When I talk about architecting in the cloud, I am referring to building composite applications or services from scratch with the cloud as the target deployment platform. So as you read this post think about an enterprise application or collection of services build for the cloud. In previous posts I have referenced a hybrid cloud model like the one below:
Cyber Warfare Caused By Angry Gamers
Dan Morrill June 11th, 2009Dark Reading and China.org is reporting that two underground gaming services got so angry with each other that DDOS retaliation caused a temporary internet service outage in at least 3 provinces in China. Gamers are sometimes just too serious about their games.
This shows that cyber warfare is not just for nation states, two underground or unauthorized gaming services in China used a DDOS attack against the national DNS system (DNSPod) as a way to disrupt game play and attract more players to the competing services. Rather than actually going out to get more members, the DNS DDOS attack ended up causing a chain reaction failure of the national DNS infrastructure.
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Microsoft And IBM To Have Key Announcements At JavaOne
Savio Rodrigues May 29th, 2009While the future of JavaOne is anybody’s guess, it’s interesting to note that Microsoft and IBM are both delivering keynotes at JavaOne this year. This is Microsoft’s first JavaOne keynote and IBM’s first in at least 2 years.
Improving Project Success Rates with Better Leadership
Dr. Karen McGraw May 14th, 2009Introduction
Factual and anecdotal evidence confirms that IT investments are inherently risky. On average, about 70% of all IT related projects fail to meet their on-time, on-budget objectives or to produce the expected business results. In one KPMG survey, 67% of the companies who participated said that their program/project management function was in need of improvement. Why? A number of leading factors for project failure were suggested by the survey, including the “usual suspects”: unreasonable project timelines, poorly defined requirements, poor scope management, and unclear project objectives. Granted, all of these factors can play a role in project success. But are they the cause or project failure, or just a symptom of some larger issue? In this article, we will discuss that the root cause for many of these common failure points is really the ability to lead projects, not just manage them.
Sound Advice For Keeping Your Blog Current
Thomas McMahon April 30th, 2009The grass is growing, the flowers are blooming and that means it’s spring! As people start the spring cleaning on their garages, it’s also a great time to do some spring cleaning on your blog and give it a tune-up.
A lot of things can happen to a blog over time and blog maintenance is a task that probably doesn’t get done as often as it should. When is the last time you tested your comments? Or filled out your own forms? Maybe looked at the site in Internet Explorer?!
Are Professional Services Needed For Enterprise 2.0
Bill Ives April 16th, 2009Here is re-post from FastForward as I wanted to see if I could stir up some more conversation on the topic. An interesting question was raised in the post, Should Software Vendors Also Sell Professional Services?, by Stewart Mader. He quotes Oliver Marks, “The reality for all “social community” roll outs is that the software is a relatively minor component compared to the change management required to drive uptake and usage and to weave the software into the business fabric of day to day use.” I certainly agree here and was even part of a panel at Enterprise 2.0 Conference in 2007 titled: 90% people, 10% technology.
How to Successfully Execute IT Projects
Curt Finch and Bruce McGraw April 2nd, 2009According to a 2008 Gartner report, 15% of all IT projects failed that year because of high cost variance, while 18% were unsuccessful because they were substantially late.i This means that in 2008, 1 in 3 technology projects failed. Why such a dismal success rate? Such projects primarily involve the management of human resources in order to accomplish the target schedule, cost, and quality, so it is safe to assume that poor resource management played a large role. Unfortunately, without effective resource management processes, such organizations are left asking questions like:
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Issues To Consider Before Implementing Enterprise 2.0
Jim Berkowitz March 16th, 2009Here’s an excellent article by Kate Carruthers about what IT must consider before implementing Enterprise 2.0 applications, 5 Key IT Issues for Successful Enterprise 2.0 Implementations.
What I find interesting is that the 5 issues discussed below are critical for any CRM implementation as well. Unfortunately, over the years many organizations have tried to implement CRM without considering these issues, (and have had problems), even though the importance of addressing these things has been talked about for years. I don’t expect that Enterprise 2.0 will be any different.
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IT Concerns With Transaction On The Cloud
Mike Kavis March 5th, 2009You read that right! Somebody is dumb crazy enough to put transactions in the “insecure” clouds. I mean, look at all of the threats and compliance issues:
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Businesses Are Moving Towards SaaS
Jim Berkowitz February 19th, 2009Here are several excerpts from an an article by Steve Evans about recent research regarding the use of Software as a Service (SaaS) in small and mid-sized enterprises, SMEs turning towards SaaS:
New research by Really Simple Systems, a UK-based hosted CRM vendor, has revealed that small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are increasingly embracing hosted applications.
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