Introducing the Cloud Academy: as cloud is not a sprint but more a marathon
More and more people are realizing that Cloud Computing may be a hype, but for sure it is not an invention. The components that make up or enable the cloud are not new. We have had fairly broad...
View ArticleNotes from the Cloud Academy: RAIC - Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Cloud...
We have been running the Cloud Academy roundtables in several European countries. I’d like to share some of the more interesting questions, debates and insights around a number of topics, starting...
View ArticleNotes From the Cloud Academy
We have been running the Cloud Academy roundtables in several European countries. I’d like to share some of the more interesting questions, debates and insights around a number of topics, starting...
View ArticleHow Lean is your Cloud? Part 2
In the first part we discussed lessons that IT can learn from a hundred years of manufacturing best practices and the possible role of cloud computing in that endeavor. We now continue with what may...
View ArticleShedding Light on Cloud Computing - A Free Primer
Cloud Computing is the most discussed IT innovation of recent times. This Primer provides a structured overview of what Cloud Computing is and what the potential benefits and risks are. In addition it...
View ArticleMight the Cloud Prove Thomas J. Watson Right After All?
In 1943 former IBM president Thomas J. Watson allegedly said: “I think there is a world market for maybe five computers". Will cloud computing prove Watson to be right after all?read more
View ArticleVendor Lock-in and Cloud Computing
IT vendor lock-in is as old as the IT industry itself. Some may even argue that lock-in is unavoidable when using any IT solution, regardless of whether we use it “on premise” or “as a service”. To...
View ArticleOn Cloud Lock-in, Standards, Decoupling and Why SaaS Does Not Scale
With security and legal concerns being slowly addressed by the industry, lock-in and standards are rapidly becoming the biggest concerns regarding cloud computing. If the cloud industry is to make good...
View ArticleCan the Real Cloud Market Size Please Stand Up?
It seems like every week another sizing of the cloud market is published, and – maybe as to be expected - none of them seem to agree. Let’s have a look at who is saying what, and whether we are...
View ArticleEnd of Outsourcing, Death of the Web, Self Managing Clouds? Not So Fast, Just...
Predicting the future is a lot more fun than analyzing the past. And there have been plenty of predictions recently, but as Mel Brooks might say “A funny thing happened on the way to the future; it...
View ArticleVMworld 2010: Two Trends and How They Converge
You may have missed it in the flurry of news from Apple, but VMware recently signaeled two trends at their annual get-together, the combination of these two trends however has some distinct...
View ArticleDownsizing, Rightsizing, Cloudsizing?
Many hypes in IT are just the same old idea, launched again, but with better technology and under a new name. We could say for the datacenter: “The Data Centre is dead, long live the Virtual Data...
View ArticleA (Real-Time) Blog from VMworld Europe
This morning 6000 people streamed into the Bella center in Kopenhavn to see the VMworld opening keynote. I'll cover the new items compared to the event in San Francisco. According to VMware's CMO...
View ArticleCounting Down To Cloud Expo Silicon Valley
Just back from Gitex (more about this later) and it is only one week to go to Cloud Expo west, which starts Monday November 1st. I will be speaking in track 4 “Real-World Cloud Computing &...
View ArticleClouds in a Country Where It Never Rains
Last week Jim Murphy of Gartner and I opened up the Cloud ConfEx, an executive conference that ran as a part of the GITEX tradeshow in Dubai. Personally, I had not been in the region for the good part...
View ArticleIt is the season of cloud events
This week, Gartner is holding their Symposium/ITxpo to Europe in Cannes . For some reason the industry seems to be cramming all their events in the two shortread more
View ArticleRogue Users and the Future of Corporate IT
Cloud computing can be seen as an important enabler for more user and business empowerment. Traditionally we consideredany IT outside the IT department’s purview“Rogue IT” or “Shadow IT”. In this blog...
View ArticleThe Private Cloud Debate Is Building Up Steam, But Is It Worth Having?
Slowly but steadily the debate in the blogosphere about private clouds is increasing. Now it is always good to see some debate, but is this a debate worth having? Will the cloud long term not be about...
View ArticleReshaping IT Management – by Cutting It into Two Halves?
The McKinsey quarterly just published an interesting and very readable piece on “reshaping IT for turbulent times”. In the article they analyze what seems to be a dichotomy for today’s IT management:...
View ArticleVirtual Strategy - Virtually Right
With a private cloud strategy and dynamic data center you can quickly respond to rapid business fluctuations. But how do you get there?This post was originaly published as thanksgiving weekend special...
View ArticleCloud Predictions Beyond 2011 - Part 1: Consumer Services Rule
In the past weeks we launched directly from the season of cloud events into what SYS-CON calls the Annual Predictions Bonanza. Gartner released its predictions on December 1 leading with "critical...
View ArticleCloud Predictions Beyond 2011-12: The Need for a Cloud Abstraction Model
As mentioned in a previous post I‘ll use some of my upcoming posts to highlight some cloud computing "megatrends" that I believe are happening - or need to happen – beyond 2011. One of these would be...
View ArticleAudits and Certificates Won't Erase Cloud Security Concerns
In every cloud survey, security consistently comes out as an inhibitor to cloud adoption. Even though this has been the case for several years, many feel that it is a temporary barrier which will be...
View ArticleIs Your Cloud Strategy 3D-Ready?
While the TV and consumer industry is getting ready for its next wave of innovation called 3D, the IT industry has been going through a similar three dimensional transformation. Let’s have a closer...
View ArticleA Cloud of Two Speeds: Europe vs. America
Cloud computing is gaining rapid acceptance, but not everywhere. Governments across Europe – in what many call “the old countries” - are still remarkably conservative or even reluctant to embrace cloud...
View ArticleVivek Kundra’s Decision Framework for Cloud Computing Migration
The decision framework for cloud migration that US Federal CIO Vivek Kundra recently published as part of his Federal cloud computing strategy, offers advice applicable to all organizations. In my last...
View ArticleIs Fabric Computing the Future of Cloud?
The term fabric computing is gaining rapid popularity, but currently mostly within the hardware community. In fact, according to a recent report, over 50% of attendees at the recent Datacenter Summit...
View ArticleCloud Computing: More on Fabric Computing in the Cloud
In my last post I covered the concept of fabric computing and why it matters in the world of cloud computing. With a "fabric" approach towards creating a cloud application, we include the virtual...
View ArticleFive Simple Rules for Creating a Cloud Strategy
Over the last 18 months, the media, technologists, analysts, CIOs and CEOs have all been talking about the cloud. Now, most organizations are embarking on some form of cloud computing, but as always,...
View ArticleAn IT Supply-Chain Model, Once More with Feeling
Let’s start by looking at the supply chain in its simplest imaginable form, even simpler than the supply chain at a manufacturing company. Think of a transport company – like a Federal Express, DHL or...
View ArticleThe Day the Cloud Was Out!
Some blogs percolate for a while, waiting for a good day to be put to paper. For this one - about the cost of reliable cloud - that day was April 21, the day a network mishap caused an outage at Amazon...
View ArticleIn Cloud Standards, It's All About Survival of the Fittest
The Kuppinger Cole European Identity Conference 2011 (EIC), which was held in Munich earlier this month, truly represented a ‘Who's Who' of cloud initiatives and standards. Representatives from many...
View ArticleTo Cloud or to Compute, That’s the Question
The ultimate dream of any marketer is to have its brand become a verb. “Let me quickly Xerox that”, “I Fedexed it to you yesterday”, “I just Googled it”. In cloud computing I do not see that happening...
View ArticleDon’t Let the Cloud Creep Up on You!
In IT we like to use fancy words like architecture, governance and strategy, but is our approach to IT innovations indeed as structured and planned as these terms imply or is IT in many cases just like...
View ArticleDid the Global Summer of Cloud Start in NYC?
This 8th Expo was the third Cloud Expo I was invited to speak at and it definitely was the biggest so far. If CloudExpo West in November signaled the entry of the large mainstream vendors like Oracle,...
View ArticleTraveling at the Speed of Cloud in Europe
When looking at public cloud infrastructure as a service it is fair to say that, with some notable exceptions, most of the larger scale activities, initiatives and even the majority of excitement and...
View ArticleOf These Ten Most Hated Jobs, How Many Did You Have?
Earlier this week Yahoo Finance ran an article on the 10 most hated jobs (based on a survey asking hundreds of thousands of employees at a major career site). What amazed me most - apart from the large...
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