Analyst Relations Failure on the #Cloud: For #CMOs in #CloudComputing

An all too familiar scenario for those of us on the marketing side of technology companies 

Hat tip:http://technobabble2dot0.wordpress.com/2010/01/29/downfall-gartner-mq/

Dreamliner takes off into the cloud #cloudcomputing #787FF

Just a nice change of pace! Are delays and innovation closely connected?

Picture: Amazon Spot Pricing Explained #cloudcomputing #cio

Just a simpler graphic to explain the pricing from the AWS page.

Economics of abundance (video).. very cool #cio

Courtesy: techdirt.com

5 Cloud Providers, not 4 #CloudComputing #CIO

From CIO Magazine:

There are effectively four enterprise vendors today: IBM, HP, Oracle-Sun Microsystems (which are due to merge), and now arguably Cisco Systems, EMC and VMware.. via Acadia. … as good as anything arriving out of a merger. These mergers and joint agreements are giving the enterprise vendors the means to sell complete data center infrastructure environments.

My take:

• There are 5, not four – don’t forget about Dell’s cloud offering
• Try buying ONE server from any of the large infra providers – and you will see the real problem that cloud computing is trying to address: speed to market.

Disruptors have more fun:Nick Carr on #CloudComputing

Notes from Nick Carr, who’s a rockstar in his own right:

• Cloud is being accepted as a new option- existing data centers will remain
• Promises of Cloud computing existed in every decade, but it makes sense only now due to two laws: Moore’s and Metcalfe’s
• “When network speeds become faster than the computer, the computer hollows out an spreads all over” – Eric Schmidt
• Still in experimentation stage – Few stages of evolution:

1. Start with a highly virtualized DC, internal utility
2. Cloud as a supplement
3. Cloud as replacement (5-10 years)
4. Cloud as democratizer
5. Cloud as revolution

• Cloud is a disruptive technology, following Prof. Christensen’s “Innovator’s Dilemma” curve
• It’s more fun being the disruptor!

Microsoft Azure: Out Nov 17, Tour Data Center #CloudComputing

My take:

• Read the Forbes article here for more detail – seems impressive at a $500 Million investment
• Competitive FUD says Azure is not ready for prime time, awaiting the real announcement to determine for myself.

Media confused about #CloudComputing?

Writes Peter Kretzman:

Flickr, Gmail, and Facebook are great services, but declaring that they represent the burgeoning trend of cloud computing is as incomplete and unsatisfying as explaining the Grand Canyon as just a tourist attraction in Arizona.

The problem here, and the reason that so many of these mainstream articles get it so wrong, is they’re trying to explain cloud computing as a consumer-oriented phenomenon, and it’s basically not. Not the exciting or “new” part, anyway.

Read the rest of this extremely well-written article.

Is #CloudComputing about Cost or Innovation?

Writes Michael Hickins:

The thing that most stuck with me was his idea that if all companies do is run the same systems in the cloud as they have in their data centers without changing their business processes, they’re simply going to be dealing with “a cloud-based hairball instead of an on-premise hairball.”

Coughing up the hairball by using different (and theoretically better) business processes isn’t just about cost-cutting. Changing business processes also means relieving IT departments of mundane administrative tasks like patch management and version upgrades, and allowing them to create new applications that can actually give companies a leg up on their competitors.

My take:

• Cloud computing is an example of deflationary innovation  – cost reduction on the infrastructure will continue to be the primary economic reason for uptake in enterprises.
• However, competitive differentiation (the result of innovation) must arise from unique business processes
• Which further implies the service delivery model (cloud, on premise, hybrid, others) is completely independent and will potentially have a minor impact besides “funding innovation” due to cost savings
• Cloud will force, as was articulated well in this note, closer alignment of IT with business which will imply greater contribution to business strategy due to elimination of the more mundane “keep the lights on” spend in enterprises

#CloudComputing 101 – This is funny!

Hat tip to Ben Kepes: