BTC Insight

Will Microsoft be a winner in enterprise Cloud computing?

Paul — Fri, 09 Jul 2010 16:05:49 +0000

There have been a couple of trends in the Cloud marketplace recently that are noteworthy.

First there is now a general acceptance that enterprises will choose hybrid Clouds as the best way to meet their needs. This was picked up by David Sherr in his recent blog entry (http://dsherr23.wordpress.com/2010/07/08/ive-looked-at-clouds-frm-both-sides-now/) and covered by David Linthicum in his blog on InfoWorld (http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/hybrid-clouds-new-twist-old-trick-514).

There has also been increasing debate about whether Microsoft will be one of the top 5 Cloud providers (or Cloud Champions as I refer to them) three to five years out. David Linthicum has covered this quite well [...]

Enterprise IT Unit Cost – Microsoft Could Play a Leadership Role in Cloud Computing

Elliott — Wed, 26 May 2010 20:46:22 +0000

In his article “Microsoft has nowhere to go but up in cloud market”, Robert Mullins examines BTC Logic’s cloud computing ranking report. As part of the cloud computing ecosystem, Microsoft could take a leadership role through cloud technology, to help the enterprise CIO understand their unit costs, and supporting how best to allocate costs across business lines. As a major player, they could support the revitalization of unit costing in data center management.

In a recent discussion with a top 10 cloud management company, the chief marketing officer mentioned a major sales challenge: getting [...]

Market insight from the BTC Logic Rankings

Paul — Fri, 14 May 2010 14:20:22 +0000

There is an increasingly global battle to provide IT services to the enterprise. The clear leader in this activity is IBM, and there is a battle between Cisco, Oracle, SAP, and HP that has spread from databases and networks into all aspects of providing services to enterprises. And one cannot, of course forget Microsoft coming from its roots in the desktop and local network environment.

All the major players named above (except SAP which has been slow to move, although that is now changing with a new CEO) have significant initiatives to capture share in cloud computing – which [...]

Multi-Tenancy – A Pragmatic View

Elliott — Thu, 06 May 2010 23:36:43 +0000

The principle of multi-tenancy is not universally accepted and supported within the software industry, and this may be a source of competitive differentiation. This blog differentiates fundamental multi-tenancy from more cultural, more ambiguous uses of cloud computing. Rather than provide a literal definition, we suggest a pragmatic approach to answer what multi-tenancy is. Specifically, how to deliver very efficient, economically viable multi-tenancy from applications that might not be architected to run [...]

Cloud Computing – Fizzle, Bubble or Real Pay Dirt? – Part I

Johannes — Thu, 06 May 2010 14:39:27 +0000

Spending much of my time talking to folks about Cloud Computing, both here and recently also in Europe, I’m struck by two things: Most everyone has heard of Cloud Computing and is sure it’s a happening, important trend. But it seems to be a minority that truly seems to have grasped essential concepts of Cloud Computing such as virtualization or the opportunities of mobile computing. Second, many aren’t really clear on why Cloud Computing is a good thing from purely a business point of view. Partly that is due to Cloud Computing by and large still being a technology revolution driven by technorati for the technically literate, and partly because the business community at large has not yet wrapped their minds around the product impact potential of Cloud Computing for their own [...]

Application Virtualization Through Instance-Level Isolation

Charlton — Mon, 03 May 2010 14:02:58 +0000

Application virtualization provides a rich solution for managing secure, multi-tenant operations in the data center and the cloud. Among the features that enable this solution is that of isolation. This feature functions on two levels: Isolating a single instance of an installed application into a package that can be automatically distributed to endpoints, based on provisioning policies; and Executing an application instance inside an environment that protects it from access from other [...]

Common success factors that every cloud computing company should know

Elliott — Sun, 02 May 2010 00:34:43 +0000

After spending several weeks analyzing cloud computing companies as part of our quarterly internal ranking report, there are a few common points that we keep running into.

Here is a list of 10 factors to think about.

1. Decide what you stand for and believe in: I do think it’s important for any cloud computing company to work on determining their values and purpose, and to find some common ground that is expressed in public talks, brochures, web sites and interview with key resources. It is surprising the disconnect between some company’s purpose and what is perceived by the [...]

Common Definitions of Cloud Computing

Johannes — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 19:54:10 +0000

A recent exchange on one of LinkedIn’s Cloud Computing interest groups, answering the moderator’s question of what is Cloud Computing, illustrated how broad – and at times confused – the various Cloud Computing definitions are. Similarly, following the topic in the media one is confronted with a plethora of at times contradictory definitions. Adding in the marketing messages companies send out about their Cloud Computing offerings, no wonder a newcomer to the space gets confused. So, we are proposing three groups of definitions that circumscribe how “Cloud Computing” seems to be used in the press and marketing [...]

VMWare, Red Hat, and Xen Take the Top Three Spots in the BTC Logic Cloud Foundation Top Ten Rankings. Should Red Hat have Topped This List?

Paul — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 13:48:12 +0000

The Cloud Foundation segment of the marketplace includes those companies who provide the tools and software that make up Cloud infrastructure. These companies provide such essentials as server software, virtualization, multi-tenancy, and hypervisor tools.

However, it is important to separate out Cloud Foundation companies from Cloud Infrastructure or Network Services companies, as they provide a fundamentally different set of products and services. In many cases these Cloud Foundation companies are already vendors to your existing data centers; transforming the way that those data centers are run, by reducing costs, and changing the required skill sets for staffing.

At the top [...]

Productivity with Top Cloud Performers

Elliott — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 18:07:35 +0000

When googling “cloud computing” companies, in less than 0.30 seconds you receive 20,600,000 hits. Included in the hit list are the top 10 to 100 companies to watch, as well as insights on how these companies are changing the world. The list includes company sizes from start-ups, all the way to large, publicly established companies making lots of noise and promising the world’s best possible solutions. What seems to be missing is a business perspective ranking, or a tool kit that lets a business executive quickly ascertain what companies and areas make sense to investigate. Not wanting to spend unnecessary time, [...]