Vijay Tatkar's Blog

Oracle and Cloud Computing: bluster v offerings

We all know and have read that Oracle and particularly Larry and the Cloud Computing hype have been somewhat at odds.  Some examples:

• Larry dismissing it as the latest fashion in an industry more fashion-driven than women's fashion.
• Redefining cloud computing to including everything that we (Oracle) already do. 
• Dismissing  it as vapor  during a recent Churchill Club appearance.

Undoubtedly there are several other assertions to this effect. Granted, Larry doesnt seem to like the term. And many of Cloud Computing's avid followers do admit that he has a point. Yes, googling for Ellison+Cloud+Computing yields millions of hits.

Does this mean Oracle refuses to do Cloud Computing? Not at all. Follow the money trail instead. Google for Oracle+Cloud+Computing and you can see a very different picture. I was impressed by the prominent presence of On-Demand versions of all Oracle products at the OOW DEMOgrounds. Virtually, all products (at least ones I know about) had On-Demand versions on display. And talking to various product managers reinforced this feeling. Oracle may be influenced by Larry's disdain for the Cloud Hype and Hyperbole, but it is run by how much money is on the table. As it should be. And in this regard, it has plenty to offer. Consider these broad references:

• Oracle Cloud Computing Center and FAQ and wiki
• Architectural Strategies for Cloud Computing (PDF preso)
• Oracle's partnership with Amazon and presence on EC2

Oracle had a preso at the recently concluded Oracle OpenWorld where the presenters outlined Oracle's On-Demand portfolio, "including Oracle's cloud, software as a service (SaaS), and on-demand vision to outline how customers can use unparalleled flexibility to their advantage in the purchase, deployment, support, hosting, and managing of their Oracle solutions" (words from their abstract). It makes for an interesting reading (requires membership or fees to access). Moreover, Salesforce.com had a HUGE and prominent presence in Moscone West.

My conclusion: forget the hype and the bluster surrounding Larry and Cloud computing. Focus on where Oracle is delivering products, datacenter services and a very flexible set of offerings. My guess from reading Oracle's 10K is that it makes a ton of money (in the hundreds of millions of dollars) on it and expects this trend to grow. So, expect more from Oracle, not less, in this regard. The company knows there is plenty of money to be made by showing leadership in this domain and it isnt going to ignore such a juicy opportunity.

Posted by tatkar ( Oct 23 2009, 02:08:43 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Cloud Computing peaks in Gartner Hype Cycle Study
Gartner's 2009 Hype Cycle is shown here. Some interesting trends among the 1600+ technologies they examined:
Cloud computing and Ebooks lead the pack among "Technologies at the Peak of Inflated Expectations"
Social software and Microblogging (Twitter, ...) have tipped over and are entering the trough of disillusionment
RFID and 3-D printing are on a track for being longer-term transformational technologies
Gartner Hype Cycle is explained here in greater detail.
If you dont want to buy the book, a simpler explanation is found in Wikipedia here.

Posted by tatkar ( Oct 22 2009, 05:05:28 PM PDT ) Permalink Comments [0]

Sun previews a Cloud Computing announcement
The cat is out of the bag now at SugarCRM's SugarCon 2009 conference in San Francisco with Sun preannouncing that it is taking to the Cloud.
There is a lot of Cloud action underway, especially after announcing the formation of a division dedicated entirely to Cloud Computing. Expect to see Sun play in IAAS, PAAS and SAAS layers; Sun has plenty of offerings up and down this stack and bringing them into the Cloud world could do interesting things in the market.
Expect to see a lot more details at CommunityOne event in March 2009.
Posted by tatkar ( Feb 05 2009, 12:22:42 PM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Clarifying some terminologies over Cloud Computing
Its not unusual that a new technology trend like Cloud Computing has a whole slew of confusing terms and acronyms for some fairly simple, straightforward concepts. Bugging, but not unusual :-)
So, if you're confused (like me), here are some pointers that might help.
I have found that this blog does a good job of Demystifying Iaas, PaaS, SaaS and other terms . . These are the three major categories.
Moreover, Peter Laird, has done a remarkable job of creating a Visual Map of Cloud Computing Landscape".
Thank you, Roman, for this recommendation!
Both of these are good overviews. Hope it helps you as it has helped me understand the overall picture.
Posted by tatkar ( Jan 09 2009, 11:41:49 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]

Where is Sun headed with Cloud Computing?
Life just got interesting in Sun Cloud Computing with this acquisition of Q-layer, a Belgium-based organization. The acquisition brings to Sun an immediate ability to offer efficient, full datacenter virtualization, a key aspect of Cloud Computing. The Q-layer software supports instant provisioning of services such as servers, storage, bandwidth and applications, enabling users to scale their own environments.
To our new brethren: Welcome aboard and I hope you have a fun ride here. We are pleased to have your expertise here and I'm equally sure that you will like the culture and engineering talent at Sun.
On a broader theme ...
If you'd like to read more about the overall vision, I'd recommend looking at these slides from Dave Douglas's presentation to Sun Analysts in November 2008 after the reorg announcement. [Dave Douglas is head of the Cloud Computing Group within Sun].
You may also want to hear this interesting podcast by Lew Tucker, CTO of Cloud Computing (at Sun). Together, they give a good sense of what Sun is attempting to do in 2009 as it re-enters the Cloud Computing area in a bigger way.
For more details on Sun's Cloud Computing initiative, you can you find more details here.
Posted by tatkar ( Jan 07 2009, 08:13:29 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [2]

Cloud Computing: the hot trend of 2008 and pick of 2009!
Cloud Computing has turned out to be the hottest trend for 2008. Google searches for the term skyrocketed (with Bangalore, India and San Jose, CA leading the trend!).
Several interesting announcements helped: IBM, Google/Salesforce deal,  Yahoo/Intel/HP alliance, VMware, , Microsoft's Azure,  and Sun all announced major new activities.
Despite some significant glitches which didnt go unnoticed, all indications are that this trend is here to stay. Or, more accurately, grow in 2009, judging from these 8 IT analysts who all had Cloud Computing in their Top 5 predictions for 2009.
Now, thats saying something!
Posted by tatkar ( Jan 06 2009, 08:36:20 AM PST ) Permalink Comments [0]