David Linthicum published a good article on the lack of IT cost analysis and planning related to cloud a few weeks ago that is worth some discussion. The article highlights a study from the Big Data Group’s called the Cloud Cost Benchmark Study, which indicates AWS users are significantly underutilizing their usage of cloud, thus undercutting potential cost savings and highlighting large cloud inefficiencies. VentureBeat featured a similar story back in August 2012 saying “The cloud eats two-thirds of your cash“. Both of these articles, and the trend in general, highlight exactly why 6fusion’s “metering first” approach is gaining traction.
Take this quote from Linthicum’s article for example:
“Planning means that we do some detailed modeling of how our system will exist within the target cloud platform. This includes utilization of resources, and a model that depicts the cost of operating the system over time, and looking at ways to make the use of a cloud service more cost effective.”
What does G-Cloud want for Christmas?
Joe Dignan, Chief Analyst, Public Sector Technology, Ovum
Cloud delivery and procurement is still a central plank in global public sector procurement. The G-Cloud Framework has been running for the best part of a year, having launched in April 2012, so now is a good time to revisit the UK government’s flagship procurement initiative, CloudStore.
At a recent event, Ovum heard that the UK’s CloudStore was a great success. We heard that the second iteration of the G-Cloud Framework included 71 new suppliers, bringing the total to 462, of which 75% are SMEs. With 2,814 new services being offered through the four lots, there are now 3,185 services on offer. The problem with this story is that total sales amount to less than £4m for the year. In fact, the top-10 buyers only spent £2.6m.
The new UK government CTO, Liam Maxwell, quotes the public …
Government cloud: Agencies need shopping skills, not just cloud stores
Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director, IT, Asia-Pacific, Ovum
Many governments are implementing cloud services portals – “cloud stores” – to encourage cloud services adoption and provide “trusted” shopping experiences for agencies. The decision by the US government to close its apps.gov portal raises interesting questions about the usefulness of these portals. Ovum’s view is that the focus of government cloud strategy should be on encouraging organizational learning in agencies about why, how, when, and where to buy cloud services.
The relative immaturity and fast pace of evolution of the cloud services market mean that buyers need astute shopping skills, but these are only developed through hands-on experience and the sharing of tips and advice among fellow shoppers. Accelerating the development of intelligent buying behaviors at an agency level will be a lower-risk path than relying on centralized government cloud shops in which services of uncertain quality are sold by shop …
SYS-CON.tv Interview: The World of Cloud Computing
“This is a great show for us to talk about Stingray product family, which is our application delivery controller family, and specifically the intersection between Stingray and what’s going on in the world of cloud computing,” stated Apurva Dave, VP of Products & General Manager, Stingray, at Riverbed Technology, in this SYS-CON.tv interview with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan at the 11th International Cloud Expo, held November 5-8, 2012, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Cloud Expo 2013 New York, June 10–13, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading Cloud industry players in the world.
IaaS Cloud Litmus Test – The Five Minute VM
I will make this simple. There is only one question you need to ask yourself or your IT department to determine if what you have is really an Infrastructure-as-a-Service cloud.
Can I get a VM in 5-10 minutes?
Perhaps a little bit more detailed?
Can a properly credentialed user, with a legitimate need for cloud resources, log into your cloud portal or use your cloud API, request a set of cloud resources (compute, network, storage), and have them provisioned for them automatically in a matter of a few minutes (typically less than 10 and often less than 5)?
SDN: Concrete or Concept?
A question – specific to F5 technology – was raised during the panel session I moderated at Gartner DC 2012 that for me, at least, raised an interesting question. Well, actually it wasn’t just that question, but rather the question was the icing on the cake after hearing commentary from enterprise IT attendees on the subject of SDN.
Yes, there’s already a spate of SDN-washing, similar to cloud-washing, that’s going on in the market. While ONF certainly laid out a set of characteristics defining SDN, those characteristics are not a concrete list of requirements. It’s not, after all, an RFC, with an easy to evaluate list of «MUST NOT, MUST, SHOULD NOT, and SHOULD» requirements. As Captain Barbosa said, «…the code is more what you’d call «guidelines» than actual rule.»
Teambox & Box Team to Target SharePoint
Teambox, a four-year-old cloud computing company headquartered in Barcelona with offices in the US, thinks it can redefine collaboration and business communications by teaming up with Box.
Its lightweight collaboration widgetry will now come with 15GB of free Box file storage per user.
It’s free for up to five users, five projects or 15GB of Box storage. Beyond that, pricing starts at $5 per user per month for unlimited storage. Discounts are offered for annual and two-year subscriptions and large teams.
Apple, Microsoft and Windows 8
I’ve been using Windows 8 for my main work laptop since slightly before it came out and wanted to share my experience and opinion of this new operating system with everyone.
I think this is going to be a great operating system if you have a touchscreen, tablet or mobile device. I have recently seen some of the cool new devices that support it from HP, Dell and others and I love how light and portable they are.
There is no doubt in my mind that Apple has had an irreversible impact on our daily home and business lives. Windows has been the dominant way that most people interact with computers and the Internet up until a few years ago. Today you have many more options. You can check your tweets on your phone in the subway, text your wife while driving home (bad idea, but you can), surf the internet from your phone, iPad, Kindle Fire, Google Nexus 7, Laptop, TV or even your desktop. There are many more options to stay connected and get your work done.
Windows 8 from Microsoft is now part of this trend and is a leap forward for Microsoft. It is much faster on my traditional laptop than Windows 7 was because it is optimized for laptops and other systems that don’t have the power of the latest Intel CPU and tons of memory. The Start Screen (formally called Metro) is a better way to interact with your touch screen device than the traditional Windows desktop is. The old Windows desktop is still available so you still have that option for your laptop or desktop that do not have a touch screen interface.
HP, Dell and other companies have also developed new hardware to take advantage of Windows 8. They have slim, light and powerful Ultrabooks with touchscreens that are simply amazing. I have also seen some laptops with touchscreens that have detachable displays that turn them into a tablet-like device. This is a refreshing and interesting option for a new computer rather than the familiar computer that is “the same as the one I had before but faster.”
Apple started all of this with their iPad and MacBook Air. Now we have many more options and can work anywhere, anytime and with cool new systems. Are you currently utilizing any of these new technologies? What are your thoughts?
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SDN the answer to network strain, says Ovum
With traditional network architectures struggling to cope with more dynamic applications and services, software-defined networking (SDN) provides the answer to operators’ challenges, according to research firm Ovum. The company believes SDN will be key in enabling future networks to become more flexible, scalable and intelligent.