Latest News from Dustin Amrhein

Beyond the Walls of the Enterprise

Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:30:00 EDT

Most in IT understand that mobile applications are unique. In terms of development, delivery, and management things just are not quite the same as compared to your typical enterprise application. There are many reasons for these differences including new and different programming models and languages, different application packaging and delivery, different development and testing methodologies, and more. While all of these are interesting and have profound effects, in talking to enterprise IT shops there is one major difference that sticks out a little more than most: mobile applications live beyond the walls of the enterprise.

The Converged Application Container

Thu, 05 Apr 2012 05:00:00 EDT

Just about everything I do in my job points back to a construct that is a foundational part of the modern enterprise IT organization: the application server. Now, when you say ‘application server’, thoughts immediately wander to Java. More specifically, folks tend to think about servers that support traditional Java EE applications and rightfully so. Over the past ten years, the predominant type of application server has been of the Java EE variety, and the industry has experienced tons of innovation in this area with more undoubtedly yet to come. But is the term ‘application server’ only applicable when we are talking Java?

IBM Acquires Worklight

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 09:00:00 EST

How about we start this post off with some facts? - Mobile data traffic exceeded voice traffic in 2010 (Wireless Industry News, August 26, 2010) - Shipments of smartphones exceeded the shipment of PCs for the first time in 2011 (2011 Economist) - Ten billion mobile connected devices are expected to be in use by 2020 (2011 Economist) - 74% of surveyed CIOs indicated mobile capabilities were a top investment priority over the next three to five years (2011 IBM Global CIO Study)

Cloud Computing: Application Services and PaaS

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 04:30:00 EST

One of the first things I learned when I started talking with clients about their plans for platform-based clouds is that there is no such thing as a ‘simple application environment.’ Even for the most basic, CRUD-style applications, you can count on there being numerous different components involved in the overall solution. While one may immediately identify application servers, web servers, and databases, it quickly becomes clear that LDAP servers, identify management components, data grids, load balancers, and more are equally important. Indeed, the enterprise application ecosystem is not one where the word ‘simple’ is often tossed about.

It's What's on the Inside that Counts

Tue, 24 Jan 2012 08:15:00 EST

"It is what is on the inside that counts." How many times have we all been told that? Personally, I can't even remember. However, just because it is perhaps overused and undoubtedly cliché, does not make it any less true. In fact, I rank it right up there with the golden rule as mantras that one should try to live by. But this is ostensibly a cloud computing blog, so what am I rambling on about? Well, it turns out that it's what is on the inside that counts in cloud computing as well! To explain this, let's take a look at the process for deploying applications on the cloud today by looking at an example. Consider that I have a basic Java web application that provides an enterprise resource scheduling service. In the normal course of operation, the web application connects to both message queues and databases to service requests. Additionally, a web server usually sits in front of this application and directs incoming requests from clients.

It's a Bottom up World

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 08:51:51 EST

I was talking to some colleagues the other day about the happenings in the world of cloud. Specifically, we were talking about a few different enterprises we worked with that had recently adopted cloud computing. As we talked, we seemed to hone in on the adoption path. Specifically, what group within the companies we worked with had been most responsible for the cloud adoption decision? Was it a group typically responsible for enterprise solution adoption, or were we seeing a fundamental change in how these types of companies made purchases? As we began to unravel the thread that led to the choosing of the particular cloud solution in each case, everything pointed back to a common group: the developers.

The Pitfalls of Cloud Computing

Thu, 08 Dec 2011 09:00:00 EST

There is no shortage of information concerning the ‘right' way to do cloud. Don't believe me? Just google ‘adopting cloud computing' or ‘implementing cloud computing' and prepare to be bombarded with advice. Don't get me wrong. I am not attempting to impugn this kind of material or otherwise demean it. I am simply saying that if you want to read about how to successfully adopt, implement, or otherwise begin to use cloud computing, you have a wealth of information at your disposal. On the other hand, I doubt you will find as much information on the opposite of cloud success, which is of course, cloud failure. This is to be expected. I mean, we all want to focus on the positives right? Yet, at the same time, it is a little odd since I happen to believe that we learn quite a bit from failure. To me, there is no better lesson than one learned the hard way. With that in mind, allow me to share some first-hand hard lessons from adopting the cloud.

PaaS and the Application Server

Tue, 15 Nov 2011 08:15:00 EST

For the last 5+ years, I have been deeply focused in the area of middleware application servers and the container services that they provide. If you go a bit further back and look at the arc of progression in this space, you will see multiple pivots of innovation for these servers. In the beginning, it was all about transactions, and then JEE was added, followed closely (and probably most recently) by a push around SOA. While none of these topics have gotten less important over time, they become an assumed part of application server runtimes and architectures. That is, customers will not consider an application platform that does not at least support those technologies and paradigms.

It's About the Services, Right?

Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:00:00 EDT

A lot of the initial focus in cloud computing has been on environment deployment. Specifically, it seems like we spend quite a bit of time talking about how cloud building blocks such as virtualization, automation, and standardization will lead to the kind of nimbleness and efficiency previously very hard to attain. While these are all valid and very important points, I think it’s time we push the conversation forward concerning what elements of cloud users should expect to derive value from -- especially in the PaaS arena.

Unwrapping the Self-Service Cloud

Thu, 06 Oct 2011 09:00:00 EDT

If you get a chance to talk with directors or C-level executives about the benefits they expect to derive from adopting cloud computing techniques, expect to hear the terms ‘flexibility’, ‘agility’, and ‘cost reduction’ come up quite frequently. While those are valid expectations, those of us a little closer to the trenches know that it takes a number of different technical capabilities to actually deliver those benefits. Oft-talked about capabilities such as elasticity, rapid provisioning, and configuration automation all come to mind. However, there’s one more capability that we tend to talk about a little less, but nevertheless is equally as important. That capability is self-service access.

The Value of Workload-Aware Management

Mon, 26 Sep 2011 06:30:00 EDT

A couple of weeks ago, I dropped by the Intel Developer Forum to present a session and listen in on a few others. As always in these types of shows, I learned quite a bit. Most strikingly though, I was reminded of something that is probably quite obvious to many of you: Consumer interest in cloud computing will not be letting up any time soon. Based on this, and some of the other things I heard at the show, I decided to catch up with fellow IBMer Marc Haberkorn. Marc is an IBM Product Manager and is responsible for IBM Workload Deployer amongst other things. I asked him about IBM Workload Deployer, the competition, and cloud in general.

How Are You Building Your Cloud?

Wed, 21 Sep 2011 10:00:00 EDT

“What are the use cases you want to pursue with your enterprise cloud project?” The question seems innocuous enough, but I can tell you from first-hand experience that it is anything but. If you asked five people from different teams within the same company to each give you three use cases, you would end up with 15 different scenarios. Such is the case in the current enterprise landscape where points of view on cloud vary about as much as you can imagine. Each organizational fiefdom has its own set of pain points, challenges, and initiatives to tackle, and each one of those teams have an idea on how the cloud can help.

What Is an Application?

Sat, 10 Sep 2011 09:00:00 EDT

What is an application? Well, like many things the answer varies widely based on who you ask. Consider the case of an online ticket booking application. If you ask the users of the application what the application is, then it’s a web page or a series of web pages. If you ask the application development team, they will say it’s a collection of source code, configuration files, static content, etc. The infrastructure team will tell you the application is the application server, web server, and operating system. If you go further and ask the hardware folks what they think, they will likely say the application is the virtualization platform running on their server. As you see, a question seemingly innocuous as ‘What is an application?’ is actually anything but.

Revisiting PaaS Delivery Models

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 08:30:00 EDT

Quite some time back, I explored the idea of different delivery models for PaaS solutions. To sum it up concisely, I believe that PaaS providers have to make a decision when they deliver their solution. They have to decide the degree to which their solution supplies inherent knowledge of a set of platforms versus the flexibility that solution delivers. When examining option one or option two, many consumers will feel that they are making a compromise, and not without reason. Option one delivers a PaaS solution that provides significant inherent knowledge about a particular platform or group of platforms at the expense of being well-rounded. This means that users can setup some cloud platforms very easily and with little effort, but they cannot address all of the platforms necessary in their organization. Option two is just the opposite. It does not supply much platform specific knowledge at all, but rather it is flexible enough to address a large swathe of runtimes. Of course, this means users end up being the supplier of the platform specific knowledge, so adoption and implementation typically take significantly longer.

An Eye on the Competition

Wed, 10 Aug 2011 09:00:00 EDT

When it comes to IBM Workload Deployer, I have no illusions regarding the veracity of our competitors. They are out there, and they are constantly on the attack. Their dubious claims aside, I know this because I still get asked quite frequently to explain the benefits of IBM Workload Deployer versus some other general purpose cloud provisioning and management solution. So, while I have done that many times in various forums, I figured it was time to yet again address this question.

The Growing Relevance of In-Memory Data Grids

Wed, 13 Jul 2011 09:45:00 EDT

The growing consumer affinity to cloud is spurring on various new technological trends. It's not all new technology mind you, but there seems to be a growing appetite for anything that can remotely be put into the context of cloud computing. In some ways, cloud has been good for bringing previously existing technologies back to the forefront and resulting in needed innovation in the area. Besides virtualization technologies, I believe that one of the best examples of this is in-memory data grid technology. Despite what some may try to purport, in-memory data grids are not a by-product of the cloud computing revolution. The truth is they existed for a while before cloud, but to be fair, IMDGs probably owe a tip of the hat to the cloud computing craze for bringing them back into the spotlight. Increasingly, we are seeing workloads that are highly scalable, temporal, and elastic making their way into the cloud. These application characteristics often align nicely with the use of IMDGs, so we see renewed interest and quite a bit of innovative activity around these solutions.

The Convergence of IaaS and PaaS

Thu, 07 Jul 2011 09:30:00 EDT

I would venture a guess that many cloud service providers are happy with cloud conversations going on in enterprises today. I say this because, at least in my experience, enterprises are truly starting to seek out and embrace the idea of PaaS. Many times these enterprises have adopted or are adopting an IaaS approach, and they are looking to push the cloud up the stack. They want to address their application platforms and applications. This is refreshing and exciting, but also extremely challenging. Why, you ask? It is challenging because this is leading to a convergence of IaaS and PaaS in the enterprise that will test both providers and consumers on cultural, procedural, and technical fronts.

Different Roads to Cloud Adoption

Thu, 23 Jun 2011 11:00:00 EDT

I find that it is interesting and sometimes even helpful to sit down and reflect on past experiences. That's true for life and it's true for work. In my last post, I reflected on some of the common challenges I have seen in the rollout of enterprise cloud projects. In this post, I want to shift gears a bit and take one giant step back if you will. Let's talk about the common patters for how organizations are adopting cloud in the first place. I like to keep things as simple as possible. Remember, just because something is simple does not make it any less true! I like to boil down my characterization of cloud adoption strategy into just two camps: strategic and tactical. You may hear the same kind of thought referred to as bottom-up and top-down approaches. However, I believe those terms usually have a technical connotation, and I do not want to pigeon hole cloud adoption strategy as only a technical discussion -- it has far broader reaches than that.

Challenges Facing the Enterprise Private Cloud

Mon, 06 Jun 2011 05:00:00 EDT

It seems like the last several months have brought a rapid increase in the number of organizations getting serious, really serious, about private clouds in their enterprise. By this, I mean they are going beyond working on ROI documents, formulating strategies, and doing referential research. They are starting to put their preparation to good use in the form of implementation work. Maybe it just so happens that many of the customers I work with are arriving at this phase at the same time, but I would wager a bet that this is more or less happening in many companies.

What's the Big Deal About Cloud APIs?

Sat, 21 May 2011 13:30:00 EDT

APIs for cloud are important. Based on the number of writings, conference sessions, and Twitter blasts endorsing the cloud API movement, I think this is something on which we can all agree. However, I sometimes get the feeling that we just accept the fact that the API movement is important without really stopping to ask a very basic question: ‘Why are APIs for cloud important?' Now, if you asked this question to a room full of people at say, a cloud conference, you are undoubtedly going to get some amount of variance in the answers. I would wager a guess that the terms automation and devops appear in the conversation. There is little doubt that APIs for cloud solutions lay the foundation for higher levels of automation, something almost every company needs. Similarly, you cannot deny that the cloud API movement has been a significant driver behind the devops (aka "infrastructure as code") craze that one cannot help but notice today. That said, the real value of APIs for cloud is more significant than either enhanced automation or devops. The real value of the API movement is that it can help companies embarking on cloud overcome the biggest, sometimes underappreciated challenge in cloud implementation today: federation.

Exploring Cloud Deployment Models in IBM Workload Deployer

Wed, 11 May 2011 10:00:00 EDT

One of the fundamental tenants of IBM Workload Deployer is a choice of cloud deployment models. Starting in v3.0, users will be able to deploy to the cloud using virtual appliances (OVA files), virtual system patterns, or virtual application patterns. The ability to provision plain virtual appliances is a way to rapidly bring your own images, as they currently exist, into the provisioning realm of the appliance. As such, I think the use cases and basis for deciding to use this deployment model are fairly evident. However, when comparing the two patterns-based approaches, virtual system patterns and virtual application patterns, the decision requires a bit more scrutiny.

Autonomic Management Architectures for Cloud Platforms

Thu, 28 Apr 2011 11:00:00 EDT

The platform services segment of cloud is multi-faceted… to say the least. Lately, likely spurred on by announcements like IBM Workload Deployer and VMware Cloud Foundry, I have been thinking quite a bit about one of those facets: environment management. To be clear, I’m not talking about management tools for end-users, though that topic is worthy of many discussions. Rather, I’m talking about the autonomic management capabilities for deployed environments.

The IBM Workload Deployer

Thu, 07 Apr 2011 11:30:00 EDT

I hate sitting on secrets. I always have. I understand that sometimes it's in the best interest of everyone (and your job) to keep tight lips, but that does not make it any more fun. Inevitably, the run-up to our annual IMPACT conferences means everyone in the lab is doing their fair share of secret keeping -- just waiting for announce time. For a lot of us, that day ended Tuesday with the announcement of the IBM Workload Deployer v3.0. Now, you may be wondering, 'I have never heard of this. Why is it version 3.0??' Well, IBM Workload Deployer is a sort of evolution of the WebSphere CloudBurst Appliance, which was previously at version 2.0. This is good news for all of our current WebSphere CloudBurst users because all of the functionality (plus new bits of course) that they have been using in WebSphere CloudBurst are present in IBM Workload Deployer. You can use and customize our IBM Hypervisor Edition images in IBM Workload Deployer. You can build and deploy custom patterns that contain custom scripts in order to create highly customized IBM middleware environments. So, what's the big deal here? Two words: workload patterns.

Cloud Computing - More than Elasticity

Fri, 25 Mar 2011 16:30:00 EDT

Quite honestly, I am a little fascinated at the preponderance of focus the industry sometimes puts on the cloud attribute of elasticity. Sure, it is important, and in fact, a necessary attribute to truly consider something a cloud. It also makes for cool reading in case studies where companies have successfully harnessed elasticity in the cloud to reap business value. However, in my experience with enterprise users, many would benefit from a couple of less sexy, but equally important attributes of cloud: standardization and automation.

Reference Architecture for Cloud Computing

Fri, 11 Mar 2011 11:00:00 EST

Admittedly, when I was heads-down in code earlier in my career, I did not pay much attention to reference architectures. We had our own internal architectures that served as ‘the way and the truth’, and reference architectures for our product or solution domain were simply out of scope. Anyway, reference architectures are, by design, not detailed enough to steer someone implementing one out of hundreds of components that will fall under said architectures. So, for the most part I ignored them, even though I could hear rumblings coming from rooms full of folks arguing over revision 25 of the reference architecture for some problem domain or another.

The IBM Image Construction and Composition Tool

Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:15:00 EST

In a recent post, I wrote about the importance of well-designed, well-constructed virtual images. To be clear, I am not promoting elegant virtual image design for the sake of art. Rather, if we can improve the state of the art in virtual image design and construction, there is a chance to significantly reduce image sprawl typical to many organizations today. Reducing virtual image sprawl will go a long way in reducing the amount of time and resources organizations dedicate to managing their image inventory.

Improving the Application Lifecycle with Cloud Computing

Wed, 16 Feb 2011 16:45:00 EST

Yesterday, I read the latest post on James Urquhart’s Wisdom of Clouds blog. As I often do, I found myself nodding my head as I read James’ latest thoughts on cloud. In this particular post, James provided some thoughts on the types of applications for which we would see growing cloud-based deployments in 2011. I suggest you read the full post here, but I do want to identify the three application types James points out in his post. Based on my own anecdotal experience, empirical data, and observable trends, I would say it is hard to argue with this assessment. Taking a step back, I also think this is a good approach in anticipating cloud usage for the coming year. Looking at both the technical and business attributes of applications gives us a sound context with which to predict the likelihood that users will want to deploy that application to a cloud.

Back to Square One

Thu, 10 Feb 2011 06:45:00 EST

I grew up playing quite a few different sports, both team and individual. For me, there was little else that I would rather have done than compete on the field, court, diamond, or course. I loved sport, and I loved to compete (still do as a matter of fact), so it was a great fit. Partially motivated by getting me to focus on something other than annoying the crap out of my little brother, my parents strongly encouraged my involvement in sports of all kind. For that, I will always be grateful. Not because I parlayed my athletic experience into a seven figure contract, flashy cars, and a private yacht (I am still open to those things though), but because sports taught me many, many lessons. These lessons went far beyond how to make a shot, hit a ball, or return a serve. Many of these lessons were equally applicable to sports and ‘real-life’, even if I did not know it then.

How Pushy Should PaaS Be?

Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:45:00 EST

I cannot help but chuckle when I hear someone say, write, or tweet that because of cloud computing operating systems are fast becoming a commodity. The only thing I can say is that they apparently do not talk to the same users that I do. I can accurately use the word ‘entrenched’ to describe the commitment to an operating system type that I observe among many enterprises out there. Whether or not you can attribute the commitment to organizational skill or organizational culture is really beside the point. Bottom line: Many users will only leverage a very specific operating system.

Declarative Deployment Is the Wave of the Future

Thu, 20 Jan 2011 08:00:00 EST

When at all possible, I like getting my information straight from the proverbial horse’s mouth. There is no better source of information, and I can avoid the intention and unintentional biases interjected by intermediaries. When it comes to my day job, the source of truth for me is those working in companies to build and deploy application environments. When I start working with new teams, it is nice to get a feel for what they see as their biggest inhibitors. Not surprisingly, I get two predominant concerns from these teams regardless of their company’s size or the industry in which they participate:

What Skills Do You Need for the Cloud?

Fri, 14 Jan 2011 05:45:00 EST

Over a year ago, I posed a simple question in a post: ‘Should developers care about cloud computing?’ In the post, I went on to assert that developers should indeed care about what was at that point a little more of an emerging trend. Not that this was ever a controversial issue, but in light of the growing momentum of cloud since that post, and the realization that the effects of cloud reverberate throughout entire IT organizations, this is no longer even a question.

Advocating for the Value of Enterprise Standardization

Tue, 11 Jan 2011 07:00:00 EST

When I go out and chat with different users about cloud computing, we usually end up discussing characteristics and associated benefits of the approach. As one may expect, rapid provisioning and increased asset utilization typically dominate the discussion. Users can draw a more or less straight line from these characteristics of the cloud to clear value for their organization, either in cost savings, increased revenue opportunity, or both. While these characteristics and their benefits may be clear, there is another value-producing characteristic of the cloud that, in my experience, users do not appreciate with quite the same fervor: standardization.

The PaaS Supply Chain

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 09:00:00 EST

In many cases, the end of the year gives you time to step back and take stock of the last 12 months. This is when many of us take a hard look at what worked and what did not, complete performance reviews, and formulate plans for the coming year. For me, it is all of those things plus a time when I usually get to catch up on my sadly neglected reading list. First up on my reading list this year: Clockspeed : Winning Industry Control in the Age of Temporary Advantage by Thomas Fine. I am sure many of you have either read Clockspeed yourself or heard it mentioned in various circles. I am fast approaching the end, and while the book itself is not new (originally published in 1999), it seems, based on my own impressions and several other notable reviews, that the lessons of this piece are timeless.

Delivery Models for PaaS Solutions

Thu, 09 Dec 2010 10:00:00 EST

You know how we can tell PaaS is hot right now? We see vendors suffering from the same ‘me too’ syndrome that we see with its parent, cloud computing. That is, it seems some players are all too willing to throw around the term PaaS in order to spunk up a press release or product announcement. I am sure this comes as no shock to anyone following the cloud industry -- just more examples of ‘cloud-washing.’

Peeling Onions in the Cloud

Wed, 01 Dec 2010 07:00:00 EST

From a conceptual standpoint, consumability through abstraction is arguably one of the most important benefits of cloud computing. The cloud offers up some collection of raw resources (i.e. servers, networks, storage, and applications) as a set of pre-configured, pre-integrated, and ready to use services. As a result, users typically need to know a good deal less about how those resources are setup, and can instead concentrate on consuming them to deliver their own set of services.

Something You May Not Know About IBM and Cloud

Fri, 19 Nov 2010 03:15:00 EST

Ask someone to associate IBM and cloud computing, and that person will probably come back with something about solutions to help build private clouds. I know because I ask… all the time. On the surface, this is a fair association. After all, it is true that IBM offers quite a few different solutions that help users to build both private clouds and on-premise clouds that they then offer up to others (i.e. enabling service providers). However, it does not participate in this cloud delivery model at the expense of other delivery models.

Sorting Through the Cloud Jargon

Fri, 12 Nov 2010 13:30:00 EST

Over the last two weeks, I have fully immersed myself in the world of cloud. Thanks to conference keynotes, breakout sessions, customer briefings, and ad hoc discussions, I have not had much time to not think or talk about cloud. While this is not necessarily a bad thing, I do have to admit, something has been gnawing at me over these past two weeks: There is too much overloaded, confusing, or misunderstood cloud jargon.

Is Standardization Right for Cloud-Based Application Environments?

Mon, 08 Nov 2010 09:09:17 EST

For me, this week has been one of those weeks that I think all technologists enjoy. You know what I’m talking about. The week has been one of those rare periods of time when you get to put day-to-day work on the backburner (or at least delay it until you get back to your hotel at night), and instead focus on learning, networking, and stepping outside of your comfort cocoon.

Creating Sustainable PaaS Systems

Sat, 30 Oct 2010 10:00:00 EDT

A while back, I wrote about the importance and benefits of patterns-based middleware solutions for the cloud. You can check it out here if interested, but the gist is that by representing middleware application environments as patterns, we target traditional inefficiencies when dealing with these kinds of environments. Specifically, with the right kind of patterns-based approach, users can derive the following benefits (in addition to some of the table stakes cloud benefits)...

Surveying Cloud and Virtualization in Application Middleware

Thu, 21 Oct 2010 09:16:54 EDT

For about two years now, I have had the opportunity to be out in the field and talk to those in the IT trenches that create, deploy, and operate middleware application infrastructure. More to the point, I have been working with them on ways that they can leverage elements of virtualization, automation, and policy-driven computing to make their work easier and more efficient.

Constructing Clouds within IBM

Wed, 13 Oct 2010 09:38:00 EDT

While it is nice to consider the potential benefits of cloud computing for a particular organization, it is even better to see concrete results from a cloud implementation. I recently got the chance to do just that when I worked with one of our IBM test organizations to document their adoption, implementation, and return on investment from a private cloud project. More specifically, I studied private cloud use by our WebSphere Application Server Test Organization.

The Intersection of Legacy Processes and Cloud Computing

Mon, 04 Oct 2010 12:54:51 EDT

One of the really cool things about getting out and talking with users about different cloud computing approaches is that, in many cases, you get to pose radically different ways of doing things within an organization. In some discussions, you can practically see the wheels turning behind the eyes of the audience as they think what this new approach means to them, their teams, and their organization. This usually results in some fun (and challenging) conversations about what cloud adoption means to the existing operational process of users.

A Patterns-Based Approach for Middleware

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 10:00:00 EDT

Yesterday, I joined some colleagues on a webcast where we had a chance to talk to some of our users about the technical concepts behind WebSphere solutions for building, consuming, and integrating clouds. We discussed ways to enable autonomic, policy-driven runtimes, construct elastic, in-memory data grids, and integrate on-premise and off-premise applications. It was all fun stuff to talk about, and hopefully the webcast participants got a good look at how cloud computing is taking hold in WebSphere. Having said that, for me, one topic stood out above the rest and that topic was pattern-based middleware for the cloud.

Standardization and Customization in the Cloud

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 15:08:35 EDT

Maybe it is a misunderstanding, misperception or a myth, but it seems quite a few people make an incorrect assumption about standardization and customization when it comes to services delivered in the cloud. Specifically, the message I hear often from both providers and consumers seems to pit standardization and customization against each other, almost as if you can only have one or the other. This, of course, is wholly incorrect.

Catching up with the Cast Iron Team

Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:47:00 EDT

While many enterprises are expanding their use of off-premise, cloud-based applications and application platforms, it seems some gloss over an important point. These same companies have, and will continue to develop, on-premise applications in both cloud and traditional environments. Considering the ongoing activity in both off-premise and on-premise, it is only a matter of time before a given company has the need to integrate data between their on-premise and off-premise applications.

How Will Data Grid Centralization Affect Usage Patterns?

Thu, 02 Sep 2010 10:53:24 EDT

Maybe I’m just a geek, but to me, in our ever growing, massively scaled enterprise computing landscape, there are few technologies that peak my interest like memory-based data grids. It is nothing short of amazing to see an increasing number of enterprises use these solutions in a myriad of ways, all to solve an old dilemma: How can one efficiently and cost-effectively scale data while preserving quality of service characteristics of the data such as performance, availability, consistency, and manageability? In my view, the use cases emerging from these solutions are among the most creative and intriguing that we see in the enterprise computing world today.

Do Appliances Have A Role in Cloud's Evolution?

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:45:00 EDT

Recently, I read an interview with fellow IBMer, Bruce Otte, in which he laid out IBM’s Roadmap to ‘Smart Clouds’ by highlighting five key areas. I’m not going to enumerate those here, if you are interested you can check out the interview, but there is one thing that especially caught my eye: the notion of cloud appliances.

A Look at Cloud Computing in IBM WebSphere

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:00:00 EDT

If you are a technology vendor, chances are that your users want to know what you are doing in the cloud. IBM is certainly no different. I get user queries all the time asking about the IBM cloud strategy or IBM cloud solutions. Specifically, perhaps owing to my role, I get many questions about what we are doing in the cloud with our application middleware products. The simple answer is quite a bit. Of course, that answer only raises more questions and usually starts some interesting discussions.

Adopting Virtualization is Not Without Friction

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 13:30:00 EDT

This much is clear, advanced virtualization techniques are here. Some time ago, we moved beyond base operating system virtualization, towards virtualization approaches that render more functionally complete systems. From single virtual images that contain entire software stacks (i.e. LAMP, JEE servers, content management systems, etc.), to virtual appliances built to satisfy particular workloads, the functional encapsulation provided by various virtualization techniques continues to expand. On the surface, this is an obvious benefit to end-users, but that does not mean it comes without challenges.