Cloud Data Quality Webinar

On Thursday, May 26th, Pervasive will be hosting a webinar featuring Pivotal Information Technology's own Cloud General Manager, Malcolm Hawker

The topic will be "Master Your Data Faster: An Integrated Approach to Data Quality". In this seminar, you will learn how Pivotal IT rapidly created a Master Data Model for their client, Neustar, using Pervasive Software. See how information is collected from multiple disparate sources, then validated and standardized using Melissa Data’s address validation library.

Master Your Data Faster: An Integrated Approach to Data Quality
May 26, 2011 at 2:15 p.m. CDT
Presenters: Malcolm Hawker, Cloud General Manager at Pivotal Information Technology

Register Now!

Data Integration Success

David Linthicum, CTO of Blue Mountain Labs, discussed 5 critical success factors for Data Integration projects. Although all 5 are important, one jumped out at me and it may not be the one most successful cloud technology individuals gravitate towards first....

"Understand your business" is sometimes lost in the race to generate the best data integration product or project. The thought that , "Well, if we understand the data, understand the rules, and have the mechanisms, that should be enough" has typically been the mantra I have seen in many integration projects.
I am glad David pointed out the importance of understanding the business, because it is something I do first in every engagement. Understanding and mapping the inherent business processes that touch each data integration point is key in understanding and developing an effective integration plan. Each piece of data being integrated touches and more importantly, supports business processes. Understanding those business processes will help you avoid any lost integration points and will more importantly allow you to anticipate needs your customer may not even know they have.

Google Earth Builder

Google launched its EarthBuilder product recently which allows you to "upload, process and store your geospatial data in our cloud. Your employees then can use familiar tools — (Google Maps and Google Earth) — to easily and securely share and publish mapping data,” Google’s Director of North American Geo Sales Tarun Bhatnager wrote on his company blog.
Google Earth Builder, which will be available in the third quarter of 2011, will allow those with large data sets, terabytes of imagery and other heavy computational needs to use Google platform for their own needs and significantly lower IT costs and eliminate time maintaining, scaling and updating software and servers. Just the ability alone to create custom map layers should drive a heavy user adoption.

This is part of a larger Google strategy regarding the cloud. While others have focused on infrastructure mainly, Google seems to be aiming squarely in the App space with this and their other cloud applications (Google Apps).

Given Google Apps 90% retention rate, this strategy seems to be paying off with a 100% Google App growth rate each year.

CloudFoundry

Last week, VMware announced their CloudFoundry Platform as a service product to rave reviews.

For recap, Cloud Foundry, a VMware-led project is the world’s first open Platform as a Service (PaaS) offering. Cloud Foundry provides a platform for building, deploying, and running cloud apps using Spring for Java developers, Rails and Sinatra for Ruby developers, Node.js and other JVM frameworks including Grails.

Why is this a good thing?
One word...OPEN.

• Open PaaS
• Use it public, private and cross infrastructure
• No lock in
  

Platform as a Service that gives users the ability to migrate, that lets them use their code wherever they like is amazing.
Cloud Developers are cautiously optimistic at this point because Developers can deploy their applications using their existing tools and with zero modification to their code.

Let the attempted commodization begin!

Cloud ROI

What are you factoring in for ROI to move to a cloud solution?
Just the cost of removing a room or room of servers to something that is multi-tenet?
Then, you may be missing the true ROI of cloud computing.

As David Linthicum points out (http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-youre-missing-in-your-cloud-roi-calculations-595), the true value of moving to a cloud solution is the ability to be infinitely more flexible in adapting to future needs.

I take that a step further in the fact that implementing a cloud based solution allows you to not have to overhaul your current IT staff and infrastructure but more easily adapt your new cloud system to what you have. I.e. just because you have an new system doesn't mean you have to scrap or relearn your intellectual capital.

Cloud and the Manufacturing Industry

According to The 2011 Microsoft Discrete Manufacturing Cloud Computing Survey, "cloud computing also facilitates efficient collaboration across geographies(47.7 percent) and the ability to respond quickly to business demands (38.4 percent)." However, even with this increased sharing and collaboration, one key missing ingredient has emerged: the integration of these tools with backend business systems. Think of it as building the perfect car. Even if you build the perfect, most efficient engine, if you do not know how to connect that engine to the car, you will have a disjointed mess. The key mix is going to be companies and cloud technologies that facilitate an industry wide collaboration between manufacturing products, IT providers, service providers, and integrators themselves.

Government in the cloud

Kevin Jackson, cloud blogger for Forbes, points out an interesting oxymoron with the government's strategy for moving the government infrastructure to the cloud. What intrigues me isn't that the government is transitioning itself to the cloud (as evidenced by data.gov, recovery.gov, and IT Dashboard), but it is the speed in which they are doing this. When you think government, do you normally think pushing the envelopes with newer technologies? I don't. However, I am extremely impressed with the government's aggressive attitude with this change. The fact that the most risk adverse organization in the United States is moving their infrastructure to the cloud speaks volumes to how much cost savings are gained by moving to the cloud and how much security can be gained in the cloud. That is the point that really hits home with me.

http://blogs.forbes.com/kevinjackson/2011/03/23/government-cloud-computing-on-forbes/