Skip to main content

Cloud computing on Tech.Ed

Many sessions were dedicated to Cloud Computing topics last week at Tech Ed EMEA. Some highlights I wanted to post here.

First the Azure platform. Like Windows SharePoint Services (SharePoint Portal is build on top of it) Azure delivers a platform for applications that will become geographic independent. By this I mean that we will see many more applications that do not require a specific location to run. Geo independency is a major advantage with cloud computing. You can now create multiple instances of your application anywhere in the world! Or if you are more of a green fellow, wherever the coolest datacenter is.

Next federation. Microsoft is aiming to become a federation trusted party. It is like the TTP in certificate world. The federation platform v2 has codename Geneva. When this product evolve we will see websites where you automatically will become recognized. Just because your system admin and the web application developer were able to combine efforts. The result is stunning. As a consumer you get a personal experience, without noticing you have logged on through the federation trust *).

*) Technical note: a federation trust is one of the the basics of cloud computing. It is not a Active Directory trust. It is more like exchanging public certificates.

The very first application that will become available in the could (it actually already is) is EMAIL ! You didn’t see this coming, right? Then you are probably an Exchange administrator. Your work will shift towards provisioning. Cloud providers can deliver the exact same email experience at virtually no costs. Beat that. You cannot. Migration is easy and so is reversing the migration *).

*) Technical note: email is using a mature protocol. RPC over HTTPS is reliable, secure and open. It is geo independent. Your Outlook will not notice the difference. And your mailbox size will become 5 GB +.

Finally provisioning using ILM v2. The new policy engine is very powerful yet complex. My personal experience is that provisioning is not a technical challenge, We solve input issues with technical tricks, that’s for sure. So actually the problem is at the input processes. This maybe your register desks and user admins. Provisiong is a crucial activity.The true challenge is getting the technical and the business specialist to allign. Cloud computing will otherwise never be a successful hype.


Question: when do you plan to migrate to Microsoft Live Mail , Google Apps Mail of like?

 

- Paul

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Google announces new ways to discover apps on Android Market, more tools for developers

Android Market may have a lot going for it, but most would surely agree that it could use some improvement when it comes to discovering apps that you aren't specifically looking for. Thankfully, it seems Google has indeed been aware of those concerns, and it's now announced five new features that should go so some way towards improving things. Those include some newly revamped top app charts that promise to be "fresher" and country specific, a brand new Editors' Choice section that highlights apps chosen by Google, a new Top Developers feature that places a special icon next to the name of developers that make the grade (currently more than 150), improved related apps on individual app pages and, last but not least, a new trending apps section that shows the apps growing fastest in terms of daily installs. What's more, while all of those features are currently exclusive to the web-based version, Google says they're also "coming soon" to the Andr...

Scientist cooks up adjustable strength metals

As you may know, crafting a katana is a delicate process that involves carefully constructing a razor-sharp high-carbon edge around a soft shock-absorbent core. One day though, smiths and forging fires could be replaced by electrode-wielding mad-scientists, with the technology to selectively harden and soften metal at will. At least that's what we envisioned when we read about Jörg Weißmüller's breakthrough research in the field of nanomaterials. The German scientist discovered that by placing precious metals in acid he could create tiny ducts through corrosion. Once those channels are flooded with a conductive liquid, electrical currents can be used to harden the material and, if you change your mind about the brittle results, the effect can easily be reversed to make it soft again. The tech could eventually lead to self-healing vehicle armor or scratch-resistant cellphones -- but, really, we just want to zap our way to a high-quality samurai sword. Physorg

LG adds 'Tweet-TV' enabled Android phone to its list of Mobile DTV prototypes

Whenever mobile digital television broadcasts finally take off LG will be ready and its latest concept design -- following the autostereoscopic 3D screen shown at CES -- is the Tweet-TV pictured above. At the National Association of Broadcasters show this week it's demonstrating the prototype Android phone with a Harris MDTV antenna that also pulls in relevant tweets and displays them over the broadcast being watched. Whether or not a dose of social networking will help MDTV succeed where others have failed remains to be seen but first we'll see if it manages to reach 40% of the US population later this year. The press release and a bigger picture follow after the break.       LG ELECTRONICS SHOWS EXPANSIVE CAPABILITIES OF MOBILE DIGITAL TV, DEMONSTRATING 'TWEET-TV' SOCIAL NETWORKING, ELECTRONIC COUPONS, 'GLASSES FREE' 3D Prototype displays, Smartphones highlight flexibility of mobile DTV standard LAS VEGAS -- Apr 08, 2011 / (http://www.myprgenie....