This post was written by Mulah Johnson
Cloud Computing: Web-Based Applications That Change the Way You Work and Collaborate Online by Michael Miller is an excellent introduction to this phenomenon within the software industry. Written using a style that takes the reader on a gentle journey through a “brief history of computing,” explaining where we have been and why we’ll be living and working in the clouds in our future, the book is an excellent introduction. The book is not a deep technical book on cloud-based architectures and how to implement those architectures using .NET or J2EE technologies.
Apple is expected to unveil a new suite of web-based applications that play off of iWork. They will primarily be extensions of their desktop counterparts not replacements. As Weintraub notes, the entire iWork suite that Apple currently offers, including iMovie, will be given core functionality additions online. The iWork Cloud, and mobile access through devices like the iPhone and iPod touch. Many people believe cloud services are the future of computing, but Apple’s official foray into the modern world of cloud based services, Mobile Me, didn’t paint the concept in a very positive light.
Citrix Systems is looking toward 2009 as the year that its vision for cloud computing and desktop virtualization will come into much sharper focus, with product suites that allow enterprises to build new types of virtual infrastructures. Citrix plans to offer new software suites that will give enterprises the tools to build their own internal cloud computing infrastructures as well as allow businesses to tap into external clouds that are built using Citrix technology. That vision dovetails with Citrix’s virtual desktop and server virtualization offerings built around its 2007 acquisition of XenSource.
SOASTA solutions has announced an alliance with Savvis, Inc. The alliance will give Savvis customers a state-of-the-art, on-demand testing service in the Cloud, enabling affordable, highly scalable load and performance testing of web applications and services. The new “virtual test lab” will be offered as part of Savvis’ new SaaS hosting platform and enablement services. For those Savvis customers preferring to test inside the firewall, SOASTA also offers a variety of virtual and hardware appliances with seamless upgrade to hours in the Cloud.
Q-layer, the leading enabler of cloud computing through Virtual Private Data Centers (VPDC), today announced that it has expanded its operation into the United States. Founded in 2005 in Belgium, the company has experienced great success in the European market with the Virtual Private Data Center software targeted at Service Providers.
Salesforce.com has unveiled Force.com Checkout, a new set of services to accelerate customer and partner success with buying and selling enterprise cloud computing applications. Customers can use Force.com Checkout as a single source for finding, trying, buying and deploying salesforce.com applications and partner-built Force.com applications via the Force.com AppExchange. Together, the Force.com platform, AppExchange and Checkout offers a comprehensive set of services for developers and partners to build and sell native Force.com applications with unprecedented ease and speed.
Zoho has announced Zoho CloudSQL, a middleware service that uses the familiar SQL (Structured Query Language) to connect business data stored in Zoho with traditional, on-premises applications as well as other SaaS offerings. Zoho Reports, the company’s online reporting and business intelligence service previously known as Zoho DB & Reports, is the first to support Zoho CloudSQL. Zoho Reports also added an HTTP-based API that lets users interact with their data programmatically. Customers can use this new technology to seamlessly blend the data and applications they have on-site with the data and applications they have in the cloud.
While arguments in the IT circles continue on the readiness of cloud computing for enterprises, Amazon has added Red Hat’s JBoss to its EC2 cloud computing platform. Another established hosting service, ServePath, has jumped into the fray with a version of cloud computing called GoGrid. Although there are various examples where small companies have latched on to Amazon Web Services and GoGrid to scale up their operations on the temporary basis, the addition of Red Hat’s JBoss to the cloud computing platform shows that cloud computing is serious business.