Amazon Winning in the Cloud
May 18, 2010
Amazon is an unusual company. I find its use of open source technology fascinating. At one time – and maybe still – the very core of Amazon ran on commercial products. “Amazon Stealing the Cloud” suggests that Amazon is moving in directions I have not fully appreciated. The write up presents some facts and assertions about Amazon’s presence in the cloud. The sources range from a survey of developers to the MBAs and their Excel spreadsheets at an investment bank. Since the excitement about certain financial activities, I have to be upfront and say, “I am not so sure about those bank estimates.” Your view of what’s in the burgoo may vary, and that’s healthy. You might have a pet azure chip consultant in your corner like a highly paid cut man at boxing match. As long as you pay, you get that effective medical care.
Among the points in the write up I noted were these:
- Recovery.gov runs on Amazon
- Amazon hosts 365,000 Web sites
- Amazon is in the commodity business.
Let’s assume these assertions are accurate. Amazon may be out Googling Google. Many of Amazon’s services have been referenced in Google’s technical papers or its frequently dismissed patent applications. What Amazon is able to do is execute. This says a lot about Amazon and perhaps even more about Google.
Stephen E Arnold, May 18, 2010
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Netflix, Cloud, and Search
May 9, 2010
I read “Netflix’s Movie Cloud Is Moving into the Amazon Cloud” and learned a couple of things and was unable to find one item of information I sought. The news, of course, that Amazon will host a competitor’s business. Not too surprising in these days when AOL hires a Google manager and a Microsoft person to be chief technology officer and when Google is imitating Bing’s user interface.
The two things I learned in the article were:
- The move apparently was a result of open information sharing. That’s a positive. But I wonder if those confidentiality agreements that Booz, Allen & Hamilton made grunts like me sign have gone the way of the dodo.
- The Amazon-Netflix system works.
What I wanted to find out was the answer to this question, “Has the search function been moved to the Amazon cloud as well?” If so, how does that work. I heard that Netflix used open source search technology. A cloud based open source search implementation is very big news. I will keep hunting and stay on the tips of my webbed feet when colleagues ask questions.
Stephen E Arnold, May 9, 2010
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IBM and Its Meta Cloud Aspirations
May 5, 2010
IBM is big. One hundred billion in revenues and counting. For a company of its size, IBM has to aim high. The cloud is a potential gold mine for IBM’s consulting divisions. But once the clients have been studied up, IBM wants to sell technology in its many guises. Enter the idea to integrate disparate clouds. I call this a meta-cloud play.
The IBM of today is a cloud in formation. The meta-cloud play is on the horizon. To speed the formation of the meta cloud, IBM acquired Cast Iron Systems. You can get the details in “IBM to Boost Cloud Services with Cast Iron Buy.” Cast iron will add technology and expertise to the IBM arsenal. The play is to put in place a service that hooks different clouds together; hence, a meta play. Integration can be lucrative. Look at Microsoft’s revenues from rolling up word processing and a spreadsheet. IBM wants to follow this type of model. For me the key passage in the write up was:
Cast Iron uses prebuilt software templates for integration rather than writing custom code. This allows cloud integrations to be carried out in days, as opposed to weeks, whether using physical appliances, virtual appliances or a cloud service, according to IBM.
IBM and its meta cloud play. A view from orbit. Source: http://ultraorange.net/media/2008/03/science-earth-from-space-clouds.jpg
My take away is that IBM wants to change the way it deploys cloud services and create an opportunity to build on the hybrid clouds. IBM will sell consulting, software licenses, and custom services. In short, if the plan works, IBM outflanks some pesky competitors and Google, instead of being a near equal, becomes one service provider. Neat.
The challenge will be to make the meta cloud work. In the good old days, clients were rolling in dough and no one ever got fired for buying IBM. Today, cash can be tricky. Sometimes it’s available. Sometimes it’s not. And customers are looking for ways to tap into the promise of the cloud without losing sales, momentum, and data.
The challenge to IBM may come from some unlikely competitors. For example, “do it on a shoestring” Amazon is flexing its cloud muscles in the US Federal market. IBM considers the Federal sector its stomping grounds. There have been some open source wizards poking around cloud solutions that challenge the commercial software model. And there are folks at Google and Microsoft and Oracle who are in the clouds as well.
What about search? If IBM pushes into the meta cloud, my hunch is that IBM may drag Lucene/Solr along and then open the pearly gates to third party vendors who are IBM partners in search and content processing. Will IBM win? It won’t lose.
Stephen E Arnold, May 5, 2010
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Google Client Stumbles, Not the Google
May 1, 2010
The Los Angeles shift from on premises software to Google Apps has hit some choppy water. The story I read was “L.A. Stumbles In Deployment Of Google Apps.” Note that Google did not stumble. The client stumbled. Here’s the key passage in my opinion:
Santana [an LA administrative officer] explained, “Performance concerns focused on the slowness with which e-mails were sent, received, and accessed in the new system. Functionality concerns focused on features currently available in GroupWise that are unavailable, or significantly different, in Google’s system. Further, the Los Angeles Police Department indicated that several security issues have yet to be resolved, and that a pilot of its technical support staff must be successfully completed before it can be expanded to the rest of the LAPD.”
I wonder if the integrator is responsible for addressing these issues or will the client have to be Googley and figure it out.
Stephen E Arnold, May 1, 2010
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Quintura Releases New Site Search Version
April 23, 2010
Quintura Inc. has released a new version of its Quintura Site Search, a hosted Web site search, statistics, and advertising solution for online content publishers. The search program is interactive and integrated into your site, and it indexes your pages to create a weighted keyword cloud of search results. The service includes search statistics and options to display banner ads and links in search results, including your own. The update includes a new control panel for setting up a site search and customizing the appearance of the results in the cloud tag. The key advantages are that it is easily accessible, eye-catching, and works as an interactive widget to encourage page counts. It’s free, too, so if you’d like to add a site search to your web site that’s not Google’s, you might give Qunitura a chance. You can see an example of their “minicloud” on their Web site at http://www.quintura.com.
Jessica W. Bratcher, April 23, 2010
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Google Aims for Average
April 14, 2010
“Google CEO Eric Schmidt Talks Up Web-Based Enterprise Apps” in Datamation includes a comment that I found startling. According to the article,
“Our applications aren’t full replacements to the incumbents,” he said. “Our goal is 80 percent because then we provide value and the features most users want.” The “value” Google offers over traditional PC-bound apps includes a fast iteration of new features, an emphasis on collaboration, low cost and Web-based access.
My interpretation of this comment, if it is accurate, is that Google is implementing a “good enough” strategy. The company sees its sweet spot as a C average vendor. Perhaps I am off base? Google has made much of its hiring the best people. Now Google is using its talent pool to deliver 80 percent. That may be the way to generate revenue which is the name of the game in the US. Will the C average approach apply outside of Google´s enterprise initiative?
Stephen E Arnold, April 14, 2010
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IBM and Verizon Team for Search Storage
April 13, 2010
Short honk: I read “IBM and Verizon Look to Draw Large Enterprises to Cloud Data Backup—Search Storage” in File Recovery. The pairing strikes me as one more attempt by IBM to hit a home run in a market sector that is beginning to get some traction. The optimists say an economic recovery is underway. Those in some big companies may be somewhat more cautious. The cloud appears to offer some ways to slash costs, but the idea that a service from two giants like IBM and Verizon will save money strikes me as a proposition that needs some supporting facts. The “search storage” phrase puzzles me. Hosted search works in some situations and it doesn’t in others. More information needed, but the tie up is fascinating.
Stephen E Arnold, April 13, 2010
Nope, a news item written for no dough.
Google Cloud Deals: Are Some More Equal than Others?
April 12, 2010
“Frustrations with Cloud Computing Mount” runs down a number of issues with cloud computing. The hassles wander all over the map. But the article contains a quite interesting point about Google’s cloud computing agreements. Here is the passage I found fascinating:
The big cloud customers, such as the City of Los Angeles, which reached an agreement for unlimited damages with Google when it contracted to use its Google Apps services , should it ever violate its nondisclosure agreements, can negotiate terms that may give them a transparency and enforcement leverage. But many other users don’t have that clout and, and in a lot of cases cloud providers may not even provide the logging information needed to prove a breach, said Jim Reavis, the founder of the Cloud Security Alliance.
I think this means that some are more equal than others.
Stephen E Arnold, April 12, 2010
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Google Snags Programmable Search Engine Patent
April 11, 2010
Short honk: The programmable search engine invention has been granted a US patent. Filed in august 2005 and published in February 2007, the PSE provides a glimpse of the Google’s systems and methods for performing sophisticated content processing. Dr. Ramanathan Guha, inventor of the PSE, has a deep interest in data management, the semantic Web and context tagging. You can download a copy of US7693830 from the USPTO. There were four other PSE patent applications published on the same day in February 2007, which is a testament to Dr. Guha’s ability to invent and write complex patent applications in a remarkable period of time. The PSE is quite important with elements of the invention visible in today’s Google shopping service, among others.
Stephen E Arnold, April 9, 2010
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Glitch at Google Check Out
April 10, 2010
Short honk: Google may have some unhappy Check Out customers. The Register’s “Google Checkout Checks Out” reports some alleged issues. Yet another Google glitch? Not sure. For me the key passage in the article was:
“As far as I know unlike PayPal they have no technical support via the phone and we just have to hope someone is doing something. If it carries on today I shall remove Google Checkout as an option for payment until it’s fixed.”
I thought Google addressed some of its customer support issues after the Nexus One flap. Maybe not.
Stephen E Arnold, April 9, 2010
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