Early Bird Savings Cloud Expo Cloud computing is a game changer. The cloud is disrupting traditional software and hardware business models by disrupting how IT service gets delivered. Entrepreneurial opportunities abound as this classic disruptive technology begins to proliferate, so it is no surprise that SYS-CON's industry-leading International Cloud Expo is going from strength to strength. The 5th International Cloud Expo, to be held April 19-21, 2010, at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York, NY, announces that its Call for Papers is fast approaching. Topics on which submission are welcome include all aspects of providing or using massively scalable IT-related capabilities as a service using Internet technologies (see suggested examples below). Help plant your flag in the fast-expanding business opportunity that is The Cloud: submit your speaking propos... (more)

Jill Tummler Singer of the CIA Speaks on "Cloud Safety" : +1

I saw this tweet this morning and I thought "+1" (I guess I am a geek if I am thinking in Digg/Slashdot shorthand). The problem is that in Information Security, "security" is all-too-often used to mean only encryption. A line is considered "secure" if it's encrypted. But often, the real "security" requirements are much broader and include management (as in access management, identity management), business continuity defense against denial-of-service, and privacy. I think language is a big issue here. I've always found it interesting that in German, the words for "security" and "certainty" (sicherheit, literally "sureness") are the same. In French, the words for "safety" and "security" are also the same (sûreté, again literally "sureness"). So, in those languages, "security" has a broad definition, incorporating senses of dependability, management, and safety. I can s... (more)

The Next Chapter in the Virtualization Story Begins

Cloud Expo Europe €550 Savings here! Cloud Expo West $800 Savings here! Cloud Computing Journal recently caught up with Pete Malcolm, CEO of cloud management innovators Abiquo - a major new player in the fast-emerging Cloud ecosystem and Platinum Plus Sponsor of 6th Cloud Expo being held in Prague, the Czech Republic, 21-22 June 2010. Malcolm is keynoting at the event. His theme will be "An Open Cloud Ecosystem - the Gathering Storm." Explore Cloud Expo Sponsorship & Exhibit Opportunities ! Abiquo was also Platinum Plus Sponsor of the 5th International Cloud Expo held April 19-21, 2010 at the Jacob Javits Convention Center in New York City Cloud Computing Journal: How would you define the difference between Private clouds and Public Clouds, and why is the distinction so important in the context of Cloud Computing? Pete Malcolm: Actually, I think people get rather too hun... (more)

Inducing Behavioral Adaptations Within SOA and Web Services

Web services have evolved from plain application-integration enablers to value-added stand-alone functionality providers such as getting a quote to a comprehensive business function like processing orders. Enterprises are exploiting this new revenue model by offering such business functions as services on usage basis. Information sharing instances such as Amazon's e-commerce services have helped in the creation of new powerful solutions using business functions as services. Why Do We Need Adaptation in Web Services? In the vision of e-business, it becomes important to address the dynamic nature of business environments. As third parties access more and more business functions, the richness of Web services offered should be adequately addressed. With Web services having to participate and cooperate in a networked system, they may need to frequently join or leave a pro... (more)

Reference Architecture for #Microservices | @CloudExpo #Serverless #DevOps

The goal of Microservices is to improve software delivery speed and increase system safety as scale increases. Microservices being modular these are faster to change and enables an evolutionary architecture where systems can change, as the business needs change. Microservices can scale elastically and by being service oriented can enable APIs natively. Microservices also reduce implementation and release cycle time and enables continuous delivery. This paper provides a logical overview of the Microservices Reference Architecture that highlights various sub systems needed to support Microservices deployment and execution. Introduction Switch over to Microservices is an hour of need in web application development and delivery and is crucial for the success of Enterprises today. Of late, enterprises are adopting technologies like analytics, mobility, social media, IoT... (more)

Web Service API and the Semantic Web

As the Semantic Web gains momentum, it's important for Web service developers to keep abreast of its technologies and prepare for a change in their industry. This article looks at how the Semantic Web applies to Web services, including what specifications are under development and how you might prepare for integration with future semantic applications. What Is the Semantic Web and How Does It Impact Web Services? The current World Wide Web presents large volumes of information in a format tailored for viewing by people. A person can surf from link to link, query search engines, or attempt to reach sites by domain name. While the pages retrieved are appealing to humans, to the software that processes the contents they are no more than a string of random characters. Software programs cannot load a random document, Web page, or file and understand the contents of that d... (more)

New York Times on Google's Auction IPO: "It Worked"

"Google's auction process was messy, and the reduction of the expected offering price may have scared away some investors. But it worked well in the end and may persuade other companies to try something similar." That is the verdict of the New York Times's Floyd Norris, reflecting on last week's Google action process and IPO. "Google's Dutch auction," writes Norris, "was intended to assure that anyone who wanted to get in could - at least in the United States, as the offering was not registered overseas. That led to fears that the price could plunge the first day, but it did not. It appears the company and the underwriters priced it low enough to ensure an increase, and the price rose by 18 percent the first day and ended Friday 27 percent above the offering price of $85." Norris also manages to make one point not being emphasized enough elsewhere: "One thing that is ... (more)

The i-Technology Right Stuff

Related Links: Wanted: 19 More of the Top Software People in the World Sung and Unsung i-Technology Heroes Who's Missing from SYS-CON's i-Technology Top Twenty?" Our search for the Twenty Top Software People in the World is nearing completion. In the SYS-CON tradition of empowering readers, we are leaving the final "cut" to you, so here are the top 40 nominations in alphabetical order. Our aim this time round is to whittle this 40 down to our final twenty, not (yet) to arrange those twenty in any order of preference. All you need to do to vote is to go to the Further Details page of any nominee you'd like to see end up in the top half of the poll when we close voting on Christmas Eve, December 24, and cast your vote or votes. To access the Further Details of each nominee just click on their name. Happy voting!   In alphabetical order the nominees are:   Tim Berner... (more)

ESB Myth Busters: 10 Enterprise Service Bus Myths Debunked

Since releasing my latest book, Enterprise Service Bus (O'Reilly Media, 2004), I have been doing a fair amount of visiting corporations, conducting seminars, and generally discussing with enterprise architects the subject of enterprise service-oriented architecture (SOA) and how an enterprise service bus (ESB) backbone can be leveraged to provide a framework for an enterprise SOA. Along the way, I have been asked many questions about the nature of an ESB. I have also fended off some misconceptions that have been growing in the general IT population regarding what an ESB is and when, where, and how it can be used. I have gathered together the most popular questions and misconceptions, and offer some clarity in the form of a "top ten" list. Myth #1. ESB is just a new name for EAI. While many IT architecture groups are focusing on building SOAs, they still inevitably be... (more)

Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff Responds to Steve Ballmer

Included in Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer's extensive remarks to an audience at the recent Microsoft Business Summit in Redmond was an acknowledgement of a competitive threat posed by salesforce.com, in which Ballmer said  "we're going to give Salesforce a very effective run for their money." Responding to those remarks, salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff recently said, "Microsoft's failed enterprise software strategy has let the industry down. We have competed against them in the CRM market since 2002, and they have failed to deliver a competitive product.  They just cancelled version two of that legacy application and skipped ahead to three.  In the meantime, we are on the 18th generation of our service in just six years. Customers are tired of waiting for Microsoft to innovate." Benioff noted that salesforce.com will be holding an event of its own, Dreamforce, in San Fr... (more)

SYS-CON's November "Cloud Computing Bootcamp" Expected to be Sold-Out

Being held for the first time at The Fairmont Hotel in San Jose, CA, on November 19, 2008, the Cloud Computing Bootcamp will show you how to take advantage of the cloud. Cloud computing is an opportunity for businesses to implement low-cost, low-power and high-efficiency systems to deliver scalable infrastructure. But moving to a cloud infrastructure is not necessarily as nice and clean as the providers would want you to think. With cloud infrastructures problems don't magically go away; they just shift: you don't have scalability or storage problems any more, but you need to constantly monitor the cloud and your application in it. Led by Alan Williamson, the Cloud Computing Bootcamp will illustrate all the major players and provide a hands-on program with configuration samples, live demos and working setups you can further adapt and play with. Alan Williamson, foun... (more)