There’s lots of talk today about the “cloud” today. But what exactly is it? Some may argue that the cloud is just marketing hype – a buzzword for a broad range of solutions being billed the latest, greatest trend that everyone is trying to exploit. Others – who oftentimes have a vested interest in a single product – may try to narrowly define the cloud as mandatory technical reference architecture comprised of a specific virtualization software residing on a particular hardware platform.
But, in reality, the cloud is something in between those two extremes. It can be a combination of virtual, physical and hosted solutions that give users capacity on demand from a pool of computing resources. It should deliver scalability and flexibility, and offer self-provisioning and management. And you should only have to pay for what you use.
Google Drive Battling for the Cloud (Infographic)
Mind the Gap – Consumerization of Innovation
The landscape of IT innovation is changing. “Back in the day” (said in my gravelly old-man voice from my Barcalounger wearing my Netware red t-shirt) companies who were developing new technology solutions brought them to the enterprise and marketed them to the IT management stack. CIOs, CTOs and IT directors were the injection point for technology acceptance into the business. Now, that injection point has been turned into a fire hose.
Think about many of the technologies we have to consider as we develop our enterprise architectures: tablets, smartphones, cloud computing, application stores, and file synchronization. Because our users and clients are consuming these technologies today outside of IT, we need to be aware of what they are using, how they are using it, and what bunker-buster is likely to be dropped into our lap next.
Sure, you can argue that “tablets” had been around for a number of years prior to the release of the iPad in 2010. Apple’s own Newton Message Pad in 1993 is often the first device defined as a computing tablet. HP, IBM and others developed “tablets” going back to 2000 based on the Microsoft Tablet PC specification. These did gain some traction in certain industries (construction/architecture, medical). However, these were primarily converted laptops with minimally innovative capabilities that failed to gain mass adoption. With the iPad, Apple demonstrated the concept of consumerization of innovation by developing the platform to the needs of the consumer market first, addressing the reasons why people would use a computing tablet instead of just pounding current corporate technology into a new shape.
Now, IT has to deal with mass iPad usage by their users and customers.
Similarly, cloud services have been used in the consumer market for over a decade. It can be stated that many of the services users consume outside of the enterprise are cloud services (iTunes, Dropbox, Skype, Pandora, social networking, etc). As a consumer of these services, the user gains functionality that is not always available from the enterprises they work for. They can select, download and install applications that address their specific needs (self-service anyone?). They can share files with others around the globe. They can select the type of content they consume and how they communicate with others via streaming audio, video and news feeds. And don’t get me started on Twitter.
And this is the Gap IT needs to close.
We have tried to show our user population and our business owners the deficiencies in these technologies in terms of security, availability, service levels, management and other great IT industry “talk to the hand” terminology. We’ve turned blue in the face and stamped our feet like a 2-year-old in the candy isle. But has that stopped the pressure to adopt and enable these technologies within the enterprise? Remember, our business owners are consumers too.
IT needs to give a little here to maintain a modicum of control over the consumption of these technologies. The tech companies will continue to market to the masses (wouldn’t you?) as long as that mass market continues to consume. And we, as IT people, will continue to face that mounting pressure and have to answer the question: “Why can’t we do that?” The net is that the pendulum of innovation is now swinging to the consumer side of the fulcrum. IT is reacting to technology instead of introducing it.
To close this Gap, we need to develop ways of saying “yes” without compromising our policies and standards, and do it efficiently. Is there a magic bullet here? No. But we have to recognize the inevitable and start moving toward the light.
My best advice today is to be open-minded to what users are asking for. Expand your acceptance of user-initiated technology requests (many of them may be great ways to solve long term issues). Become an enabler instead of a CI –“no”. Adjust your perspectives to allow for flexibility in your control processes, tools and metrics. And, most important of all, become a consumer of the consumer innovations. Knowledge is power, and experience is the best teacher we have.
Team File Sync & Share Solution for OpenStack
Earlier this month, Rackspace announced the release of Rackspace Private Cloud Software, powered by OpenStack and code-named Alamo. The new offering is designed to make it easy for organizations to install, test and run a multi-node OpenStack-based
Does copyright law spell trouble for the cloud?
A recent report from the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) has questioned whether current copyright legislation in the country is stunting the growth of cloud computing.
The ALRC particularly mused whether any modifications to the current law should contain exemptions for cloud services or not.
Kim Weatherall, legal academic, was cited in the report stating a belief that technology-specific exemptions could impede cloud services further.
The report, entitled “Copyright and the Digital Economy”, noted a case in Australia involving the Optus TV Now service, which – if the appeal does not go Optus’ way – will have to be suspended following appeals from the AFL (Australian Football League), the NRL (National Rugby League) and Australian mobile device provider Telstra.
A Federal Court decision ruled that Optus’ online television service was not protected by an exemption in the Copyright Act, leaving the mobile comms providers seemingly open to legal action from all sides …
Amazon Web Services Announces Amazon Glacier
“Amazon Glacier changes the game for companies requiring archiving and backup solutions because you pay nothing upfront, pay a very low price for storage, are able to scale up and down whenever needed, and AWS handles all of the operational heavy lifting required to do data retention well,” said Alyssa Henry, Vice President of AWS Storage Services, as Amazon Web Services today announced Amazon Glacier.
Cloud RFP: Hybrid Cloud Custom Solutions
Hybrid Cloud Custom Solutions is the channel partner program that underpins our Sales Consulting Service for Cloud Providers. This combines the sales best practices of Solution Selling with an integrated portfolio of leading Cloud capabilities and professional services, and is underpinned by the same body of knowledge used for our Cloud RFP service for end-user buyers.
Cloud Computing: Rackspace Moves into Apps; 100% SLAs Pledged
After years of supplying infrastructure one way or another, Rackspace is going to go after the nub of all computing: the application.
The move will give it a new way to sell.
It’s starting by extending critical services to Adobe CQ web content management customers on the so-called “open cloud” using a new version of the key software that works on hybrid and dedicated clouds.
It’s no idle pick. Rackspace’s largest order ever was recently for CQ, the foundation of Adobe’s Web Experience Management (WEM) solution, according to VP of Global Enterprise Solutions Robert Fuller, the head of the responsible unit Rackspace set up at the beginning of the year. Fuller says there’s more customer demand behind that plum contract and Adobe is a “willing partner.”
ERP 2.0 Is Here to Conquer SMBs
BizSlate.com just launched the beta of its innovative Software-as-a-Service supply chain solution that empowers small and mid-sized companies to compete on the global stage. BizSlate ERP comes with a host of features that cut order processing time by up to 90 percent and let wholesale and distribution companies monitor and quickly diagnose operational issues at a fraction of the cost of conventional enterprise-resource-planning solutions. We had some questions for CEO Marc Kalman.
Small businesses are hungry for someone to solve their biggest supply chain problems. We feel BizSlate offers something special. Something that no other ERP for small distribution businesses offers. Other ERPs are either too complex and cost prohibitive, or if affordable they offer businesses little or no ROI. It is not surprising that 50% of small distribution businesses continue using QuickBooks and spreadsheets even though they have clearly outgrown it and need something more. Working with our customer steering committee, we’ve smashed the mold of old school traditional ERPs, and incorporate fresh ideas that coincide with the way small distribution companies operate their businesses. We give them power…we give them efficiency…we give them intelligence…and we do this with a very easy to use, intuitive interface. Word spreads fast when you finally solve the problems small businesses have been coping with for years.
Service Orchestration Gets a New Platform
The ServiceMesh platform allows organizations to accelerate the adoption of cloud services across the enterprise and move business applications into the cloud with governance and control.
The platform provides Global 2000 enterprises with a consolidated platform for the consistent management, governance, orchestration and delivery of cloud applications, platforms and services. The control over application services — without squelching the innovation of self-provisioned benefits — has become acute for many organizations. Managing services by each cloud, SaaS provider or on-premises platform is complex, expensive and unwieldy.