Recently in cloud computing Category

Another point Nicholas Carr made was that IT and telecom are colliding. A new landscape is coming. 

My thoughts immediately went to GV. Who will be replaced by Google Voice?

• Who is the commodity?  
• Who will add Value to the User Experience?

People will pay for easy and reliable. (Not all of them will, but more than enough will. Remember that Cbeyond only has 50k customers and PAETEC just about 100K). 

Stop selling on price. If you aren't talking TCO or ROI, you are selling telecom, not apps. 

PBX and software companies have had to stop thinking in terms of product and start thinking in terms of Managed Services deployed over the Network. If they are thinking about it as SAAS, should all the Hosted PBX folks be looking at Voice as just another app delivered over the network? Voice is just an app!

Nicholas Carr, author of The Big Switch, was the keynote this morning. He spoke about Computing becoming a Utility. Cloud computing is all about computing becoming a utility to be delivered like electricity -- and how this will change the shape of business.

My thoughts on "The Cloud":

Is Information Technology (or computer architecture) too challenging and or too much overhead for many businesses? 

Cloud computing and Virtualization are just new names for Managed Servers and Hosting and Managed Services.

When data shows that businesses are using cloud services, the term is so general (much like the term UC, unified communications), that it includes data storage/backup, managed email, web conferencing and hosting. (think about that the next time you see the data).

Moore's law has outpaced Grove's Law, Carr showed. Until now. Supposedly, ubiquious broadband is catching up to computing power.

More thoughts to come from Broadsoft Connections...

I'm in Atlanta speaking at the Microcorp One-on-One event about Trends in 2010. The three trends that I see for agents are the following: Applications, Quality of Service (QOS), and Mobile Broadband (MBB). But they are kind of inter-dependent. Ubiquious broadband leads to innovative uses and applications. Applications like on smartphones lead to a greater need for mobile broadband networks.

Mobile Broadband is growing. Smartphones are replacing cellular handsets. Social networks are moving to mobile devices so people can Facebook and Tweet. RIM's Blackberry brought us mobile email, but it is a standard on many phones now. Netbooks and data cards are presenting the US cellular companies with some fits. They like the additional revenue, but have to keep dropping billions on the network backhaul and capacity upgrades. (And another $45B+ on the upgrade to LTE/4G).

All this means that there are new uses for the mobile broadband, like the Kindle. Sprint's Wispernet allows Amazon to instantly download books, magazines, newspapers and blogs to Kindle devices. Machine-to-machine devices can utilize the cellular data network to provide connectivity for ATM machines, security cameras, and a host of other devices that need to communicate with a NOC or remote server.

All of this is a cycle of applications driving network usage. Ubiquious broadband driving more apps. It's one reason that the FCC needs to maintain open network and Net Neutrality guidelines in place.

Applications - like email, databases, office suites, CRM - are creating a demand for managed services, such as an outsourced IT department. In addition, businesses are looking at the Cloud - moving applications to a data center for redundancy, security, and availability - as a way to save money and stop worrying about the IT department. With applications being delivered in the Cloud or by way of SAAS or even Virtualization, Agents have a chance to offer more than just Internet Access or WAN circuits, like private line. Agents can sell Layer 2 to Layer 7 - pipe to apps. It's a way to get deeper into accounts. It's a way to offer a complete solution. It's a way to deliver on the label of Trusted Advisor.

Applications are driving sales. Voice and email are just the primary apps. Business critical data is also driving mobile broadband. Ubiquious broadband is allowing for innovative ways of accessing data. The problem becomes reliable access to the data. That's where Quality of Service comes in. QOS on the WAN is what is needed to access data reliably and quickly. The MPLS trigger is the Class of Service reliability and prioritization of data over the network. This is paramount for businesses running a truly converged network with video, database, VoIP, email and Internet riding the same pipes. WAN Optimization is selling due to the cost containment and the performance enhancement. Big bang for the buck.

So the agents can sell mobile broadband, applications via Virtualization or SAAS, and add QOS to the WAN to provide reliable access to these business critical data.

I received yet another press release from the BSA (Business Software Alliance). It was about a funny video. Why the PR firm thought it was relevant to me is astounding.

It got me thinking. Is the BSA losing relevancy?  Two things are shaping the commercial software world:  SAAS and Open Source.

The BSA's job is to stop piracy - in the US mainly. However, piracy around the world dwarfs the US. < I won't rant here about copyright or the fact that there are way too many lawyers.> Needless to say, the BSA makes a living chasing small business owners about licensing. How do they find them? Disgruntled employees who turn them in. (I've seen it happen. Not pretty at all).

When most software moves to the Cloud or as a service, licensing headaches will disappear. (Data security headaches will increase dramatically however). So the BSA is expiring.

In speaking with Microcorp today about their agent event in October in Atlanta, we were discussing a panel on Trends for 2010.  It's not so much about the vendors, it's about the services that the vendors are offering that will become the next revenue stream for the channel.

This ties in with a TCA listserv discussion about Alternative Streams of Revenue for the Channel Agents. TCA will be hosting an agent call about Electricity with a couple of agents who have been selling electricity to businesses in unregulated states for a while. (Paetec offers this to agents as well).  Other topics include Web Strategy (like Lead Generation through Search Engine Marketing (SEM) and Social Media Marketing); SAAS; 4G; the Cloud; and Managed Services.

It won't be enough to just sell TDM in the future, you will need partners to offer Telecom Expense Management (TEM) and Auditing as well as all the new services coming down the pipe (electricity, SAAS, cloud, 4G, VOIP, SIP Trunking, etc.). 

Maybe we are heading into Master Agency 2.0 - the dawn of an era when the master agent will have to be more than a collection of carrier contracts. What do you see that you might need from your Master Agency in the future? Let me know. Thanks.

One of my sessions at ITEXPO in Los Angeles will be Developing Profitable Web 2.0 Solutions. The all-star panel consists of Ifbyphone, Voxeo, and Intelepeer, who will be talking about how to us an API to create a new app. Should be good content. Stop by at 9:30 AM on Thursday.

On this blog, the author posts a reply from Amazon about the level of PCI Security of EC2 and Amazone Web Services. 

As for PCI level 2 compliance, that requires external scanning via a 3rd party, PCI-approved vendor. It is possible for you to build a PCI level 2 compliant app in our AWS cloud using EC2 and S3, but you cannot achieve level 1 compliance. And you have to provide the appropriate encryption mechanisms and key management processes.

What strikes me as funny is that PCI Compliance is confusing enough without adding the cloud to it. Also, data security is almost a misnomer with the number of breaches that professional cyber-criminals perpetrate almost weekly. Cloud or no cloud, security is breached. 

I guess its like spam: we'll always have it. And unlike PGP encryption: hardly used at all.

I talk with many CLEC's and ISP's that are looking at the BTOP and BIP programs to see if there is opportunity for them. As I said in the podcast with Occam Networks, most of the funds are earmarked for companies already collecting USF funds. Why do I think that? Because it is a safe bet and politics is about safe bets.

I'm attending Tech Data's Technology Solutions Tour. This morning started with TD SVP Pete Peterson discussing how to translate the stimulus spending into technology opportunity. The ARRA (aka the Stimulus bill) will spend about $787B, of which, according to the counter at Recovery.gov, over $75B has been spent. One percent of the ARRA is the Broadband Stimulus spend at $7.2B spread over 3 agencies and 3 different awards. Did you know that $50-60B of the ARRA is earmarked for IT Spending for Education, Healthcare, Energy and Government? That money will go for smart grid, green IT, virtualization, EMR (electronic medical records), video surveillance, Business Intelligience tools and more. It's a bigger pie than BTOP/BIP.

Did you know that the largest spender right now is Uncle Sam? Or as many people like to say - the taxpayer.

Anyway, Peterson told us that some cities and at least one state (Cali) does not allow the deployment of servers on-premise. It's a Green initiative and they are pushing Hosted servers or virtualization. I haven't heard that but it certainly interesting. (Also of note: No on has said Cloud since I have been here).

Another stat: there are 1 million doctor offices. Only 8% have EMR. The government wants it closer to 90%. There are funds and tax credits for that. Funny story: Nortel was pitching their Healthcare Management Programs yesterday, but didn't want to discuss the Bankruptcy nor the way the company is being sold off in slices. Um, tough to sell a solution that may not be there by the time the deal closes. When a VAR or Agent presents a solution, they are lending their reputation out to that vendor. If that vendor fails to deliver, it's a black eye for the VAR/Agent. (Psst: our most valuable asset is our reputation).

B.I. tools are important. Why? It adds productivity and efficiency to the organization that can correctly deploy and integrate it. (It's challenging).

Education will be spending on Broadband, IT infrastructure, Video surveillance, and digital signage. Go get you some From Tech Data, of course. They have SME's (subject matter experts), product specialists, marketing funds and other assistance available to help you take advantage of the current ARRA opportunities. (Including Wireless and other communications infrastructure projects).

Peterson concluded with a few insights:

- This is a Call to Action for service providers and VAR's
- (It is unprecedented in my lifetime and we likely won't see this again. It is a magnitude larger than Y2K and closer to what the US spent on NASA going to the Moon in the 60's).
- Recovery.gov is a great resource.
- Great companies are made in tough times.
- The flexible survive.

Jaduka and StrikeIron announce partnership. Millions of NetBeans, IBM and SalesForce developers can now add voice to their apps in minutes. Here's Thomas Howe's announcement post. Here's StrikeIron's blog post. The press release is here.

On the LinkedIN Group for the Channel Partners Network, Heather Margolis wrote, "Cloud Computing has spurred the need for a new type of VAR and/or partnership elements. Read more here and tell me your thoughts." (That's one way to get traffic to your blog).

My thoughts:

It's not about saving a client money any more. It's about saving them time, making their employees more productive, and adding business efficiency - without the technology getting in the way (which isn't always easy). 

Being the Trusted Advisor today means being able to add Business Intelligence to the solution. Systems Integrators were valuable because they could provision, implement and glue all the parts and pieces of hardware and software together.

Most Systems Integrators had a niche. Well, we call it a niche today but back then, they were in a software silo. The silo was created around the programming language they were proficient in.

 ManyVAR's/Agents/Account Executives have a similar business issue today. They only know one or two programming languages (POTS/PRI/DSL/Integrated-T1). When you only have a hammer, everything looks like a nail. For example, is a Cisco VAR going to recommend non-Cisco gear? 

Understanding Cloud Computing and what it truly means for the Business going forward is an Integration Process, because most often when Hosted PBX or SAAS are introduced into a business, the process changes. The business must be prepared for those changes - otherwise the results will be disasterous.

Then there is the concept of the Cloud itself.  (Do you know how many data center outages we have had in the last year? How many fiber cuts? Lots!)

The Cloud is big because all the vendors are hoping that it will be the Next Wave of Revenue. The truth is that many companies pushing Virtualization and Cloud Computing have zero idea what they are doing; have little security in place; redundancy is phase III of the business plan; and the customer is clueless about what they are buying versus what they are really getting.

This isn't POTS or DSL. It's more like SIP Trunking - a decent spec, but not a standard.  

What happens when the data center is unreachable? No one is working. It is costing the business money. 

There are many questions to be answered: Is the data backed up in real time? Is it saved off-site? Can it be accessed in an emergency? How? Business Continuity Planning is an ugly word that no one wants to talk about, but as Voice, Databases, business life-blood moves to the Cloud, BCP better be in place and many questions need to be answered. That's not a five minute conversation while looking at last month's bill.