What is Really Holding the Cloud Back?
As I was listening to speakers at Structure Conference this year, something caught my attention and changed my thinking on cloud priorities. When IT decision makers are asked to rate the top challenges for cloud adoption, security always rises to the top. Security, security, security. At Structure, I heard something slightly different from Microsoft’s Satya [...]
Dial M for Skype
The more I think about Microsoft acquiring Skype, the more I think it was a pretty smart move. The initial reports were all about synergies with various MS and Skype technologies, upon further reflection, I think the endgame will be carrier disruption….
Eucalyptus Open To OpenStack
Eucalyptus Systems (see previous CloudAve coverage here), the open source academic project which turned into a commercial offering for enterprises, appears to be open about OpenStack (see previous CloudAve coverage here), its biggest Open Source competitor in the space. When OpenStack was established, NASA moved Nebula development from Eucalyptus to OpenStack. Many perceived OpenStack to [...]
The Looming Data Wars
Last week, Google asked Facebook to get their hands off the data stored in their service. Google felt that Facebook is taking data in programmatically from other services while not reciprocating in the same way. Google should have made this move 2-3 years back but it is better late than never. Google supports data portability. [...]
OSCON Week: Microsoft And Interoperability
Using Microsoft and Interoperability in the same sentence makes me chuckle every time. Well, partly it could be due to my open source bias and I am not denying that. Off late, Microsoft has been making half-hearted attempts to embrace open source. I use the term “half-hearted” here because they do show some serious willingness [...]
In The Era Of Mashups, MashSSL Could Be A Savior
Image via Wikipedia From Web 2.0 era to the current SaaS era, we are seeing a proliferation of Mashups, not just in the consumer space but also in the enterprise space. Well, the idea of mashing up of data from two or more data sources/applications is not unique to these times. We have seen such [...]
Zoho Ramps Up SaaS Integration Dance With Google
It is my strongest belief that interoperability is the key to the success of Cloud Computing. I have never hesitated to discuss interoperability news in this space irrespective of whether it is cloud applications or platform or infrastructure. As a strong supporter of a federated cloud ecosystem, I feel that every cloud vendor should have [...]
Libcloud Joins Apache Software Foundation Incubator
Libcloud, the open source python library released by the vendor Cloudkick, has taken the first steps to be part of Apache Software Foundation by joining the ASF Incubator. Libcloud offers a single programming interface for apps to access different cloud providers including Amazon EC2, Rackspace, vCloud, Terramark, etc.. Even without any standards, Libcloud can offer [...]
Eucalyptus Shakes Up Cloud Interoperability Scene
Eucalyptus Systems, the open source cloud computing project that graduated from the hallways of academia to industry few months back, is back in news again (Cloud Ave’s previous coverage of Eucalyptus is here and here. You can also listen to Paul Miller’s podcast here.). This time, they have made an announcement and its repercussions can [...]
Platform Interoperability: Force.com Talks To Google App Engine
In my opinion, the future of Cloud Computing will be a more federated ecosystem than few players holding a monopoly kind of dominance. In such a federated ecosystem, interoperability becomes very important. I have emphasized the importance of interoperability many times in this space. Unless we have Clouds talking to one another, we will end [...]
Open Cloud Manifesto – The Fight Takes A Surprise Turn
We are covering the controversy surrounding the Open Cloud Manifesto here at Cloud Ave. There were some interesting developments during the weekend. To start with, Open Cloud Manifesto has been released on their website as expected. The supporter list includes a decent group of companies, from giants like Cisco, IBM, SAP, AT&T to Cloud startups [...]
Open Federated Clouds And Sun’s Cloud Announcement
Image by Getty Images via Daylife Last week, Sun Microsystems announced their Cloud Computing plans. I spent some time thinking about their offerings and its impact on Cloud Computing. If we remove the chatter around the rumored IBM’s acquisition of Sun and proceed with the assumption that Sun remains an independent entity, I get some [...]
Interoperability Doesn’t Stop With Technology
Image via CrunchBase I am a strong advocate of interoperability between various Cloud players. In my opinion, it is very important for the very success of Cloud Computing, in general, and SaaS, in particular. Cloud vendors are slowly opening up their services through APIs so that other vendors and third party applications can integrate with [...]
Looking Back At 2008
We are in the last day of 2008 (well, 2009 might already be there for some folks including our own Ben). Yesterday, a friend of mine asked me to identify two significant Cloud related events from 2008. I offered my opinion to him and I also thought it will be a good way to end [...]
Mindmeister teams up with Box.net
Image via Wikipedia Last week, my favorite mind mapping tool, Mindmeister, announced the release of its API with all the functions of the app exposed through it. If you are wondering how this is significant and why I am writing about last week’s news today, I request patience. I want to use this announcement to [...]
