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2014 - A year of Clear Skies for Cloud Computing

As Cloud Computing goes mainstream and drives the collaboration , commerce, cohesion and social mores in the World, the cloud skies are history and let us ring in 2014 as the Year for Clear Skies for Cloud Computing. Here are 14 thoughts for 2014 - 2014 will be the year where if you are not in the cloud your IT strategy maybe suspect.  2014 will be the year when cloud computing will be referred to as computing and be the technology for business and individuals. 2014 will be the year when your health parameters and personal life will be logged in the cloud through the internet of things.  2014 will be the year when mobility will be pass, phablets will rule the end point device market. 2014 will be when cloud security will not longer a concern, rather the cloud will be engine to secure the digital world. 2014 will be the year when SMAC will be an utility for the CMO. 2014 will be the year when Community Clouds will take center stage.  2014 will be the year when cloud evangelis

CIO Journey to the Corner Office - A reality or a Fantasy !

Recently I was in a panel discussion in a Seminar and the question of the CIO's journey to the corner office as the CEO of the Company. Unfortunately the instances of the CIO transforming to a CEO are few in the world of business and there are number  of reasons logically this transformation is possible but in a Real world it is a fantasy. Let us examine the qualities of a good CIO the first of course is being a good team player, second political acumen to survive and please the various stake holders in business and the last is the IT prowess. CIO's who are successful do excel in people management and handling corporate warfare and wading through uncertain cycles in the business. But are these qualities enough to make them the CEO, there are certain factors missing, the CIO never leads the business troops which is essential to be a CEO, neither does the CEO interact with the Board on a regular basis in most companies, the CIO is drowned in budgets,data and analysis whereas

Will 2014 be the year of Community Clouds ?

As the year of SMAC the outlier which changed  the fortunes of business across the world in 2013. Looking into the crystal glass, we see that next year 2014 will the year of Community Clouds which will change the fortunes of companies which specialize in data center solutions. We will see community clouds being build by the Fortune 500 companies in a collaborative manner, business across Europe will drive the adoption of Community Clouds in Europe to adhere to the ENISA guidelines. Cloud Computing now moves beyond cost it is about reliability, economics of scale, security and mutli device support and global standards. Community clouds will be adopted by the banks of Europe, the pharmaceutical companies of Europe, the European Union and more. Developing regions in the globe too will adopt cloud computing, Africa will lead the charge with large nations like Brazil, Latin American countries and across the APAC region. A Bus in Mumbai, A community initiative ! Everyone is worried

The CIO role in supporting top line growth

The urgency of the CIO to ride the juggernaut called inclusive technology is a challenge. Today the young executive is more tech savvy then most people in the IT department who have become tired and jaded in just keeping the lights on. Innovation and Excellence from the IT department needs a CIO who can juggle being a strategist, innovator and also hit the sweet spot in emerging technology swings. The CIO needs to deploy  technology as a catalyst to stitch the organization together in delivering the same goal and vision as articulated by the Board . CIO has Miles to Go and Promise to Keep in an Uncharted Terrain! In the world of SMAC the CIO has to become an aggregator and has to change his teams pace in adopting technology which is driven by his company's employees and customers rather than by the IT Team. Gone are the days when the CIO had a chance to choose build deploy and support technology, today the CIO  has to deliver in real time in a hyper competitive environmen

Everybody is a Winner Baby that is the Truth !

Everybody is a Winner Baby was a popular song many decades ago and  is true for Cloud Computing. Everybody wins in the Cloud, the service provider, the application developer, the network provider, the end point device maker and all the innovators who come up with a new idea everyday in the cloud. Cloud is about Innovation and Excellence with a small investment to get started and if your idea is big enough you are all set to be a Winner. When you compare the capital invested to the rewards by companies like Twitter and FB the  poster boys of today your realize that no other investment has provided humongous valuation for such a small investment, The valuation hinges on the innovative ideas and excellence of delivery and savvy marketing to the end consumer. Everyone is a Winner in Cloud Computing !  In cloud computing  you signed for Salesforce or Google or Zoho  for free and got hooked and   realized you could be technology illiterate and still  add more value to your bu

IBM should ignore AWS !

Recent advertisements have shown IBM  comparing itself against AWS in the cloud. Here is the ZDNet article  http://www.zdnet.com/ibm-takes-aim-at-amazon-web-services-via-marketing-campaign-7000022805/ . It seems to be a let down for Big Blue who has forgotten its blue blood and is stooping to compare itself to a company which is about a decade old. If you missed my blog on the Big 5 it is worth a read again, since most of the analogies seems to have panned out, here is the link http://cloudbus.blogspot.in/2011/04/big-5-in-cloud-computing.html?q=the+big+five Photo Credit : Sudesh IBM seems to have forgotten that the Elephant can Dance and only  needs to learn new steps in the world of SMAC and Internet of Things.IBM should not discount its loyal customer base who are there to cheer and support IBM through thick and thin; some customers could also teach IBM to dance to their tunes. IBM has all the arsenal required, but is reluctant to open its chest and take off to the cloud,

SMAC and the Transformation of Customer Service & Dialogue

"SMAC" is the a acronym for Social, mobile, analytics & cloud the four pillars of the fifth wave of technology as defined by  Cognizant Technology the  Teaneck, New Jersey headquartered ITES company (NASDAQ Symbol : CTSH). SMAC will change the customer dialogue by leveraging on the collective strength of the Social Media Network, Mobile devices, Analytics driven by Big Data solutions and Cloud Computing as the underlying backbone of affordable and reliable engine for computation.  Let us look at each of these components and their impact on our lives today: 1. Social Media - The Social Media has seen breakneck growth and significant valuation with the winners, we have the four undisputed leaders in this segment Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest  & LinkedIn with competition from Yahoo, Google and Microsoft and another hundred more social media sites of different hues and aspirations.   2. Mobility - The way we handle and process information anytime anywhere  is signi

The Gold Rush for Secure Clouds

Europe has blown the War Bugle, they will build their own EU clouds and secure their data and applications within the boundaries of Europe. The Rest of the World will also follow suit in building their own Secure clouds for their business, government and anything else that needs cloud computing. The Gold Rush is on for Secure Clouds built bottom up, it is going to be a bonanza for leaders who offer virtualisation solutions like VMWare and its competition including Microsoft Azure & others, Data Center Equipment hardware providers  IBM, DELL, HP and CISCO and others. The marketing teams in these companies that provide the building material for cloud computing are going to be busy and laughing all the way to the bank. Their fears of the cheap Public Cloud will be history and no longer a challenge to their growth and revenues. Secure Clouds in the Horizon will herald the demise of Public Clouds. The cloud pundits who understand how to put together a cloud computing environm

New Indian Banks need to ride the cloud for their Success

Come January we will have 7 new Indian Banks given licences to operate from the many applicants. The new licences will be given with conditions attached for rural thrust in banking and also social banking. As the applicants eagerly await their licences and start head hunting for their leadership the promoters will need to review whether Cloud Computing could be  the Elixir for getting them operational in weeks rather then months. Cloud computing will give them reach to the remote rural hamlets in India and also be effective, reliable and a secure vehicle to reach banking technology to the 40 million unbaked Indians. As the head hunters set the wheels in motion to hire the new suite of leaders to put execution plans into action it may the time for the Board of these promoter Banks to consider Cloud Computing for their profitability, agility and secure banking. Are New Indian Banks Ready to Fly into the Cloud ? Photo by Amitav Thamba Hiring Technology leaders from the conventi

Founders' must Let Go !

Founders must Let Go! Many founders are so attached with their company that they are unable to scale of grow their company fast enough to realize value and take it to greater levels.  The challenge for the Founders is to grow the company quickly and then bring in professional management and list the company so that the risks are distributed among shareholders plus the company can raise more capital and the founders can de-risk their investment in their company.  But most times company founders treat their company as the extension of their personality and like a protective parent do not let go and allow it to grow and mature. There are so enamored by their success that they suffer from myopia. Over the last 20 years I have seen companies similar in aggression and business grow, but I have found companies where founders were willing to take it to a wider investor base and also bring on board more passionate professionals succeed where as companies where the owners have hung on ar

Disruptive Technologies and their Adoption

Over the Centuries any Disruptive Technology has always been welcomed with skepticism and resistance to adoption, sometime the creators of these disruption have been executed, imprisoned or forced to publicly take back their technology insights and apologize for their oversight. In the last fifty years disruptive technologies have transformed the way we live, eat and procreate and also pair, whether it is DNA sequencing, bio-technology;genetic modification, health and medical delivery, intrusion into our privacy and the way we conduct our lives and business. These disruptive technologies have compressed time and have been deployed  quickly that we sometimes forget that there was an era without these tools. Let us take the instance of this blog, in the old days I would have to get this written in a typewriter, have it proof read and hope to disseminate it through print media, indeed a herculean task for a layman to get their ideas to the  world. Disruptive Technologies Adoption ne

Emergence of National Clouds and National Intranets

With a porous digital world many nations will build National clouds and National intranets to protect their citizens, government and country from intrusion. A national cloud will go against the very tenets of the internet as a growth engine for collaboration and dissemination of information in a free world. Countries will erect fences to keep out the freedom offered by the cloud, internet and social media.  As national clouds and intranets get build countries will shut access to the internet and will also encourage us of social media and other collaboration tools within the country. This will impact the globalization of digital data and also the sharing of information and use of the social media and the internet for dissent and discussion. We are charting into dangerous waters as a few countries have already demonstrated the ability to contain the internet access and also have deployed national clouds. All this does not augur well for the growth of computing and the future o

Shutdown in the Cloud !

Recently there have been a few Shutdowns of Cloud Services with short notice periods which have forced customers to scurry for cover and in some cases customers have been caught in a bind Shutdown in the Cloud will be an eventuality when companies cannot scale in the cloud and remain profitable, they get choked for cash and suffer slowly leading to instant death within weeks after they are choked of funds. How do we handle Shutdown's in the Cloud will be the next domain for Risk Management in the Cloud. Though outright it looks straightforward and it appears we can apply the same matrix as we would to technology vendors, but this may not be the right approach. There are various dimension of Risk to be associated and constant monitoring of the health of the vendors is essential in the fast changing landscape of technology vendors which is pitted with risk and unexpected twists and turns. Why Cloud computing, we seem to forget how Tandem, Digital was snapped up by Compaq in mont

Cloud Computing in the world of VUCA !

Cloud computing will provide the comfort and stability in the world of VUCA ( volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity) . Wiki source for VUCA :  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volatility,_uncertainty,_complexity_and_ambiguity Cloud computing is the right solution to help business in its technology investments and answers its concerns on the following issues confronted in the world of VUCA : Anticipate the Issues that Shape Conditions Understand the Consequences of Issues and Actions Appreciate the Interdependence of Variables Prepare for Alternative Realities and Challenges Interpret and Address Relevant Opportunities Cloud computing also helps the organization to be prepared with technology enabled tools in the VUCA world :  Knowledge Management on Sense-Making  Planning and Readiness Considerations  Process Management and Resource Systems  Functional Responsiveness and Impact Models  Recovery Systems and Forward Practices Cloud Computing will be the an

Secure Data in the Cloud and Internet are Misplaced Concerns

There has been widespread attack on security of data and there has been a clamor to bring back data into the data centers and set the clock back on cloud computing and the internet. This has been driven by panic and a lack of understanding by many on the risks associated with data in motion, any data in motion is vulnerable to attack and capture whether encrypted or otherwise. Data in motion can be in device and more importantly a network whether private or internet, the risks are compounded based on the medium in which data is in motion. Any  government requesting data and data encryption security features like keys and algorithms do so to secure and protect the country. The governments primary business is to protect its citizens in a complex world run on digital technology and it is every citizens duty to cooperate with the government . Do not allow your cloud computing plans to wilt, there is a bouquet of security strategies to protect your data. There are  fears that govern

Goodbye Cloud, Welcome Services.

It it time to bid goodbye to cloud computing, the time has come to evangelise the three services offered by the cloud IAAS - Infrastructure as a service PAAS - Platform as a service SAAS - Software as a service. Are you ready to embrace cloud services Cloud has been established as an utility - secure reliable resilient and trustworthy. So the future is in evangelizing, marketing, branding and deploying the services that ride on the cloud. The opportunity in SAAS has seen exponential growth making cloud ubiquitous for computing. The next challenge is in increasing PAAS and SAAS adoption, this means shaking up the enterprise computing space, changing the mindsets of the CTO/CIO and the CISO  and the Cloud Strategist. Are we ready for this, the next year will see the intense adoption of PAAS and SAAS as more companies shut down their data centers and move to cloud computing. Are you prepared to ride the next tsunami in the cloud computing saga, are you prepared to deplo

How cloud computing can revolutionize manufacturing

Manufacturing in an earlier era led to management thinking and also automation of processes, courtesy the efforts of great management gurus like Alfred Sloan, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Michael Porter, Tom Peters, and Michael Hammer and C.K. Prahalad.  Manufacturing can benefit from Cloud Computing ! For the preceding decades, the financial markets sucked the best and the brightest minds to drive greed and make profits in investment banking and financial markets. This era fortunately is slowing down and the regulators and economists of the world have realized the futility of driving financial markets without underlying security provided by manufacturing. Engineers who were trained and equipped for manufacturing, migrated to a coveted MBA degree lured by the offer of huge starting salaries coupled with even bigger annual bonus. They drove an invisible economy driven by paper bonds and other instruments and created more complex instruments all based on an economy, which was cre

Cloud Detractors Need to Keep Away from Cloud Computing Conferences

In a recent cloud conference they were two Senior Technology Professionals who spoke in the conference and the general consensus of the participants was all they did was to Rave, Rant and Spit Venom at Cloud Computing. People who attended their session were wondering how they had reached such Senior roles in Information Technology Leadership with so much bias and attitude against emerging technologies like cloud computing. Raise the Bar not degrade yourself and the cloud  These these two personalities were able to bring about a pall of gloom and disbelief  among the participants in this cloud conference. Many wondered if  they had such strong views against cloud computing why they were invited by the organizers ? Why did they take time off to use the forum at the conference to belittle the participants in the cloud conference and also show how petty minded they were.. Cloud Detractors Need to be Kept Away from Cloud Computing Conferences as speakers ! As a cloud evangelist al

Virtualization is not Cloud Computing

Recently Forrester stated that 70% of "private clouds" aren't really clouds at all http://www.networkworld.com/news/2013/022613-forrester-private-clouds-267108.html Therein lies a tale of deceit, misinformation and false gratification of many organizations believing they have a cloud in place.  To get the facts right we need to revisit the definition of cloud computing as defined by NIST which in may opinion is the final authority on cloud computing standards and is followed by the industry and professionals.  http://csrc.nist.gov/publications/nistpubs/800-145/SP800-145.pdf Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared  pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications, and services) that  can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.  This cloud model is composed of five essential characteristics, t

Why the cloud can come down to earth in India

This is the reproduction of an article published in Information Week today . http://www.informationweek.in/cloud_computing/13-07-02/why_the_cloud_can_come_down_to_earth_in_india.aspx The author illustrates how the network and infrastructure can be the differentiator between success and failure in deployment of real time technology solutions like exchanges and cloud computing applications In 1991, I was a key member of the team to build the first automated stock exchange in India known as the OTC Exchange of India on dial up telephone lines and subsequently an overlay network network on an Government built X.25 backbone with an X.28 dial up connectivity. The internet was unheard of those days, though a few Software Technology Parks (STPI) did have this connectivity and I remember the slow browser which connected me to the Harvard facility from the STPI in Hyderabad. We had limitations because we could operate only in 26 cities in India with dialup connections, because the rest

Cloud Computing for Business

Today's program on cloud computing for Business at Bangalore was well received and was attended by Senior Business Leaders. Some of the keen observations was the lack of adoption of cloud computing by business in India because of poor internet connectivity in smaller cities and rural areas. There were live examples of challenges in getting reliable internet access and bandwidth and more needs to be done to fix this problem to make cloud computing adoption a reality. The second takeaway was the large  technology  cost to support transactions in Banking sector, almost about Rs. 50 a transaction was the estimated cost. Cloud could substantially lower this technology cost by banks adopting cloud computing. Some banks are there in a nascent stage and some Banks offer their application as a SAAS based core banking solutions in a virtualized environment which is marketed as a cloud. More needs to be done in this area and one solution was to build a dedicated and secure cloud envir

Cloud Computing could be Superman for Business in an Economically Distressed World

There are strikes in Brazil, the Indian Rupee is shedding value faster than my weight gain, the world globally is grappling on how to keep recession at bay. The business climate is tough and Cloud Computing could be Superman for Business. When business want to cut costs they need tools to identify what they are doing, they need tighter monitoring and controls, they can find solutions for this in the various SAAS solutions available in the cloud. They just pay for what they use and get their business ship shape. Energy prices and managing data centers is expensive, cloud could offer a better and more cost effective solution. Reach for the Clouds when the Going it Tough Marketing budgets are tight, but without marketing how do you reach your customer, use the cloud computing social media tools to reach your customers. Sales people costs are high and customer support  is essential for survival use cloud hosted  sales and customer management tools. Logistics, distribution and t

Royalty, DNA, Big Data and the new world order

Today's paper's headline states  "Hunt is on in Gujarat for a distant cousin who shares Prince William’s Indian blood-  Tests have established a direct link between the Duke of Cambridge and a woman believed to have been at least half Indian" A new social order Based on DNA mapping ? http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/hunt-is-on-in-gujarat-for-a-distant-cousin-who-shares-prince-williams-indian-blood-8658776.html Maybe this    DNA testing and matching may destroy the Blue Blood of Royalty in the world.  If all the DNA of all the worlds inhabitants are collected into one big data base and we use BIGDATA to find a relationship and sort people of the world based on their DNA then we will have a new classification of the human race, one based on science, rather then ethnicity, religion, color or nation, could this be the end of our social setting as we known and build over the centuries.  Could there be a new set of groups who come together ba

Business Can Benefit with Cloud Computing

There are many great stories of Information Technology Business on the cloud who have made millions of dollars with a great idea, these are companies who have built solutions on the cloud and benefited by a low cost  launch of their business and almost no entry barrier to succeed in their vision for changing the world with cloud computing. This article is for another type of Business, those  who can use computing as a business enabler and benefit with automation from conceptualization to execution to sustenance of their start-up business whatever it may be. Let us consider start-up business in the non technology traditional economy, simple businesses like engineering fabrication, distribution, cash collection, retailing, food and beverages, and any other start-up whose leadership has an idea and the entrepreneurial zeal. What cloud computing solutions can Business use for their business efficiency? today many Business start their computing journey on the internet with a static w

Cloud Adoption - Start with the Public Cloud.

Many Enterprises start with virtualization in their data center and then scale their data centers into a private cloud and then maybe migrate to a hybrid cloud by integrating with the public cloud. This approach could be flawed though it may give comfort the CTO/CIO of the organization,  because  it may be a risky route to test cloud computing. Virtualization management needs good skilled personnel more so when the virtualized servers run into a problem, these resources are a challenge to find and even if found difficult to retain . Secondly building private clouds may not be economical and is time consuming to get it resilient and reliable. Most private enterprise clouds do not have a self service model build in their deployment, rather it goes through the IT department again, which means there is no agility and ease of deployment of services for an end user. A Private Cloud May turn out to be like the boat in the Well! A better route for an enterprise is to start using th

Guru Yatra - Program for Business Leaders

I am pleased announce Guru Yatra (Teachers Journey) to educate Business Leaders in cloud computing.  You can find more about the program at http://lssubramanian.com/program/ . The goal is to provide  business leaders with an easier way to learn about cloud computing, what they can do in cloud computing, and how they can benefit from it. Thank you Stephen, Claudian, Sanjay and Milind  at Webaccess  for  creating this wonderful website. LS Subramanian 

Microsoft Rides the Cloud Again

When the going gets tough, the tough get going is the old adage. Microsoft has shown how it can fight back as it gains market share in the cloud. It has a new set of salesmen who can answer your doubts about cloud and Microsoft is best at what it does that is Marketing and Building TRUST. Microsoft Windows 365 has been a great success with the Microsoft Juggernaut of marketing sales and partners clawing back their rightful market share.    Microsoft's launch of PAAS services opens the floodgate for deployment of reliable and secure  Hybrid Clouds. Microsoft is working on its consumer solution with the launch of the new X-BOX gaming device, this truly converges home entertainment and will be a big winner for Azure. Microsoft may integrate the X-BOX games in its mobile strategy. Microsoft should launch its own Mobile devices for Christmas this year, we would see outstanding tablets coming out of Microsoft stables which will seamlessly integrate with Azure. It is my belief