Schlagwort: cloud @en

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ProfitBricks opens price war with Amazon Web Services for infrastructure-as-a-service

ProfitBricks takes the gloves off. The Berlin-based infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) startup acts with a hard edge against the Amazon Web Services and reduced its prices in both U.S. and Europe by 50 percent. Furthermore, the IaaS provider has presented a comparison which shows that its own virtual server should have at least twice as high as the performance of Amazon Web Services and Rackspace. Thus ProfitBricks is trying to diversify on the price and the performance of the U.S. top providers.

The prices for infrastructure-as-a-service are still too high

Along with the announcement, CMO Andreas Gauger shows correspondingly aggressive. „We have the impression that the dominant occurring cloud companies from the U.S. are abusing their market power to exploit high prices. They expect deliberately opaque pricing models of companies and regularly announce punctual price cuts to awaken the impression of a price reduction.“, says Gauger (translated from German).

ProfitBricks has therefore the goal to attack the IaaS market from the rear on the price and let their customer directly and noticeably participate from technical innovations resulting in cost savings.

Up to 45 percent cheaper than Amazon AWS

ProfitBricks positioned very clearly against Amazon AWS and shows a price comparison. For example, an Amazon M1 Medium instance with 1 core, 3.75GB of RAM and 250GB of block storage is $0.155 per hour or $111.40 per month. A similar instance on ProfitBricks costs $0.0856 per hour or $61.65 per month. A saving of 45 percent.

Diversification just on the price is difficult

To diversify as IaaS provider just on price is difficult. We remember, Infrastructure is commodity! Vertical services are the future of the cloud, with which the customer receives an added value.

To defy the IaaS top dog this way is brave and foolhardy. However, one should not forget something. As hosting experts of the first hour Andreas Gauger and Achim Weiss have validated the numbers around their infrastructure and seek with this action certainly not the brief glory. It remains to be seen how Amazon AWS and other IaaS providers will react to this stroke. Because with this price reduction ProfitBricks shows that customer can actually get much cheaper infrastructure resources as is currently the case.

As an IaaS user there is something you should certainly do not lose sight of during this price discussion. In addition to the price of computing power and storage – which are held up again and again – there are more factors to take into account, that determine the price and which are actually just call to mind at the end of the month. This includes the cost of transferring data in and out of the cloud as well as costs for other services offered around the infrastructure that are charged per API call. In some respects there is a lack of transparency. Furthermore, a comparison of the various IaaS providers is difficult to represent as many operate with different units, configurations and/or packages.

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Services @en

Exclusive: openQRM 5.1 to be extended with hybrid cloud functionality and integrates Amazon AWS and Eucalyptus as a plugin

It’s happening soon. This summer openQRM 5.1 will be released. Project manager and openQRM-Enterprise CEO Matt Rechenburg already has told me some very interesting new features. In addition to a completely redesigned backend design the open source cloud infrastructure software from Cologne, Germany will be expanded with hybrid cloud functionality by integrating Amazon EC2, Amazon S3, and their clone Eucalyptus as a plugin.

New hybrid cloud features in openQRM 5.1

A short overview of the new hybrid cloud features in the next version of openQRM 5.1:

  • openQRM Cloud works transparently with Amazon EC2 and Eucalyptus.
  • Via a self-service end-user within a private openQRM Cloud can order by an administrator selected instance types or AMI’s which are then used by openQRM Cloud to automatically provision to Amazon EC2 (or Amazon compatible clouds).
  • User-friendly password login for the end-user of the cloud via WebSSHTerm directly in the openQRM Cloud portal.
  • Automatic applications deployment using Puppet.
  • Automatic cost accounting via the openQRM cloud billing system.
  • Automatic service monitoring via Nagios for Amazon EC2 instances.
  • openQRM high-availability at infrastructure-level for Amazon EC2 (or compatible private clouds). This means: If an EC2 instance fails or an error occurs in an Amazon Availability Zone (AZ) an exact copy of this instance is restarted. In case of a failure of an entire AZ, the instance starts up again in another AZ of the same Amazon region.
  • Integration of Amazon S3. Data can be stored directly on Amazon S3 via openQRM. When creating an EC2 instance a script that is stored on S3 can be specified, for example, that executes other commands during the start of the instance.

Comment: openQRM recognizes the trend at the right time

With its extension also openQRM-Enterprise shows that the hybrid cloud is becoming a serious factor in the development of cloud infrastructures and comes with the new features just at the right time. The Cologne based company are not surprisingly orientate at the current public cloud leader Amazon Web Services. Thus, in combination with Eucalyptus or other Amazon compatible cloud infrastructures, openQRM can also be used to build massively scalable hybrid cloud infrastructures. For this purpose openQRM focuses on its proven plugin-concept and integrates Amazon EC2, S3 and Eucalyptus exactly this way. Besides its own resources from a private openQRM Cloud, Amazon and Eucalyptus are used as further resource providers to get more computing power quickly and easily.

In my opinion, the absolute killer features include the automatic applications deployment using Puppet, with which the end-user to conveniently and automatically can provide EC2 instances with a complete software stack itself, as well as the consideration of the Amazon AZ-wide high-availability functionality, which is neglected by many cloud users again and again due to ignorance.

Much attention the team has also given the optics and the interface of the openQRM backend. The completely redesigned user interface looks tidier and easier in the handling and will positively surprise the existing customers.

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Services @en

Application Lifecycle Engine: cloudControl launched Private Platform-as-a-Service

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) provider cloudControl has published its Application Lifecycle Engine, a private PaaS based on the technologies of its public PaaS. With it the Berlin based company wants to give companies the ability to operate a self-managed PaaS in the own data center in order to get more control over the location of the data and to control access to the relevant data.

cloudControl Application Lifecycle Engine

The cloudControl Application Lifecycle Engine technology derived from its own public PaaS offering which serves since 2009 as the foundation for the cloud service.

The Application Lifecycle Engine is to be understood as a middleware between the basic infrastructure and the actual applications (PaaS concept) and provides a complete runtime environment for applications. It offers developers the opportunity to focus on developing their application and not to be uncomfortable with processes and the deployment.

The published Application Lifecycle Engine is designed to enable large companies their own private PaaS to operate in a self-managed infrastructure in order to get the benefits of the cloud in their own four walls. The platform sets on open standards and promises to avoid vendor lock-in. cloudControl also spans a hybrid bridge by running already on cloudControl’s public PaaS developed applications on the private PaaS, and vice versa.

Furthermore cloudControl addressed service providers who want to build a PaaS offering itself to combine their existing services and infrastructure services.

Trend towards private and hybrid solutions intensifies

cloudControl is not the first company that has recognized the trend towards the private PaaS. Nevertheless the current security situation shows that companies are much more confident in dealing with the cloud and consider where they can store and process their data. For this reason cloudControl comes at exactly the right time to make it possible for companies to regain more control over their data and to raise awareness about where their data is actually located. Concurrently cloudControl also allows companies to enhance their own self-managed IT infrastructure with a true cloud-DNA by IT departments can provide developers with an easy access to resources to deliver faster and more productive results. In addition, IT departments can use the Application Lifecycle Engine as an opportunity to position themselves as a service broker and partner for the departments within the company.

Not to disregard is the possibility using cloudControl in a hybrid operation. It may well, relatively quickly, come to the fact that not enough local resources (computing power, storage space) are available, which are needed for the private PaaS. In this case the homogeneous architecture of the Application Lifecycle Engine can be used to fall back on cloudControl’s public PaaS, not to interfere with the progress of the projects and development activities.

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Analysis

Cloud computing is a good remedy against shadow IT

Cloud computing is always represented as a great promoter of shadow IT. This has still its accuracy and I also have always strongly advocated the topic. But, with the right IT strategy, shadow IT can preemptively be prevented, be controlled and even eliminated through cloud computing. This is no simple way for all involved but worthwhile.

Reasons for a shadow IT

Shadow IT is not a cloud computing phenomenon. In any larger company one or the other developer has its own server under the table or IT projects somewhere have self-installed MySQL databases, in the worst case outside the company at a hoster. Users have, as long as they have the appropriate rights to install, their own software solutions in use by which they can be more productive than with their prefixed solutions. What are the reasons for a shadow IT?

  • Employee dissatisfaction with used technologies.
  • IT technologies do not meet the desired purpose.
  • IT departments are too slow.
  • IT departments do not deliver according to the desired requirements.
  • Due to cost pressure resources are cancelled.

How a shadow IT does express?

  • Own server under the table.
  • Workstation becomes a server.
  • Use of cloud infrastructures.
  • Own credit card is used, and then charged over expenses.
  • Undeclared or approved self-installed software.
  • Use of cloud-services and -software.

How does cloud computing help?

One just have to look at the reasons of the employees to understand, why they recourse to the shadow IT. The rebels among us left aside, it’s primarily about the dissatisfaction and the helplessness of the people who want to do their work more productive. At the end of the day and regardless of the technology it is about communication and mutual understanding. That an IT department may not have the speed, such as a public cloud provider is quite normal and very easy to follow, otherwise the IT could be the provider instead of the consumer. But there are ways and means not to miss the market too fast.

  • Do not prohibit everything and be open to requests.
  • Communicate and demand of employees ideas.
  • Establish think tanks and innovation teams who drive constantly new trends in the business.
  • Offering own self-services.
  • Allowing quick access to resources similar to public cloud providers.
  • Middleware as a service portal for employees, over which access is granted to internal and external cloud services.

Cloud computing is not the non plus ultra solution for shadow IT and definitely a driver of this problem. But at the same time cloud computing can help to counteract this over the years grown phenomenon. The relevant concepts and technologies are available and need to be implemented.

A promising approach is to create an own service portal for employees, over which these get a controlled access to internal and external cloud services. This can be either used for infrastructure (virtual servers and storage) or software and platforms. The IT department becomes more and more a service broker and is able to ensure, through the use of external resources (hybrid model), that the employees can expect a high quality service. Thus, for example, a server can be provided to a developer within five minutes instead of several weeks.

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Comment

Top Cloud Computing Washer – These companies don't tell the truth about their products

Since the beginning of cloud computing, the old hardware manufacturers are trying to save their business from sales slumps by selling their storage solutions, such as NAS (Network Attached Storage), or other solutions as „private cloud“ products to position against real flexible, scalable and available solutions from the cloud. The Americans call this type of marketing „cloud-washing“. Of course, these providers use the current political situation (PRISM, Tempora, etc.) in order to promote their products with further strengthen. Tragically, young companies also jump on this train. Because what the ancients can, they may eventually can do, too. Wrong! What these providers not interested at all. They reckless ride roughshod over the real provider of cloud computing solutions. This is wrong and a distortion of competition, as they advertised with empty marketing phrases, that demonstrably can not be met. At the end of the day, not only the competition of these providers and the cloud is seen in a bad light, but also the customer buy a product with misconceptions. One or the other decision-makers will surely soon be experiencing a rude awakening.

Background: Cloud Computing vs. Cloud-Washing

In recent years many articles on the topic of cloud-washing have appeared here on CloudUser. A small selection, mostly in German:

What says Wikipedia?

Private Cloud according to Wikipedia

„Private cloud is cloud infrastructure operated solely for a single organization, whether managed internally or by a third-party and hosted internally or externally. Undertaking a private cloud project requires a significant level and degree of engagement to virtualize the business environment, and requires the organization to reevaluate decisions about existing resources. When done right, it can improve business, but every step in the project raises security issues that must be addressed to prevent serious vulnerabilities.

They have attracted criticism because users „still have to buy, build, and manage them“ and thus do not benefit from less hands-on management, essentially „[lacking] the economic model that makes cloud computing such an intriguing concept“.“

Cloud characteristics according to Wikipedia

Cloud computing exhibits the following key characteristics:

  • Agility improves with users‘ ability to re-provision technological infrastructure resources.
  • Application programming interface (API) accessibility to software that enables machines to interact with cloud software in the same way that a traditional user interface (e.g., a computer desktop) facilitates interaction between humans and computers. Cloud computing systems typically use Representational State Transfer (REST)-based APIs.
  • Cost is claimed to be reduced, and in a public cloud delivery model capital expenditure is converted to operational expenditure. This is purported to lower barriers to entry, as infrastructure is typically provided by a third-party and does not need to be purchased for one-time or infrequent intensive computing tasks. Pricing on a utility computing basis is fine-grained with usage-based options and fewer IT skills are required for implementation (in-house). The e-FISCAL project’s state of the art repository contains several articles looking into cost aspects in more detail, most of them concluding that costs savings depend on the type of activities supported and the type of infrastructure available in-house.
  • Device and location independence enable users to access systems using a web browser regardless of their location or what device they are using (e.g., PC, mobile phone). As infrastructure is off-site (typically provided by a third-party) and accessed via the Internet, users can connect from anywhere.
  • Virtualization technology allows servers and storage devices to be shared and utilization be increased. Applications can be easily migrated from one physical server to another.
  • Multitenancy enables sharing of resources and costs across a large pool of users thus allowing for:
    • Centralization of infrastructure in locations with lower costs (such as real estate, electricity, etc.)
    • Peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer for highest possible load-levels)
    • Utilisation and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10–20% utilised.
  • Reliability is improved if multiple redundant sites are used, which makes well-designed cloud computing suitable for business continuity and disaster recovery.
  • Scalability and elasticity via dynamic („on-demand“) provisioning of resources on a fine-grained, self-service basis near real-time, without users having to engineer for peak loads.
  • Performance is monitored, and consistent and loosely coupled architectures are constructed using web services as the system interface.
  • Security could improve due to centralization of data, increased security-focused resources, etc., but concerns can persist about loss of control over certain sensitive data, and the lack of security for stored kernels. Security is often as good as or better than other traditional systems, in part because providers are able to devote resources to solving security issues that many customers cannot afford. However, the complexity of security is greatly increased when data is distributed over a wider area or greater number of devices and in multi-tenant systems that are being shared by unrelated users. In addition, user access to security audit logs may be difficult or impossible. Private cloud installations are in part motivated by users‘ desire to retain control over the infrastructure and avoid losing control of information security.
  • Maintenance of cloud computing applications is easier, because they do not need to be installed on each user’s computer and can be accessed from different places.

The National Institute of Standards and Technology’s definition of cloud computing identifies „five essential characteristics“:

  • On-demand self-service. A consumer can unilaterally provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, as needed automatically without requiring human interaction with each service provider.
  • Broad network access. Capabilities are available over the network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, laptops, and workstations).
  • Resource pooling. The provider’s computing resources are pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according to consumer demand. …
  • Rapid elasticity. Capabilities can be elastically provisioned and released, in some cases automatically, to scale rapidly outward and inward commensurate with demand. To the consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear unlimited and can be appropriated in any quantity at any time.
  • Measured service. Cloud systems automatically control and optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized service.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cloud_computing

Top Cloud Computing Washer

Protonet

The latest stroke of genius comes from Hamburg’s startup scene in Germany. A NAS with a graphical user interface for social collaboration in a really(!) pretty orange box is marketed as a private cloud. Of course, the PRISM horse is ridden.

ownCloud

Except for the name basically there is not much cloud in ownCloud. ownCloud is a piece of software with which – not easily – a (real) cloud storage can be built. For this, of course, an operating system, hardware and much more is needed.

Synology

Synology writes itself, that they are „… a dedicated Network Attached Storage (NAS) provider.“ Fine, but why to jump on the private cloud train? Sure, it’s currently selling well. If the cloud is soon the qloud, Synology will definitively sell private qlouds.

D-Link

D-Link is also not bad. In a press release from last year it said generously:

D-Link, the networking expert for the digital home, enhanced the cloud family by adding a new router: With the portable DIR-506L the personal data cloud can be easily stick in your pocket.

and

D-Link continuously invests in the development of cloud products and services. … Already available are the Cloud router … multiple network cameras and network video recorders …

D-Link now even cloudifies network cameras and network video recorders to increase sales over the cloud train. Mind you, at the back and costs of the customers.

Oracle

Oracle loves hardware and licenses. This initially one could see clearly. Preconfigured application servers to rent for a monthly fee and then be installed in the customer’s data center were marketed as infrastructure-as-a-service. However, slowly the vendor catches up. It remains to be seen what impact the cooperation with Salesforce will have on Larry Ellison. He will certainly still annoyed that he simply no longer observes the Sun cloud technology after the acquisition.

Further tips are welcome

These are only a few providers that use the cloud computing train to secure their existing or even new business model. Who has more tips like these can send them with the subject „cloud washer“ to clouduser[at]newagedisruption[.]com.

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The IT department does not die out – But it will have to change

Recently an article in the english Computerworld got the circuit in which the assumption was made, that by the end of this decade the IT department could disappear. T-Systems‘ Ingo Notthoff subsequently debates on the question at Facebook, „If the IT departement to die out.“ I’ve clearly answered that they will not die out, but transform into a service broker. This discussion Ingo again has written down in a (German) blog post. A this point I just would like to continue this topic to clarify my point of view.

Despite the consumerization of IT there is a lack of important knowledge

Even if I appreciate everything which promises to be disruptive in any form. There are things that are required despite the massive use of technologies und self-services. I am talking about humans.

I know and it is right that cloud services via self-service can be virtually used by anyone in the enterprise, to reach the own goals by the personal requirements without always waiting for the IT department. But is that reasonable? Can anyone decide which services are valuable and important for the company, just because he can use an iPhone or a SaaS application? In doubt, the knowledge is obtained 100% of external consultants, which is not necessarily beneficial. Saving costs for staff is fine and dandy, but need to stop at some point. Because where costs can be saved somehow, others have to work longer. The line of business managers will be thankful.

Moreover, just listen into the companies. Of course, most would want that IT works faster. But do they also want to take responsibility for it in addition to their main tasks? No! This certainly works for a few areas in the company, but most employees don’t have the knowledge, desire and time for it.

IT departments need to reinvent themselves

After I take up the cudgels for the IT departments, I also have to express criticism. Has not everyone already annoyed on the slow, hanging behind the time IT department? How can it be that you have to wait up to 3 months on the hardware for a test system(!). And at the end it turns out that it’s just a virtual machine. Of course, these experiences feed those who would mostly like to eliminate IT departments from one day to the other. In this case for a good reason.

Nevertheless, each good IT department is very valuable to any business. The extreme examples confirm fortunately not the rule. However, no IT department should go on this way, but need to concern about a structural change and ultimately implement this. Thanks to the cloud it has lost its central position for the purchase and operation of IT solutions. Shadow IT is here a so far proven means for the employees passing IT department to obtain IT services quickly and on demand.

This circumstance needs to be eliminated. Shadow IT is necessarily not something very bad. At least it helps to ensure that employees get things done quickly in their jobs and in their own way. For each decision maker and IT manager, however, it is comparable to a walk over hot coals. There is nothing worse in a company, if the left hand not know what the right does or when IT solutions degenerate into uncontrolled proliferation. This can be handled only by a central organization. On which the IT departments should not go back into their ivory tower, but pro-actively communicate with the employees of the departments to understand their needs and requirements. The IT department is the internal IT service provider for the employees and departments and should also classified like this into the company. In times of internal and external (cloud) services, broker platforms are the tools with which they are coordinating and steering it for the employees.

Coordination is hugely important

Where we finally come to the issue of IT responsibility within the company once again. Depending on which study you want to believe, the private cloud is currently the preferred cloud shape in the company. After all, 69 percent of the respondents say that. In addition, in 80 percent of all cases the decisions on purchasing IT solutions are made in the IT departments. At first this sounds like the preservation of the status quo. But due to the current political developments it is probably remain the reality for now. Nevertheless, real private cloud solutions enable enterprises a flexible allocation of resources through a self-service for their employees.

But who should build this private cloud infrastructures and who should coordinate them? This can only be done by the IT departments. All other employees have a lack of the necessary knowledge and time. IT departments need to learn from the providers in the public cloud, allowing the departments a fast and especially easy access to IT resources in a similar way. This only works if they establish themselves as a service broker for internal and external IT services and see themselves as a cooperative partner (service provider).

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Analysis

The cloud computing market in Germany 2013

The significance of cloud computing continues to increase in Germany. If you believe in local market researchers the interest in on-demand services continues unabated and is even increasing steadily. The same can be said for the vendor side. Periodically, new services or even providers appear on the market. In particular, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) market is enjoying growing popularity in Germany. Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) providers are similarly well represented, but should not make the same mistakes as their international competitors. For platform-as-a-service (PaaS) provider is still enough space.

Cloud demand in Germany with steady growth

Believing in the figures from market researcher Techconsult, already a third of smaller German companies use cloud solutions. The greatest demand is there from the mittelstand preferred from trade, banking and insurance industry. Large corporations and medium-sized companies are among the leaders in the use, but also the small ones catching up rapidly. In the last year, only eight percent of small-and medium-sized companies planned to use cloud solutions, this year it’s already 24 percent .

29 percent of companies in the trade industrie are interested in cloud computing. This is an increase by 21 percent compared to last year. In service industries every fourth company relies on cloud services, on-year increase of over ten percent. The biggest interest comes from the field of banking and insurance. 33 percent of the companies in these industries rely therefore on cloud technologies, although the cloud was considered in the previous year rather skeptical.

Conferences show a similar behavior

At the first Amazon Web Services Summit in 2010 in the Berlin Kalkscheune manageable 150 participants could be counted. Meanwhile, Amazon has moved to the Berlin Conference Center, reaching 1,500 participants, so many that monitors had to be placed outside. The situation is similar with Salesforce. The as a SaaS CRM provider well known company welcomed at this year’s Customer Company Tour 13 up to 1,800 visitors, according to their own account.

Compared to the masses, that regularly rush on American conferences these numbers are rather Peanuts. In Germany, however, very good odds.

Distribution of the cloud computing provider in Germany

What the examples of Amazon and Salesforce show: Both companies are cloud service providers and do not trade with virtual resources. Even if Amazon was the first IaaS provider on the market and is considered as a prime example, it is about the web services around the infrastructure that provide the customers with the actual value. It’s the same with Salesforce. Started as a hybrid of SaaS and PaaS provider, the CRM vendor directed its platform to the future and topics such as The Internet of Things.

In the two points above, most of the German cloud providers stumble. The IaaS market in Germany is highly developed. In addition to many subsidiaries of international companies more and more vendors from Germany are looking for their place in this cloud segment. However, all rely on the same strategy and make the same mistake as many international vendors to gain IaaS market share. First, they focus exclusively on virtual resources (computing power, storage space) and provide no added value services around it, see Amazon AWS. Second, corporate customers are addressed exclusively. Developers are not be considered. From a financial perspective this is attractive, but means that developers must inevitably avoid to U.S. based providers, as there are no similar German but also European alternatives.

The largest cloud market in Germany is provided by the SaaS provider. Here, many famous IT players attend but also increasingly young companies with innovative ideas. SaaS offerings are primarily driven by market places from major service providers such as Deutsche Telekom or Fujitsu. Both collect, for them, high-quality services under one roof and provide an assorted offer, companies can choose from. A special characteristic of many German SaaS solutions is the fact that they take care of the construction of the necessary cloud infrastructure and consciously set on a German data center. Issues such as the future security of their own solution and trust by the customer are the main decision criteria.

The market for PaaS provider is still very open. The number of providers that are launched directly from Germany, can be counted on one hand and is very manageable. Moreover, two out of three set on IaaS offers from U.S. provider. In addition to some international competitors, here are still opportunities for a PaaS, which is operated directly in Germany. However, the large (German/ European) IaaS providers are asked to give young entrepreneurs and developers the ability to develop such a solution faster.

Germany is on a good way to the cloud

At the end of the day it can be said, that the German cloud computing market has a well balanced ratio of XaaS solutions. However, there is still some potential left behind by not addressing the important group of startups and developers with appropriate services for them, and this therefore having to avoid to overseas provider.

The distinguished figures in terms of cloud adoption in Germany show that the confidence in the provider is growing steadily and the understanding for the value of cloud services has reached. But it also shows that the providers have worked on themselves and are willing to eliminate the concerns and criticisms of their potential customers.

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Comment

Infrastructure is commodity! Vertical services are the future of the cloud.

In 2014, the infrastructure-as-a-service market expects a total revenue of estimated $6 billion worldwide. A good reason to try its luck in this cloud segment. Numerous providers have jumped on this train in recent years and try to catch market share from the top dog Amazon Web Services (AWS). No easy task, since the innovation curve of most followers behaves rather flat compared to AWS. One reason is stiffened in the adherence to the word infrastructure in infrastructure-as-a-service. Arguments to change from AWS to a competitor because of a significantly higher performance sounds tempting in the first moment. But at the end of the day the maturity of the portfolio and the view over the entire offering counts and not just a small area where you have procured a technological advantage.

Infrastructure-as-a-services indeed mean services

Even if the Amazon Web Services was the first IaaS provider on the market, the word „web services“ take a central role in the philosophy of the company. Started with the basic and central services Amazon EC2 (computing power, virtual machine) and Amazon S3 (storage) more new services were rolled out in very short periods of time, which only have in the broadest sense something to do with infrastructure. Services like Amazon SQS, Amazon SNS, Amazon SWF or Amazon SES help AWS customers to use the infrastructure. Starting a single Amazon EC2 instance has in fact just as much value as a virtual server at a classic webhoster. Neither more nor less – and is in the end even more expensive per month. So, who hopes to be invited to the party by offering infrastructure components – virtual computing power, storage, gateway – in the future, will probably have to stay out.

To largely stay out of the price war, Amazon, Microsoft and Google currently fighting on, is also advisable. While this pleases the customer, but will sooner or later lead to a market adjustment. Moreover, if you look at how Jeff Bezos leads Amazon (eg Kindle strategy), he gets involved in price wars, just to gain market share. Therefore IaaS providers should prefer to use the capital to increase the attractiveness of their portfolio. Customers are willing to pay for innovation and quality. In addition, decision-makers are willing to partially spend the same for cloud solutions or even more as for on-premise offerings. The significance is enhanced on the flexibility of the enterprise IT, in order to give the company more agility.

To match this, a tweet from my friend and fellow analyst Ben Kepes from New Zealand who hit the nail ironically on the head.

Vertical services are the future of the cloud

The infrastructure-as-a-service market has not yet reached its zenith by far. Nevertheless, infrastructure has become a commodity and is not innovative anymore. We have reached a point in the cloud, where it is important to use cloud infrastructures now to build vertical services on it. For this, companies and developers, along with virtual computing power and storage, are depending on services from the provider to operate its offer, performant, scalable and fail-safe. Despite the meanwhile extensive service portfolio from vendors such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google still a lot of time, knowledge, effort, and thus capital is needed to reach this state. Furthermore, only proprietary infrastructure-related services are offered to work with the infrastructure of the providers. Everything else should be self-developed under the aid of these services.

For this reason, the market has a lack of service-portfolios from external providers that can be used by companies and developers in order to use ready-services on-demand which otherwise must be developed on the infrastructures and platforms themselves. Suchlike value-added services can be integrated horizontally into the vertical services for a specific business scenario and be used when needed.

This BBaaS (business-bricks-as-a-services) integrate provider-independent in existing infrastructure-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service and create added value for the user. The individual business components are standardized and already highly scalable and highly available implemented as web-services and can be easily integrated without much effort.

More about the BBaaS concept can be found at „Business-Bricks-as-a-Service (BBaaS) – Business Building Blocks in the Cloud„.

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Comment

Cloud Rockstar 2013: Netflix is ​​the undisputed king of cloud computing

I think it is time to ennobling a company for its work in the cloud. Unlike to what one might imagine now, it is not one of the providers. No! Even though it’s the providers that create the capabilities, it’s the customers who ultimately make something out of it and show the general public the power of the cloud. Here, of course, you have to distinguish the ordinary customers from those who show a lot of commitment and have adapted the way of thinking cloud and thus also architecturally make a lot of effort. To make it short, the king of the cloud is Netflix and especially Adrian Cockroft, the father of the Netflix cloud architecture.

Born for the cloud

Before Netflix has decided to use its system in the cloud (migration from their own infrastructure), the company spent a lot of time trying to understand the cloud and build a test system within the cloud infrastructure. In particular, at this a lot of care was taken to generate as much realistic traffic scenarios as possible in order to examine the test-system for its stability.

Netflix initially developed a simple repeater that copied the real and complete customer requests to the system within the cloud infrastructure. Thus Netflix identified the possible bottlenecks of its system architecture and optimized in the course its scalability.

Netflix itself describes its software architecture like aa Rambo architecture. This has the fact that each system must properly function independently of the other systems. For this purpose each system within the distributed architecture was developed to be prepared that other systems to which a dependency exists, can fail and that this is tolerated.

For example, if the evaluation system fails, the quality of the answers deteriorated, but it will still answer. Instead of personalized offerings only known titles will be shown. If the system, that is responsible for the search function, is intolerably slow, the streaming of movies must still function properly.

Chaos Monkey: The secret star

One of the first systems that Netflix has developed on and for the cloud is called „Chaos Monkey“. His job is to randomly destroy instances and services within the architecture. Thus, Netflix ensures that all components function independently, even if partial components fail.

In addition to the Chaos Monkey Netflix has developed many other monitoring and testing tools for the operation of its system in the cloud, which the company calls as The Netflix Simian Army.

Netflix Simian Army: The role model

The Netflix Simian Army is an extreme example, how a cloud architecture has to look. The company has invested a lot of time, effort and capital in the development of its system architecture that runs on the cloud infrastructure of the Amazon Web Services. But it is worth, and any company that wants to use the cloud seriously to present a highly available offering, should definitely take Netflix as a role model.

The effort illustrates the complexity of the cloud

Bottom line, Netflix plans in the case of an error and does not rely on the cloud. Because sometimes something goes wrong in the cloud, as in any ordinary data center. You only have to be prepared for it.

Netflix shows very impressively that it works.

However, when you consider what an effort Netflix is doing to be successful in the cloud, you just have to say that cloud computing is not simple and a cloud infrastructure, no matter at which provider, needs to be built with the corresponding architecture.

This means, conversely, that the use of the cloud must become simpler in order to achieve the promised cost advantages. Because if one uses cloud computing right, it is not necessarily cheaper. In addition to savings in infrastructure costs which are always pre-calculated, the other costs may never be neglected for the staff with the appropriate skills and the costs for the development of scalable and fault-tolerant application in the cloud.

Successful and socially at once

Most companies keep their success for themselves. The competitive advantage is unwillingly given out of hand. But not Netflix. At regularly distance of time, parts of the Simian Army are released under the open source license, with each cloud users get the possibility to develop cloud applications with the architecture DNA of Netflix.

Cloud Rockstar 2013

Due to its success, and in particular its involvement in and for the cloud, it is high time, to ennoble Netflix publicly. Netflix has understood to use the cloud almost in perfection and not to keep the success for themselves. Instead, the company is giving other cloud users the opportunity to build similarly highly scalable and highly available cloud applications using the same tools and services.

For that reason the analysts of New Age Disruption and CloudUser.de appoint Netflix to be the „Cloud Rockstar 2013“ in the category „best cloud user“. This independent award from New Age Disruption is presented this year for the first time. Giving to vendors and users for their innovations and extraordinary commitment in cloud computing.

Congratulations Netflix and Adrian Cockcroft!

Rene Buest

Cloud Rockstar 2013 - Netflix

Further information: Cloud Rockstar Award

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Salesforce Customer Company Tour 13: Salesforce is using the cloud as a tool for the maximum interconnection

At once with a new self-created claim to be a „customer company“, Salesforce changed the name of their customer event „Cloudforce“ to „Customer Company Tour 13 (CCT13)“. And the CCT13 has shown the name fits, both the claim and the name of the event. Instead of letting Salesforce employees do the work predominantly, satisfied customer came to word and spread the messages.

Salesforce needs and wants more market share in Germany

Besides Amazon AWS and Google, Salesforce belongs to the early stage cloud provider. Compared to the international and European market the reputation in Germany is rather little. This is not due to Salesforce‘s portfolio, but rather the skeptical German cloud market. Furthermore Salesforce is still recognized as a pure SaaS-CRM in their outside image, but what the company no longer is. The focus needs to be changed on marketing the whole platform to show that and which business processes can be mapped to it.

With that the company starts during its CCT13. The idea for the new „Customer Company“ claim Salesforce gets from a 2012 IBM study. At it one can see that even young disruptive companies can learn something from the old stager. To ensure the claim to be a customer company Salesforce sets on seven pillars: social, mobile, big data, community, apps, cloud and trust. The first six can already be find in the portfolio. Trust is something that is naturally and should stand over all.

By the way, Salesforce will build a new data center in Europe, London, in spring 2014. In addition a global research and development center in Grenoble is planned.

The Internet of Things has a high priority

I was totally excited by the GE use case, which unfortunately just got only a little marginal attention. However, the use case is showing the big potential of Salesforce platform and in which direction the company will steer. GE is using Salesforce Chatter to let their jet engines send support teams status information (m2m communication). More background information following soon. But this video gives a good insight of the use case.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GvC1reb9Ik0

Salesforce is showing exactly what I already attested the cloud. The cloud serves as the technological basis for the maximum interconnection of everything, e.g. The Internet of Things. And here Salesforce with its platform and the strategic direction is on the right way to become one of the big player in this market.

But it is showing something else. Salesforce is more than just sales in the meantime. Maybe we experience the next mammoth project. Changing the name from Salesforce to „- we should be curious -“