What to do when Amazon’s spot prices spike — Tech News and Analysis

What to do when Amazon’s spot prices spike — Tech News and Analysis

This is a must read for anyone planning to move to the cloud and it's another reason why a prudent migration plan included a hybrid cloud strategy.

Been building a cloud music service DAAS

Cannot wait to share more about this and will be posting about the conferences and new offering that we have been working with to make this happen.  Experience is better then digital 

Oracle Public Cloud has been announced to what end?

Oracle Fusion Applications OFA is finally coming to the Public Cloud and it seems to be there answer to the moving the titanic just a schuch before raming into the iceberg that stand alone computing is amounting too. From the looks of what they have rolled out it is a modest approach, however, like many of the early cloud PaaS SaaP platform's it's still  a GATED CLOUD* and the customer is still locked into Oracle's overall paradigm and does not seem to have a pathway for Legacy software to be migrated into the OFA stack and I didn't see any mention of security.


 So dig a bit deeper. I do see that back on Sept 16 they released a patch for their Middleware well ahead of the Oct 18 update that was already scheduled and according to PCWORLD The U.S. Government's National Vulnerability Database has assigned a CVSS (Common Vulnerability Scoring System) rating of 7.8, "indicating a complete Operating System denial of service,"  So a bit more about how this new offering is different would have been helped to clear the air as Oracle, according to same article pushed back and said it was only a a CVSS Base Score of 5.0.


Some of the details about OFA that I did gleam!

• Built on —Oracle Fusion Middleware 
• Complete role-based experience
• Options including on-premise, hosted, private cloud, or public cloud (hybrid)

Here is a quote that caught my attention when I did some searching. 

 “Oracle Fusion Applications are architected so you don’t have to do rip and replace,” says Jim Hayes, managing director of the consulting firm Accenture. “That’s very important for creating a business case that will get through the steering committee and be approved by the board."  

http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/fusion/fusion-changing-the-game-185230.pdf

So part of the package seems to be to get you to integrate the rest of the Oracle cluster 

Oracle Fusion Customer Relationship Management

Oracle Fusion Financials

Oracle Fusion Governance, Risk, and Compliance

Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management

Oracle Fusion Procurement

Oracle Fusion Project Portfolio Management

http://www.oracle.com/us/products/applications/fusion/index.html

Hence the not ripping and replacing part, So my question is why would a company move to this cloud if they're not already existing Oracle customer.   And, is this really just a strategy to save off customers leaving for another Cloud Provider.  I'm interested in hearing what and DEVOP's folks have to say about this offering and what their experience has been moving to it as a new customer. 

CloudCamp Event in DC

CloudCamp is back in the DMV

If you been to a barcamp or crisiscamp you know how awesome these unconferences are for everyone that goes.

Well get ready to do it with chunks, open minds and man liked minded Cloud computers.





Attenion DMV this is a must attend event if you want to find out more about the cloud have an idea for a panel about the cloud or just want to share you love of cloud/camp.

Click here

Where's the Cloud now?

So lost in all the turmoil of late, see economy, is the fact that the use of Cloud Computing is being coming the norm and perhaps that's a good things.  Having done Advance for the White House I knew my roles was to stay in the background and make sure that everything is running smoothly and reacting to any changes which comes in treble at the WH level.  So like Advance Staff everywhere that is doing their job, the cloud is doing it's and you don't even notice.


Now if this story is correct

Everything Everywhere cloud computing project will have implications for an industry - Inside Outsourcing 

We'll see the future of this Cloud as a bench mark for firms that have not yet made the switch and when these legal shops, accounting firms and consultant based business make the move to the cloud.  That will be the real catapult point for the Cloud into every day computing.

Why?  The shear number of employees in these industries that use laptop, smartphone and home computers will wave that carries the Cloud to the massess since these are the masses with a higher credit rating then most and hence able and willing to pay the service fees for freeing them from the old ways of computering and pay they will.

Just saying and keep on eye on them clouds. It could mean change

ORG Zine | Meltwater and the newspaper publishers

ORG Zine | Meltwater and the newspaper publishers

This case is an interesting parallel to the cloud computing world in that the role of a copy is at play and we all know that cloud computing is all about copying something. This should send a warring shot to the owners of cloud entertainment streaming sites too.

10 Hidden Costs in the Public Cloud - Expert Voices

10 Hidden Costs in the Public Cloud - Expert Voices

There are some very good number in this article for those of you wanting to get a handle of the cost of cloud computing.

Cloud computing is key driver for new identity rules, says Jericho Forum - ComputerworldUK.com

Cloud computing is key driver for new identity rules, says Jericho Forum - ComputerworldUK.com: "The Jericho Forum has this week published a set of principles, the Identity, Entitlement and Access Management (IdEA) Commandments, to promote open and interoperable standards that can be used to help build identity management processes that can work on a global, de-perimeterised basis."

Big take away is ---

People being in control of their own identity is cheaper and more scalable for businesses

Amazon cloud server was used to attack Sony | VentureBeat

Amazon cloud server was used to attack Sony | VentureBeat

Amazon.com’s cloud servers were used byhackers to attack Sony’s PlayStation Networkonline gaming service, according to Bloomberg

Ahem, pay no attention this one folks

Clouds, FISMA, and the Lawyers | NovaInfosecPortal.com

Clouds, FISMA, and the Lawyers | NovaInfosecPortal.com

"DOI rejected Google’s cloud because it had state and local (sidenote: does this include tribes?) tenants which might not have the same level of “security astuteness” as DOI. Basically what they’re saying here is that if one of the tenants on Google’s cloud doesn’t know how to secure their data, it affects all the tenants."

The link at the top has many interesting point to consider however the most important take away is if one tenant on any leg of the chain is not securing data, then that whole cloud is not secure. 

Agreed..........

Will the 2012 campaigns embrase the cloud

With the upcoming 2012 campaign cycle starting to move into gear, the big question out there is well social media, which is 100 percent cloud based, entice campaigns to use the cloud for more of their electioneering and campaign computing functions. Which all of the big ones totally rely on a host of tech folks that drive the botton line of campaigning up.

Having worked on campaigns since 1979 right up till 2008 as a political hack, I know as much about the state of campaigns as anyone and don't take it from me.  The Chief of Staff for  the speaker of the House  when asked, by me,  at the Mobile Citizen Summit in Friendship Heights about the readiness of campaigns to do more then established a presence on Facebook or Twitter seems pretty clear that in his opinion they weren't.

I have say there is going to be opportunities and some train wreaks. 

Government IT Forecast: Cloudy with a Chance for Myth-busting – Great Government through Technology

Government IT Forecast: Cloudy with a Chance for Myth-busting – Great Government through Technology

So now the Gov should be making a big impact on this industry. Get ready for GovCloud

CloudBursting for Elastic Applications in a Hybrid Cloud Architecture

What happens when Google Docs fail.

Guess what sooner or later you will see this instead of your document.

And it raises some serious questions.


I know many folks in SMEM, CrisisData, and heck anyone using - cloud documents for that matter- all have come accustomed to it being there now.  I myself have laughed at the notion of of using some old fashion local stored documents. And, of course  back, in the day "prefacebook"   I would have never considering having my core documents stored outside of a firewall let alone the application running or my whole infrastructure for that matter.


So here we are today and for the project this was coordinating many people are now sitting around waiting for Google.

I have gone about the process of alerting customers services~ as you will  have to do. Overall it seems pretty simple. Now we wait. .

I don't know yet what others on non Google clouds have faced in similar situations. If anyone knows of one please leave a comment with a link or some details.  So far IMHO if you are dealing in a crisis or mission critical part or your work entails collaboration on cloud as part of the plan.  Be prepared is all I can say.

"We are going to need to have backup plans in place for blackholes on the cloud".  

Document, app, software cloud just disappear so we need to arranged for some kind of Cloud Backup as soon as your rely on the cloud to host, provide or be of  service. This is advisable for most business and all emergency responders that use these tools to serve the public. 

Note>

So far not impressed with Google's response to this we have sent three different notices and not even one reply form them that they got, looked at it or even know this issue exist. We even gotten on their twitter feed @googledocs.  IDK maybe they're all at #SXSW.  I see them tweeting about it. 

Well this sure makes the cloud a bit more interesting

The convergence of cloud computing and connectivity is fundamentally changing how IT is delivered and how information is consumed. Powerful trends like consumerization, cloud computing and connectivity are redefining the way people live, businesses operate and the world works. Traditional on-premise, proprietary computing resources are gradually being complemented and even replaced by the massive, agile and open computing resources of the cloud. Meanwhile, the cloud is combining with mobility to create ubiquitous connectivity.   

HP just threw their hat up into the Cloud.   This is a very impressive roll out from HP and if your worried about security from within and on the cloud there approach is going to be a model that others will have to follow.  The fact that they understand that we'll have Hyrid systems and that companies will need the hand holding that a company that HP can bring to the table.

Here is the three key areas of HP's

• HP announced it intends to leverage its position as a leading provider of cloud technology to develop a portfolio of cloud services from infrastructure to platform services. HP also signaled it plans to develop and run the industry’s first open cloud marketplace that will combine a secure, scalable and trusted consumer app store and an enterprise application and services catalog.
• HP intends to build webOS into a leading connectivity platform. As the world’s No. 1 maker of PCs and printers, HP has the potential to deliver 100 million webOS-enabled devices a year into the marketplace, and HP plans to use that scale along with leading development tools to build a robust developer community that is eager to access every segment of the market and every corner of the globe.
• At the event, highlighting an increasing focus to bring innovation to market faster, HP demonstrated a new “big data” appliance, leveraging the unmatched performance of HP computing power mated with real-time, high-speed analytics from Vertica Systems, which HP recently announced its agreement to acquire. HP expects to close the acquisition in its second fiscal quarter and have the HP-branded appliance ready for market immediately thereafter. The proposed HP Vertica solution will offer a choice of delivery options – from appliance, to software, and in the cloud.

So keep your eyes on HP's open cloud marketplace and the Clouds

Crisis Data: Who's Cloud are you on?

Crisis Data: Who's Cloud are you on?: "'Within an hour, more than 1,200 tweets a minute were coming from Tokyo. By the end of Friday, American time, a total of 246,075 Twitter pos..."

Data is the new oil

There is something happening that only a very few folks are aware of directly; IMHO either because of little expousre or legal|swore oaths to not talk about it.

Indirectly most do know the amount of data that is being pumped out by users is astronomical! Those that have the ability generate this data or get their analytics on it are making new markets with revenue streams erupting off of their data's richness.

Recently while attending CloudCamp in Baltimoretowncenter I heard this great quote and figured it should get a mention here and once I get the name I'll post it and any links if possible

Data is the new OIL

So what does that mean. It means that data is a new world currency. Money as it turns out is really just bits of data as most of us don't carry hard currency around these days. To those that do know they are participation in a 3 wave evolution of data becoming a currency. Ownership of large chunks of this now is not just data storage it's a real store of value.

Kinda of funny to think about our money. According to Wiki and my college Econ teachers it's~

The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value;

Egro~ without the data there would is no value. And without the raw computing power of the cloud and ability to cluster or hash your data with other clouds public and priviate your data is useful only to you and it is not part of this new economy.

Think about this~ 100 percent of your social media and 95 percent of email is NOW It needs to be on the cloud. If I said either of those things would happen in 2003 most folks would have laughted or just stare back with a blank expression.

Who's Cloud are you on?

Info Loss: Virtualization and Security

Info Loss: Virtualization and Security: "As I am planning to lead my MIS445 class into virtualization and cloud computing in the coming weeks, I am pulling together a list of the fu..."

I'd say the list is pretty much on target.

What is left out is what we don't know. So I don't have a specific name for it. Yet.....something is telling me that we are going to learn soon of new conditions because of the size of the data that is now already on the cloud.

I am sure they are some NOC that are dealing with this and other emerging trends because they are the front line of the Cloud and until the white papers, blogs and forums get hit with this 3rd wave convergence by folks that are allowed to even discuss what they have been doing.

We'll just have to wait and watch the cloud drift by........

Greplin using Omnibox allows user to surf all their socmed via an extention

Greplin is announcing they are integrating Chrome Omnibox API directly into your browser. This allow the user to use it without having to go to Greplin’s website to login. 

Check out the extension here and Greplin’s widget in the image to the right.

Widgetbox becomes “cloud” advertising company Flite, raises $12M | VentureBeat

Widgetbox becomes “cloud” advertising company Flite, raises $12M | VentureBeat

There are more companies moving into this space. The question we keep asking is Who's Cloud are you on?

The music business needs to embrace the cloud

This comes down to two issues

1. “safe harbor” provisions of the DMCA.
2. The Music business is really two. Majors and Independent.

This 2nd issue is really a big one and for way too long the agenda driving the whole industry is for the vantage and view point of the major record labels. While they are doing the best they can to kill themselves off. It should stop the Independents.

In 1995 there where 7 majors now there are 3 and 90 percent of new music is being created by independent artist.

IMHO Here is where the opportunity for the independent artists/bands to come together via distributor that understands the reasons why it will pay to be a cloud based entertainment company will have a major advantage over everyone. We know of such a company and will be talking about it more in the future.

The ROI for have this data being run by professional service provides with SOA datacenters is so over whealming that for anyone to think a record label can keep internal servers humming alone. And, the 3 guys (at most) in TECH up-to-date on the latest routers, servers, virus, backups and *.* needs to get an knowledge upgrade.

As for point 1. most Independent Artist are not going to sue their fans so this is mute to them. The fact that the music business has not followed know examples of offering downloads, streams and physical product as a whole shows that these folks in charge, ok it's there lawyers, have complete missed what the consumer wants.

They never said give me my music in one format and it has to be digital.

No the fans want music whenever & however they feel like it. IMHO those that want to be left standing in the New Music Business already know that the cloud is the way to go.

Check out this link to see the extremes the majors will go to protect their own self interest.

So! how secure is your cloud?

There are a couple of point that one needs to consider when making the move to the Cloud.

First off! This is not your machine, code, or technical support staff; So how you have dealt with those in the past is not how they will be handled on the Cloud.

So what is your game plan for taking data or software and your users that normally run locally or in a co-location that will now reside somewhere out in cyberspace. If your migrating this is one set of consideration if your not these issue are how going to have to be addreseed head on. Plus for anyone should they want to backout data/stuff off the cloud. Say..... should your company or organization change their mind or cease to exist.

The first thing is that most end users have no experience and the little they do is with co-location. The cloud providers are going to hand you a SLA and it is going to say - BLAH? And, your or your IT/legal department are going to say we have to look at this a bit. What does this mean will be heard far and wide. So licensing of services, acceptalbe use, suspension & termination, liability limitations, privacy policies, and how and how the Cloud's side interacts with your Cloud foot print in their world where ever that is which is an issue too.

Call us when you get to these details.

So what does Cloud mean to your migration plan beyond on-demand scalability of pooled resources available 24/7/365 even in space. Lets began with some of the obivious issues to consider.

#1 Privacy of your data, who or what do you owe safeguarding of it too? What happens if it's breached?

Let's be blut and understand 1 thing the moment it's digital it is unsecure at the core since it's s copy (((already)) the only way for it to not be copied is for it to not be taken from the of rehlem of thought.

So to start the provider of cloud services don't know what your organization privacy needs are so they don't know what any particular security issues to deal with most of them have a general level of security they provide and if they are dealing with GOV level services they should be designed/built with Federal Information Processing Standards or FIPS or at least to Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) or OpenID standards. If they don't have this then you will need to consider another Cloud provider.

The crux of your decision will be what type of service is needed for your/group personally

1. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)
2. Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
3. Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

There are three different complexities that a group will need to consider and because of the depth of them and this is cutting edge we are going to leave specifics of plan/deploy/admin of them for a later date.

What we do know is that every provider needs to have some of the basics for Authentication and there are vaild considerations that need to be reviewed when picking between providers like Google and Microsoft. We'll blog about this later We know that XML has certain vonabilitites and that Access Control that we think is solidstate now needs to be carried out with eXtensible Access Control Markup Language (XACML).

Why is SAML alone not sufficient? Because it is putting the architecture of a particular cloud resources at the mercy of the designers when we already know that we need to have the capability to adapt users privileges while maintaining control of the overall cloud environment. The providers IDENTITY MANAGEMENT needs to be flexible while controlling proprietary service interfaces and having a strong Hypervisor Complexity.

On the cloud's end they need to be able to tell you how they are going to provide for Data Protection (i.e. Data Isolation & Data Sanitization) and the Availability of their who, what, when and what ifs. From temporary to longer or permanent Outages. What is their plan and what is yours are a MUST. Once you have gone cloud you'll need to being doing both cloud and local backups.

So your staff will need to have points of contact with the cloud. While on your staff the skills that your technical folks will need to hone are a new and their current capabilities need to be reviewed and brought up to speed with todays IT demands. As you can see this is not a simple process and many companies and organization are going to need to bring in some kind of Cloud Migration Manager and so far there are not that many consultants that have even done this so at least for now we are all safe for Cloud Experts.

Apples takin it's music to the Cloud

So there have been a few blog, blurbs and quotes from various exes from the music game about the impact of the Cloud on the music business and most of them have not been disposed to it.  Pretty much the same reaction to every innovation in to this industry.  However, this should be last bell the majors get to hear before they get knocked out.

So along comes Apple and they are going to use the Cloud for iTunes.      Ok music business can we just stop with the I don't think so and get on to how can this help us, the artist and the fans without doing more damage to the one area that still drives 75 percent of the music business retail.
the big hold-ups to a streaming iTunes music service was the recording industry--it had been caught on the hop when Apple revolutionized the digital music industry and then stole control of huge chunks of the business right out from under the feet of those who thought they were in charge. Nervous about ceding more control of the next-gen in digital music services (streaming content from cloud-based systems) the recording industry is now wary.

http://www.fastcompany.com/1731668/apple-itunes-streaming-music-cloud

BTW there were many others way before Apple they just have gotten the press and again I point out that vast majority of profits are still with physical good.  That is why NBN resigned with Tommy Boy in case your wonderin they aint 1 download rock/rap star. 

Face it the Egyptian revolution was run on the Cloud!

During a panel discussion at the US Department of State on Friday the 11th entiled Open Communications: The Changing Media Landscape panelest Hadid Habbab, Creator of Alive in Eqypt, talked about the experiences of the people that where involved from a very peronal and historic point of view. FYI Up until Muburak resigned~ it was a hot potato to have him even speak because of the knowledge and role he and other free agents where having on the revolution.

Yes, he did talk about Facebook and Twitter and the roles they played. However, what stood out like a cloud on a sunny day was the role that google's resources played in the organization, communications, organization and response in the revolution. The ability to have documents, spreed-sheets, and other assets online 24/7 keep them informmed and it also keep Egyptian authorities from being able to snuff them out. No government has ever faced a group that used resources deployed across the planet and unless said government can shut down the whole internet there doen't seem to be a way to stop information when it's in the cloud.

Again, sure much is being made over the role of Twitter/Blogs some of which is now bouncing back and forth across blogs, facebook and, of course. twitter about this and are important to read and consider. It should, however, not be lost in this pile of digital trees that Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, and all other socialmedia are cloud based services.

So!!! until we expand the field of vision to think Cloud we are only seeing a shadow of the impact of this revolution. IMHO It's full on uprising against the old computer ways. There is a quote from Hadid now making it way around the world: "Socialmedia just lowered the cost of revolution." Perhaps it should be~ The Cloud lowered the cost of revolution. Please, Let me know when it comes up.