LSQHA Blog Reviews

Scanning the news the other day and what do we see but a reminder of the many acronyms in the cloud computing world. Again, it's a vendor with a made up name. This time it's Verizon with an update to its "Computing as a Service" or CaaS for short. Acronyms abound in the cloud computing world - perhaps more than any other technology in play today. They are emerging at a rapid clip. It's understandable as cloud computing is so new and there are so many ways for it to be applied. But it's also frustrating. Sponsor Verizon's service looks solid. But the name creates more confusion. Get this: Verizon also offers "Everything as a Service." That takes the cake, or should we say... muffin! It makes the whole concept of cloud computing a bit confusing as you try to understand what really is available. It becomes an issue of "what is it now?" This week's other imaginative term - Virtualization as a Service - from Salesforce.com and VmWare. It's the center issue for our Weekly Poll: What does Virtualization as a Service Really Mean? Dave Geada, vice president of marketing at StrataScale, had this to say about what it means: I think [new names are] a lot of unwarranted marketing hype (and that means something coming from a marketer). Knowing very little about the announcement, I would guess that the two are partnering in order to provide a platform where Force.com partners can deploy integrated solutions to a VMware enabled Salesforce cloud. In essence these providers would have a one-stop-shop for delivering their solutions to market instead of having to rely on an assortment of hosting partners to deploy their solutions. A joint platform initiative like the one I just described would also benefit enterprises who could host their own customized VM appliances on this cloud and easily integrate them with their Salesforce implementations and Force.com applications. In doing so VMware would be able to access a segment of the market where it's been having some difficulties (i.e. SMB ISVs) and Salesforce would benefit from providing a more comprehensive solution to their partner ecosystem. If I'm right about this (and I reserve the right to be wrong), isn't that a much more compelling story than the mumbo-jumbo we're dealing with now? Cloud providers should demonstrate some more restraint in throwing the "cloud" label around and turn the conversation back around to the value that their providing to customers and partners. And high profile providers like Salesforce and VMware should be setting the example. We expect these ancronyms will filter out over time. Or perhaps VaaS and CaaS will stand the test of time. It's just too early to tell. Until then, how about a muffin? Discuss

Read the original:
Another Cloud Computing Acronym To Drive You Bonkers

What is not a service these days? We start to wonder when we hear the latest incantation: "virtualization as a service." But after closer look, perhaps it makes sense, especially considering now that VMware and Salesforce.com are working on a partnership and joint product dubbed VMForce . So, we ask you: "What does virtualization as a service really mean? Sponsor What does Virtualization as a Service Really Mean? polls Last week, we asked: "How does the iPad affect cloud computing?" Once again, seeing from our responses, it's virtualization that plays a key role in the way cloud computing evolves. Plus, people agree that the tablet is the next step to the embedded computer on any object. For Salesforce.com, a partnership with VMware could mean it gets a foot inside the data center with the capability to provide its technology in a private cloud environment, leveraging its installed base. For VMware, the potential is to take a big step into the cloud, packaging its virtual infrastructure with Zimbra and the technology suite provided by Salesforce.com. So, what do you think? Discuss

Visit link:
Weekly Poll: What does Virtualization as a Service Really Mean?

Cloud computing is affecting the evolution of content management systems and the manners in which data becomes a service. Business services are evolving as cloud computing forces people to think more about how information is organized and shared. At the consumer level, Apple iTunes will be replaced by cloud computing services, often referred to as online music storage lockers. People have become accustomed to using iTunes but as people get access to more data, they will find new ways to organize information. And the kids will realize how the information can be shared. Sponsor At the business level, cloud computing is having a profound effect in a number of markets. In the mapping world it's leading to new forms of content management systems that use data for specific niche purposes. Services like WeoGeo offer new forms of geo-spatial, content management systems and marketplaces that offer deep repositories of data, like a giant map case in the sky. It's in some ways like a content management system and marketplace for map makers, an age old craft now in a different dimension. Foe example, WeoGeo offers a map library and a marketplace , designed specifically for surveyors, engineers, architects, geoscientists, and cartographers. It offers both the library and the marketplace as data services, petabytes of data stored in the cloud. All of its services are available via RESTful web services. Is that a big deal? We kind of think so. Web oriented architectures require the data to be browser compatible. With RESTful, companies can create new kinds of mashups baked into a new generation of content management systems that correlate to specific communities. That's the evolution taking place. Applications that can share data through API's that provide the capability to organize new sets of data and shared in a variety of manners. The service is in contrast to what Google and Microsoft offer. Both of these companies use map data to enhance their services. They serve as ways to lock in data that they use for search and advertising. SimpleGeo is a similar service to WeoGeo but it uses geodata to makes applications more location aware. ESRI represents the old guard of the industry and is the market leader in mapping software. It's a proprietary platform. But the real future for the mapping world is in the cloud. It serves as a place that data can be served and built upon. It's also the place where markets will develop. It's like a data fabric that the map makers use to sell their works. It's a community made of developers. And that's how communities evolve. They trade between themselves, thus creating the demand. It's similar to how the publishing market evolved several hundred years ago. Book makers traded books. As more books were published, the market grew. We are in the same place with data as a service. Google and Microsoft will not and can not control the entire market. The foundation for geo market services will strengthen as its developer/small business community evolves. Its these small businesses that represent the future. Discuss

Continue reading here:
WeoGeo: How the Cloud Makes New Markets Possible

It's worth noting that the cloud certainly has borders. It's the one reality that proves the cloud computing movement may seem at times abstract and vague but in the end it is the international politics of our world that creates some of the deepest issues for its place in the world markets. According to InformationWeek , The 451 Group presented a webcast that showed cloud computing adoption trails in Europe and Asia. About 57% op spending is in the United States with 31% in Europe and 12% in Asia. The numbers get even more polarized when you only look at the adoption for infrastructure as a service. A full 93% of spending is in the United States with 6% in Europe and 1% in the United States. Sponsor The low numbers almost makes it seem like some artificial effect is in play. And in some ways it really is. A lack of European data centers services by the large providers affects adoption. Rackspace, Terremark and Savvis are the primary companies looking to develop a presence in Europe. But they need to build data centers before they can have any real presence there. According to the 451 Group, 99 percent of European businesses are either small or mid-sized organizations. And they have plenty of choices from telecommunications providers. But here is an interesting twist. InformationWeek: One obstacle to both sides is the U.S. Patriot Act, which gives the U.S. government a right to demand data if it defines conditions as being an emergency or necessary to homeland security, and a measure that contradicts that power when the data is of European origin, the European Union's Data Protection Directive. In 2006, the European Court of Justice ruled that an agreement negotiated with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security was too broadly construed and violated the EU's directive. The agreement was about sharing data on European airline passengers headed for the U.S. The data sought by the U.S. was too broadly construed and violated the EU's directive, the court said. "Both measures could prevent establishing a cloud without borders," said 451's William Fellows. Cloud advocates say services established via an Internet data center should be accessible by people around the world, and they are in the case of Google search or Facebook apps. But when it comes to sensitive data, national borders still prevail because of conflicting laws." The issue is apparent now with Google's issues with the Chinese government. It's not the technology that is making cloud computing an issue. It's international politics. Discuss

Read the original post:
International Politics Slow Cloud Computing In Europe and Asia

A Google executive told an audience of managers from several federal agencies yesterday that they should expect Google Buzz to be in their enterprise GMail accounts within the next few months. This is the first time sine the launch that we have heard a public statement about Google Buzz entering the enterprise. It comes as Google Buzz asked users once again again to double-check that Buzz is set up just the way they like it. Sponsor Google Buzz is built into GMail, providing a real-time activity stream. At its launch, The service stood considerable criticism from people who came to find that they were inadvertently exposing their email accounts to the public. Opting out was not entirely clear. In response, Google updated Google Buzz to make it easier to opt-out but for many it did not go far enough. Criticism continued and within four days has changed its policies, replacing opt-out features, most of all, replacing auto-following with suggestions for people to follow. Yesterday, according to The Hill , Mike Bradshaw, Google's head of federal sales said at a cloud computing event in Washington, DC that the issues with Google Buzz have been corrected: "We got a bit of a ding by the press," he said. "Fortunately we were able to correct it and in four days changed the policies." That's one way to look at it. He portrays the incident as a public relations issue, not as a flaw deep in the product that raises considerable privacy concerns. Privacy issues are of primary concern to federal agencies that have been concerned about how information can be protected in a cloud computing environment. The issue has caused some hesitation and slowing in adoption. We expect that Google will need to push its education efforts into high gear for Google Buzz. Customers will have to be convinced that their enterprise GMail accounts are entirely protected from any inadvertent transparencies that could expose a person's account. Opting out will just not fly in the enterprise. Discuss

Read more:
Google Executive Says Google Buzz Coming Soon to the Enterprise