SYS-CON Events announced today that TechXtend (formerly Programmer’s Paradise), a leading value-added provider of server and storage virtualization, and r-evolution will exhibit at SYS-CON’s 15th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
TechXtend (formerly Programmer’s Paradise) is a leading value-added provider of software, systems and solutions for corporations, government organizations, and academic institutions across the United States and Canada. TechXtend is the Exclusive Reseller in the United States for r-evolution
Vets 360 Sponsoring Service Members to Attend Gartner Catalyst Conference
Veterans 360 will be attending the Gartner Catalyst Conference. They are also sponsoring the attendance of active duty service members that are currently in the US military and serving in an IT related position. If you are in such a technology role and are interested in attending this “must-attend” technology conference to learn strategies on how to leverage mobile, cloud, and big data. Please visit Vets 360 at http://vets360.org/gartner-catalyst-conference/ to take advantage of this tremendous opportunity.
How Load Balancing Impacts the Cost of Cloud
It’s not the first time we’ve heard the statement that cloud can be too expensive and I doubt it will be the last. This latest episode comes from Alexei Rodriguez, Head of Ops at Evernote by way of Structure 2014:
It is important to note that this admission – like those in the past – have come from what we call “web monsters.” Web monsters are, as the name implies, web-first (and usually only) organizations who have millions (or billions) of users. Modern web monsters generally have only one application for which they are responsible, a la Evernote, Netflix, Facebook, etc…
A roundup of latest cloud computing online courses
Amazon Web Services, Coursera, Google, MIT Courseware and Microsoft are accelerating the depth and variety of cloud computing courses, courseware and learning materials they are freely making available online.
Over the last six months since the last Roundup Of Free Cloud Computing Online Courses, Amazon Web Services has added an additional series of free instructional videos, self-paced labs and selected free courses in the seven areas their AWS Training programs focus on. Microsoft’s Virtual Academy has grown to include more courses, training material and entire section of free downloadable books from Microsoft Press. Google’s continual additions to the Developer Academy include online courses to learn more about Google AppEngine, Python App Engine and Google Cloud SQL.
Coursera and the University of Maryland, University of New Mexico and Vanderbilt University are all offering free courses on Android, mobile and web application development. MIT Courseware continues to add useful courses across the broad spectrum of subjects they cover. The dominant theme of all courses is a new focus on creating and launching a new cloud computing application during the course.
One of the best indicators of how serious a software company is about their developer evangelism strategy is how much they invest in free training
Update on Cloud Computing Online Courses – Full Index Available For Download
One of the best indicators of how serious a software company is about their developer evangelism strategy is how much they invest in free training, easily accessible knowledge, and work to break down learning barriers. Amazon Web Services, Google and Microsoft are each accelerating these areas quickly. Each are choosing to freely provide valuable training videos, books and content in the hope of attracting and educating more developers.
In addition to these extensive evangelism efforts, there are several excellent courses and educational programs available entirely online at various price points. You can find entire roundup of cloud computing online courses and programs here (in PDF) and also in Microsoft Word.
The following table compares the free cloud computing online courses. Please click on the graphic to expand for easier reading.
Key Take-Aways:
- Coursera & the University of New Mexico are partner to offer the free course Web Application Architectures starting next month. By the end of this course, students will be able to design, develop and deploy a modern web application. You can find more information about the course here.
- DePaul University College of Computing and Digital Media is offering a Cloud Computing Technologies Program where students will build their own cloud applications. Using Amazon Web Services, IBM, Microsoft and Salesforce cloud platforms, students will learn how to create and manage cloud-based applications. The eleven-week in-depth program in the principles, methods, and technologies of Cloud Computing. The program provides a broad understanding of the different leading Cloud Computing technologies.
- Stanford University is offering CS309A – Cloud Computing one of the most sought-after online courses in this field, from September 23rd to December 16th, 2014. This class includes discussions with cloud computing industry leaders and CEOs who share their vision of the future of software-powered businesses. Previous guest speakers include Hamish Brewer, CEO, JDA Software, Godfrey Sulliva, CEO, Splunk, Human Shah, CEO, RMS, Rob Bearden, CEO, Hortonworks, Bill Ruh, VP & Corporate Officer, GE Global Software and Aaron Levie, CEO, Box. The course is taught by Timothy Chou, a widely recognized pioneer in cloud computing. He has been teaching introductory computer architecture at Stanford for 15 years. He has an extensive background in cloud computing and is a high energy, engaging speaker. You can find his LinkedIn profile here.
@CloudExpo: OpenStack Enables the “AWS of Africa”
Adam Nelson (@varud) is working with OpenStack to develop Kili, a public cloud for Kenya and other African nations. “Kili lets local developers be local,” as he explains.
Despite his enthusiasm for the project and his prospects, he did note there can be “extremely little capital available for serious startups in Africa,” making it difficult to realize all of one’s vision and plans.
But as we approach @CloudExpo in Santa Clara Nov 4-6, it seemed like a good time to find out what’s going on with Kili and its relevance for all of us.
Cloud Computing Journal: So please describe your idea and how you do it. Are you the “AWS of Kenya?”
Adam Nelson: We run cloud infrastructure—IaaS—in East Africa, so yes, we definitely consider ourselves the “AWS of Kenya”.
CCJ: How did your journey to this project and destination evolve?
Adam: Before coming to Kenya, I was an early adopter and heavy user of AWS at various New York–based startups. We spent up to $25k/month on it.
When I then traveled to Kenya, I noticed very quickly upon arriving that there was a giant hole when it comes to cloud infrastructure–in Africa generally as well. So we see an amazing opportunity to get ahead of the curve and become the platform of choice for the coming generation of African tech startups—all of which need local infrastructure.
In addition, for global companies attempting to enter African markets, Kili complements the AWS offering and allows those groups to pay for local compute and storage capacity simply by using their credit card.
With local capacity, end-user uptime is higher and latency is typically 90% lower than if the server were located in Europe or the US. Those groups can use Kili but don’t have to leave AWS for the rest of their global footprint.
CCJ: So you’re reaching a variety of customers.
Adam: Yes, we reach a variety of startups and SMEs with a technology capacity. Government is another sector we’re focused on, but the sales cycle in that sector is quite long. We only went live with the beta in April so we have a ways to go.
CCJ: What sort of growth for cloud services do you see in Kenya and the region?
Adam: We have customers from Uganda and Kenya and hope to get some from Rwanda and Tanzania soon. Continent-wide expansion is the obvious next step and it’s when Kili has multiple regions that it will really shine.
@ReidCarlberg’s Internet of Things Slides @ThingsExpo: Practical #IoT Now
A lot of people are heralding IoT as the future, but what can your business do today? Quite a lot, it turns out, if you know what to look for and how to talk about it. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Reid Carlberg, Senior Director at Salesforce.com, will discuss business processes ripe for IoT style solutions and provide real-world examples in operation today. He’ll also cover several fun ways to inspire your organization, share some lessons learned about solution development and offer several next steps designed to get you started. Join us and learn how to kick start your company’s IoT efforts into high gear.
The Future of Security in the Cloud
Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) are increasing at an unprecedented rate. The threat landscape of today is drastically different than just a few years ago. Attacks are much more organized and sophisticated. They are harder to detect and even harder to anticipate. In the foreseeable future it’s going to get a whole lot harder. Everything you know today will change. Keeping up with this changing landscape is already a daunting task. Your organization needs to use the latest tools, methods and expertise to guard against those threats. But will that be enough? In the foreseeable future attacks will originate from entirely new attack platforms. The tools and methods you use today will not protect you from the threats you will face tomorrow. Your security experts will be no match for this new threat. Where will these attacks come from? It isn’t where you think.
How 360° Student Relationship Management Could Benefit Your Educational Institution
If you run a higher educational institution, your student is your customer. Surprising as it may sound, consider this: the focus of most initiatives in your institute needs to be the student. Starting from attracting them to join your institute, to the way their association with you is managed, you could achieve desired results if you plan your strategy keeping the student in the spotlight.
IT can play an essential role in helping you manage student relations. A Student Relationship Management (SRM) framework can help you forge a better connection with your students, keep you aware of any reasons that could cause dissatisfaction or churning and provides mechanisms to address such situations at the earliest.
Challenges to be addressed by an SRM Solution
Some of the challenges faced by higher educational institutions are:
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Improving student enrolment and retention
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Encouraging a lifelong learning process, including alumni engagement
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Bringing about pricing optimization for education companies to make higher education affordable for the student yet profitable for the provider
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Motivating the creation of educational products and services
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Building and maintaining the brand image across all channels of publicity
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Engaging and retaining staff
Other than the students, it is the faculty who play a very important role in establishing the reputation of an institution, which, in turn, attracts the required students. An efficient 360° SRM system would consider the goals of all the stakeholders and incorporate them in a student-centric manner.
SRM Systems Incorporate Changing Roles and Experiences
All the stakeholders, including students, faculty and administrative personnel go through a range of experiences in association with the institution.Beginning from when they enter the institute as strangers to the sense of belonging them cultivate over time; they would need to be treated differently according to their changing role. A seasoned vendor such as HCL Tech would ensure that these changing roles and functions are also a part of the provided system. This means that any situations that require intervention, such as a dissatisfied student who may be thinking of leaving the institution, would definitely have an addressing mechanism. If the design accounts for all such cases, hardly any scenario would remain truly “unexpected”.
SRM Solutions Harness Social Media
The management bodies of educational institutions would definitely be aware of the reach of social media among students. You can now harness the might of this medium in a positive manner. A service provider like HCL Tech could help you with using a popular platform like Facebook or Twitter to actively engage with an existing and prospective student population. For example, a Facebook page could be a medium used by the institution for such interaction. Social media apps used along with pattern recognition mechanisms may also be used.
Choosing HCL Tech to implement your 360° Student Relationship Management System is an important step, as it ensures that you receive a comprehensive, modern and efficient solution. All the building blocks including the data layer, CRM services, data analytics and social ecosystem, including mobile apps, would beput in place for you. All you need to do is to build on them further and operate them efficiently to ensure the success of your institution’s student relations strategy.
To know more about the topic please read the whitepaper presented by HCL Technologies.
Is Detachable Hybrid Computing Our Next IT Paradigm?
If you Google “detachable computing” today you will mostly get a selection of links relating to removable storage media.
It’s a trend that’s slowly changing, but detachable computing is also coming closer to meaning the use of laptop devices that function and fully working laptops with a detachable screen that will serve as a tablet when needed.
These devices are also known as detachable or hybrid or two-in-one PCs.
This ‘trend’ within the wider computing firmament has been reflected at various levels. Smartphone manufacturers (such as BlackBerry) have tried to build operating system functionality that allows the user to segment home/personal usage on the one hand – and business/corporate usage on the other.
@ThingsExpo Session: Monetizing the Internet of Things [by @AriaSystemsInc]
There’s no doubt that the Internet of Things is driving the next wave of innovation. Google has spent billions over the past few months vacuuming up companies that specialize in smart appliances and machine learning. Already, Philips light bulbs, Audi automobiles, and Samsung washers and dryers can communicate with and be controlled from mobile devices. To take advantage of the opportunities the Internet of Things brings to your business, you’ll want to start preparing now.