Cloud Technology… is it really here? Well is it?

Solutions are becoming more streamlined, but where is it all going?

Last Saturday saw me at a Microsoft Azure “boot camp” where I chatted with some very talented industry professionals and listened to their opinions on the “new” Microsoft Azure! It was worth my while rising early on Saturday to go there and hear some of Microsoft’s senior Engineering talent talk about the new Azure and how it will make development life easy from Websites to MVC web Apps to Cloud Services. Impressed by their presentations, it got me thinking about where Cloud is going and how Microsoft’s latest offering in high level terms is similar enough to that of AWS in particular given its notable improvements in virtualisation functionality and an impressive ease of development which AWS should take note of in my view.

Whilst Microsoft, AWS and all cloud computing competitors have put allot of thought into their offerings, differentiation can be difficult thus deciding what is good for you and/or your business can be a hard task for even the informed developer and/or business owner.  There is no doubt that the major players have a good support structure in place to help businesses decide but ultimately, it comes down to the cost benefit of the value proposition when placed against a company’s need for consistency, availability and partitioning of transactions in their data management plans. Knowing what you want in detail before looking for value in a Cloud partner is key to getting what you need to be successful in your use of cloud computing! In short, know your data management requirements inside out and then go look for a cloud provider!

My mind then moved onwards thinking about the future and how these marked improvements will feature in marketplace and competitor reaction as the competition cycle keeps on turning. A couple of things came to mind, which I would like to share with you as possible “watch that space” points for the short to medium term future:

Data convenience: As in life, there is a continuing shift in business towards convenience.  A hallmark of cloud systems in PaaS and SaaS in particular is that it’s controlled more by the provider then you as the customer. As convenience is the keyword, you don’t have to do your own updates, manage your security, etc. IaaS is a little different in that your use of virtual machines requires more maintenance from your IT guys but offers great flexibility at the cost of a little convenience. The details make it a powerful product type, in which AWS and Microsoft are key players.

Trust: Given the high performance rates and availability track records of the major providers to-date, trust is building in cloud computing that is leading to more and more “trusted” use by consumers and business alike. These increasing usage levels has higher business and operational risk weightings, which has being retained or off the table for any cloud solution in the past. Trust earned is making convenience a unique selling point for cloud solutions!

Databases: The industry’s wary welcome of NoSQL in particular is starting to mature into an embrace that sees database and network storage solutions develop at a faster and faster pace. The big sell for SQL and relationship databases (RDBMS) has always being its “relational” features in SQL that allows analysis and joins with data in schema tables to happen gleaning insights for the business who uses RDBMS’s wisely. This has being the way for many decades since Oracle V2 with NoSQL now getting the positive attention it deserves. Its development into cloud has given it a good grounding for large network benefits that are getting better and better by the day, from large parallel computing jobs where huge amounts of data are processed in a short period of time to the narrowing of the bridge between SQL (i.e. Relational) and NoSQL (i.e. Non-Relational). The latter is the more recent development with great improvements reaching market like Drill and Data Lake, which are effectively narrowing the relational and non-relational divide making modelling, management and SQL “like” querying more integrated, useful and flexible to user needs. This handing of power into the hands of the user is why I think database and storage solution technology will eventually migrate into a single interface and storage management system? Who gets there first with a fully functional “one stop shop” for your truly centralised storage solution needs from one user interface? Well that’s anybody’s guess!!

Security: Security is always an issue when you are ‘trusting’ your cloud provider to take care of your data. The ability to get hacked is always present but so is the growing and evolving expertise of the cloud providers who have shown a capability that is certainly making “hacking” a more difficult and faster changing occupation. It’s a never-ending battle between hacker and provider, which indicates to me that the ability to maintain data integrity from hacking will be a keynote element in the progression of cloud technology. Consider this, if a cloud technology titan like AWS could be hacked and brought to its knees, the consequences in business terms would be catastrophic for whole industries, never mind whole companies!

The responsibility that cloud providers take on in the war against hacking is a grave one and to date, their success lies in the preservation of their network’s integrity, which has opened an impacting gateway for society’s data management needs! Least they fail; we all fail… best they succeed and we all succeed in maintaining a key part of our infrastructure in society’s continuing journey!

So if increasing trust is matched with more developed risk management approaches in using a fast developing platform for our data needs, I submit that our flexibility as a society can rest upon such an axiom and enable great things in the years to come!

Do leave your opinion on cloud technology in the comments section… I would love to get your take on the newest arrival to our digital world!

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.daiseygroup.com

www.unsplash.com

www.pleasantsolutions.com

www.yellowcircle.net

           

Credits;

Microsoft for its presentation of Microsoft Azure during the “Azure Boot Camp!”

Google… Market Monopolist or Anti-Trust Victim…

Anti-Trust Accusations by Europe, it is telling… but what of??

We all know and love Google search! Its useful results made Google the No. 1 search engine based on a its simple premise of returning sites in searches that are most recent, most used and most relevant.

So what has landed Google in trouble in Europe? The EU regulator this week is charging Google with a breach of their Anti-Trust laws through unfair favouritism of it own e-Shopping services by returning them in Google search engine results before competition like eBay, Expedia, TripAdvisor and Amazon.  If successful, this apparently tactical charge (Shopping Services) may open up Google to further charges from the EU Regulator noting the Regulator has already opened an investigation into its Android platform following complaints about alleged abuse of market power in deal setting for the platform, which requires Google apps to be pre-installed and pre-set including Google search engine. 

The truth will have to be gleaned by the regulator and the EU commission, as it’s very unclear to me that their search engine business practices meets the criteria for ‘search engine bully’ as is implied by the allegations made in this case. Microsoft had an unapologetic policy of Windows only and was quite ruthless in its pursuit of control in the market place making the 2000 Anti-Trust case very visible and justifiable. Google on the other hand have a more-cloudy position where their priority search engine technology allegedly returns its own shopping services first. Does it? I tried to see if I was shunted into a ‘Google shopping cart’ in the search engine. The screen shot result below doesn’t quite tally with the allegations.

95% on average of all Google search engine users don’t go past the first page, so even if this is true, isn’t the user going to see the most popular visited sites as quickly as they will see Google shopping sites? In fact, when I Google’d “eShopping” today, I got American Airlines for some reason coming up trumps in this key search word. No sign of Google shopping services per the allegations. So the cloudiness continues…

Google has had prior issues in Germany in the past about redirects to articles in newspaper websites from Google search engine. They were being done without newspapers like Der Spiegel getting a per click payment for the view of the article referred from Google. What they failed to realise is that nearly 90% of the traffic on their site came from Google. When the regulator sided with the complainant, Google simply shut down in Germany and the business impact on lost digital revenue sent shock waves through the country that led to reversals of decisions through “exceptions”, which lifted rulings that financially impacted Google allowing traffic to reopen whilst saving face for European politicians and regulators alike. In my view, a lack of in-depth understanding on behalf of the Complainants, Politicians and Regulators alike led to a “storm in a teacup”

Bearing the above in mind, my advise to Europe’s current Anti-Trust Chief Margrethe Vestager is to not reach a final opinion on culpability until the following is fully understood:

• ·      Complainant(s) complaint and true motivation for the complaint. Also, do they fully understand the implications of their complaint?
• ·      Technical area affected by the complaint, is it fully covered and fully understood by the senior regulatory team?
• ·      Business impact of the changes “needed” from Google?
• ·      Business impact of the changes “needed” on the complainants including a suspension of service by Google? It could be surprising to see how Google actually supports the complainants bottom line so in actuality, the claim that Google is using monopoly power to suppress their business may turn out to be incorrect. Google’s presence may actually support their business and without the digital connectivity of services through Google, they may suffer a loss in business rather then a gain in business through Google’s absence or inhibited service to current offering.
• ·      Business impact on wider community if Google’s service was forcibly altered? What is the impact of any outcomes including business impact of any forced changes and precedent setting for any future complaints succeeding against this Internet search giant?

To Google’s CEO Larry Page, I would advise the following in relation to this case:

• ·      An objective internal investigation is always a must when confirming the actual state of play on an issue V what senior executives “think” is going on. It’s not a question of trust it’s a question of verification and integrity of position taken.
• ·      Understand the issues along with the interests of the complainants and the regulator. Also, understand how both parties interact with your business in its entirety
• ·      If there is foul play on Google’s part that leads to unsustainable practice even for short term gain, find it and end it noting the key instigators whom use a taker mentality in overreaching for personal gain, which is in contradiction to ethical practice and company culture that Google certainly appears to embrace! Include the regulator in your investigation and findings. Show you are serious about protecting the rights of others in your role as a dominant market player
• ·      Approach the regulator with a collaborative rather then confrontational mentality. Your chances of a “win-win” success even in the face of provocation are higher when you use interest based negotiation techniques within a collaborative approach. 

There is no doubt in my mind that the EU has a responsibility to protect its citizens from unscrupulous corporate entities that seek to profit of Europe to the detriment of its inhabitants. This applies to smaller players looking to use regulators to knock the competition as much as it applies to dominant players who abuse their position to profit at the detriment of community they claim to serve. Does Google fit this profile of a “market abuser”? I think the truth rests with the regulator and the completeness of their investigation. My own view based on watching Google culture for some time and noting the talent it retains is not consistent with Google being a “market abuser”. However, keeping an open mind, I shall be keenly following the case.  Am I wrong in my current opinion? Will I have to change it as more facts come to light? Let me know your thoughts...

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

https://www.google.ie/#q=eShopping

www.usanews.com

www.washingtonpost.com

www.wsj.com

www.englishblog.com

www.serachengineland.com

           

Credits;

http://www.wsj.com/articles/eu-files-formal-charges-against-google-1429092584

http://www.cnbc.com/id/102587988

https://plus.google.com/+NatGeoEdOrg/posts/fYPULVgruoj

http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/court-imposes-right-to-be-forgotten-on-google-search-results-a-970419.html

“Chanate” for International New York Times in the cartoon sketch of EU Anti trust warrant served on a Google building.

Sub Culture, teams and Leadership... Is it a good idea?

Building a better tomorrow or simply swimming upstream?

In our earnest effort to be good leaders, we often think of a utopian paradise where we are loved and everybody looks forward to the start of each working day as much as they are sad leaving their extended family at day’s end. Nothing wrong with this vision, but we often allow good intentions to overly influence our leadership style, our strategic direction and where we think we can go with our team over time.

This can be counter productive and result in disaster if not checked early enough so can apply a more discerning approach to consultative leadership? Being discerning, we need to focus on the details of our leadership and the path ahead through things like:

Team Composition. What type of team do we have? Are the personalities takers, matchers or givers? Are there any functional or dysfunctional Alpha characters? Are there any passive aggressive types on board? Who are the social leaders and are they consistent with your leadership style and compatible with your forming vision for the team’s culture/operating state going forward?

Company Culture. What is your preference for an operating environment and company culture?? Is this combined vision (with your leadership style) to be found in the company leadership handbook, actual company culture and business practice??? Does the meld of all three elements into company culture suit your vision for an operating environment or do you have to create a sub culture for your leadership plans??

Management Practice. Are management ‘laissez faire’ in their actual practices leaving you free to practice leadership as you see fit or do they insist on a particular style?? Do management micromanage you, mentor you and/or coach you??? Will their practices impact your ability create a cultural connection for the team or instantiate a sub cultural environment for you and your team to operate in?

Social Hierarchy. Where do you and your team sit in the company’s social hierarchy structure? Will this impact your leadership plans in creating a consistent working environment to allow the group process to form, storm, norm and perform to set goals and objectives?

These are some conditional elements to consider when you are thinking of creating a productive sub culture in your company that suits your leadership style. Its context, acceptance probability and operational/cultural impact need to be understood in detail before proceeding.

If you find your company’s culture and management practices are consistent with your vision for leadership and a resulting operating environment, then you are in the right place! Well done, proceed with enthusiasm and create a sense of ‘we did it!’

If you find yourself upon reflection in difficulty, learning that management are negative or non responsive to your pitch, where you will drive changes with your team in approach, practices and procedures with a distinct sub culture instantiated, then don’t despair you are not alone! 

Whether it’s a case of management not understanding, not caring or disapproving, I would surmise that your vision may highlight a lack of vision on their part, which can happen for many reasons that have little or nothing to do with you. One needs to think of the follow on approach in terms of these questions:

1. ·       After pushing for an answer with management, is the response consistent with support or no support bearing in mind that the absence of expressed support is “no support”?
2. ·       Is the company culture likely to respond aggressively to the sub culture creation (i.e. giver taker culture clash) where your team’s social status is perceived in the company as “weak” due to the collaborative aspects of your leadership and environmental maintenance?
3. ·       Are there any political considerations above the ‘normal’ limit of office politics where your plans, goals and objectives are perceived to interfere with powerful people or functions within your organisation?
4. ·       Are your goals unrealistic to the environment you are in? After careful analysis and consideration, are you being asked to build ‘castles in the sand’?
5. ·       Do you think your direct manager is uncharacteristically keeping his or her distance from you and your plans (not seeing inter company support of you to other company departments and members by your manager can qualify as keeping one’s distance)?

If you are thinking “yes” to all of the above, then the chances are quite real that your leadership style and vision may well fail due to a lack of suitability with your company’s practices, culture and attitude towards what you do and how you want to do it.

What to do? You could solicit direct counsel from your manager as to how he or she wants you to resolve the team/department situation and leave your effective zone of leadership to carry out the resulting instructions. However, in the long term your efforts will be in vain, as you will become a ‘proxy leader’ and not likely to gain the credibility from staff you need to succeed. Best advise if you are hitting a “yes” to those key questions is to find another position within the company or another company that is more suited to your cultural needs and leadership style. I submit that finding a good cultural fit is more important for the incoming employee then it is for the company as we perform best where we belong, not where we are employed! Marry the two together, and you enter a win-win relationship with your employer!

Great leadership starts with great vision, which in turn starts with seeing the situation for what it is, enacting a picture of what will be and then mapping the key milestones to getting there.  If you can do this, then you are on the right track. If you can’t see this or your company wont allow you to, then find another company who shares your passion for doing it right. What’s “right” depends on finding those of like mind to surround you! When you do, you will do great things!!

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.yourmovetp.com

www.leopard-learning.com

www.modernservantleader.com

www.linkedin.com

www.theconversation.com

www.unsplash.com (Rayi Christian Wicaksono)

Credits;

Cloud Platforms - What will yours be?

Reading between the lines in choosing between 3^rd Party Hosting, PaaS and IaaS…

I am just finished by University Exams in Software and Cloud Technology ergo my return to blogging after a short break for the exams. In this intermittent period, my reflection led me to what I’ve learned about cloud technology and what impact it likely has on my plans for the future. On that note, I definitely see a role for cloud technology but even after studying cloud technology in detail, the vastness of cloud is truly mind-blowing in terms of its potential. Even loose comparisons are a daring venture when evaluating platforms, which gets even more daring when comparing providers.

So if I were asked to describe cloud platforms I would give you the following synopsis as a rough high-level guide to what the platforms are from a control perspective:

It’s not easy thinking of what we want on complicated topics but if we think of the different platforms in terms of single statements, we could describe them as follows:

3^rd Party Hosting = I want to host all my applications, services and data on somebody else’s servers and network sharing my own security and application maintenance/storage/etc. E.g. Blacknight (https://www.blacknight.com).

IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) = I want to be free to host my own applications; services and data on someone else’s network, storage and servers, have good scalability and access to useful infrastructure tools and services; which allows me to package and deploy anything I want, without worrying about infrastructure maintenance from a V/M, server, storage and network perspective. E.g. Amazon Web Services (aka AWS http://aws.amazon.com).

PaaS (Platform as a Service) = I want to develop applications using someone else’s services, servers and storage not having to worry about maintenance so I can focus on development. E.g. Google App Engine (https://cloud.google.com/appengine/).

SaaS (Software as a Service) = I have a need for an application that I don’t want to buy as a client. I want to use it only when I need it and not worry about maintenance of the backend. I am comfortable sharing my data with the provider through the front end. E.g. Facebook (https://www.facebook.com).

So knowing what they are, its easy to see that the suitability for business needs can be diced and sliced for any business solution of any size, but in general terms the following can be held up as a general rule of thumb when looking to source a “cloud solution” for your needs:

a) 3^rd Party Solution = Tech Savvy SME solution, an entrepreneur’s best friend!

b) IaaS=A tech savvy fast growing enterprise of any size seeing infrastructure as a bedrock for building and deploying scalable solutions from scratch upon.

c) PaaS=Development orientated for developers, enterprises that have a digital presence of any size and want to focus purely on scalable development rather then diversions into Ops or infrastructure maintenance.  

d) SaaS = Any business of any size who want to use services free or at lost cost that support its business development.  Its application based where the trade off is information inputted into the web application is shared with the provider.

When we think of cloud today, we have three titans that dominate the industry between them. AWS is by far the largest, with Google App Engine and Microsoft Azure coming up as leaders in the chase group to AWS.

One of the interesting points of note when one becomes established in the cloud is the increasing worth of the open source software movement’s offering through “Open Stack” (https://www.openstack.org/software/). It’s technically challenging to begin with but when mastered, it offers quick switches to other providers when outages happen or one wants to switch for other reasons (price rises, etc). It’s worth noting that big names like Google App Engine, Microsoft Azure and even AWS have outages that brings down your service, so when you are doing a risk review of your business network architecture creating a line on your risk register for cloud provider dependency, you now have some good options for risk mitigation through Open Stack.

Did you ever get a headache comparing platform providers? I know I did! Choosing four providers, Blacknight, AWS, Azure and App Engine compiled with some metrics gives you the following flavour of what to expect to get started in your cloud provider search:

Table 2 Metrics - Development & Pricing

Table 2 Metrics - Storage & Services

*Note: Every attempt has being made to make these comparison tables accurate as of May 2015 noting it is not exhaustive. There are comparable providers of cloud services that are not included in this list.

As you can see, even a focused attempted to get comparable prices, services and attributes of cloud services is very difficult to capture in a blog article such as this, but hopefully you will have a starting point on choosing a cloud platform.

It comes at approximately 10% of the price of in-house solutions, has “big company” applications, services and attributes that allow the smallest of start-ups to compete on level digital playing field. Pricing is inherently linked to volume and usage, which makes revenue-generating activity on your network a profitable venture given the lower and more reliable overheads incurred with Cloud.

On the downside, there are outages outside of your control, but they are rare and often very short.
There are also security issues for companies dealing with more sensitive data from propriety data upwards, which present day cloud solutions may not be suitable for. Also, you can become a victim of your own success if your website, applications and platform traffic increases but your revenue generating activity does not keep pace. Your income over expenditure gap can quickly reduce leaving you with a big bill and not the means to service it.

Cloud technology can play a part in your digital solution and as the technology continues to improve, innovate and augment, more and more opportunities for cloud will appear with the value proposition clearly in your hands. Why not start today and see what cloud tech can do for you? I know I did and I have no regrets!

Sources/Credits:

Pics;

www.egov.eletsonline.com

www.siliconrepublic.com

www.thewhir.com

www.cloudcomputing-news.net

www.gratisography.com

Credits: