GigaOM » Paul Miller Archives

How search can unlock the power of big data

Paul Miller — Tue, 20 Nov 2012 15:50:53 +0000

Big data tools such as Cassandra and Hadoop are transforming how data is stored and are creating a wide range of possibilities for new ways in which it can be exploited at scale. But without similarly capable search technologies, enterprise adopters face significant challenges in formulating questions capable of returning timely and meaningful answers. This report explores how established search technologies are being integrated with big data tools to meet real business requirements, both on-premise and in the cloud.

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Helix Nebula and the future of Europe’s cloud

Paul Miller — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:55:22 +0000

The Helix Nebula project combines the computing needs of large European research institutions such as CERN and the European Space Agency with the technical capabilities of companies like CloudSigma, Logica, and SAP. Working together, these two groups are addressing the technical, legal, and procedural issues that today make it difficult to seamlessly move jobs from one cloud to another at scale. Lessons learned from the project will be of wider relevance as Europe’s cloud activities gather momentum and create a projected 3.8 million jobs by 2020. This report examines Helix Nebula and how it could serve as a prototype for Europe’s future cloud.

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Helix Nebula and the future of Europe’s cloud

Paul Miller — Tue, 16 Oct 2012 04:55:22 +0000

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Metered IT: the path to utility computing

Paul Miller — Wed, 03 Oct 2012 16:06:03 +0000

Agility is increasingly recognized as one of the main advantages of cloud computing, but an important aspect of agility is choice: the choice to run computing jobs in house, in a private cloud, or on public cloud services from the likes of Amazon, Rackspace, and a growing number of other providers. To exercise choice, customers require information and the ability to compare the costs and benefits of competing solutions. This report explores opportunities for accurately measuring computing resources and their use, simplifying the comparison of competing cloud offerings and opening the door to charging models based more closely on actual consumption.

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Data markets: in search of new business models

Paul Miller — Wed, 22 Aug 2012 06:55:34 +0000

From information on U.S. census returns to the location of every Starbucks in Canada, the demand for data to support decision making is increasing. Fittingly, a number of new data markets have emerged in the past few years that provide access to this data. A wide range of companies exists in this space, and often there are more differences than similarities in the various products on offer, not to mention the many different financial models. This report describes the basics of a data market, explores the ways in which various companies are beginning to position their offerings, and looks for evidence that there is sufficient demand for this market segment to prove sustainable.

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Scaling Hadoop clusters: the role of cluster management

Paul Miller — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 07:01:22 +0000

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Will cloud computing push the BRIC market to the front?

Paul Miller — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 22:00:01 +0000

“Cloud first” markets — those where companies’ first serious engagements with information technology are in the form of cloud computing — are beginning to emerge. For the BRIC economies in particular, this might mean a chance to adopt low-cost solutions that will give companies a clear competitive advantage over more established enterprises bogged down by legacy infrastructure. Many pieces are already in place, and so it is worth pondering where the real force behind our knowledge industries will wind up in the next few years.

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Smartphones help us to understand the cloud

Paul Miller — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 22:00:15 +0000

A recent survey suggests that “mobile computing appears to be a driving force behind cloud adoption in enterprises.” While the cloud clearly plays a role in making mobile devices as valuable to the enterprise as they are, it may be too much to suggest that mobiles truly drive cloud adoption. Rather, smartphones and tablets have brought the cloud discussion to the forefront, regardless, paradoxically, of whether the implementation actually relies on the cloud.

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Why the big data startup boom will likely be short-lived

Paul Miller — Fri, 09 Dec 2011 01:44:19 +0000

There has been a remarkable flowering of companies over the past year or two, all riding a wave of developer and investor enthusiasm for the loosely defined concept of “big data.” But given that the big data startup market is probably overvalued and headed for a lot of consolidation, these new companies’ days might be numbered.

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For UK education, private clouds may make economic sense

Paul Miller — Thu, 01 Dec 2011 22:00:54 +0000

Advocates of the public cloud tend to dismiss private cloud deployments within individual companies, arguing that they are too small to deliver the cost or flexibility advantages of the public cloud. But recent developments in the UK refute that argument. The University Modernization Fund’s Cloud Pilot, which aims to deliver diverse computing capabilities to every UK university while saving money, has just announced its pricing, which compares extremely favorably with current public cloud offerings.

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