Amazon and Google Rule The Cloud, says Study

As if we needed a study to tell us Amazon and Google rule cloud services.  Well, I guess someone didn’t know as they paid for research.  news.com has the post.

Study: Amazon and Google rule the cloud

by Dave Rosenberg

If recent research is any indication, Amazon.com and Google are winning the cloud game.

Evans Data on Tuesday released a report (registration required) on how developers perceive cloud service providers related to cloud services offerings, including their completeness and the companies' ability to execute on the vision.

Janel Garvin, the founder of Evans Data and the author of the report, provides excellent insight into the current state of the market and how quickly things could change, if certain large vendors (notably AT&T and Microsoft) got their acts together more quickly.

Given their robust services, it isn't surprising that Amazon and Google top the list. And although IBM, VMware, and Microsoft trail, each offers important components of cloud infrastructure.

Cloud leaders

Cloud leaders

(Credit: Screenshot by Dave Rosenberg/CNET

An interesting perspective in the article.

Google got the top nod from developers for scalability, reliability, uptime, and best value, and Garvin states that Google "shows more strength in both perceived capabilities and perceived ability to execute, and the adoption patterns for Google are stronger, going into the future." However, Google's offering via AppEngine is nowhere near as robust as Amazon's Web Services capabilities.

The big vendor that continues to be late to the cloud game is Microsoft, which, despite an army of developers interested in Azure and other cloud services, has yet to offer a production-ready product. Says Garvin:

The two companies that truly straddle the cloud worlds, AT&T and Microsoft, both have excellent potential: through existing physical infrastructure in the case of AT&T or as in the case of Microsoft, by virtue of a prodigious developer network and well-known software capabilities. But, both are late to the party. And, in a market that's evolving as quickly as this one, that's a significant handicap.

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Stock Analyst Upgrades AAPL speculating online services

WSJ.com has post on a UBS analyst upgrading Apple inc (AAPL).

UPDATE: Apple Upgraded On Hopes For New Service Platform

   By Dan Gallagher

Apple Inc. (AAPL) was upgraded to a buy rating by UBS on Friday morning on higher expectations for the company's popular iPhone, as well as speculation for a services platform the company may be developing.

In a note to clients, analyst Maynard Um said he believes Apple may be working on building a service "to provide seamless access and mobility of digital content across all its products." Such a service, he argues, may act as a "halo" that drives future product sales.

"We envision a service that seamlessly allows access to media-focused content of iTunes and user-generated content of MobileMe (pictures/videos/email/calendar) as well as social networking integration from any existing Apple product," he wrote in a note to clients.

Um raised his rating on Apple to buy and boosted his price target on the stock to $265 from $170. Apple shares were trading up 2.2% at $184.87 in recent late-morning activity.

"We are less concerned with regard to margin pressure as demand does not appear to be shifting to the $99 iPhone 3G and a lower end 3GS does not appear to be forthcoming, as we had originally feared," he wrote.


The Data Center part is here.

He also cited data pointing to an increase in capital spending on infrastructure and corporate facilities. He believes this is part of a plan to build out data center system, "which we hypothesize will be the foundation for a service that provides seamless access and mobility of digital content across all its products, at any time, and from any place."

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Green Grid Rings NYSE Closing Bell

Green Grid rang the closing bell on Oct 2 2009 at the NYSE.

NYSE Hosts "The Green Grid" Industry Forum on Data Center Efficiency

10/02/2009

The NYSE highlights data center efficiency worldwide by hosting exclusive panel discussions led by The Green Grid, featuring leaders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, global business leaders and the New York Stock Exchange. In honor of the occasion, The Green Grid Directors ring The Closing Bell®.

The NYSE will highlight data center efficiency worldwide by hosting exclusive panel discussions led by The Green Grid, featuring leaders from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Department of Energy, global business leaders and the New York Stock Exchange.

The panel discussions serve as a call to action for data center efficiency by fostering conversation about the economic impact of data center energy efficiency worldwide. The Green Grid will conclude the event with the ringing of the NYSE closing bell.

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Taking a Short Blogging Break

I am off to Texas for my cousin’s wedding, so I wrote 8 blog entries in 24 hours while still getting my real job done. 

Promised the family I wouldn’t take my computer so for the next 96 hours no more blog posts. 

I’ll have my iPhone, so I could twitter and blog from it, but that’s too painful, and I am not going to blog pictures of my kids in the wedding. :-)

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Microsoft Container Data Center Video

Here is the video of Microsoft’s server containers being installed in the new Chicago data center.  Below are screen captures from the video.  These screen shots are only interesting because we know there are 2,000 + servers in the containers.  Otherwise it’s not that interesting if you don’t know what is in it.  Which is probably another reason why this is not mass tech media news.

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Microsoft Chicago Data Center Container Bay

It’s too bad the Container data center isn’t getting better press.

The problem is directly related to this one blog entry http://blogs.technet.com/msdatacenters/archive/2009/09/28/microsoft-celebrates-chicago-data-center-grand-opening.aspx vs. the Microsoft EMEA web site ttp://www.microsoft.com/emea/presscentre/pressreleases/DublinDataCentrePR_240909.mspx.

Keep this example in mind if you want good media coverage.  Many times I am in the role of a media guy, and hang out with media people.  They need help to tell good stories.

BTW, the best quotes I’ve seen are InformationWeek.

Microsoft isn't done pushing this modular approach, says Daniel Costello, director of the company's data center research and engineering. Its researchers are working on ways to deliver air conditioning and heating as modular units as well, since they're a huge part of a data center's fixed equipment costs.

And there's a wide open space in the middle of the Chicago data center, where there are no yellow parking space lines painted. The next generation of modular units won't be shipping containers, Costello says—though he's not yet ready to say what form they will be.

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