The posts below by Jeff Hine gives a great shout out to newScale! But there's more.
What cloud is dependent on is behavioral and process change–and that says software to me. Software and middleware from companies like IBM and CA and less known folks like newScale are going to be the keys to private cloud. A software layer will also be important for firms managing the utilization of public cloud platforms within their own walls.
I like newScale in particular–it’s a purist firm. It did not emerge from the cloud wave; it was already on its surfboard watching the wave come in. It was doing software-driven service cataloging and self-provisioning when ITIL was the shiny new toy in IT service delivery. Companies were building private cloud models with newScale before they were even called private clouds.
Software and behavioral change are key. And if you can crack that nut, it really does not matter whose boxes, whose “unit of compute,” or whose facility the stuff sits in.
I see it as a sign that cloud computing in 2011 is moving into implementation and not just theory. When you really have to deliver a new operational model, that's the moment where people, process and technology need to be molded into a coherent, greater whole.
We are at a moment where those building these private or public clouds are beginning to realize it's not an ice-rink, but more like an ice mountain. The network issues are tougher than they thought -- not because of the technology (which is complex) but network really intersects security, risk management, compliance, performance and availability. These are not areas that the technical side of the house had ever articulated to other groups or their customers. Now they are faced with making and explaining choices in a language an approach that is unfamiliar to VM admins, developers, qa and customers.
These are areas we, newScale, have been working for years.
To make matters worse, they need to bring in marketing know-how to create the brochure and branding.
I could go on, but we'll finish it right here.
It's really about IT as a service and not just a VM unit of compute. And that's something we've been doing for a bit. Got the scars to prove and we got the wins too.
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