Saturday, December 25, 2010

Microsoft - The Dynamic Data Center Program for Hosters

Microsoft - The Dynamic Data Center Program for Hosters: Partnering for Success

A new video posted on the Microsoft Hosting Partner Technical Advisor Blog outlines some of the business opportunities that are available for hosters (service providers) when they engage in the Dynamic Data Center (DDC) program.

If you haven't heard of the program or are still contemplating moving forward we encourage you to watch this recording below or download the attachment to this post.

In addition, make sure to checkout service provider automation specialist www.Parallels.com at their upcoming Summit 2011 and learn why hosters, telcos, IT resellers, ISVs and SIs should attend here

You can learn more about the Microsoft Dynamic Data Center by visiting the links below:

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Lync Server Licensing and Pricing

Lync Server Home Page 

Here is a great post that explains the many components to the new Microsoft Lync Server.
http://www.lyncforum.com/news/Newsletter-12-17-2010.htm?goback=.gde_3047679_member_37947341


Lync Forum is an independent forum on Microsoft Communications, Unified & Contextual-Communications.
http://www.lyncforum.com/news/sharepoint/sharepoint-uc-chart.jpg
Microsoft Lync Partner Showcase:
http://lync.microsoft.com/en-us/launch/Pages/partner-showcase.aspx


Useful Links:
With this concise summary I'm confident you can have informed discussions with local Microsoft licensing resellers.  Please make use of the fantastic resources available via links below.  If considering Microsoft-hosted or Partner-hosted deployment models please refer to the licensing guide in the first instance.
Follow andyord and ucfocus on twitter
Nexthop,  the Microsoft Lync Server team's customer response channel

Thursday, December 16, 2010

MX Records and BPOS (Office365)

Using MX Records to Enable Inbound Messaging

MX records determine whether email messages get delivered to the on-premise mail system or BPOS. The video concludes by walking us through how to enable inbound messaging via MOAC.

The video below explains more about MS records and how configuration works with your domain and it concludes by walking us through how to enable inbound messaging via MOAC.

Watch the Video HERE

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

New Atmail Webmail for Parallels Plesk

New Atmail Webmail for Parallels Plesk offered as an APS package makes it simple for Plesk customers to add a premium webmail and collaboration client offering to their existing email platform.

Atmail Releases Atmail Webmail for Parallels Plesk - (Link to press release)
New Atmail Webmail APS package for Parallels Plesk server automation solution. Atmail Webmail for Parallels Plesk package includes Atmail Webmail Server 6, a premium webmail server with calendar and contact collaboration features. Open Protocols enable Atmail Webmail to access and share calendar and contact information using the open and widely supported CalDAV and CardDAV protocols.
Service providers using Parallels Plesk 9 or 10 can easily add a premium webmail and collaboration client offering to attract new customers and generate extra revenue with premium email services. They also avoid the time and cost of replacing their current email servers, because Atmail Webmail for Parallels interfaces directly with their existing email servers.

Currently Atmail Webmail for Parallels is available from directly from Atmail and Atmail resellers. Atmail Webmail for Parallels is available with a perpetual license and one year basic support and updates. Additional annual support and update subscriptions are available at a low cost. For additional package and pricing information see: http://atmail.com/atmailplesk.php

OCS 2007 R2 Architecture poster & W2K8R2 Sizing for hosting partners

LYNC is coming, but for those Hosters who arent early adopters and are going for stability: a great blog post about OCS 2007 R2 and the associated data flow, click here: http://blogs.technet.com/b/ucedsg/archive/2010/02/03/very-cool-ocs-2007-r2-architecture-poster-available.aspx



How to size your Windows 2008 R2 RDS Session Host in your hosting environment:
Are you looking for sizing guidance on RDS Session hosting?  Here is a document which has proven to be a great resource to get started for hosting partners: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?displaylang=en&FamilyID=ca837962-4128-4680-b1c0-ad0985939063

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Microsoft Partner Guides prepared and ready for YOU by Redmond Channel Partner Online

After catching up on the latest Microsoft Lync news over at http://rcpmag.com I found myself browsing through their RCP Partner Guides and wanted to remind my followers about this great resource.  Here are a few links to some excellent and timely examples:

Partner’s Guide to Cloud Computing - Cloud computing introduces new ways of doing business. Your success could hinge on how well your business adapts. Guide from Redmond Channel Partner.

Partner Action Plan for Software-as-a-Service  - This report from Redmond Channel Partner examines seven of the best opportunities that Microsoft partners can try now to start making money in SaaS.

Guide to Hosting Solution Providers  - This information-rich report will help you make sense of hosted services. It includes details of Microsoft's hosted unified communications product stack, the market forces driving it and much more.



Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Cloud Management - Eucalyptus 2.0 now available!


Eucalyptus has been in the news of late on multiple fronts:

They launched a new V2.0 release, announced a new agreement with Jamcracker that provides integration between their product offerings to enable enterprises to self-provision Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) private and hybrid clouds and move workloads among internal servers, or to and from Amazon Web Services (AWS). They state that the integration of both platforms provides a turnkey solution for procuring through Jamcracker all the resources required to implement scalable IaaS-style private and hybrid clouds that then uses the Eucalyptus platform for provisioning and management.

Eucalyptus was also identified by the Obama administration, which has a keen eye out for emerging technology players, and steered NASA to become the company’s first customer. Using Eucalyptus’ platform, NASA built a facility to manage cloud services at Moffett Air Field and the White House now operates USASpending.gov – a site devoted to transparency in government spending – out of the facility in Moffett Field.

Eucalyptus also landed $20 million in a second round of funding led by New Enterprise Associates (Benchmark Capital and BV Capital are also investors) and they launched their Cloud coalition and officially named it "The NRE Alliance" in reference to the coalition partner members; newScale, rPath and Eucalyptus Systems - The Independent Website to support the New coalition can be found at www.nrecloud.com


Saturday, November 6, 2010

Mark Bregman, CTO for Symantec to Keynote at Parallels Summit 2011 - Parallels, the leader in cloud enablement solutions

Mark Bregman, CTO for Symantec to Keynote at Parallels Summit 2011 - Parallels is the leader in cloud enablement solutions.  Parallels Service Delivery system lets you offer a wide range of profitable services from hosted email and website hosting to Virtual Private Server (VPS) Hosting, and Hosted Applications (SaaS).  Over 5,000 cloud service providers worldwide rely on Parallels to deliver best-of-breed applications and services for their customers.
You can provide Cloud Services - Offer Cloud Services to grow your business with Parallels Cloud and Hosting Automation products for:
NEW!! Now available - Parallels Plesk Panel 10  - The most complete, best-integrated hosting and server automation system available anywhere!

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Hosted Edition

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 Hosted Edition now includes Multi-Tenant Support
As of: 2010-10-04

With Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 built-in multi-tenant support, service providers that use Service Provider Licensing Agreement (SPLA) no longer need a solution like Hosted Messaging and Collaboration (HMC) to host multiple organizations. Multi-tenant support provides the core feature-set of Exchange Server in a manner that can be deployed to multiple customers in a single installation, and provides ease of management and flexibility of provided features to end-users.

The hosting solution available for Exchange 2010 SP1 includes most of the features and functionality available in Exchange 2010 SP1 Enterprise deployments, but also includes features and functionality that will allow you to create and manage tenant organizations.

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010 SP1 will form part of the suite of multi-tenant capable products that will replace the Hosted Messaging and Collaboration 4.5 solution.

What's Available in Exchange 2010 SP1 Hosting Deployments? The following features and functionality are unique to hosting deployments:
  • Hosting Installation When you install Exchange 2010 SP1 for hosting deployments, you will run the installation from the command line and include the /hosting switch. Once installed, your servers will be running in Hosting Mode.
  • Tenant Organization Configuration Because you will be creating and managing multiple organizations in the hosting deployment, you can use cmdlets and parameters that aren't available to Enterprise deployments. For more information, see Checklist: Create a Tenant Organization.
  • Service Plans A service plan allows you to enable or disable certain features when deploying tenant organizations. They simplify tenant administration by automatically setting up feature configuration and automatic feature provisioning of mailboxes. In addition, service plans allow you to grant the correct set of RBAC permissions to tenant based on available features.
  • Mailbox Plans A mailbox plan is a template that automatically populates multiple user properties and assigns default permissions to new or existing user accounts. You use mailbox plans to provision accounts for a particular user population with a common default configuration.
For more information, see Understanding Service Plans and Mailbox Plans.

 
Hosted Messaging and Collaboration (HMC) Support Details can be found online [Click HERE] - With the release of Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, Microsoft is creating a new way to support hosted Exchange deployments. Hosting in Exchange Server 2010 will be available approximately twelve months after the release of Exchange Server 2010. HMC 4.5 is the last version of this solution. Microsoft will support HMC 3.5 through July 12, 2011, and will support HMC 4.x through December 12, 2011.

 
• You can find the latest HMC updates available [Click HERE] on Microsoft Technet

Brief Overview of Microsoft Hosted Messaging and Collaboration (HMC):
(For a detailed Overview of HMC [Click HERE])
HMC 4.5 brings together powerful Microsoft enterprise products such as Microsoft Exchange Server, Microsoft Windows SharePoint Services, and now gives you Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, which manages all real-time communications such as instant messaging (IM) and audio and video conferencing.

Other new features and enhancements:
  • Exchange Server 2007 SP1: Web-based OABs and resource mailboxes
  • Windows SharePoint Services: multi-tenant People Picker functionality
  • Provisioning capabilities have been expanded: Microsoft Provisioning System (MPS) cross data store integration procedures and Individual Information Worker (IIW) tenant model

Microsoft Exchange 2010 Related Analyst Reports

Below are NEW links to the latest Microsoft Exchange Related Analyst Reports:

Gartner MarketScope for E-mail Systems, 2010
Microsoft received a “strong positive” rating in the 2010 Gartner MarketScope for E-mail Systems. The report evaluates the major e-mail vendors and Gartner found “E-mail/calendar systems are the most important communications channel for enterprises.” (Gartner Research, August 12, 2010)

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications, 2010
Microsoft is positioned in the Leaders Quadrant. According to Gartner, “unified communications offers the ability to improve how individuals, groups and companies interact and perform tasks.” This research reviews relevant technologies and vendor offerings that can assist in these goals. (Gartner Research, July 28, 2010)

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Wireless E-mail, 2010
Microsoft is positioned in the Leaders Quadrant. According to Gartner, “The market for enterprise wireless email products is mature, with most new demand coming from the expansion of the user base in companies that have already deployed the technology. Wireless e-mail continues to be a priority for mobile investments.” (Gartner Research, June 10, 2010)

Stay on TOP of latest Microsoft Exchange 2010 News!

To stay on TOP of the latest Microsoft Exchange 2010 News!  [Click HERE]

Specific Links to review:
- Review What's New in Exchange 2010
- Read the Exchange 2010 Product Overview
- Learn How to Buy Exchange 2010
- Download Exchange 2010 Trial Today

Microsoft Exchange Server 2010, the cornerstone of Microsoft’s Unified Communications solution is launched… - Exchange Server 2010 is now available for businesses worldwide and is already helping organizations reduce costs, protect communications and delight e-mail users.

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Microsoft OCS 2007 is now Microsoft Lync

Microsoft OCS 2007 is now Microsoft Lync. Microsoft announced the new name change and they've made the "bits" available to download to the public. Microsoft's Kirk Gregersen, Lync Product Management said:

 
"A key part of the release is the re-branding to Microsoft Lync."  [Click HERE for more...]

 
Microsoft Lync, what was commonly known as "OCS" is made up of the following products:
  • Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 R2
  • Microsoft Office Communicator 2007 R2
  • Microsoft Office Communications Online
  • Microsoft Office Live Meeting
At the same time that we needed one name to help unify things with this release, we also wanted to make sure that the new name really reflects the big product transformation with this release. In that sense, Lync - a combination of "link" and "sync" - is about connecting people in new ways, anytime, anywhere. Beyond simplifying and shortening the current branding, the team's customer research found that the name Lync appeals to end users and IT pros, even more than descriptive options, and really helped land the value prop with end users. We hope you'll grow to like the name as much as we have.

 
The Lync Server 2010 RC includes both the Enterprise and Standard editions of the server, plus the Lync 2010 client (new Communicator). Microsoft Lync Server 2010 is 64-bit only.

Here's an overview plus important info posted about Microsoft Lync on Microsoft's site:

 
Microsoft Lync Server 2010 provides complete presence, instant messaging, conferencing and enterprise voice capabilities through a single, easy-to-use interface that is consistent across PC, browser, and mobile device. You can Architect your deployment for high availability using data center resiliency and survivable branch appliances. Administrators benefit from a single, consistent management infrastructure, new capabilities to increase availability, and interoperability with existing systems. Administrators also use a new PowerShell-based foundation for administration consistent with Exchange Server, Active Directory, and other Microsoft server products.

 
This Microsoft Lync Server 2010 Release Candidate includes both editions of the server (Enterprise Edition and Standard Edition), along with the Microsoft Lync 2010 client.

Monday, October 11, 2010

Parallels Plesk Panel 10 – Marketing Preview #3 - PLUS 10-10-10- A ten year history of Parallels Plesk Panel 10

Jon McCarrick, Senior Manager Product Marketing with Parallels posted on Oct 10, 2010:


Parallels Cloud Service Provider Blog: 10-10-10- A ten year history of Parallels Plesk Panel 10

10-10-10- A ten year history of Parallels Plesk Panel 10


10-10-10- A great day for:

10 years of Parallels Plesk Panel

10 years of Parallels

The 10th version of Parallels Plesk Panel!!

So, in honor of this momentous occassion, Parallels presents the 10 year history of Parallels Plesk Panel 10:  Both a 1 minute version and a Longer Version are posted.

Friday, October 8, 2010

Migrating to VoIP, Data Center Virtualization, Lotus Notes Migration

Papers and presentations on virtualized data centers, migrating to VoIP, Lotus Notes migration, mobile marketing and cloud services

IDG Connect

Papers & Presentations:

HP/3Com: A Comprehensive Framework for Securing Virtualized Data Centers
Learn about the security challenges of virtualization.
Interactive Intelligence: A Practical Guide to Migrating to VoIP: Planning and Design Considerations
If you're going to transfer to a VoIP system, you might as well do it right.
Quest: Ten Ways SharePoint 2010 Will Impact Your Lotus Notes Migration
Augment or replace your Lotus Notes installation.
Limelight Networks: 5 Proven Ways to Drive Mobile Marketing Results
Mobile video audiences are expected to jump threefold before 2014, don't pass up the marketing opportunities this presents.
AT&T: Cloud Services: What Are They, What Value Do They Provide?
You see a lot of adds for cloud this or cloud that, but what makes it actually better?
Top IT News You Can Use:Verizon's LTE network to reach 38 cities this year (Computerworld)How One Company Made SharePoint 2010 More Social (CIO)Don't expect to peer into Google cloud services security (Networkworld)

Top Cloud Security White Papers - October 08, 2010

New White Papers and Webcasts
October 08, 2010
A service of Bitpipe.com

New white papers, case studies, webcasts and product information on the topics you are interested in.

Identity as Security Glue for the Cloud
by CA Technologies.
Join Matthew Gardiner, Director of Security Management at CA, for this webcast, in which he provides a framework for thinking about identity and how it relates to both the different modes in the cloud as well as the consumption and use of the cloud.

Business Strategy for Cloud Providers: The Case for Potential Cloud Services Providers
by IBM
This paper is focused on helping those who want to emerge aswinners in the new cloud provider marketplace. Read on to learn tips for creating a winning cloud provider business strategy and model.

Podcast: Developing for the Future - The new trend for Hosted VXML
by West Interactive
By taking advantage of the Voice XML platform (VXML) to manage infrastructure scale and support, companies are freeing up IT dollars and resources to focus on creating best-in-class customer experiences using IVR applications. This podcast will provide you with key information necessary to execute a comprehensive PaaS strategy using VXML.

Webinar: Deploying a Major Server Upgrade on the Cloud
by RightScale
This webinar continues the exploration of how to manage deployments on the cloud. We demonstrate how much easier and more efficient it is to perform maintenance tasks on the cloud using the RightScale Cloud Management Platform, while staying in control through the entire process.



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Thursday, September 23, 2010

Host Your Web Site In The Cloud: Amazon Web Services Made Easy: Amazon EC2 Made Easy

A prior colleague of mine, Jeff Barr, Cloud Computing evangelist extraordinar at Amazon Web Services has released his new book "Host Your Web Site In The Cloud: Amazon Web Services Made Easy: Amazon EC2 Made Easy."

I am looking forward to reading it!

Monday, September 13, 2010

PCI Compliance for Dummies - Free ebook


PCI Compliance for Dummies
Get the facts on PCI Compliance and learn how to comply with the PCI Data Security standard.

Saturday, September 11, 2010

Webcast: Stand It Up and Go As Fast As You Can – Parallels Virtuozzo Containers for High Performance Cloud Computing

Join experts from Parallels and Intel for an informative discussion on cloud computing for performance-sensitive workloads. Learn how Parallels Virtuozzo Containers use a performance-friendly architecture to enable companies to truly maximize their Intel hardware investment.

Thursday, September 16th, 2010
11:00 a.m. ET


REGISTER


More information to enhance your webcast experience:
Download Reference Architecture Discuss Reference Architecture
FAQ Executive Summary



The Intel Cloud Builder series can be found here:
http://software.intel.com/en-us/articles/intel-cloud-builder/


Learn about Parallels internal cloud solutions:



Wednesday, September 8, 2010

Microsoft Visual Studio 2010 adds Plug-In controls for the Rackspace Cloud

Rackspace Announcement:
With the Rackspace Cloud Visual Studio 2010 Plug-In, developers are fully aware of everything that is going on with their cloud server instances when they are developing or deploying an application, thus reducing overall complexity and errors by providing a layer of automation not possible without integration.  The toolkit provides a new level of abstraction, making it easier and faster than ever for .NET developers to create and deploy applications to Cloud Servers for Windows. Additional application programming interface (API) features of the Rackspace Cloud Visual Studio 2010 Plug-In include the ability to:
http://tools.rackspacecloud.com/applications/rackspace-cloud-visual-studio-2010-plug-in

ZDNET Post:
Cloud hosting provider Rackspace rolled out on September 8 a new toolkit for customers who want to develop and deploy to its Cloud Servers for Windows service.  The new tookit, known as the Rackspace Cloud Plug-In for Visual Studio 2010, was developed by Microsoft Gold partner Neudesic. Rackspace is touting the toolkit as reducing deployment and provisioning time for its hosted Windows servers, as well as providing users of those Windows servers with a single cloud-management portal.
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/microsoft/rackspace-fills-out-its-windows-cloud-story/7318

www.cloudave.com Posting:
Today, Rackspace announced the release of Windows based Cloud Servers to compete with Amazon EC2 Windows instances and Windows Azure. According to Rackspace, the new service delivers a highly scalable environment ideal for Windows-based hosting, testing and developing applications and supporting the high levels of traffic required for launching online gaming platforms or the next social networking phenomenon. This was expected for a long time because they needed to have Windows based offerings in order to effectively compete with Amazon.
http://www.cloudave.com/61/rackspace-offers-windows-cloud-servers

Amazon Web Services launches series of new events

Amazon Web Services launches series of new events:

Upcoming AWS Events - Fall 2010 -  Details @  http://lnkd.in/4xcpim

Terremark vCloud Express - What do you think?

I was reading whitepapers on Terremarks vCloud Express.  It looks great!  Have you worked with it?

http://vcloudexpress.terremark.com/


Powered by Terremark

vCloud Express is delivered from Terremark’s top-tier datacenters connected to a global web of 160 networks. It’s built on enterprise-class technology and supported by a leader in managed services and cloud computing.

Virtualized by VMware

vCloud Express is Virtualized by VMware, the leader in virtual server technology. VMware’s robust and secure virtualization platform gives you freedom and control, complete reliability and high security. That’s why VMware is the overwhelming choice for cloud computing, in use by all of the Fortune 100.

Easy to Use

vCloud Express features a simple Web-based console based on Terremark’s class-leading Enteprise Cloud platform. A full-featured API allows programmatic access to compute capacity. Standards-based architecture and support for a broad range of operating systems means we’re ready for your applications today, no customization required.

No Minimum Commitment

With vCloud Express, you pay only for the capacity you use, when you use it. You can add capacity at the click of a mouse for peak times, then scale back down when you don’t need it. Getting started takes just minutes and a credit card.







Cloud webcasts I'm attending that you may be interested in

Webcast: Sep 29 2010 8:00 am Orchestrate Digital Initiatives to Better the Customer Experience
Channel: Cloud Computing
Attend: http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/22774

Webcast: Oct 27 2010 12:00 pm Enterprise Cloud Computing: A Complete Lifecycle
Channel: Cloud Computing
Attend: http://www.brighttalk.com/webcast/22837


The Cloud's impact on online security, PCI and more...


A BrightTALK Channel
Sept 14th, 2010 - BrightTalk will host a 1-hour webinar with Rackspace customer GoCompare along with Alert Logic where you can learn about Security in the Cloud and best practice advice to avoid risk. Get insight from GoCompare's experience with the Cloud.  Learn about PCI in the Cloud and more.
http://brighttalk.com/summit/1544  

Friday, September 3, 2010

With the continued growth of Online Video, everyone wants a piece of the pie!

Key announcements can be reviewed at the following links:


- NetFlix adds content from EpixNEW YORK (Dow Jones)--Pay-cable movie channel Epix agreed to supply movies to Netflix Inc. (NFLX) for the online movie company's on-demand service starting next month in a deal that adds momentum to the rise of video streaming on the web.


Netflix: Defying the Laws of Gravity - Netflix (NFLX) has a strong business operation that is highly successful and has driven strong revenue, EPS, and cash flow growth over the past several years. 


Apple is jumping in too - Whether Apple delivers from in-house or via CDN, Apple's new approach sets streaming bar high.


Can Redbox Challenge Netflix Online?Redbox is a division of Coinstar(CSTR) that offers movie rentals via DVD kiosks. Redbox recently announced plans to launch an online streaming service in competition with Netflix(NFLX), which is well established in the streaming video market.


Sorenson Has A Winner With Their New 360 Video Platform (Hands-On Review)Back in May, Sorenson Media, best known for their Squeeze encoding software and the Spark video codec, launched a new video platform called Sorenson 360. After being hands on with the offering for the past three months, I've come to the conclusion that it's one of the most well thought out platforms on the market for small and medium sized customers.

Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Citrix announced plans to acquire VMLogix

Early this week, Citrix (NASDAQ:CTXS), a leader in virtualization with annual revenue of $1.58 billion, announced its plans to acquire VMLogix, a leading provider of virtualization management for private and public clouds. The VMLogix acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter, and Citrix plans to use the technology from VMLogix to extend the Citrix OpenCloud platform and add an intuitive self-service interface to to its popular XenServer virtualization platform. Gartner expects the market for server virtualization management to reach $2 billion in 2014, growing at a compound annual rate of 39.2%. Let’s take a closer look.
Mike Vizard of CTO Edge says Citrix is attempting to promote the proprietary approaches to virtual switching and cloud computing management that have been taken by VMware and Cisco. According to Wes Wasson, chief marketing officer for Citrix, as cloud computing continues to rapidly evolve, the need for open standards that promote interoperability is quickly becoming a major industry issue affecting the rate of cloud computing adoption.
In July, Citrix reported second quarter revenue of $458 million, up 12%. Net income was $48 million or $0.25 per share versus $43 million or $0.23 per share last year. The company repurchased shares for $101 million and ended the quarter with $1.41 billion in cash and marketable securities. Q1 coverage is available here.
During the quarter, Citrix closed eighteen customer transactions of over $1 million each, including several deals over $5 million. New license sales were $149 million, up 15% from last year, driven by growth in both the Desktop and Data Center businesses. Revenue from license updates increased 13% due to strong customer interest in the XenDesktop Trade-up program. Tech Services grew 35% and Online SaaS revenue was $89 million, up 18% driven by 35% growth in Web Collaboration.
The Desktop business, which includes both Application and Desktop Virtualization solutions, generated revenue of $290 million, up 15%, with revenue from XenDesktop, a desktop virtualization tool at $60 million. During the earnings call, CEO Mark Templeton said demand for XenDesktop was driven by the unstoppable wave of new iPads, Macs, and smartphones often with the client’s CIO leading the charge.
The Data Center and Cloud Computing business, which provides Application Networking and Server Virtualization solutions, generated revenue of $74 million, up 20%, with the NetScaler customer base increasing 50% mainly in the enterprise market.
Citrix expects third quarter revenue of $450 million to $460 million and EPS of $0.31 to $0.32. It raised its fiscal 2010 revenue guidance to $1.81 billion to $1.83 billion from $1.765 billion to $1.78 billion. It expects EPS of 1.27 to $1.31 versus earlier guidance of $1.29 to $1.34. The stock is trading around $58 with market cap of about $10.85 billion. It hit a 52-week high of $59.53 on August 20.

SaaS market to reach $40.5 billion by 2014

According to IDC, the SaaS market had worldwide revenues of $13.1 billion in 2009, and IDC expects it to reach $40.5 billion by 2014, representing a CAGR of 25.3%. Consolidation is happening at all levels of cloud computing, both applications (SaaS) and infrastructure. SaaS vendors Taleo, SuccessFactors, RightNow, and Salesforce.com have already started consolidating, and Citrix is the latest cloud computing consolidator but at the infrastructure level.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

Gartner: Seven cloud-computing security risks | Security Central - InfoWorld

Placing your data "in the cloud" has its risks! Constructing a plan that mitigates risk and identifies applications that best fit into the cloud are key to your success.

Learn about the risks from the POV of Gartner:
Gartner: Seven cloud-computing security risks | Security Central - InfoWorld

Friday, July 30, 2010

2010 investment ideas that hit -- and missed - MarketWatch

Looks like some good ideas to work into an investment portfolio.
UPDATE - 2010 investment ideas that hit -- and missed Weekend Investor - MarketWatch  


1. Stocks with a global footprint

Coca-Cola Co.  (KO 55.25) and Google Inc. (GOOG 484.60) Big-cap U.S. stock ETFs with a global slant include Vanguard Large Cap ETF (VV 50.21) , PowerShares Active Mega Cap (PMA 22.14) and iShares Russell Top 200 Index (IWL 25.60)

2. Stock dividends as bond substitute

Stocks:
Intel Corp. (INTC 20.62) , Kraft Foods Inc. (KFT 29.32) , McDonald's Corp. (MCD 69.90) , Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM 59.82) , Procter & Gamble Co. (PG 61.25) , Johnson & Johnson (JNJ 57.98) and Coca-Cola (KO 55.25)   -  Each of these stocks yields above 3% and Kraft offers 4%.

ETFs:
Jensen Portfolio (JENSX 24.20) use dividends as a cornerstone of their investment strategy. Vanguard Dividend Appreciation ETF (VIG 46.87) , SPDR S&P Dividend (SDY 48.52) , iShares Dow Jones Select Dividend Index (DVY 45.52) , WisdomTree LargeCap Dividend (DLN 40.99) and PowerShares International Dividend Achievers (PID 14.00).

3. Larger-cap index funds = Stay away for now it sounds like...

4. Technology stocks 

Stocks:
EMC Corp. (EMC 19.86), Intel (INTC 20.62), Cisco Systems Inc. (CSCO 23.11), NetApp Inc. (NTAP 42.29), International Business Machines (IBM 128.65).

ETFs:

Funds:
Dynamic US Growth Fund (DWUGX 14.16), which has almost half of its portfolio invested in technology companies including Apple Inc. (AAPL 257.02) , NetApp (NTAP 42.29) and VMware Inc. (VMW 77.30)

5. Energy stocks- energy sector is down (buying opportunity?) – The oil patch was hit hard w/ implosion of BP PLC  (BP 38.57).

Stocks:
ExxonMobile and Companies in the exploration and production business, include Noble Energy Inc. (NBL 67.21), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (CHK 21.06) and Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM 17.14).

ETFs:
Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE 53.92),  SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production (XOP 40.58).

Funds:
RidgeWorth Mid-Cap Value Equity Fund (SAMVX 10.54) about 15% of its portfolio in energy sector.

6. Industrials- strong foundation so far this year (aerospace and defense firms, railroads, electrical equipment makers and construction and engineering firms)

Stocks:
Flowserve Corp. (FLS 98.89) , ITT Corp. (ITT 46.95), Fluor Corp. (FLR 48.29), Ingersoll-Rand PLC (IR 37.41), Lennox International Inc. (LII 43.60) and A.O. Smith Corp. (AOS 54.66)

ETFs:
Industrial Select Sector SPDR (XLI 30.29), Vanguard Industrials ETF (VIS 55.92)

7. M&A trends

Global merger and acquisition activity rose almost 8% in the first half of 2010 - will be an ongoing global trend. Companies with cash are increasingly looking across the globe for opportunities. 

Lazard Ltd. (LAZ 29.67) investment bank and asset manager. "It's ridiculously cheap, and without the regulatory and balance sheet risk of the other banks"

8. U.S. dollar

The strong-dollar theme continues to play out,

9. Avoid long-term government bonds

10. Emerging markets consumers

Consumer-services companies in emerging markets, present a compelling and relatively more predictable investment picture - emerging middle class - providers of consumer services.
Stocks:
China Life Insurance Company Ltd. (LFC 67.17), multinationals Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing  (TSM 10.09), Nike Inc. (NKE 73.51) and Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (MJN 53.15) ways to take advantage of rising incomes in China. 

Consumer-staples companies
Funds:
Artio Global Equity Fund (JGEIX 33.44


The original article is posted here:
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ten-money-making-investment-ideas-for-2010-2010-01-08

Thursday, June 24, 2010

Building a Secure Cloud Infrastructure - BrightTALK


A BrightTALK Channel

Monday, June 14, 2010

Amazon Web Services Overview - 06-10-2010

Here is a good overview of Amazon Web Services. 



Monday, May 10, 2010

EVRYTHING fails at some point.

11 points by brk 29 minutes ago | link

Although I sometimes get downvoted for this, I'll say it again:

You can't outsource your liability.

Posted Here:

If your product is a webapp, then the underlying messy bits of backups, hardware, availability and redundancy also require some amount of conscious thought on your part. Not every site/app needs it's own mini-datacenter, and you might not even need your own dedicated server (though you probably do when you reach a certain minimal amount of scale). But you DO need to have someone who is thinking about backups and availability, and a valid solution is not to assume that the smart folks at Amazon or Rackspace or any other hosting provider are going to be completely and consistently working with your best interests and uptime in mind.

EVRYTHING fails at some point. Every server, every generator, every upstream connection, every hosting provider big or small. And in this case I mean fail as in goes dark for some period of time not covered by backups or hot-spares.

So, plan accordingly.

Friday, April 23, 2010

Capitalize on your Expertise, Monetize Websites and Blog Posts

Todays business models continue to embrace new revenue streams. One such revenue stream that get's easier to integrate into just about any business model is affiliate ads.

Simply pick vendors and programs that enhance your own expertise and away you go!

Well, it's not that easy, but, it IS getting easier!

With Google AdSense and Google AdSense for RSS feeds, you have well known monetization techniques that can be easily integrated with your websites and blogs.

This weekend I will work with the new Blogger integration launched recently for Amazon Associates.

With this integration, you can search the Amazon product catalog without leaving the Blogger interface and insert links to the products you find into your posts.

Not only is the process of linking to products more efficient, but Amazon makes it easy for you to earn money whenever your readers actually buy the products you write about. This is known as an “affiliate program”, and it’s designed to let you recommend products you like to your audience — if they buy the product, you’ll earn a commission on that purchase.

Click Here for a review on ProBlogger.net that reviews affiliate programs in general.

And click Here for a good overview at ProBlogger and Darren’s “11 Lessons Learned” post about Amazon Associates describing how to get the most out of the program.