John Treadway

My favorite and least favorite question I get is the same – “Can you help me build a business case and ROI for cloud computing?” Well, yes… and no. The issue is that cloud computing has such a massive impact on how IT is delivered that many of the metrics and KPIs that are typically used at many enterprises don’t capture it.  I mean, how do you capture Agility – really? In the past I have broken this down into 3 buckets. Yes, some people have more but these are the big three… Agility Agility is reducing cycle time from ideation to product (or system delivery) – incredibly difficult to measure given that it’s hard to do apples to apples when every product/project is unique. You can do this in terms of Agile methodology task points and the number of points per fixed timeframe sprint on average over time. Most IT shops do not really measure developer productivity in a... (more)

theCUBE Interview at EMC World 2013

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IaaS Cloud Litmus Test – The Five Minute VM

I will make this simple.  There is only one question you need to ask yourself or your IT department to determine if what you have is really an Infrastructure-as-a-Service cloud. Can I get a VM in 5-10 minutes? Perhaps a little bit more detailed? Can a properly credentialed user, with a legitimate need for cloud resources, log into your cloud portal or use your cloud API, request a set of cloud resources (compute, network, storage), and have them provisioned for them automatically in a matter of a few minutes (typically less than 10 and often less than 5)? If you can answer yes,... (more)

Tap In Systems Manages the Cloud

One of the core predicates to true enteprise cloud computing is manageability. Enterprise IT organizations don’t like surprises, especially the kind that start with an executive calling them about an application failure before they know about it.  That’s why services like Tap In Systems are going to be critical to enterprise cloud adoption. Tap In Systems is still in private beta at this point, and according to CEO Peter Loh they are making some changes to the system before expanding the beta in the near future.  They are actively seeking beta customers as well, particularly fro... (more)

Unisys: A Clear Vision for Cloud Computing

Following Unisys’ recent announcement regarding their cloud computing strategy (Unisys Moves to Break Through Barriers to Adoption of Cloud Computing) I had the opportunity to speak with Rich Marcello, president of Unisys Systems & Technology, and Sam Gross, VP of Unisys Global IT Outsourcing Solutions. What struck me was the coherence and clarity of their cloud computing vision as compared to HP or IBM. Unisys’ strategy bridges public, private and hybrid cloud models, and includes well-differentiated infrastructure, platform and software as a service offerings (IaaS, PaaS, and ... (more)