 200 megawatts of power from Oklahoma-based Renewable Energy Systems Americas’s Bluestem wind project. From the same US state another 200 megawatts will be contributed by Great Western wind project run by Electricite de France. In addition, Google will also power its cloud services with 225 megawatts of wind power from independent power producer Invenergy.

Google’s data centres and cloud services in South America could become carbon free when the 80 megawatts of solar power that it has ordered from Acciona Energia’s El Romero farm in Chile comes online.

In Scandinavia the cloud service provider has agreed to buy 76 megawatts of wind power from Eolus Vind’s Jenasen wind project to be built in Vasternorrland County, Sweden.

In July, Google committed to tripling its purchases of renewable energy by 2025. At the time, it had contracts to buy 1.1 GW of sustainably sourced power.

Google’s first ever green power deal was in 2010 when it agreed to buy power from a wind farm in Iowa. Last week, it announced plans to purchase buy 61 megawatts from a solar farm in North Carolina.

ACI, Cisco, Networks, News & Analysis, Vendor, Virtualisation

Cisco boosts SDN range with ACI update

Cisco corporateCisco claims that customers can take a further step towards network automation as it launched a new release of Application Centric Infrastructure (ACI) software to its software defined networking range.

Despite massive demand there are only 5% of networks being automated, according to Cisco’s own customer feedback. In response it has moved to simplify the task by making it easier to address all the various autonomous segments of any complicated network infrastructure.

The new software revision of ACI makes it capable of microsegmentation of both physical (i.e. bare metal) applications and virtualized applications, which are separated from the hardware by virtual operating systems such as VMware VDS and Microsoft Hyper-V. By extending ACI across multi-site environments it will enable cloud operators and network managers to devise policy-driven automation of multiple data centres.

In addition, Cisco claimed it has paved the way for integration with Docker containers through its contributions to open source. This, it said, means customers can get a consistent policy model and have more options to choose from when using the Cisco Application Policy Infrastructure Controller (APIC).

ACI now supports automated service insertion for any third party service running between layers four and seven on the network stack, it said. More support will be put behind cloud automation tools like VMware vRealize Automation and OpenStack, including open standards-based Opflex support with Open vSwitch (OVS).

The ACI ecosystem now makes the automation of entire application suites possible, including Platform as a Service (PAAS) and Software as a Service (SAAS) and there are now over 5000 Nexus 9000 ACI-ready customers using Cisco’s open platform it said.

“Customers tell me that only five to ten percent of their networks are automated today,” said Soni Jiandani, SVP at Cisco. Though they are eager to adopt comprehensive automation for their networks and network services through a single pane of management, they haven’t managed it yet. However, since several ACI customers have achieved full this could be the next step, said Jiandani.

HPE, IaaS, News & Analysis, NTT, Telco Cloud

HPE to give customer access to IaaS from NTT Communications

HPE customers can now get instant infrastructure as a service (IaaS) from NTT Communications portfolio following an agreement with the Japanese telco’s NTT America division.

The enterprise level service offers public, private and hybrid cloud options, plus NTT America’s professional services including cloud migration, data centre consolidation, managed infrastructure services and disaster recovery-as-a-service (DRaaS).

Demand for IaaS is rising, according to analyst Transparency Market Research which says the $15.6 billion online infrastructure market of 2014 will grow to become a $73.9 billion IaaS trade by 2022.

NTT American will be one of a few global IaaS partners to HPE, said its executive VP of Global Enterprise Services Jeffrey Bannister. Only integration of best of breed technologies within NTT’s own infrastructure can help customers stay ahead of their competition, said Bannister.

NTT Com’s secure network coverage (VPN) reaches 196 countries through a Tier 1 IP network and it has 140 data centres across the world with an enterprise-grade cloud footprint in 14 global markets and a planned expansion to 15.

In August BCN reported how NTT Com launched a multi-cloud connect service with direct private links to Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure and other top tier cloud service providers.

What was once a disruptive innovation is the new norm as businesses shift to off-premise systems, said Chuck Adams, HPE’s Partner Ready Service Provider Programme director. “IaaS is IT infrastructure without the overhead,” said Adams.

App Stores, applications, Enterprise IT, Ingram, News & Analysis, Odin, Parallels

Ingram confirms Odin deal to boost cloud app channel

AppsParallels is to sell its cloud management technology Odin Service Automation to IT distributor Ingram Micro for an undisclosed sum in a deal expected to close by 2016.

The deal includes intellectual property and the Odin brand. Odin publishes a range of cloud applications that includes web server management, server virtualisation, provisioning and billing automation. It is used by 10,000 service providers who sell applications to their small and medium sized business clients. According to Parallels around the services reach a subscriber base of 10 million SMEs.

IT distributor Ingram Micro has been a customer of Parallels since 2014 when it began using the Odin system as a cloud distribution service, allowing it to repackage applications to its channel partners who then white label them, resell them or manage them for clients. Ingram’s partner base includes resellers, managed service providers, system integrators and hosting provider customers.

Ingram branded its Odin-enabled cloud brokering service as the Cloud Marketplace.

The sell off will enable parent company Parallels Holdings to concentrate on its core business and divest itself of a commodity, according to its CEO Birger Steen. “Now we can sharpen our focus as a company and continue to deliver market leading products under the Parallels, Plesk and Virtuozzo brands.”

Parallels’ solutions business unit will continue to operate as a standalone company. Its Plesk web management business unit will operate as a standalone company under the Plesk brand. The Virtuozzo business unit, which develops container virtualization technology, will operate as a standalone company. All three business units will continue to be owned and controlled by Parallels Holdings Limited.

It looks good for Ingram but not for Parallels, according to one analyst. “I was surprised when Parallels spun off Odin as a separate company, I felt it had some real value,” said Quocirca analyst Clive Longbottom, “Ingram looks like it has gained control of a system that helps it deliver its own products to the channel and allow it to become a cloud aggregator.”

Where this deal leaves Parallels is more of an issue, said Longbottom. “It missed the boat when Docker made more noise on containers, leaving Virtuozzo in the mud. It has not managed to make enough noise for people to know that it is there, trusting instead on word of mouth and just being known. I think that Ingram comes out well from this. Meanwhile, watch out for others buying up the rest of Parallels.”

AutoDesk, developer, News & Analysis, PaaS, Platform as a service

Autodesk launches $100m PaaS developer programme

Autodesk forge platformCAD software maker Autodesk has put $100m on the table and challenged developers create new cloud friendly design automation systems on its Forge development platform.

In an official statement on its web site Autodesk, famous for its AutoCAD computer aided design (CAD) system, explains that it wants the cloud-based Forge system to catalyse a change in the way products are designed made and used. The Forge scheme was announced at Autodesk University the company’s conference in Las Vegas.

The initiative consists of three major components, a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) offering, a developer programme and a $100 million investment fund.

The Forge Platform is a set of cloud services that span early stage design, engineering, visualization, collaboration, production and operations. It offers open application programming interfaces (APIs) and software development kits (SDKs) for developers wanting to build cloud powered apps and services. The Forge Developer Program provides training, resources and support and will host an inaugural Forge Developer Conference in June 2016. In addition to financial support for companies that quality for the developer fund, Autodesk will give business and technical support.

The logic of the scheme is that industrial production methods used to design, make and use products is changing and new technologies disrupt every aspect of the product lifecycle. This can make production risky, since investments are poured into the creation of a new product line only for the market to be destroyed by some other invention before the manufacturer can launch their products.

Cloud computing, by creating a more flexible fluid economies of design and manufacture, could help make CAD systems adapt to the new market conditions, according to Amar Hanspal, senior VP of Products at Autodesk. “Autodesk is launching Forge to help developers build new businesses in the changing manufacturing landscape,” said Hanspal, “we are inviting innovators to take advantage of Autodesk’s cloud platform to build services that turn today’s disconnected technologies into highly connected, personalised experiences.”

Autodesk itself has evolved as the manufacturing changed. It started by creating computer-aided design and manufacturing (CAD/CAM) software, which was used by engineers to create parts on screen before manufacturing them. However, in later years it has evolved into product lifecycle management (PLM) systems and offers services such as simulation and modelling. It has taken on a stronger mobile and cloud focus with offerings such as AutoCAD 360, a mobile companion to AutoCAD that engineers can use to call up blueprints while away from their desks.

Adobe, Flash, HTML, News & Analysis, Software as a service

Is Adobe axing Flash under cover of Creative Cloud?

Adobe Animate screenAs an official Adobe blog hailed a ‘new era’ for Flash Professional, the software company seems to be sidelining its creation.

Apple boss Steve Jobs once famously dismissed Flash as proprietary software from the PC age. Now Adobe appears to be admitting it doesn’t have a role in the age of the cloud. While updating readers on developments in its Creative Cloud, Adobe reveals that Flash Professional CC is to be re-branded as Adobe Animate CC in order to “more accurately reflect the content-formats produced by this tool.”

Flash has long been heavily criticised because its proprietary nature made it unsuitable for the web. Jobs said Apple would never consider Flash for any of its phones tablets because “we know from painful experience that letting a third party layer of software come between the platform and the developer ultimately results in sub-standard apps.”

Latterly, the high power needed by devices running Adobe would make it unsuitable for the cloud, while the lack of openness would, in Jobs’ words, “hinder the progress of the platform.”

Adobe explains, in its blog, that “open web standards and HTML5 have become the dominant standard” and that “Flash Professional CC product team has embraced this movement by rewriting the tool from the ground up”. Adding native support for HTML5 Canvas and WebGL, in addition to supporting output to any format was such a ‘hug hit’ with Adobe customers that, in a short space of time, a third of all content produced in Flash Professional CC is HTML5-based, reaching over 1 billion devices worldwide.

The name change reflects the downgrading of Flash’s role in Creative Cloud. However, in another official blog post the vendor explains that Adobe Animate CC will continue to support Flash (SWF) and AIR formats ‘as first-class citizens’, as well as other formats like broadcast-quality video. “We will continue improving Animate CC’s HTML5 capabilities over time, while optimizing its core animation and authoring feature set,” said Rich Lee, senior product marketing manager for Creative Cloud web products.

In the cloud, it was the lack of stability and security that dissuaded Apple from using Flash.

Flash was highlighted by Symantec for having one of the worst security records in 2009. Steve Jobs once said he knew first hand Flash is the top reason for Apple device crashes. “We don’t want to reduce the reliability and security of our iPhones, iPods and iPads by adding Flash,” Jobs once said. Now, it seems, Adobe has accepted that Flash isn’t right for the cloud.