The Liquidator : S+S

Big Deal #1 – Cloud computing - Announcements from PDC in Los Angeles – Oct 2008

Mark.Carroll — Fri, 16 Jan 2009 06:29:00 GMT

Speaking personally – ‘Big Deals for Me’ of 2008

I am starting the New Year with reflections on the year just gone in the form of three ‘big deals for me’ that came out of 2008. I’ll discuss each of these ‘Big Deals for Me’ , how they are inter-related and where I expect them to lead in 2009 over the next couple of weeks via this blog.

Big Deal #1 – Cloud computing - Announcements from PDC in Los Angeles – Oct 2008

Cloud computing platforms will not sweep all else before them.

We all know that cloud computing is going to factor a lot more in the future of IT and subsequently the future of all of us as IT professionals. I don’t believe cloud computing is the ‘next big thing that will sweep all else before it” - but I can see why some folk would want to believe this. What I believe is more likely is that there will be an incorporation of ‘the cloud’ onto existing platform models including Client and Server. This has always been the case in the past with major changes – for example mainframes and batch computing which by in large pre-dated ‘client’ and ‘server’ platform models still abound out there it is just that now a majority have switched to front to PC clients instead of using card readers and drum printers.

How platforms have become established in the past.

Market forces and ‘existing investments’ always dictate that new types of platforms first ‘attach’ themselves to existing models, then extend those existing models and finally subsume them if they are really that great. This more likely evolutionary rise to any prominence for the cloud is entirely consistent with the Software plus Services (S+S) strategic pattern that I have been talking about for the last couple of years. The announcement of Windows Azure (internet-scale cloud services platform which provides an operating system and a set of developer services that can be used individually or together) combines with past experience to create a clear strategy for cloud computing platforms for architects. That clear strategy is to attach (the cloud) from existing assets on existing platforms (client, server) rather than consider a ‘rip and replace’ strategy. Given current economic conditions and the emphasis they will inevitably place on the protection of ‘existing investments’ that architectural strategy is also consistent with the experience of new platform technologies that I just outlined earlier. The first step is for new platform models to ‘attach’ to existing models. The cloud platform will be no different. S+S provides patterns for that ‘attach’ strategy when attaching the cloud to existing Client and existing Server applications.

Gartner’s platform triangle.

If you think of the existing mainstream platform models as being ‘Client’ and ‘Server’ then I agree with Gartner’s summation of the PDC announcements about Azure when they say that cloud based Windows Azure is the ‘completion of the Microsoft platform triangle’. That summary though does not entirely acknowledge the very important facts that the Azure architecture is designed to be compatible with both the .NET platform (which already underpins client and server platform models) and the existing development platform - Visual Studio. That means developers do not need to learn a whole new set of paradigms, libraries and development tools and can leverage both their existing knowledge and some of their existing building block ‘assets’.

Where to in 2009?

My own views are that , as it evolves, the addition of Cloud computing to the Microsoft platform triangle will drive two key thought processes in the coming year;

- A renewed interest in architecture and software development best practices;

- A whole new set of standards debates and standards initiatives.

Both of these ‘Driven thought processes’ feature in my in my other ‘big deals for 2008’ and I’ll explain the linkages when I outline those in the next couple of weeks in this blog.

Unplugged - Take your Applications to the Cloud and Beyond

Mark.Carroll — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 01:15:00 GMT

MSDN UNPLUGGED Developer Event: Take your Applications to the Cloud and Beyond – PDC, Visual Studio, Azure, Office 14 and Windows 7

Today we will be sharing principles, practices, patterns and tools announced at PDC in October. Come and join us to start your applications journey to the cloud and beyond.

Using computers in the cloud can make a great deal of sense. Instead of provisioning part or all of your infrastructure you can instead exploit Internet-accessible servers and let others worry about keeping systems up to scratch. But why just stop at the cloud? Some applications may have their code and data both operating in the cloud, others may run inside an organisation storing data in the cloud or relying on other cloud infrastructure services. Applications that run on desktops and mobile devices can use services in the cloud to synchronise information across many systems or in other ways. Whatever approach makes sense exploiting and extending the cloud’s capabilities can open up new choices for applications hosting, storage and interoperability.

Presented by Microsoft Developer Advisor Mike Zeff and Microsoft Architect Mark Carroll. Click here for more information. We will be giving away PDC 2008 Top Session DVDs to attendees too.

Registration is free. Location and dates below.

Auckland 8 Dec: Register

Hamilton 8 Dec: Register

Tauranga 9 Dec: Register

Hawkes Bay 10 Dec: Register

Palmerston North 11 Dec: Register

Wellington 12 Dec: Register

Note: This is a 300 Level event for Developers

TV ONE NZ – Forget full drives, embrace “The Cloud”

Mark.Carroll — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:15:00 GMT

Forget full drives, embrace "The Cloud" (1:58) is the name of a clip which appeared on TV ONE news this evening.

There is a linkage between this clip and our next series of architect events scheduled for November through February.

This clip basically describes how Microsoft is building large data centres which operate ‘in the cloud’ and discusses some of Microsoft’s efforts in this area, Microsoft’s competitors efforts and attempts to give a brief description of the likely changes ‘cloud computing’ will bring about.

For those who have been attending our architect forums or keeping track of MSDN you will recognise this clip as referring to what has become known as Software plus Services (S+S).

The timing of this clip could not be more perfect – we have just released a downloadable white paper entitled “Introducing the Azure Services Platform”. The Azure services platform is a group of cloud technologies, each providing a specific set of services to application developers. To put it another way, quoting from the white paper: “At a high level, Windows Azure is simple to understand: It’s a platform for running Windows applications and storing their data in the cloud.”

The components of the Azure Services Platform can be used by local applications running on a variety of systems, including various flavours of Windows, mobile devices, and others. *1

For additional information here is a link to Ray Ozzie, Microsoft’s Chief Architect, discussing Azure at PDC.

The Azure services platform is one of the new technologies being announced at PDC which is now on in Los Angeles. We have a number of folk, mostly customers and partners, who are either currently at PDC or who are attending follow up events. These folk will be presenting back to the rest of the NZ Architect community at our architect events in November through February next year. So there you go – there is the link to what you saw on TV One tonight and a way of learning so much more ... respond to your invites to the next lot of architect events and do check out that downloadable white paper .

*1: Those components include:

- Windows Azure: Provides a Windows-based environment for running applications and storing data on servers in Microsoft data centers.

- Microsoft .NET Services: Offers distributed infrastructure services to cloud-based and local applications.

- Microsoft SQL Services: Provides data services in the cloud based on SQL Server.

- Live Services: Through the Live Framework, provides access to data from Microsoft’s Live applications and others. The Live Framework also allows synchronizing this data across desktops and devices, finding and downloading applications, and more.

Twenty one words for Services

Mark.Carroll — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 04:34:00 GMT

Off the back of Gianpaolo Carraro's tour of New Zealand NZ ARCast has just released this interview of Gianpaolo Carraro by Lukas Svobda taken when Gianpaolo was here on his last day in Auckland. One of the gems in the interview is Gianpaolo's pronouncement that "Services is an overloaded term" - he then links this to the fact that Eskimo's have 21 words for SNOW and right now we are somewhat stuck in our vocabulary and labelling a lot of different patterns and approaches with the one label of SERVICES.

I would like to take that snow analogy a little further - right now there is a lot of talk about 'Services this' and 'Services that' but much of that talk is as about as useful and structured as a heap of snow. (Yes I know snow flakes are beautiful and unique but heap them up and they are still unstructured )

If we disregard the IT environments that businesses have already invested in and now rely on, if we ignore the fact that many devices and desktops already offer capabilities far beyond those of a simple broweser, if we ignore the fact that businesses and government have very real concerns about others hosting their data then we are talking SNOW.

The Software plus Services (S+S) model helps address those issues and there is already some very clear thinking about how it can be created, hosted and consumed. Do check out the interview with Gianpaolo Carraro and other references including the Microsoft Architect Journal to which Gianpaolo Carraro and others have contributed to significantly.

No SNOW - honest.

Microsoft Saas and S+S Architect Director coming to New Zealand

Mark.Carroll — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 02:32:00 GMT

Read it first on NZ ARCast.

Further to this entry on NZ ARCast I am delighted that Gianpaolo Carraro (GP), Director, DPE, Platform Architecture is coming down to New Zealand to give a series of talks on Saas and Software plus Services (S+S).

He will be talking to Independent Software Vendors, Hosters and Architects.

About ‘GP’

GP, as Gianpaolo is better known by us non-Italian speakers, describes himself on his blog as a dotcom refugee happily expatriated at Microsoft. He has recently contributed to both the Microsoft Architecture Journal Volume 12 and the MSDN architecture centre as well as speaking at numerous industry events. GP will be speaking in Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland on December 3rd, 4th and 5th respectively.