The publication of the Open Cloud Manifesto is positive.  The Cloud, driven by virtualization, is surfacing at the right time in the market and can advance computing in this generation. 

The concept of “openness” is necessary for innovation to thrive.  Publishing an open view with multiple and varied participants is an example of global lifecycle transformation where organizations work together across boundaries.

IBM, one of the key supporters of the Open Cloud Manifesto, has a long history of advancing collaboration around new technologies.  In the 90’s, IBM attempted collaboration by creating consortium style companies such as Taligent and Kaleida.  In the early part of this century, IBM was the leader of what has transformed in to Eclipse.org.  This appears to be IBM’s attempt to get agreement on the Cloud at various levels.

It is clear that each organization in support of the Open Cloud Manifesto has an agenda based upon the Cloud.  Agreement and discussion among a critical mass is a positive step to advancing Cloud technology.

VMLogix and Citrix are partnering to deliver a complete virtualization solution for the application lifecycle.  Citrix Essentials customers will have the advantage of using virtualization technology at every juncture of its IT organization; from the server to production and the entire application lifecycle including development and testing.  This partnership represents a new and visionary method of applying virtualization technology throughout multiple stages of the IT organization in a hypervisor neutral environment.

We started the year with the New England Patriots posting an undefeated regular season record of 16 – 0.  It appeared to be conclusive; the Patriots would win the Super Bowl – not so fast – the wild card New York Giants made an unpredictable and disruptive move by narrowly defeating the favored Patriots.  It was inevitable that the Patriots lose at some point in the season, it just happened to be the last and most important game.

In July, the greatest sporting event, the Tour de France departed with no defending champion for the second consecutive year!  Team Astana, with two of the three podium finishers of the 2007 race appeared to have very good odds of gaining one of the top three spots again.  Surprise! Team Astana was banned and Team CSC with Carlos Sastre and company rode to an unpredictable and disruptive victory.  It was inevitable that the Tour de France could not escape controversy.

Disruption and unpredictability seem to be the prevailing themes for 2008. In a year when radical and unexpected occurrences were commonplace, should technology be any different?  Let’s take a look at the big issues that may have shocked us, but in reality, were inevitable...

In this Enterprise Leadership podcast Theresa Lanowitz provides some down-to-earth discussion about cloud computing as a disruptive technology, moving one step closer to pervasive utility computing.

Every household doesn't need its own energy grid. If you follow this logic, then each enterprise does not need to be in the business of creating massive infrastructure. Why not take advantage of the some of the world's largest infrastructure offered to you by Amazon.com's Web Services or Google Apps Engine? That is the view of Theresa Lanowitz, the founder of voke, a research firm focused on breakthrough technologies, such as cloud computing.

She says that while Salesforce.com has revolutionized customer relations marketing by elevating it as a platform as a service, Amazon.com and Google.com have the opportunity to share their knowledge and expertise with every enterprise. She adds, "By making their massively scalable, highly available, high-performance environment, and a solid security infrastructure available, both Amazon.com and Google.com have moved one step closer to software as a service and pervasive utility computing. As a result, companies will be able to lower the cost of doing business and to remain innovative, competitive, and profitable. Enterprises of all sizes need to focus on delivering value to the marketplace of their core competency, regardless of what it is."

In this podcast, Theresa Lanowitz discusses the following:

• What type of impact Amazon.com Web Services and Google Apps Engine will have on cloud computing;
• What other areas of cloud computing and Web 2.0 will prevail;
• Why CIOs are hesitant to embrace cloud computing; and
• What three cloud computing takeaways CIOs need to think about in making decisions about this app?