Register now!
Get weekly insight from the experts at Cloud Commons.
Special Offer
Subscribe now for a chance to win a $500 Apple gift certificate*†
This Week in Cloud, February 24, 2011 CEBR: 300,000 new cloud jobs, Kundra’s $20 billion cloud migration, Edison and IT? And more…
Feature Article
The 110-year-old light bulb is a little too much like today’s IT
By Jay Fry, CA Technologies
Last weekend the San Francisco Chronicle had a big write-up on a crazy fluke of technology: a light bulb that has been working for over a century without burning out. The celebrity bulb hangs from a ceiling, high above a Livermore, Calif., fire department, and has baffled anyone trying to figure out why it is still functioning after 110 years. The curious part about the "centennial bulb" - and the part that strikes me as having some relevance to the IT systems we know and interact with on a daily basis - is that no one knows why it's still working.
And, given that it is still working, no one is going to interrupt its operation to find out why. That sounds a lot like how IT has traditionally been run. Read the full article.
Cloud News
- A report by the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) reveals that the adoption of cloud computing in the UK will lead to 90,000 public sector jobs and close to 300,000 total jobs by 2015, according to this ComputerWorldUK article.
- Microsoft and athenahealth are teaming up to offer a cloud-based solution for improving the communication between doctors and patients, and hospitals. The solution will be a combination of athenaClinicals, athenaCollector, and Microsoft Amalga. Read more at channelinsider.
- IBM has announced a Cloud Computing Specialty partner program for companies that qualify as experts in one of five cloud solution areas. Read more at itbusiness.ca.
- Unisys is now offering federal agencies a hosted service, known as AMPS (Application Modernization Platform as a Service), to help modify their legacy software applications. This InformationWeek article states that the service will help federal agencies reduce the cost, complexity, and risk associated with upgrading their legacy software.
Cloud Views
- The Service Measurement Index was created to solve a key problem in the industry – how to measure and compare services. In this blog, Vaughan Merlyn highlights the SMI framework and describes how the index will lead to more informed decision making when it comes to choosing services. You can also learn more about the upcoming CSMIC (Cloud Service Measurement Initiative Consortium) event in this blog by Peter Stapleton.
- At last week’s RSA conference, US federal government CIO Vivek Kundra referenced a paper titled Federal Cloud Computing Strategy. This Forbes.com blog summarizes key points from that paper. One interesting tidbit – “an estimated $20 billion of the Federal Government’s $80 billion in IT spending is a potential for migration to cloud computing solutions.”
- AT&T’s CTO, John Donovan, recently shared predictions (including some ‘creepy’ ones) for what we should expect in cloud-based communications in 2020. Read this Computerworld article for details.
- 70% of cloud projects need rethinking, according to research conducted by EMA Research. Read this blog by Dennis Drogseth to find out the top five reasons why.
Upcoming Cloud Events
- ComputerWorld IT Leaders Conference: Extreme Convergence: Fusing IT and Business in a Leaner, Global, Virtualized World, March 6 – 8, Palm Springs, California
- Cloud Connect: March 7 – 10, Santa Clara, California
- CloudSlam 2011: April 18 – April 22, global virtual conference
