Posts tagged AMI
Developers Rate IBM Top Private Cloud: Evans Data Corporation Survey
Jul 27th
ARMONK, N.Y., July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ – IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced that its private test and development cloud was the top choice of developers in Evans Data Corporation’s Cloud Development Survey 2010.
Evans Data Corporation’s Cloud Development Survey Report examines the concerns, intentions and current adoption of developers regarding deploying to and developing for public or private clouds. The report covers the full range of Cloud Computing issues, including: Private Cloud vs. Public Cloud, Private cloud management and data centers, standards and security.
In the survey of over 400 software developers, almost 30% identified IBM as the top Private Cloud provider. Developers indicated that the most important factors in determining which private cloud provider to use are security, reliability and uptime, and proven expertise. The primary benefits of deploying applications in a private cloud are the freedom from maintaining hardware, cost savings, and scalability.
“We’ve seen that safely enabling developers to serve themselves can help reduce IT labor costs by 50 percent, reduce provision cycle times from weeks to minutes and improve quality, eliminating software defects by up to 30 percent,” said Jan Jackman, vice president, cloud computing services, IBM Global Technology Services. “IBM is honored that our test and development cloud service has been recognized for its enterprise-grade security, reliability and control.”
IBM’s Smart Business Development & Test Cloud features IBM Rational Software Delivery Services for Cloud Computing, which includes a collection of Rational’s market-leading products and capabilities helping clients harness the agility and flexibility of the cloud. Development and delivery teams can more effectively collaborate and quickly develop, test, and deploy new technology-based business initiatives. IBM also offers enterprise developers the opportunity to take advantage of IBM’s secure and scalable cloud infrastructure with the IBM Smart Business Development and Test on the IBM Cloud.
IBM is building an ecosystem of partners to deliver the most complete and comprehensive cloud computing solutions to clients. This ecosystem comprises existing and new cloud partners in the IT industry that intend to work with IBM and complement the IBM Cloud in key areas. For example, RightScale and Kaavo can help customers manage and provision cloud resources to facilitate more effective deployment of applications and workloads in the cloud, while Navajo Systems can provide additional security for cloud-based applications and Silanis’ e-signature process management can enable secure e-transactions and e-contracts. Aviarc, Wavemaker and Corent can enable development of applications on the cloud, while VMLogix can provide manual, functional, and compatibility testing; AppFirst can provide performance monitoring; or SOASTA CloudTest can deliver load and performance testing — all taking advantage of the IBM Cloud.
For more information about IBM’s cloud computing portfolio, research and labs, visit www.ibm.com/cloud.
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Skytap and Customer, Nuance Communications, to Speak on Cloud Computing at Burton Group (Gartner) Catalyst Conference
Jul 26th
Skytap, Amazon EC2 and GoGrid Will Discuss Cloud Economics and Licensing
SEATTLE, WA–(Marketwire – July 26, 2010) – Skytap, Inc., the leading provider of self-service cloud automation solutions, today announced that Deanne Harper, senior manager of Speech University at Nuance Communications, and Sundar Raghavan, chief product and marketing officer at Skytap, will present at the Burton Group Catalyst Conference on July 28, 2010 in San Diego, CA.
At the event, Harper and Raghavan will provide real world insight into how the cloud can be used to accelerate business productivity, and share practical tips for companies to move to the cloud successfully. Sessions featuring Skytap and its customer, Nuance Communications, include:
Hands-on Training from the Cloud: Speech University’s Global Solution
Wednesday, July 28 at 4:05 PM
Speaker: Deanne Harper (Nuance Communications, Inc.)
Description: In this session, Deanne will describe the cloud-based training solution adopted by Nuance Speech University (NSU) in 2008. She will discuss the challenges that led NSU to consider the cloud as a training solution and the company’s requirements for a successful solution. Deanne will review her vendor comparison and identify factors that led to the solution adopted by Nuance.
Cloud Economics and Licensing
Wednesday, July 28 at 3:10 PM
Panel Participants: Drue Reeves (Gartner), Sundar Raghavan (Skytap), Mario Olivarez (GoGrid), and Nathan Day (SoftLayer Technologies, Inc.)
Description: The roundtable will discuss the economics around the cloud and the myriad of licensing issues that also accompany a move to the cloud.
Vendor Lightning Round
Wednesday, July 28 at 5:05 PM
Speakers: Sundar Raghavan (Skytap), Matt Tavis (Amazon.com), Nathan Day (SoftLayer Technologies, Inc.), and Jeff Samuels (GoGrid)
Description: In this session, cloud vendors present their vision and product in five minutes. The audience will vote to select a winner and the winner will receive 10 additional minutes to present.
Catalyst is a five-day, industry-shaping conference exploring cutting-edge ideas, current challenges and emerging technologies shaping today’s and tomorrow’s enterprise. Catalyst Conference is renowned for its attendee-driven agenda, high-profile speakers, in-depth content and fiercely independent point of view.
About Skytap, Inc.
Skytap is the leading provider of self-service cloud automation solutions for dynamic workloads. Skytap enables users to run enterprise applications unchanged in the cloud, collaborate securely with global teams, and gain unparalleled business productivity. Additionally, IT organizations can gain visibility and control over cloud projects, align capacity with demand, and reduce costs by 70% or more. Enterprises can securely connect Skytap to their data centers and create virtual private clouds. Skytap is ideal for any dynamic workload including application development, testing, virtual training, ERP migration and sales demonstration projects. To buy or learn more, visit www.skytap.com.
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How To Install and Run WordPress on AWS EC2?
Jul 23rd
Here is a fantastic illustration I’ve come across on how to get your WordPress site up and running in the cloud in 15 minutes. Very helpful!
Introduction
One thing we often hear from Web developers, especially those who offer Web site design and consulting services, is the need to get a Web site up quickly, which runs fast and gives them total control of the server for maximum flexibility and scalability. Today’s post offers a quick walkthrough on how to run WordPress on Amazon’s EC2 Cloud and the Microsoft Web Platform. After you followed the steps in this walkthrough you will have a live production WordPress blog on the Internet.
Here are quick summary of the steps you have to follow:
- Sign up for Amazon EC2
- Start an “Microsoft Web Platform – WordPress ” instance via the Amazon Web Services Management Console.
- Retrieve the Administrator password and connect to the instance via RDP.
- Finalize the WordPress installation.
- Enter blog posts and browse to your blog.
1. Amazon EC2 Sign-up
Signing up for Amazon EC2 is a straightforward process. All you need is
- a valid e-mail address,
- a valid phone number you can be reached at (make sure the phone is nearby, you will be called during sign-up!),
- and a valid credit card number
The sign-up URL is http://aws.amazon.com/ec2. It’s even easier if you are already an Amazon customer because you can use your existing credit card information and e-mail address.
Note: Billing data verification usually happens within minutes. It might take a couple of hours though. Currently (April 2010) the error message you get is not very meaningful:
“It looks like you don’t have an EC2 account*. To use the Amazon EC2 Console you must first sign up for Amazon EC2. It’s quick & free to sign up.”
Just be patient and wait for a little longer.
2. Starting an “Microsoft Web Platform – WordPress” Instance
Once you are signed up successfully you will have access to the Amazon EC2 Management Console. The URL is https://console.aws.amazon.com/ec2/home.
Once you are logged in make sure you switch your region to “US West”. The Microsoft Web Platform images are currently only available in the US West region. Before we do anything lets set up the firewall rules (called Security Groups in Amazon lingo) for your WordPress instance.
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Cloud Computing Delivering on its Promise, but Doubts Still Hold Back Adoption
Jul 22nd
The Majority of IT Departments now Use Cloud-Based Applications, with Users Reporting Better Security and Lower Costs
Waltham, Mass., July 22, 2010 – Mimecast®, a leading supplier of cloud-based email security, continuity, policy control and archiving, today announced the results of the second annual Mimecast Cloud Adoption Survey, an annual research report examining attitudes to cloud computing services amongst IT decision-makers in UK and US businesses. The survey, conducted by independent research firm Loudhouse, reveals that a majority of organizations (51 percent) are now using some form of cloud computing service—and the levels of satisfaction amongst those companies is high across the board. Conversely, companies not yet using cloud services cite concerns around cost and security.
The survey shows that of those businesses using cloud services, 74 percent say that the cloud has alleviated internal resource pressures, 72 percent report an improved end-user experience, 73 percent have managed to reduce their infrastructure costs and 57 percent of say that the cloud has resulted in improved security. However, not everyone is convinced: 74 percent of IT departments still believe that there is always a trade-off between cost and IT security and 62 percent say that storing data on servers outside of the business is always a risk.
Highlights from the Research
Cloud Services are now the Norm:
- The majority of organizations now use cloud-based services. The report found that 51 percent of organizations are now using at least one cloud-based application. Adoption rates amongst US businesses are slightly ahead of those in the UK with 56 percent of respondents using at least one cloud-based application, compared to 50 percent in the UK. This is a significant rise from the 2009 survey, when just 36 percent of US businesses were using cloud services.
- Two thirds of businesses are considering adopting cloud computing. Encouragingly for vendors, 66 percent are now considering adopting cloud-based applications in the future. Again, US businesses are ahead of the UK in their attitudes to the cloud with 70 percent considering cloud services, compared to 60 percent in the UK.
- Email, security and storage are the most popular cloud services. 62 percent of the organizations that use cloud computing are using a cloud-based email application. Security and storage are the next most popular, used by 52 percent and 50 percent of organizations with at least one cloud-based service respectively. Email services are most popular with mid-size businesses (250-1,000 employees), with 70 percent of these organizations using the cloud to support this function. Smaller businesses (under 250 employees) are most likely to use the cloud for security services, with larger enterprises (over 1,000 employees) most likely to make use of cloud storage services.
Cloud Attitudes are Split Between the ‘Haves’ and ‘Have-Nots’:
- Existing cloud users are satisfied. Security is not considered to be an issue by existing cloud users: 57 percent say that moving data to the cloud has resulted in better security, with 58 percent saying it has given them better control of their data. Among current cloud users, 73 percent say it has reduced the cost of their IT infrastructure and 74 percent say it has alleviated the internal resource pressures upon the department.
- Security fears are still a barrier. Three quarters (74 percent) of IT departments agreed with the statement ‘there is always a trade-off between cost and IT security,’ suggesting that many organizations feel cloud solutions are less secure than more expensive on-premise alternatives, simply due to their lesser cost. Storing data on servers outside of the business was also seen as a significant security risk by 62 percent.
- IT is concerned that adopting cloud will not initially result in cost savings. 58 percent of respondents thought that replacing legacy IT solutions will almost always cost more than the benefits of new IT.
- Cloud concerns stem from a lack of clarity. One reason for the negative perceptions of cloud services among non-users seems to be a lack of clear communication from the industry itself. 54 percent of respondents said the potential benefits of cloud delivery models are overstated by the IT industry.
