1)   Ray Ozzie is leaving Microsoft!

Ozzie joined Microsoft when his company, Groove Networks, was acquired in 2005. he became Chief Software Architect after Gates retired from his day-to-day responsibilities. In this role, Ozzie assumed responsibility for leading Microsoft into the SaaS/Cloud world.

Article: http://seekingalpha.com/article/231027-how-will-ray-ozzie-s-departure-affect-microsoft-s-cloud-computing-future

Q:   Why leave when his vision is just coming to fruition?

2) MSFT Office 365 is met by silence from Google and ZoHo

Office 365 doesn’t include a single new software product. Seems to be repackaging and repositioning its collaboration software for the cloud. MSFT is calling it “the brand for the company’s next generation in cloud productivity.”

Office 365 adds a lot pricing variables that may leave people wondering whether to use the rival Google Apps or Zoho collaboration suites for $50 per user per year.

Article: http://www.eweek.com/c/a/Messaging-and-Collaboration/Google-Zoho-Dont-Take-Microsoft-Office-365-Bait-590861/

Q: Will Microsoft’s dominance in the office automation space mean success in the cloud?   Or, will Google school them in what it means to provide productivity applications in the cloud?
3) IBM tackles cloud security

Amongst the other new services is the IBM Cloud Security Strategy Roadmap, which places Big Blue employees on site to help define the client’s cloud aims and security plans.

The aim is to develop a “high-level” security strategy roadmap for attaining cloud security goals, IBM said.

Article: http://www.itpro.co.uk/627862/ibm-launches-cloud-computing-security-initiative

Q: Will IBM be able to put the cloud security fears to rest with this new service?

4) SAP is jumping on the cloud computing bandwagon

First announced was the development of an SAP landscape management solution that will reduce costs for deploying SAP data management solutions in virtualized environments. The solution will “simplify and automate the effort required to provision, deploy, monitor and manage SAP systems and landscapes focusing on virtualized and cloud infrastructures,” according to a press release.

Article: http://www.winshuttle.com/news/sap-corporate-news/sap-responds-to-demand-for-cloud-computing-and-virtualization-choices-11071

Q:  Will this movement to support virtualization and cloud technologies be too little too late for SAP?

5)  Gov’t gencies will soon have access to data storage, computing power, web hosting and other cloud computing services under a new GSA contract.

GSA has awarded 11 vendors positions on the contract, which will provide cloud-based infrastructure as a service. The services will be offered through Apps.gov — an online portal where agencies can access computing services on demand.

GSA awarded contracts to:
• Apptis Inc., partnered with Amazon Web Services
• AT&T
• Autonomic Resources, partnered with Carpathia, Enomaly and Dell
• CGI Federal Inc.
• Computer Literacy World, partnered with Electrosoft, XO Communications and Secure Networks
• Computer Technology Consultants, partnered with Softlayer Inc.
• Eyak Tech LLC
• General Dynamics Information Technology, partnered with Carpathia
• Insight Public Sector, partnered with Microsoft
• Savvis Federal Systems
• Verizon Federal Inc.

Articles: http://www.federaltimes.com/article/20101020/IT04/10200301/1009/ACQUISITION

Q:   Will the selection of these service providers and cloud providers finally get the government off the dime, and move faster toward cloud computing?

6) Dave post: The danger of the coming ‘big cloud’ monopolies

The logic behind this is clear. Cloud computing providers need many points of presence (local data centers) to deliver the reliability, compliance, and performance that most businesses will demand and governments will mandate. The ultimate spending on infrastructure to support this will easily creep past $1 billion.

To get there, cloud providers will have to combine assets, merging and merging again until they rival GM, BP, Acher Daniels Midland, Monsanto, DuPont, AT&T, Koch Industries, Apple, and Microsoft in terms of size and revenue. In many cases, the existing big technology and/or cloud providers will combine, or groups of cloud providers will merge just to survive — all of this to live up to the infrastructure needs required by the market.

Article: http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/the-danger-the-coming-big-cloud-monopolies-114#talkback

Q:   Will cloud monopolies become an issue as enterprises and government become more dependent on cloud computing?