Download Slide Deck: ▸ Here Download Slide Deck: ▸ Here Flip the Switch to Container Clouds Modern software design has fundamentally changed how we manage applications, causing many to turn to containers as the new virtual machine for resource management. As container adoption grows beyond stateless applications to stateful workloads, the need for persistent storage is foundational - something customers routinely cite as a top pain point. Download Slide Deck: ▸ Here In his session at @DevOpsSummit at 21st Cloud Expo, Bill Borsari, Head of Systems Engineering at Datera, explored how organizations can reap the benefits of the cloud without losing performance as containers become the new paradigm. Topics included: How containerized stateful applications can be automated to scale Options to manage persistent data Container storage and deployment models that deliver ... (more)

What's Yahoo! Up To With RIA Widgets?

Jeff Haynie's "Introspection" Blog I read on Ryan Stewart’s blog: “Yahoo! Releases ASTRA: Set of Flash and Flex Components”. Huh? According to Yahoo!’s developer site, ASTRA stands for “ActionScript Toolkit for Rich Applications”. OK, I think I get it - or maybe not? So, I took a look at the components and examples on their website. What’s up with these widgets? Tree, Menu, TabBar, Autocomplete, Charts, AlertManager, AudioPlayback, Menubar OK, for example - take a look at the AlertManager. Drag around the alert box inside the flash “window”. Yeah, it clips. OK, that’s probably just because the frame size is too small. But, c’mon. I admit, I don’t get it. Why is Yahoo!, of all companies, doing this type of stuff? I get YUI. I also really dig their OpenID initiatives, very good stuff and about time. But, I don’t get their Flash/Flex widgets. I suppose these are good i... (more)

Layered Technologies Named “Silver Sponsor” of Cloud Expo 2011 New York

Cloud Expo NewYork $500 Savings here! SYS-CON Events announced today that Layered Technologies, a leading worldwide provider of on-demand and cloud computing IT infrastructure, has been named "Silver Sponsor" of SYS-CON's 8th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6-9, 2011, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York. Explore Cloud Expo Sponsorship & Exhibit Opportunities ! Layered Technologies is a leading global provider of managed dedicated hosting and on-demand virtualization/cloud computing services. By providing high-quality technology, infrastructure and support, Layered Tech enables clients to eliminate capital expenses and save on operating costs while focusing on core business issues. Layered Tech's scalable infrastructure powers millions of sites and Internet-enabled applications including e-commerce and software as a service (SaaS).... (more)

In the Rush to the Cloud, Don’t Forget About Data Governance

Cloud computing has become an integrated part of IT strategy for companies in every sector of our economy. By 2012, IDC predicts that IT spending on cloud services will grow almost threefold to $42 billion. So it's no surprise that decision makers no longer wonder "if" they can benefit from cloud computing. Instead, the question being asked now is "how" best to leverage the cloud while keeping data and systems secure. Data governance and compliance issues are typically the same whether information is in a private or public cloud environment or on-premise. That said, when organizations are considering moving business data to the cloud, a sound data governance approach must be in place to avoid costly data protection mistakes. At the heart of a sound data governance strategy is ensuring that only the right users have access to the right data at all times. While the... (more)

Cloud – A Better Option than ILM Pain-in-the-Assets | @CloudExpo [#Cloud]

The IT infrastructure of modern businesses requires a number of seemingly never-ending cycles to track assets. As these assets go through different stages of usefulness or functionality, IT teams must constantly manage the process, which takes them away from other more important tasks and saddles them with mundane contractual obligations, maintenance reviews, cost-analysis and procurement paperwork. What's the alternative to opening your IT komodo to a myriad of vendor pitches and the scrutiny of the finance department? Obsolescence. No self-respecting IT person would allow their infrastructure to dissolve into obscurity and place the business at risk. Enter the domain of Infrastructure Lifecycle Management or ILM. ILM is a method of keeping the IT infrastructure aligned with a business so that it's functional from the time it's implemented through its retirement. ... (more)

SOA Transformation and Leveraging Open Source Principles

As numerous organizations are planning to embark on their first endeavors in service-oriented architecture (SOA), it is important to recognize that the necessary organizational transformation has as much to do with cultural transformation, as it has to do with open, Internet standards-based design. In fact, the very nature of how business and IT view each other's role and how the enterprise views its relationships with its marketplace partners and customers is being altered. Such cultural change has never come easily and represents a significant organizational dilemma. At the heart of an enterprise SOA transformation is also the need to "think differently" about how an enterprise acquires and manages IT systems. Albert Einstein might well have been talking about the challenges of SOA rollout when he said, "No problem can be solved by the same level of consciousness ... (more)

My Thoughts on Ulitzer

Ok, so, here are my thoughts on Ulitzer... As a blogger, I focus on traffic and I spend quite a lot of time optimizing my SEO. Since the target audience of my articles is much greater than the reach of my blog, Ulitzer is actually helping me increase my content reach. Moreover, Ulitzer does it in a very fair way since links back to my posts or other locations are without the evil "nofollow" - providing a nice SEO boost. It also gives me some good metrics that are very useful data points on the effectiveness of my blog articles. And last but not least, it allows my article to appears in the news listings of the two major search engines, which is a very nice channel extension. So, all of this means that, while Ulitzer might be seen as a competing channel to bloggers, I think that bloggers should realize the tremendous value it could bring to their blog. I think to mater... (more)

Cloud Expo New York: Six Not-So-Blind Men and the Cloud Elephant

I'm glad I stayed on after the breakout sessions to attend the CEO Power Panel at 7 pm at the 12th International Cloud Expo, in New York. It was quite informative and entertaining. As with everything else, the best way to get a view of a new technology area is by asking for independent opinions. The old adage of the six blind men and the elephant comes to mind. Coincidentally, there were six "blind men" on the panel, including our very engaging host, Jeremy Geelan (@jg21). And there were views that converged in a common theme: "Cloud Connects". Jeremy, as always, got the ball rolling with the very provocative challenge: panelists had to devise a succinct sentence that starts "Cloud Computing is like..." and summarized the exact state of the cloud union in June 2013. The response themes were: Kevin Brown, CEO of Coraid - virtualization Brian Patrick Donaghy, CEO of Ap... (more)

The Top 250 Players in the Cloud Computing Ecosystem

In the run-up to the next Cloud Expo, 7th Cloud Expo (November 1–4, 2010) being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Silicon Valley, it's time to give my earlier list a complete overhaul. Here, accordingly, is an expanded list of the most active players in the Cloud Ecosystem. I have increased it from the 'mere' 150 I identified back in January of this year, to 250, testimony – as if any were needed! – to the fierce and continuing growth of the "Elastic IT" paradigm throughout the world of enterprise computing. Editorial note: The words in quotation marks used to describe the various services and solutions in this round-up are in every case taken from the Web sites of the companies themselves. Omissions to this Top 250 list should be sent to me via Twitter (twitter.com/jg21) and I will endeavor to include them in any future revision of this newly expanded rou... (more)

Cloud Expo 2012 New York: Round-Up from the Blogosphere

A brief selection of what's being written about last month's 10th Cloud Expo held in the Javits Center, New York City: Cloud Expo 2012 New York Double the Size of Last Year "This year's Cloud Expo New York appeared to be double the size of last year. Not only w,ere there more solution providers on the expo floor, there appeared to me quite a few additional sessions to attend. I felt even the session quality was better than last year, with more knowledge spread across various tracks, and it was obvious the expertise was, well, more expert than before. There also appeared to be more attendees, and in greater diversity than the previous year. Of course, all of this improvement is most likely due to the simple fact the market for cloud computing is maturing rapidly. In fact, if there was one easy way to witness the growth of cloud computing, it would be simply through vi... (more)

How JSON and Big Data Will Shape the Internet of Things

The catchphrase "Internet of Things" may seem like a relatively new term, but in reality has been around since the late ‘90s, when there was a desire to more efficiently track the flow of goods for supply chain purposes. The enabling technology was RFID which made it possible to report on stock levels and inventory in real-time. These days, the term "Internet of Things" has a much broader meaning than just supply chain technology. In the many years that have passed, big data and mobile technology have grown by leaps and bounds. This means that it is possible to crunch large amounts of sensor data and deliver context-relevant information to users on their smartphones. As a consequence, just about any physical object out there can be measured as long as there are sensors that can transmit this information. This has huge implications for global economic growth, and co... (more)