When Java came to life in 1995, the web went from an endless series of hyperlinks to a platform that delivered live content. Which is exactly why Java is on more than a billion computers in the world today. And it's cuz of those billion computers that we keep innovating in JDK 7 for the desktop and Java EE for the enterprise.

But it's 2009 and almost a third of Internet access today is through mobile devices. And the percentage of mobile Internet users is expected to surpass those using traditional computers in the next few years! So while the desktop, laptop, and enterprise computer remain important, there are so many new ways to access content on the web. And they were all on display at JavaOne, running the same apps across smartphones, smartbooks, netbooks, e-books, set-top boxes, TVs. So basically any device you chose can now run the same application! Check out Eric's keynote for the full story.

But there are two other key pieces to the Java story this year: first Nandini showed the JavaFX authoring tool which lets you create graphical applications easily, and then you can send the app directly to a whole bunch of devices simultaneously. And last but not least - the Java Store - the key to distribution for developers. Cuz if Java's gonna run on everything around us, and more and more developers are gonna write interesting apps for all those devices using the new tools, we're all gonna be looking for a handy way to get ahold of those apps.

Graduation is about accomplishment, but it's also about potential. So congrats to Java and the whole team (including Jeet, my charm school buddy Octavian, Eric, and the JavaOne peeps: Ash, Lizzi, Kim, Jen, Heidi...). And here's looking forward to seeing Java everywhere. The potential is unlimited!

Every year in our IT industry we enthusiastically embrace a different buzzword as the panacea of IT. Recall grid, virtualization and ILM – all laudable technologies that solve IT problems, but not fitting the definition of panacea. This year the buzzword seems to be cloud.

I'm an ardent fan of technological innovation – without it we're missing one of the most important ways to truly change the world in which we live. And I believe cloud is game-changing technology. Being a true geek, I'm genuinely excited about the potential cloud offers in changing the IT landscape dramatically: if done right it doesn't matter how compute, network, and storage interact inside a cloud... leaving broad room for innovation that would be considered too disruptive in today's datacenter... paving the way for a new generation of applications that will solve problems many of us haven't even thought of yet.

Yet cloud is no panacea. It takes hard work to solve IT problems: scale, security, compliance, data portability, privacy and so on. In addition the use of cloud requires changes to IT process and organization, with risk around every corner. But there's reward in embracing clouds – reward in using IT to enable businesses to enter new markets more quickly, using cloud to reduce IT costs through economies of scale, and in changing those age-old financial conversations around capital and expense.

But it takes expertise, experience, and insight to figure out how to apply cloud technologies to meet the IT challenges of today and tomorrow. Which is why our Sun Professional Services team, who have been working with customers to make their IT environments as efficient as possible, will also help customers figure out where cloud fits in their IT roadmaps. It's a perfect match – PS experts who understand where cloud technology is going and who work every day to build efficient datacenters, helping to determine where cloud fits in customer's IT roadmaps.

So if the question is “How do I get the most efficient IT environment to run and grow my business - both today and tomorrow?”, our PS experts can help determine where cloud fits in the answer - for both today and tomorrow.