Cloud computing

VMworld Europe is in full swing, and VMware is taking the opportunity to talk to its captive audience about vSphere, the virtualization operating system that’s making competitors out of companies like Microsoft and Red Hat.

VMware CEO Paul Maritz said “Our customers want the plumbing to disappear – in the datacenter, on the desktop and in the cloud – so they can focus their staff time and IT budget on delivering business value. They want cloud-like services so they can act as hosting providers to their internal customers….. The VMware vSphere generation of products, which are currently in development, will be a new class of software that delivers on this strategy. And, as customers become cloud-enabled, they will have the flexibility to securely and efficiently expand their internal clouds to tap the resources offered by external service providers through our VMware vCloud Initiative.”

If everything goes as it should, vSphere will stop being vaporware by the end of the year.

If EMC decides that it could use the cash, it may put VMware on the market which would make it possible for Cisco to bring its desires to fruition. Cisco likes VMware for what it sees as a growth avenue, and who wouldn’t, since virtualization is such a natural fit with cloud computing, a tough economy, and the desire of many companies to “go green.”

VMWare says it’s a natural progression to begin seeing your datacenter as a cloud. Companies typically turn to virtualization for the cost-savings on hardware, reducing overal capital expenditures. But it doesn’t take long to see the increased flexibility that virtualization brings and the operations cost reduction that happens when computing resources can be pooled and made available where they’re needed most.  Virtualization seems a natural partner to cloud computing, and IT managers are beginning to recognize this and put it to use.

The Cloud

If you’ve been anywhere on the ‘Net over the last year, chances are you’ve heard quite a bit about “cloud computing.” The funny thing is, it’s entirely possible to have heard about it over and over again and still not have the foggiest idea what cloud computing really is. That’s not your fault. Cloud computing is one of those geeky terms bandied about by techies who all know what the others are talking about and so find no reason to explain themselves.

I’ll let you in on a secret. In geek terms, cloud = Internet. So cloud computing is simply the act of executing applications over the Internet, usually in a browser the same as the one you’re using right now to read this blog post. Cloud computing is basically just a re-worked term for the old “application services” you may have heard about several years ago.

One example of cloud computing is an online document management service like Google Docs. Because your application resides on a remote server in “the cloud”, you can access it from any online computer. More and more companies are moving toward cloud computing, whether providing it as part of their product line, or using it internally to more efficiently manage workflow and employee communications.

See, cloud computing is simpler than you thought. Now you’re one of the inside geeks.