TheOpenAnalyst » Cloud Computing

Business Software: Open Source and Cloud Computing

TheOpenAnalyst — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 12:37:00 +0000

In the early days of computing, you couldn’t run an IBM System 34 program on a Digital Equipment Corp. VAX mini-computer. Software had to be written for a specific operating environment, which often included hardware. In today’s business world all that has changed thanks to the influence of IBM and later Microsoft with the advent of the IBM PC standard and Microsoft DOS/Windows.

The traditional software model involves developing source code (program instructions) that is protected by a legal patent (intellectual property) so that no one can use, copy or modify it without purchasing or licensing it from the author. Now there is a shift from proprietary software to open software (which allows you to freely use, copy and modify) and standardized software (which runs on any platform). This trend is driven by companies such as IBM, Novell, Google and Sun and by the power of the Internet and innovative developers around the world. A good book on the subject is The Cathedral and the Bazaar, by Eric S. Raymond. It is amazing how so many divergent contributions and inputs can result in such high-quality products. But it seems to work.

Linux/Open Source – Business Software: Open Source and Cloud Computing

Sun: Open source frees CIOs (and others) from ’slavery’

TheOpenAnalyst — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 08:55:00 +0000

Image by Getty Images via Daylife

Vendors can build revenues from services and subscriptions, while CIOs, CEOs and the businesses they lead are freed from the “slavery” of traditional software procurement processes, said Sun’s Simon Phipps, speaking at a Sun developers conference in New York City.

In the midst of industry speculation that IBM might buy Sun for some $6.5 billion, Sun also used the event this week to announce the Sun Open Cloud Platform, a.k.a., “Sun Cloud,” along with the first two services from Sun to be based on the new private and public cloud environment.

Sun: Open source frees CIOs (and others) from ’slavery’ | IT Systems News – Betanews

Open Source Cloud Computing Made Easy

TheOpenAnalyst — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:30:00 +0000

Creating a business around free software is hardly a new idea: Cygnus Solutions, based around Stallman’s GCC, was set up in 1989. But here’s one with a trendy twist: a company based on the open source *cloud computing* app Hadoop, an Apache Project:

Hadoop is a software platform that lets one easily write and run applications that process vast amounts of data.

Open Source Cloud Computing Made Easy – Blogs – ComputerworldUK blogs

Bottling the Magic Behind Google and Facebook

TheOpenAnalyst — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 09:30:00 +0000

Image via CrunchBase

Cloudera is the quintessential Silicon Valley story.

Three of the top engineers from Google, Yahoo and Facebook have teamed up with an ex-Oracle executive to tackle the problems inherent in quickly analyzing big piles of data. On Monday, they’re revealing a commercial product based on the open source software Hadoop, which provides the analytical magic behind the world’s biggest Web sites. The team at Cloudera, based in Burlingame, Calif., think they can extend Web smarts to the business world, aiding companies in retail, insurance, bio-tech and oil and gas.

Hadoop is the open-source version of the file system and MapReduce technology developed by Google. Google has used such software to rewire its entire search index, making it possible for the company to run ever-faster searches on cheap servers and to ask questions of its vast data stores and receive coherent answers.

Bottling the Magic Behind Google and Facebook – Bits Blog – NYTimes.com

SugarCRM Previews Upcoming Cloud, CRM Features

TheOpenAnalyst — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 13:52:00 +0000

SugarCRM, the open source customer relationship management software vendor, is giving its user base a sneak preview into its next generation of products.

At its third annual SugarCon gathering Monday, the company previewed new CRM features, including an improved Web services framework, additional Cloud Connectors, and mobile customization features.

SugarCRM Previews Upcoming Cloud, CRM Features | Cloud Computing | InformationWeek

Open-Source Cloud Tools Project Spawns Cloud Foundry

TheOpenAnalyst — Sat, 24 Jan 2009 08:07:00 +0000

The Cloud Tools project, hosted on Google Code, is a prime example of the emerging trend of open-source application developers targeting the cloud and looking at services such as Amazon Web Services solutions and Google App Engine to host their applications. Cloud Tools is a set of tools for deploying, managing and testing Java Enterprise Edition applications on Amazon.com’s Amazon Elastic Computing Cloud. And now the Cloud Tools project’s founder has launched a commercial service based on Cloud Tools known as Cloud Foundry.

The open-source Cloud Tools project, hosted on Google Code, is a prime example of the emerging trend of open-source developers targeting the cloud and looking at services such as Amazon Web Services and Google App Engine to host their applications.

Open-Source Cloud Tools Project Spawns Cloud Foundry

Open Source Developers Prefer Google’s Cloud over Microsoft’s – 40% of OSS devs plan to offer services instead of software

TheOpenAnalyst — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Open source developers embrace in mass Google’s Cloud-based offerings, while steering clear of what Microsoft has to offer. The face-off between Microsoft and Google has put the two companies in the position of making inroads into each other’s traditional territory. While Google is moving onto the desktop with offerings such as the Chrome browser, Microsoft is reaching into the Cloud with solutions including the Windows Azure operating system. However, when it comes down to open source developers embracing the Cloud solution, a study put together by Evans Data indicates that Google has gained the upper hand compared with Microsoft.

The latest Evans Data Open Source Development survey indicates that no less than 40% of devs building open source projects will use Cloud providers in order to offer customers their applications via a browser as service. In this regard, Google, adept of the Software as Service business strategy, is preferred by the vast majority of open source developers, thanks to the Google App Engine, with no less than 28% of them adhering to the solution. Following Google is Amazon.com, with 15%, while Microsoft (with Software plus Services offerings) and IBM are “not nearly as popular.”

Open Source Developers Prefer Google’s Cloud over Microsoft’s – 40% of OSS devs plan to offer services instead of software | Softpedia

Open-source developers’ heads are in the cloud

TheOpenAnalyst — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 03:12:40 +0000

Evans Data has published the results of a 360-person survey suggesting that 40 percent of developers working on open-source projects plan to deploy applications via the cloud, as OStatic reports.

The big winner here? Google. Twenty-nine percent of developers surveyed plan to use Google App Engine to deploy their applications, while 15 percent will look to Amazon.com.

Open-source developers’ heads are in the cloud | The Open Road – CNET News

Open Source IT Embraces Cloud Computing, Google App Engine

TheOpenAnalyst — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 15:35:00 +0000

Cloud computing is gaining strong momentum in the open source community, with close half of all professionals saying they will offer their apps as web services via cloud providers. Google’s Apps Engine, so far, is the top cloud provider-of-choice, says a survey by Evans Data.

The Evans Data’s Open Source Development Survey was conducted in November 2008 and released in mid-January. Researchers surveyed more than 360 open source IT professionals.

Open Source IT Embraces Cloud Computing, Google App Engine | Integration Developers News

Joyent to Buy Open-source Google App Engine Competitor

TheOpenAnalyst — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:49:00 +0000

Cloud-computing platform vendor Joyent said Wednesday it is buying startup Reasonably Smart, a maker of a “direct, open-source competitor” to Google’s App Engine framework for quickly building and deploying Web applications that run on Google’s infrastructure.

Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Like Amazon Web Services and others, the Quebec-based Joyent sells scalable computing infrastructure. Reasonably Smart’s toolset will provide its customers with a “write-once/scale forever” Web application framework, according to a statement

Joyent to Buy Open-source Google App Engine Competitor | PC World