2011 Predictions for Cloud Automation Market

​2010 has been the year of early adopters for the cloud automation market. IT savvy users in development, test, training and sales functions adopted the cloud model to accelerate application lifecycle management. With recent innovations in usability and self-service capabilities, functional users in consulting, training, and sales demo areas are becoming the direct, empowered consumers of

Domain Based Development and Test Projects in Skytap is Heaven!

A lot of Skytap customers ask about running Windows domains in Skytap.  Running domain controllers with test domains in Skytap Cloud can make a lot of sense. With the snapshot and network isolation technology, Skytap Cloud is the perfect development and test environment for this use case. Almost all Windows server products require the use

To Cloud or Not to Cloud?

​I get asked the “To Cloud or Not to Cloud” question quite often.  The answer is easy  – it depends!  I usually get a better reaction than when I give that answer to my kids. It leads to a discussion of the question’s context spanning business, technology, organization, and more. While the conclusion of each

We could not agree more…

VMware Blogger David Davis says it best: “What I have heard most about SkyTap is that they “make the cloud easy”. After seeing their variety of integrated cloud features and their impressive interface, I can see why. The Skytap cloud can be used for application development, app testing, migration, virtual private clouds, virtual training, sales

Configuring a virtual data center in the cloud…literally.

Ladies and gentlemen please be sure your tray tables and seat backs are in their upright and locked positions…we are going for a ride in the Skytap Cloud. It occurred to me today on a flight from Seattle to San Francisco to attend and exhibit at VMworld 2010, that we live in one of the

Are You Attending VMWorld 2010?

VMWorld 2010 San Francisco is less than a week away and we are wrapping up our final preparations for the annual event that is sure not to disappoint. This year we will be arriving with a brand spanking new booth, free trial offers of Skytap Cloud, non stop product demo’s in the Skytap booth (#1432),

“Sometimes the questions are complicated and the answers are simple.” – Dr. Suess

Software development and test engineers often argue about “that’s not really a bug” or “that’s not a blocker to ship”. But they all agree on one thing for sure: shipping the next cool, new release to market faster and doing it with style and quality is fun and exciting. Yet, the reality of crummy old

How many clicks does it take to create a Cloud network?

We are making networking easy in Skytap Cloud – so easy that may be “cloudnetwork” jokes will become as fashionable as “lightbulb” jokes! All it takes is a couple of mouse clicks to create a realistic (meaning complex) application network topology. What we are seeing is that this power and simplicity has freed users from

Network Automation Announcement

Today Skytap announced breakthrough network automation capabilities that simplify and accelerate the creation, migration and deployment of multi-tier enterprise applications in the cloud. These features empower IT organizations to create virtual data centers with advanced network topologies and enable functional users to deploy them with an easy-to-use, self-service interface. New capabilities include: Support for advanced, multi-tier

5 Points To Make When Your CEO Cries Cloud

I saw an interesting article today in Information Week (click here to view) discussing how to respond to execs when they ask what your cloud strategy is. We’re seeing many companies come to us after a CEO and/or CIO has pushed their teams to think how cloud computing can be used in their organization. A good

The Cloud Wars: Who Will Win?

Today, Microsoft announced its Windows Azure cloud computing offering, further validating the market for cloud-based platforms. Given the multitude of major players in this market, including Amazon and Google, and the speed of innovation, we should see some major advances in cloud technologies which will greatly benefit customers. But who will be big winners (and

Barriers to cloud computing adoption

Despite all the benefits of cloud computing, there are some barriers to adoption. A recent panel on cloud computing at Interop 08 in Las Vegas, highlighted security and interoperability with in-house systems as key concerns for enterprises considering cloud computing. This is a real issue for many enterprises with a large number of existing in-house