Cloud data governance was previously an avoided function when cloud deployments were relatively small. With the rapid adoption in public cloud – both rogue and sanctioned, it’s not uncommon to find regulated data dumped into public cloud and unprotected. This is why enterprises and cloud providers alike need to embrace a cloud data governance function and map policies, processes and technology controls accordingly.
In her session at 15th Cloud Expo, Evelyn de Souza, Data Privacy and Compliance Strategy Leader at Cisco Systems, will focus on how to set up a cloud data governance program and spans setting up an executive board to ensuring the availability, integrity, security and privacy of cloud data through its lifecycle.

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Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) is a technology designed to make DevOps easier and allow developers to focus on application development. The PaaS takes care of provisioning, scaling, HA, and other cloud management aspects. Apache Stratos is a PaaS codebase developed in Apache and designed to create a highly productive developer environment while also supporting powerful deployment options.
Integration with the Docker platform, CoreOS Linux distribution, and Kubernetes container management system brings more scalability and flexibility to Apache Stratos PaaS.
In his session at 15th Cloud Expo, Lakmal Warusawithana, Director of Cloud Architecture at WSO2 Inc., will discuss installing and deploying sample applications using Docker, CoreOS and Kubernetes, and walkthrough how it can be extended to support new application containers. He will also demonstrate app deployment, provisioning, auto-scaling, and more.

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As IT professionals we have been overwhelmed with different standards for each component of architecture, service delivery, governance, security, and operations. Not only does IT need to ensure technical training and certification, but it is also desired to pursue certifications in ITIL, TOGAF, COBIT, PMP, and a variety of other frameworks – at a high cost in both time and money.

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When an enterprise builds a hybrid IaaS cloud connecting its data center to one or more public clouds, security is often a major topic along with the other challenges involved. Security is closely intertwined with the networking choices made for the hybrid cloud.
Traditional networking approaches for building a hybrid cloud try to kludge together the enterprise infrastructure with the public cloud. Consequently this approach requires risky, deep “surgery” including changes to firewalls, subnets and other modifications to the corporate security infrastructure. Connecting a public cloud to the enterprise requires infrastructure changes to limit how deep into the enterprise it can see. For those who have dealt with it, it’s time consuming and risky, requiring a complete InfoSec review of the new structure. More important, even if an enterprise does it once successfully, it has to be repeated for each new project and cloud service provider.

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Technology is enabling a new approach to collecting and using data. This approach, commonly referred to as the “Internet of Things” (IoT), enables businesses to use real-time data from all sorts of things including machines, devices and sensors to make better decisions, improve customer service, and lower the risk in the creation of new revenue opportunities.
In his General Session at Internet of @ThingsExpo, Dave Wagstaff, Vice President and Chief Architect at BSQUARE Corporation, discuss the real benefits to focus on, how to understand the requirements of a successful solution, the flow of data, and how to best approach deploying an IoT solution that will drive results.

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Cryptography has become one of the most underappreciated, misunderstood components of technology. It’s too easy for salespeople to dismiss concerns with three letters that nobody wants to question. ‘Yes, of course, we use AES.’
But what exactly are you trusting to be the ultimate guardian of your data? Let’s face it – you probably don’t know. An organic, grass-fed Kobe steak is a far cry from a Big Mac, but they’re both beef, right? Not exactly. Crypto is the same way. The US government requires all federally deployed technology to meet minimum standards. For encryption, if it hasn’t been certified to meet the FIPS 140-2 benchmark, it is considered the equivalent of exposing your data in plain text. That’s how crucial it is.

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Over the years Function Points have been a most scientific method of measuring the size of business capability. The main reason is that function point is technology agnostic and counts the output directly from the point of view of business user. So at the end of day any gain in the served function point of an application means an increased business capability.

Typically delivering function points comes at cost of certain number of code, typically for example if you deliver one function point this may cost an organization some 70 odd lines of code and the associated cost of development and effort.

Most organization have some level of bench mark of the typical lines of code they produce to delivery one function point.

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In the consumer IoT, everything is new, and the IT world of bits and bytes holds sway. But industrial and commercial realms encompass operational technology (OT) that has been around for 25 or 50 years. This grittier, pre-IP, more hands-on world has much to gain from Industrial IoT (IIoT) applications and principles. But adding sensors and wireless connectivity won’t work in environments that demand unwavering reliability and performance.
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Ron Sege, CEO of Echelon, will discuss how as enterprise IT embraces other IoT-related technology trends, enterprises with industrial or commercial facets must also find ways for the disparate worlds of OT and IT to work together harmoniously.

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The O’Reilly Software Architecture Conference, March 16–19, 2015, Boston, MA, is a new event designed to provide the in-depth professional training that software architects and aspiring software architects need to succeed. A unique event, it covers the full scope of a software architect’s job, from IT to leadership and business skills. It also provides a forum for networking and hearing what other professionals have learned in real-world experiences.
Software architecture is a massive multidisciplinary subject, covering many roles and responsibilities, which makes it challenging to teach because so much context is required for every subject. It’s also a fast-moving discipline, where entire suites of best practices become obsolete overnight.

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