Open Cloud Computing Interface Group - Get Involved!

Cloud computing currently is covered by three models offering Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS), which all involve the on-demand delivery of computing resources. There are a growing number of providers offering IaaS solutions for elastic capacity, whereby server “instances” are executed in their proprietary infrastructure and billed on a utility computing basis (typically virtual machines on a per instance per hour basis). There are also a number of commercial and open source products which seek to replicate this functionality in-house while exposing compatible interfaces so as “hybrid cloud” operating environments can be created.

The Open Grid Forum Open Cloud Computing Interface (OCCI) working group will deliver an API specification for remote management of cloud computing infrastructure, allowing for the development of interoperable tools for common tasks including deployment, autonomic scaling and monitoring. The scope of the specification will be all high level functionality required for the life-cycle management of virtual machines (or workloads) running on virtualization technologies (or containers) supporting service elasticity.

OGF Open Cloud Computing Interface Working Group

The Realities of Cloud Computing

The Realities of Cloud Computing
— I’m just finishing up a book on cloud computing and SOA, and found the process of writing the book to be a great catalyst for thinking through the issues surrounding cloud computing, as well as assisting my clients with their cloud computing strategies. As I found, there are a few issues to consider with cloud computing. But cloud computing is not “the end of IT,” nor is it a waste of time.

Pay-as-you-go services could cut software piracy, Microsoft exec says

Research chief Craig Mundie: Usage-metering payment plans would cut upfront costs, encourage more legitimate purchases

Craig Mundie, who heads Microsoft Corp.'s research efforts, said in China today that the company may be able to reduce its losses from software piracy by expanding the use of pay-as-you-go computing plans similar to ones it has tested in some developing countries.

Charging users based on the time they spend accessing online services, instead of an upfront purchase fee, could "take some of the pressure off of the purely licensed model of software," Mundie said in an interview in Beijing.

The interview that'll bag a job

The interview that'll bag a job

In recent weeks, recruiters for Consolidated Container Co. have seen job candidates arrive up to an hour early for interviews. Other candidates have alluded to financial hardships while in the hot seat, and one person even distributed bound copies of documents describing projects he had completed for past employers.

These sorts of tactics aren't exactly winners.

Leveraging soft skills in a competitive IT job market

Competition for IT jobs has intensified, so companies that are hiring expect to find candidates who can exceed the technical requirements of a position. While soft skills have long been touted by IT employers, today's harsh economic realities have made those abilities more valuable than ever. IT professionals who know which soft skills are currently the most important and why -- and who are willing to work to improve those abilities -- can find that they have a distinct advantage over similarly qualified peers.
Read more.

Cloud Computing and Your Enterprise Architecture and/or SOA

Cloud Computing and Your Enterprise Architecture and/or SOA
— Cloud computing is not the savior of IT. It's nothing but a way to deploy your enterprise architecture in such as way that has the potential to be more productive and cost effective. In essence, it's a tool, not a way of life. It's not magic, it's not even new, but if approached correctly, could be a path toward efficiency.

SOA World Expo: A Guide to Ensuring the Success of Your SOA Governance

SOA World Expo: A Guide to Ensuring the Success of Your SOA Governance
— SOA is continuing to gain widespread adoption and find success beyond pilot and project implementations, according to recent surveys. There is a steady increase in organizations moving to enterprise-wide SOA deployments. Those that have found success maturing to large-scale SOA have one thing in common: they all have effective governance practices to keep SOA on track with the business.

Cloud Computing Will Drive Innovation

Cloud Computing Will Drive Innovation
— Most initial analysis of cloud computing touts its obvious benefits--grid, pay as you go, near-instant scalability--etc., which is fine. But the big story is how cloud will drive innovation and lead to a new type of CIO.

Open Cloud Manifesto Reaches 150 Supporting Companies

Open Cloud Manifesto Reaches 150 Supporting Companies
— Support for the The Open Cloud Manifesto, keeps on growing with more then 150 companies signed on. Below is the latest list of supporting companies.

Cloud Computing: A Step in the Right Direction

Cloud Computing: A Step in the Right Direction
— We all take for granted that our online applications at home will perform the instant we need them. Whether it's Voice over IP, video on-demand, gaming, or other applications, we have instantaneous, high-speed access, anytime. In this environment, IT managers are now facing the question: 'Why can't you deliver the same quality of service at work that I experience at home?'

Key elements of an SOA governance strategy

One of the success factors in introducing and operating a service-oriented architecture (SOA) is governance of the architecture's components, such as services and processes. Effective SOA governance can be implemented by deploying a registry/repository for the entire life cycle of the components.

Zeus Technology to Present at Cloud Computing Expo Europe

Zeus Technology to Present at Cloud Computing Expo Europe
— The cloud is a viable and successful means of hosting web applications, but not every application runs comfortably there. What lessons have been learned about how the architecture of applications must change so that they run successfully, reliably and efficiently on a cloud infrastructure? This session will look at the ways that application architects and developers can use load balancers and application delivery controllers to scale and manage transactions within a cloud-based application, with several real-world, measurable examples of success.

QuickStudy: Rich Internet applications

QuickStudy: Rich Internet applications

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Rich Internet applications (RIA) are Web-based applications that have some characteristics of graphical desktop applications. Built with powerful development tools, RIAs can run faster and be more engaging. They can offer users a better visual experience and more interactivity than traditional browser applications that use only HTML and HTTP.

Career Watch: Dealing with stress in the workplace

Career Watch: Dealing with stress in the workplace

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SaaS and Cloud Computing

SaaS and Cloud Computing
— Speakers said PaaS is a stepping stone to Cloud where development environment is offered to build own applications (similar to what Microsoft did 20 years ago, but on their platform). One future scenario could be your own information grid at the center interacting with several clouds such as data services, application services, hardware services, storage services, network services and others. This will include not only interaction with your internal cloud or grid, but also intra-cloud communication, something still at a very nascent stage.

SOA Pattern of the Week (#5): Service Decomposition

SOA Pattern of the Week (#5): Service Decomposition
— A service inventory is a living body of services that individually will need the freedom to evolve independently over time. What we learned when documenting the SOA design pattern catalog is that there are patterns that emerged not only at design-time but also during this post-implementation evolutionary stage in a service’s lifecycle.

If IBM owns Java ...

The future of open source Java development under IBM

The Sun-IBM merger hasn't been finalized but there's little doubt this week that the deal is coming together. Many are looking for clues as to how open source, Java-based development will change -- and change it will -- under the Big Blue Sun.

The Five Pillars of Cloud Computing

The Five Pillars of Cloud Computing
— Cloud computing requires a dynamic computing infrastructure. The foundation for the dynamic infrastructure is a standardized, scalable, and secure physical infrastructure. There should be levels of redundancy to ensure high levels of availability, but mostly it must be easy to extend as usage growth demands it, without requiring architecture rework.

Understanding Coupling for the Clouds

Understanding Coupling for the Clouds
— One of the key concepts to consider when talking about services and cloud computing is the notion of coupling. We need to focus on this since, in many instances, coupling is not a good architectural choice considering that the services are not only hosted within separate data centers, but hosted by one or more cloud computing providers.