White Paper: VMware ESXi in a Cloud-based Lab

Our latest white paper, VMware ESXi in a Cloud-based Lab, is out today. The following is an excerpt: VMware ESXi is VMware’s vSphere hypervisor, used to run multiple virtual servers on a single physical server. It’s available in a free version (called the Free VMware vSphere Hypervisor) and commercial editions such as vSphere Enterprise Plus.

Virtual Private PaaS, Featuring Cloud Foundry Integration

Today, we’re proud to announce our Virtual Private Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) solution that features the ability to spin up pre-configured, multi-VM Cloud Foundry environments in Skytap Cloud in fewer than 60 seconds. By using a secure VPN connection from Skytap Cloud to on-premise infrastructure, enterprise IT and development teams can have instant, on-demand access to a secure, self-contained, network-isolated Cloud Foundry environment

Dev/Test: 3 Habits for Running a Successful Cloud Trial

​Having personally helped hundreds of companies evaluate Skytap as a development and testing cloud provider, I wanted to pass along my top 3 habits for running a successful cloud trial. If you worked through the suggestions in my previous blog piece: Questions to Ask When Vetting a Cloud Service Provider, you will have a foundation

Five Ways the Cloud Can Supercharge Agile Development

Time. Development and test teams never have enough of it. Now more than ever before, development and test are under constant pressure to release quality features as quickly as possible. In fact, results from a 2011 Serena survey show that developers rank delivering applications faster as their number one priority, even more important than reducing

Cushman & Wakefield Invests in the Cloud

Creating great software on time and on budget is no small task. And like all businesses, Cushman & Wakefield—the world’s largest privately held real estate service firm—has faced an increasingly complex and fast moving market, with demands for shorter response times to IT requests and a desire to enhance productivity of development and test teams.

Trek Ascends to the Cloud with Skytap

Aging infrastructure is one reason that many companies make the decision to integrate cloud solutions. Trek, one of the largest bicycle manufacturers in the world, had a point-of-sale software called Ascend, with a development and test IT infrastructure based on an old VMware environment consisting of four servers, a SAN storage system, and limited on-premises

Watch SmartClient at Work

SmartClient™ is our latest feature release that offers a fast, easy, and secure way to remotely access and interact with the complex computing environments you create in Skytap Cloud™. It offers the flexibility of using the SmartClient Java-based browser applet or any Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP)-capable client on any device including desktops, laptops, smartphones, and

Everything Dev/Test at Agile West

We’re back from two days at the Agile Development West Conference, and we learned some interesting things. We spoke to many developers, test engineers, IT, and architects about development and testing–and the main pain point we heard over and over again is how long it takes to provision an environment on-premise. That is definitely an

Slashdot TV Interview With Brett Goodwin on Skytap Cloud

At last month’s Interop Conference in Las Vegas, Slashdot TV stopped by the Skytap booth to speak with Brett Goodwin, our VP of Marketing and Business Development. In the interview, Brett elaborates on the features and capabilities of Skytap Cloud™ and how application developers and testers use our product to collaborate and do more faster.

See You at Agile Development West: June 13 and 14

Skytap is a proud gold sponsor of Agile Development Conference West 2012–six days of interaction between industry experts and peers in the agile community, with learning sessions that help IT professionals make a powerful impact in their job roles and organizations. About the event: Discover Agile Development Conference West 2012 and take back the latest

So, Skytap—What Are You Anyhow?

Considering the pace at which cloud computing is moving, it’s no surprise that many have a tough time putting their finger on what an ever-expanding array of vendors are actually delivering. No need to worry, as I don’t plan to spend this post pontificating on the liberal application of the term “cloud”–or even “cloud washing”

The Cloud … Now With More IaaS

Late last week, Derrick Harris, of tech industry watcher GigaOm, blogged that both Google and Microsoft are readying new entrants to compete in the ongoing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud arms race. While Harris’ sources in Mountain View and Redmond have “declined to comment” on the particulars, it doesn’t require a wild imagination to