Dustin Amrhein

Rapid deployment capability is table stakes when we are talking about a PaaS solution. Every vendor touts it, and to be frank, every user simply expects it to be there. While I think it is interesting to talk about rapid deployment and perhaps compare speed of one solution to that of another, I think it is infinitely more interesting to talk about the mechanics of deployment for a particular solution. That is, I think the more interesting and important question is ‘What deployment style does a particular solution take?' At a very high, black and white level, I think two primary deployment styles permeate the landscape of PaaS today: contained and referential. I want to compare each approach, but before that, let me use a few words to describe each style. - Contained: In the contained deployment model, PaaS solutions deploy environments based on packages that cont... (more)

Beyond the Walls of the Enterprise

Most in IT understand that mobile applications are unique. In terms of development, delivery, and management things just are not quite the same as compared to your typical enterprise application. There are many reasons for these differences including new and different programming models and languages, different application packaging and delivery, different development and testing methodologies, and more. While all of these are interesting and have profound effects, in talking to enterprise IT shops there is one major difference that sticks out a little more than most: mobile ap... (more)

IBM Acquires Worklight

How about we start this post off with some facts? - Mobile data traffic exceeded voice traffic in 2010 (Wireless Industry News, August 26, 2010) - Shipments of smartphones exceeded the shipment of PCs for the first time in 2011 (2011 Economist) - Ten billion mobile connected devices are expected to be in use by 2020 (2011 Economist) - 74% of surveyed CIOs indicated mobile capabilities were a top investment priority over the next three to five years (2011 IBM Global CIO Study) As you may surmise from the above, the mobile computing space is hot. Companies are already doing mobile... (more)

Cloud Computing: Application Services and PaaS

One of the first things I learned when I started talking with clients about their plans for platform-based clouds is that there is no such thing as a ‘simple application environment.' Even for the most basic, CRUD-style applications, you can count on there being numerous different components involved in the overall solution. While one may immediately identify application servers, web servers, and databases, it quickly becomes clear that LDAP servers, identify management components, data grids, load balancers, and more are equally important. Indeed, the enterprise application ec... (more)

The Pitfalls of Cloud Computing

There is no shortage of information concerning the ‘right' way to do cloud. Don't believe me? Just google ‘adopting cloud computing' or ‘implementing cloud computing' and prepare to be bombarded with advice. Don't get me wrong. I am not attempting to impugn this kind of material or otherwise demean it. I am simply saying that if you want to read about how to successfully adopt, implement, or otherwise begin to use cloud computing, you have a wealth of information at your disposal. On the other hand, I doubt you will find as much information on the opposite of cloud success, whic... (more)