The week in cloud: So much for a million clouds; AWS chief takes on private clouds
Shhhhh, it looks like cloud computing is not immune from industry consolidation and Amazon Web Services gets testy about private cloud adoption. Read more »
API-crazy Amazon adds a new tool to boost support for enterprise AWS customers
photo: Barb Darrow
Amazon says its new API will help businesses on support contracts automate how their support calls are set up and handled. Read more »
Microsoft: We’ve migrated 300M Hotmail users to Outlook.com
photo: Flickr / ToddABishop
Moving 300 million users from one popular (and often free) email system to another is bound to ruffle feathers. And feathers were ruffled. Read more »
One Linux over all: Mark Shuttleworth’s ambitious post-PC plans for Ubuntu
Canonical Founder Mark Shuttleworth has really big, plans to put Ubuntu on your smartphone, on your tablet and (via OpenStack). What he doesn’t offer is details on revenue. Read more »
Xeround pulls the plug on cloud database service
Company tells users of its cloud-based MySQL database service to move their instances by May 8 or else. (May 15 for paying customers.) Read more »
VMware garage sale continues as it offloads WaveMaker to Pramati
Just two years after acquiring WaveMaker for its enterprise Java expertise, VMware is selling those assets to Pramati. Read more »
Amazon offers cloud certifications; more proof that AWS is all grown up
photo: Mega Pixel
Amazon is following the lead of its IT elders by rolling out technology certifications for developers, solution architects and admins. Read more »
IBM makes “world’s smallest” movie by filming atoms
Researchers at IBM’s Almaden Research Center used a two-ton scanning tunneling microscope to make a the world’s tiniest movie. Read more »
Heroku says PostGIS support enables smarter mobile app development
photo: Thinkstock
Everyone’s trying to add geographic data to mobile apps. Heroku says its embrace of PostGIS 2.0 will help devs do that faster and easier. Read more »
Stackdriver opens its cloud monitoring service for business
If you run your applications in AWS or Rackspace clouds, you probably want to monitor their performance and get real-time alerts should things go awry. Stackdriver says it has a service for you. Read more »
SoftLayer adds Riak database service to its mix
photo: Shutterstock / z0w
Cloud service and hosting provider adds distributed Riak NoSQL database to its mix of services. Read more »
Say what? Microsoft Azure’s a $1 billion business?
Microsoft says it’s sold a billion dollars worth of cloud services. But as is usually the case, the value of cloud sales depends on what your definition of cloud is. Read more »
AppFog drops Rackspace support
So much for running your AppFog apps on any cloud: The PaaS provider is dumping Rackspace support completely this week. Read more »
More fun facts about AWS usage, this time from Cloudyn
Companies like Cloudyn want to make Amazon Web Services less of a mystery to its users, but they have lots of competition — including from Amazon itself. Read more »
Eucalyptus supports Netflix tools to prove its Amazon cloud compatibility
Eucalyptus wants to be the most compatible of AWS-compatible private clouds and says its support of Netflix OSS tools proves it is just that. Read more »
The week in cloud: the argument for lots of clouds; mobility rules; catching up with Dell
photo: Shutterstock Brian A Jackson
RightScale research says one cloud won’t fit all; mobile development landgrab continues with Facebook-Parse deal; Michael Dell talks up cloud opportunity. Read more »
If Amazon Web Services is a sideline, it sure is a big one
photo: Flickr/Will Merydith
No one outside of Seattle really knows how big Amazon Web Services is. But we do know that its overall category hit the $750 million mark last quarter. Read more »
Baxter the Robot — now available for research
photo: Barb Darrow
Rethink Robotics re-tools Baxter the manufacturing robot to be a research assistant. Baxter can be programmed by a human trainer who walks it through its tasks. Read more »
Meet our six Structure 2013 finalists
Here are the best of the best of this year’s Structure Launchpad startups. Come check them out at Structure in June. Read more »
Opscode gains momentum with IBM, Microsoft deals
IBM is integrating Chef into SmartCloud and Microsoft is adding support for Azure as well in a sign that enterprises are fully aboard the devops bandwagon. Read more »
Yesware sync and reminder tools aim to help close deals
Boston startup says new features will help sales people sync appointments across Google Calendar and Salesforce.com. Read more »
Can Pivotal really offer cloud nirvana?
photo: Albert Chau
Will Pivotal’s corporate overlords let Paul Maritz do as he pledges — offer a cloud-agnostic operating layer? I’m sure business customers hope so. Read more »
GE to pour $105M into EMC and VMware’s Pivotal Initiative
photo: Albert Chau
GE said it will use its 10 percent stake in the nascent Pivotal Initiative to bolster its industrial internet push Read more »
Joyent says Chef support will make cloud workloads mobile
photo: JULIADEBOER PHOTOGRAPHY
The cloud provider is banking that its new full integration of Opscde Chef, which is also supported by Amazon Web Services, will make it easier for AWS customers to move to Joyent Cloud. Read more »
Hey Silicon Valley, innovation isn’t all about you
Execs from Brown Brothers Harriman,Goodyear, the Mayo Clinic and Whirlpool — organizations that have more than 500 years of experience between them — talk about how they fuel innovation. Read more »
API turf war heats up as MuleSoft buys ProgrammableWeb
Don’t like the lay of the API land now? Wait a second, it’s gonna change as companies snap up API management expertise and other relevant resources. Read more »
CA snaps up Layer 7 as API management arena heats up
Last week it was Intel buying Mashery, now it’s CA buying Layer 7. Both Mashery and Layer 7 are in the business of managing application programming interfaces. Read more »
Superstar investors give Upstart $5.9M for its first birthday
Khosla Ventures, Eric Schmidt, Marc Benioff and Scott Banister pony up for Series A round as Jessica Jackley and Bob Kerrey join board of startup that matches college grads with backers. Read more »
IBM buys UrbanCode for its devops chops
Big Blue says UrbanCode’s software works well with its own Worklight mobile application development platfrom to speed up the creation and deployment of mobile (and cloud) apps. Read more »
The week in cloud: SAP stakes cloud claim; legacy and new-look vendors arm for battle
photo: Shutterstock / Gena96
Sometimes we forget: cloud adoption is just in the baby step phase; SAP says it’s profiting from cloud; battle for legacy and new app workloads gets more nuanced. Read more »
In Boston bombing lock-down, the best and worst of social media emerges
If your town is inundated with paramilitary forces and you’re told to stay put because a madman’s on the loose, Twitter is suddenly your connection to the world beyond. Read more »
When the search for the Boston bombing suspects comes to your neighborhood
photo: Getty Images
When you’re in official lock-down, piecing together what’s going on a mile from your house requires triangulation — police scanners, Twitter, Facebook, radio and TV — all come into play. Read more »
Microsoft earnings: Windows wasn’t as bad as expected but it wasn’t good either
photo: Flickr / ToddABishop
Despite flat year-over-year WIndows revenue, Microsoft logged a 19 percent profit year over year. Not too shabby for the much maligned company. Read more »
What HP’s new cloud guy wants you to know about HP’s new cloud
Saar Gillai says HP’s darkest days are behind it and with its new OpenStack cloud, the company is hitting its stride. Then again, what else would he say? Read more »
Why OpenStack is like kale — it’s cheap, easy to source and good for you
photo: Nick Saltmarsh
OpenStack, like kale, can be baked, roasted, sliced, diced, sauteed and pureed to be made part of anything. Or at least that’s what its backers hope. Read more »
Cloudability tool gives Amazon customers more detailed, custom looks at their cloud costs
Cloudability says its new AWS cost analytics tool can handle the deluge of hourly cost data Amazon churns out and help customers nip budgeting and other usage problems in the bud. Read more »
Top 5 lessons learned at OpenStack Summit
photo: Aaron Hockley
There was lots of hubbub Tuesday at the OpenStack Summit. Actual customers talking about real implementations of the open-source cloud. Here’s what I learned. Read more »
At long last, Microsoft is ready to compete head on with Amazon Web Services
Microsoft Windows Azure GM Bill Hilf calls Amazon a competitor, a partner and a neighbor: But that won’t stop Microsoft from launching an IaaS price war against Amazon Web Services. Read more »
ManageEngine hones enterprise search for IT admins
ManageEngine says its new enterprise search function can help IT admins find the needle in the haystack of configuration data that can solve performance problems. Read more »
Cloudscaling, HP update their OpenStack clouds
photo: Shutterstock / Bruce Rolff
Just in time for the OpenStack Summit: new-look vendor Cloudscaling and legacy IT giant HP beef up their respective OpenStack clouds. Read more »
