This week’s announcement of VMware’s Horizon App Manager is the latest addition to the company’s increasingly rich portfolio, but the company is not alone in wanting to strengthen its market position by expanding far beyond its original offering. Where, then, does that leave the competition? Read more »
In the past 10 years VMware has executed a remarkable strategy to topple enterprise software incumbents and emerge as an ecosystem kingpin. Time and again, it seems as though VMware is beating Microsoft at its own game. But a look deeper reveals that is no surprise. Read more »
Red Hat today is launching two new cloud computing offerings, IaaS software called CloudForms and PaaS software called OpenShift. CloudForms helps users configure, deploy and manage virtual resources, and OpenShift is Red Hat’s incarnation of the Makara technology that it bought it November. Read more »
Red Hat is expanding its set of cloud capabilities by announcing the JBoss Enterprise Data Grid. The product gives customers an in-memory data grid that scales along with the server infrastructure and provides a high-performance cache to offload the demand on the primary database. Read more »
CloudBees is now offering its RUN@cloud service as software that lets users build their own PaaS environments on OpenStack- or VMware vSphere-based infrastructure. Choice in PaaS deployment environments is becoming a new must-have feature, especially in light of Amazon’s recent outage and projects like Cloud Foundry. Read more »
The popular web sites down today because of the Amazon Web Services outage are getting most of the attention, but they were only a handful among the hundred-plus that were affected, including at least three popular platform-as-a-service providers — Heroku, Engine Yard and DotCloud. Read more »
Two markets stand out above all else when looking at the first quarter of 2011: infrastructure as a service (IaaS) — the epitome of cloud computing — and big data. Amazon Web Services continues to lead the IaaS space in terms of customers and innovation, while Rackspace, buoyed by momentum around OpenStack, will be its primary competitor for mainstream customers. In the big data space, there are so many players and terms floating about it’s difficult for outsiders to get a handle on who’s who and what’s what, though such activity validates the technologies. Other developments this quarter included HP’s impending presence in the cloud computing and big data spaces and the realization that Intel won’t be left to die if low-power servers based on x86 processors catch on like the buzz late last year suggests they will. Additional companies mentioned in this report include VMware, Microsoft, Cloudera, SeaMicro and Facebook. For a full list of companies, and to read the full report, sign up for a free trial. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
RightScale and Zend are now offering a platform-as-a-service offering for developing PHP applications in the cloud. RightScale and Zend are targeting their joint RightScale Zend PHP Solution Pack for enterprise applications that require advanced development tools and high service levels. Read more »
After years of debate over the role of open source in cloud computing, the possibility of a top-to-bottom, open-source, infrastructure stack now looks very real, with much of the designs and code needed to build a cloud from the ground up available free of charge. Read more »
With each passing day, cloud computing — and the platform-as-a-service space, in particular — looks a lot more like a large software vendor’s game than it does a space where plucky startups might actually be able to establish a presence and remain independent for the long run. Read more »
VMware has entered the cloud game by offering an open-source package called Cloud Foundry, a platform as a service that should strike fear in the hearts of its compeitors, especially the likes of Salesforce.com, Microsoft and Rackspace. Read more »
Platform-as-a-Service star Heroku has grown up since Saleforce.com bought for $212 million in December, attracting the attention of some big names in systems integration an enterprise consulting through the Heroku Partner Program, including Accenture and Pivotal Labs. The traction helps validate Ruby, Heroku and PaaS. Read more »
According to a post on Bloomberg this morning, Microsoft plans to spend 90 percent, or $8.64 billion, of its $9.6 billion annual R&D budget on cloud computing, which begs the question of where that money will land within Microsoft’s very broad definition of cloud. Read more »
This past weekend, beta-phase PaaS offering PHP Fog was hacked and vandalized by a couple of teenagers, a situation that raises serious questions about cloud security. But the questions aren’t just about technology; the case also raises issues about who’s ultimately responsible for security breaches. Read more »
Cloud Platform-as-a-Service startup DotCloud has raised $10 million from Benchamrk Capital and Trinity Ventures, further evidence that openness will be critical if PaaS is to become the future of cloud computing. Openness in PaaS might best be defined as giving users choice and some management access. Read more »
As the needs for performance and power efficiency become more important, figuring out how to get the best hardware on the job without having to rewrite all your code becomes a problem computer science must solve. Is abstraction the answer? Read more »
Flexible PaaS startup DotCloud has raised $800,000 in angel funding, although it should be seeing a lot more if its alignment with the evolution of the platform-as-a-service space is any indication. DotCloud prides itself on simplicity, but it sets itself apart by providing a flexible platform. Read more »
Cloud pundit Simon Wardley expressed on his blog today his now two-year-old theory that VMware could end up selling off its flagship virtualization business to focus on its platform business. It’s a far-fetched idea, for sure, but Wardley’s idea isn’t without merit. Read more »
VMware’s announced that the first three vCloud Datacenter partners are now online and that a new tool for managing hybrid VMware clouds is available. These types of capabilities will bring enterprise users into the cloud fold, perhaps leading to even cloudier ambitions in the future. Read more »
Just a month after hurriedly closing a deal to acquire competitor Stax Networks, CloudBees’ RUN@cloud Java platform as a service is available for public use. CloudBees deserves credit for making its offering available while others are still in development. Read more »
If today’s links are any indication, we could see some serious changes to once-lauded IT practices and trends. There’s a call for PaaS evolution, talk that Cisco really does fear Xsigo and even stats showing Rackspace nipping at Amazon’s heels in web hosting. Read more »
The growing Java PaaS market will soon need to make room for CumuLogic, an startup led by a team of Sun Microsystems veterans. The Sun connection is notable because Sun was the Java owner and development leader before its acquisition by Oracle early last year. Read more »
Amazon Web Services, which built and popularized cloud computing with its Elastic Compute Cloud and Simple Storage Service has moved up the stack from infrastructure to providing Amazon Elastic Beanstalk, its brand new Platform-as-a-Service play. With Beanstalk, Amazon hopes to outgrow the competition. Read more »
We’ve already covered the trends that began to shape up in the infrastructure market in 2010 and will really materialize in 2011. Several companies played — and will continue to play — a big role in making those trends happen. From Facebook to Cloudera to Microsoft, here ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
It seems like every year since 2008 has been dubbed the “Year of the Cloud,” but I think 2010 was it. There are legitimate trends that allow us to get past mere speculation and actually make informed predictions about what the future holds for cloud computing. Read more »
CloudBees, fresh off closing a $4 million funding round, has acquired fellow Java PaaS startup Stax Networks. The move might seem inconsequential — both companies are relatively unknown — but it signals that the PaaS consolidation kicked off by Red Hat and Salesforce.com might just be beginning. Read more »
Heroku’s $212 million exit made headlines this week, but Ruby is just part of the emerging PaaS landscape. From Java to Python, providers that can support the gamut of web-programming languages will thrive, which is why everyone from Salesforce.com to VMware is getting into the ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Marc Benioff’s insistence on calling Salesforce.com a cloud computing company used to draw a few laughs. That’s been changing over the past several months with offerings like VMforce and Database.com, and its acquisition of PaaS pioneer Heroku for $212 million is the icing on the cake. Read more »
Salesforce is bulking up its position as a cloud platform for developers by agreeing to snap up Heroku, a Ruby application Platform-as-a-Service for $212 million. The deal will further establish Salesforce as a platform for app developers along with its VMforce enterprise cloud collaboration with VMware. Read more »
PaaS – Java PaaS, specifically – was the word of the week in cloud computing. Suddenly, it seems, an area once devoid of options with swimming with choices. Now, it’s not a matter of who’ll step up and offer a Java-capable PaaS service, but which approaches ... Read more at GigaOM Pro »
Suddenly, it seems, Java PaaS, an area once devoid of options, is swimming with choices. Makara, CloudBees, App Engine, Windows Azure and more all support Java. Now, it’s not a matter of who’ll step up and offer a Java-capable PaaS service, but which approaches are sustainable. Read more »
The cloud computing world is in for yet another shakeup: Red Hat has acquired platform-as-a-service (PaaS) startup Makara. The purchase immediately vaults Red Hat into the role of cloud provider, but also gives Red Hat the means to sell its PaaS vision across the cloud landscape. Read more »
Boston-based cloud computing startup CloudBees has received $4 million to advance its vision of building a top-to-bottom Java Platform as a Service (PaaS). CloudBees already offers a Java development Platform as a Service, but its plans include a production-ready Java runtime PaaS called RUN@cloud. Read more »
Spotting an opportunity to formally merge cloud computing with social networking, Heroku has developed a program to help customers develop and launch Facebook apps on the Heroku platform. Given the huge number of social apps hosted atop Heroku, the time is ripe to launch this program. Read more »
PiCloud, a Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company that is developing a python-based platform as a service (PaaS) has raised $1.4 million in its first round of funding. Investors in PiCloud co-founded by Ken Elkabany (CEO) and Aaron Staley, include Greylock Ventures, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers and Andreessen Horowitz. Read more »
Heroku, the San Francisco-based Platform-as-a-Service provider is all set to hit the magical 100,000 app mark, sometime next week. The PAAS platform had 40,000 apps a year ago. Heroku’s platform is gaining momentum and as companies finds increased adoption amongst corporate users and mobile developers. Read more »
At its Professional Developers Conference, Microsoft rolled out many new features that should seriously strengthen the presence in of Windows Azure among public cloud offerings, perhaps even making the PaaS offering a closer competitor to Amazon Web Services’ industry-leading IaaS offerings. Read more »
After so much Big Data lately, it’s good to have a day where cloud computing takes center stage. We have NYC making a huge investment in Microsoft, a question about the role of PaaS, Gartner praising the cloud and AWS expanding on its Hadoop product. Read more »
Often overlooked is the tool that made high technology possible: the human brain. But as it turns out, that’s something we can access via the cloud too. Some call it “labor as a service,” others call it “labor-on-demand,” but everyone should call it cloud computing. Read more »
The second quarter of 2010 belonged to the little guys and the new guys. Almost across the board, from processors to virtualization to cloud services, relatively small vendors and startups had the market cornered on innovation and mindshare. And where there’s tinder in the forms of customer demand, products, funding and a greater societal movement toward environmentalism, something is bound to catch fire. Read more at GigaOM Pro »
