Sameer Dholakia of VMLogix is not the most prominent spokesman for virtualization. But his firm's product, LabManager, supplies a strong core function--provisioning the virtual server. Furthermore, VMLogix doesn't care whether it’s a VMware, Citrix or Microsoft virtual machine, making Dholakia one of the few CEOs with a vision of a multi-hypervisor future.
A few months ago, Canonical and Eucalyptus Systems aligned their product development to create an integrated cloud-software-on-Ubuntu-Linux stack. The startups are now collaborating on service and support, giving IT departments a new option for creating internal cloud computing environments.
Paglo announced a new service that lets IT send and store logs in the cloud. Logs can be searched and analyzed on demand.
Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce.com, finally got a little revenge. He wasn't in the least spiteful. Rather, he was only guilty of repeating something his former boss, Larry Ellison, said about software-as-a-service and cloud computing. An audience of cloud cognoscenti at Structure 09 loved the performance.
Anyone trying to understand the cloud computing phenomenon need only look at how cloud services are being used to get a better picture. The following examples demonstrate the cloud being used for everything from marketing campaigns to space exploration and scientific research.
IBM recently made its most significant cloud computing announcement to date, which one executive compares to the launch of Big Blue's venerable System/360 mainframe 40 years ago. Following is my list of the top 10 things you need to know about IBM's emerging cloud strategy.
Following his outburst against cloud computing last year, it appears that Larry Ellison has warmed up to the cloud computing model, if not the buzz phrase itself. Oracle's CEO yesterday said it's a goal to become the software industry's "number one on-demand application company."
IBM and Hewlett-Packard have jumped into the market for software testing in the cloud, a space where a handful of startups already offer alternatives to on-premises testing. It's an area of cloud computing where the barriers to entry are relatively low for developers and IT departments.
Back when I did a lot of security work, we used to joke around that single sign on should be called "single vulnerability". Maybe single provider cloud models should be called "single point of failure".
What standards do you follow if you're interested in getting started in cloud computing? The short answer is, there are few clearly defined standards in what remains a loosely defined area. Nevertheless, the main outline is clear. Follow the leaders and follow the Web.
Research In Motion's virtual application store still only has less than 5% as many as Apple's App Store for the iPhone and iPod Touch. MORE
| Which public cloud services are you most likely to use? (choose all that apply) |
| Infrastructure |
 20%
|
| Storage |
 40%
|
| Apps platform |
 20%
|
| Software testing |
 0%
|
| SaaS |
 20%
|
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