Steve Staso - Computing Solutions Strategist

I attended the Cloud Computing Conference and Expo in Santa Clara, CA on Nov 2 and 3, 2009. There were 7 tracks with multiple sessions each day. Like many of these conferences, several sessions were presented by paying sponsors that get a chance to "sell" their vision, product, or service. Some were better than others, but there was not much earth-shattering news here. I got to meet some friends in the industry; new partners; and interview several of the vendors for understanding their value-add.

The obvious thread that weaved through almost all sessions was security; and to some extent - privacy and compliance.
Security is one of the largest inhibitors but there is progress.

Considerations for cloud deployments:
Workload profile
Delivery qualities
Deployment physics

TRACK 1:  Enterprise-Class Cloud Computing
TRACK 2: Management, Testing, Security & Interoperability
TRACK 3: IaaS, Cloud Platforms, Cloud Storage
TRACK 4: Hot Topics
TRACK 5: RIAs in the Cloud SOA in the Cloud
TRACK 6 :Server, Desktop & Storage Virtualization
TRACK 7 :Management, Performance, Security, & Compliance

Richard Marcello from Unisys, however, had an interesting presentation - the Myths and Truths. (but the main takeaway from his preso was to plan on failure - none of his expected slide animations worked and he was a bit distracted)

9. Revoution
Evolution of technology

8. All Clouds are the same
Options - Public, Private, Hybrid

7. It's all about technology
It's about business agility. Forrester slide on financial benefits beyond Capex include: cashflow, Fin Risk, Income Statement (maintenance instead of depreciating capex), and the Balance Sheet (nothing on the BS intead of LT cap assets)

6. Nothing more than virtualization
Virtualization AND automation, Metering, Elasticity, Self Service

5. Not Reliable
Architected properly: Redundancies, Persistent data, Snapshots

4. It's About Cost
It's About Opportunity

3. Not for mainstream business apps like java and .net
Good for hundress of apps with no rewrite

2. Inappropriate for Compliance
Architected properly: HiPAA, SOX, PCI, Basel II, State Regs, FISMA, GLB, 21CFR11, ISO 27001/2

1. Less Secure
Architected properly: Data location, Data and code portability