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This Week in Cloud, July 14, 2011: VMware vSphere 5, Citrix Acquires Cloud.com, 7 self-inflicted wounds of cloud computing, 7 strategies for greener clouds. And more…
Cloud News
- VMware launched the latest version of its vSphere virtualization management software and introduced the Cloud Infrastructure Suite, which is a collection of previously disparate VMware products now designed to be easily deployed in vSphere environments. Read more detail in this GigaOm blog. VMware also adjusted the licensing model for vSphere 5, focusing on pooled virtual memory allocations rather than the number of physical hosts. The new pricing model is causing users some concern, according to this SearchServerVirtualization article.
- Citrix is acquiring Cloud.com, an open source cloud platform player. Citrix will push the Cloud.com product lines initially and Citrix branded versions will be available in the future. This CloudAve article analyzes the significance of the news.
- CA Technologies acquired Interactive TKO, which provides simulation solutions to help organizations develop and test composite and cloud-based applications. ITKO's LISA technology enables organizations to "mock up" a service at enterprise speed and enterprise scale—even if the application is unfinished or unstable or the physical resource is unavailable. For more info, read this CRN article.
- At Microsoft’s annual partner summit, CEO Steve Ballmer pressed its partners to move with the company to cloud-delivered technology, according to this CNet article.
- Dimension Data (which was bought by NTT last year) bought cloud and managed hosting player OpSource. Read this CRN article for more detail.
- Domino’s Pizza is moving its e-commerce site, online payment gateway, corporate email and back-office systems onto the cloud, leveraging the hosted RackConnect service from Rackspace. Read more in this Computerworld article.
Feature article
Pragmatic Cloud: When Life Gives You Lemons…“Go Mobile, Go Social!”
By George Watt
What IT can learn from a lemonade stand
Recently I had a very interesting conversation with an aspiring entrepreneur. She told me about the demands a changing environment had been placing on her business, their impact on business revenue, and how she adjusted to take advantage of those new opportunities. I am in a fortunate position to have conversations of this nature now and again, and I always learn something interesting and valuable; something I can use to improve my business life, and that I can share with our customers to help improve theirs. This discussion was quite different from most others though, not because I did not learn something, but rather because this entrepreneur was nine years old. Read the full article.
Cloud Views
- In this IT Business Edge article titled ‘Putting the cloud cart before the IT management horse,’ Michael Vizard explores whether IT organizations are going about migrating to the cloud all wrong.
- 7 self-inflicted wounds of cloud computing: in this Information Week article, Charles Babcock expands on a presentation delivered at CloudExpo by Anthony Skipper from ServiceMesh. On the list: not believing organizational change is a requirement, boiling the ocean, failure to simplify, not understanding how vendor management works, believing the vendor, getting addicted to cloud and failing to implement policy from the beginning.
- 7 ways the cloud could be even greener: in this ZDNet blog, Heather Clancy summarizes findings from a Forrester Report on strategies IT pros can use to make sure their cloud project is as green as can be. On the list: make sure the data center uses power generated from renewable energy sources or uses ‘free cooling’ methods, look for modular data center approaches, procure energy-efficient power and cooling systems, leverage converged blade architectures, virtualize & automate, measure & manage, set goals & strive for them.
MSP Corner
- This MSP Mentor article defines the term cloud aggregator and outlines some next steps for service providers interested in becoming cloud aggregators.
- OS33, an IT-as-a-service delivery platform for MSPs, partnered with Cloupia, a cloud automation and management software provider, to allow MSPs to better define and provision virtual environments, according to this Information Week article. The partnership is focused on enabling MSPs to sell IT-as-a-service solutions to SMBs.
- In this article, Joe Panettieri outlines 10 considerations he would ponder if he were to launch an MSP startup today.
- Tim Harmon, principal analyst with Forrester Research, discusses the says cloud is affecting the channel, vendor-channel relationships and more in this Channel-Pro SMB Q&A.
Upcoming Cloud Events
- VMworld 2011: August 29 – September 1, Las Vegas
- Hosting & Cloud Transformation Summit: September 25 – 27, Las Vegas
- MSPWorld: September 13 – 15, Austin, Texas
