The Cloudcast

'Software companies taste like chicken,' says private-equity mogul. 'They’re selling different products, but 80% of what they do is pretty much the same'SHOW: 726CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:Equinix Global Data Centers and Networking Learn more and signup at https://deploy.equinix.com/. Use the coupon code CLOUDCAST to get $500 in credits to get started. Find "Breaking Analysis Podcast with Dave Vellante" on Apple, Google and SpotifyKeep up to data with Enterprise Tech with theCUBESHOW NOTES:VCs comment on how 80% of software is all the same (WSJ)218 Booths at Kubecon AnalyzedTHE MARKET USUALLY ONLY SUPPORTS THREE OPTIONSWalking around KubeCon,nearly every segment had 6-10 companies offering solutionsMarkets can’t sustain more 3 in any category (Market Leader, Market Follower, Cheaper Option)The Market can’t understand the differentiation of the 6-10 company market; 80% of the functionality is the same.We’re coming out of Unicornpalozza (2019-2022)OPEN SOURCE AND SAAS HAVE HOLLOWED OUT THE MIDDLE OF SOFTWAREOpen source typically highlights the creator, largest contributor to a projectBeyond that, open source is “integration” companies, or “lifecycle” companiesLarge companies (or platforms) can buy up the “feature” companies to fill in their gapsCompanies in the middle have to build sales and marketing around mostly undifferentiated messaging or products.SaaS allows companies to leverage product-led-growth, and micro-target to specific use-cases. The successful middle (mid-sized, decent growth) will get picked off by PEThe unsuccessful middle (great tech, bad execution) may get picked off by large vendorsThe unsuccessful middle (average tech, bad execution) will go underFEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Jon Toor (CMO @CloudianStorage) talks about the history and evolution of object storage, the rise of enterprise class object storage, and the changing economics of cloud storage.SHOW: 725CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwNEW TO CLOUD? CHECK OUT - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:CloudZero – Cloud Cost Visibility and Savings​​CloudZero provides immediate and ongoing savings with 100% visibility into your total cloud spendDatadog Application Monitoring: Modern Application Performance MonitoringGet started monitoring service dependencies to eliminate latency and errors and enhance your users app experience with a free 14 day Datadog trial. Listeners of The Cloudcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.SHOW NOTES:Cloudian websiteTopic 1 - Welcome to the show Jon. Tell us a little bit about your background. Your career and Cloudian parallel in many ways.Topic 2 - Cloudian has been around since before object storage was cool. We first heard about Cloudian back in the OpenStack and early AWS S3 days. Object storage has come a long way. Can you help everyone frame where we were and where we are today?Topic 3 - We’ve seen the rise of Enterprise class, S3 compatible object storage for use cases like hybrid cloud, data sovereignty, and more recently analytics such as data lakehouses. Where are you seeing implementations these days as we’ve moved beyond basic, simple storage behind cloud backends.  Topic 4 - With the recent changes to the world economy, how much does economics come into conversations around the design of solutions. There’s often a healthy tension between what is technically possible and what is economically feasible. How does that design conversation play out lately?Topic 5 - We used to talk about “Data Gravity” all the time. The concept for those unfamiliar is that data has a certain weight and attracts more data to existing sources and becomes hard to move over time. We haven’t talked about it as much in recent years and we are seeing the rise of hybrid and multicloud solutions but folks often don’t think about access to the data. Where are folks building large data sets? What are they using them for? Are they ever moving them?Topic 6 - Last question, Cloudian is well known for their partnerships, alliances and solutions. You partner with hardware companies, software companies, backup companies, public clouds, etc. It’s quite a mix. Has this been a factor in Cloudian’s longevity and tell everyone a little bit about how this came to be and how important you see this for the future. FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

They get requested all the time; a technology ROI model. But how do you build one, what does it tell you, and how are they relevant for technology purchases? SHOW: 724CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:Find "Breaking Analysis Podcast with Dave Vellante" on Apple, Google and SpotifyKeep up to data with Enterprise Tech with theCUBE​​CloudZero – Cloud Cost Visibility and Savings​​CloudZero provides immediate and ongoing savings with 100% visibility into your total cloud spendSHOW NOTES:How to Calculate ROI to Justify a Project (HBR)Guide to Calculating ROIInvesting in New Business Tech: How to Calculate ROI WHY ARE MANAGERS ALWAYS ASKING FOR THE ROI?Businesses, and IT groups, always have more projects than they have budgetHow do they prioritize which projects to work on? Which ones to ignore?People higher up don’t understand tech, but they understand finance.WHY ISN’T ROI EASIER TO CALCULATE? AND DOES ANYONE CARE LATER ON?ROI could be about making money, saving money, or reducing risk.ROI Basics: Revenues, Costs, TimeTech ROI is mostly a scoping activity - what are we including in the calculation?Tech ROI could be short-term or long-term.Finance Stuff: CAPEX, OPEX, Depreciation, Time-Value-of-Money, IRR, Hurdle RateGood ROI vs. Bad ROI?  Basics: Build a “Before and After” ModelStuff included in ROI calculations: Expected Revenues, Expected Costs (all of them: technology, people, changes, etc.), Cost Savings/Eliminations, Productivity Improvements, Experience Improvements (Assumptions, Storytelling) What if the decision-makers aren’t around when the ROI timeline ends?FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Bridget Kromhout (@bridgetkromhout, Principal PM @Azure) & Ralph Squillace (@ralph_squillace, Principal PM @Azure) talk about DevOps, Public Cloud involvement with OSS communities, CNCF, WASM and OSS Communities. SHOW: 724CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwNEW TO CLOUD? CHECK OUT - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:Datadog Synthetic Monitoring: Frontend and Backend Modern MonitoringEnsure frontend issues don’t impair user experience by detecting user-facing issues with API and browser tests with a free 14 day Datadog trial. Listeners of The Cloudcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt. CloudZero – Cloud Cost Visibility and Savings​​CloudZero provides immediate and ongoing savings with 100% visibility into your total cloud spendSHOW NOTES:Open Source on AzureArrested DevOps PodcastDevOps DaysWeb Assembly, Docker, Containerd, and Kubernetes (YouTube)Microsoft Open SourceRevive WG-LTS · Issue #7259 · kubernetes/community · GitHubKubernetes 1.23: Dual-stack IPv4/IPv6 Networking Reaches GA  Develop serverless WebAssembly apps with Spin | Fermyon • Experience the next wave of cloud computing. GitHub - jpetazzo/container.training: Slides and code samples for training, tutorials, and workshops about Docker, containers, and Kubernetes.xkcd: Dependency Topic 1 - Bridget, welcome back! It's been over 7 years since you were last on the show! Ralph, welcome to the show! Topic 2 - Bridget, let’s talk about your journey. You were involved with Arrested DevOps Podcast & DevOps Days.  Your career has changed a bit from the Developer Advocate path into the PM side. Tell us a little bit about that.Topic 3 -  For those that aren’t familiar, tell everyone about OSS @ Azure. How does Azure work with the Linux Foundation and the CNCF?Topic 4 - Ralph, let’s talk about Web Assembly a bit. How did you get involved? How does Web Assembly fit into the bigger Azure architecture? How does it compare to Azure Functions?Topic 5 - We last talked about WASM probably in the summer last year. Momentum appears to have picked up dramatically judging by interest at recent KubeCon events. From your perspective, how has the space evolved and changed in the last 12 months?Topic 6 - How is Web Assembly different from the past promises of PaaS? What are some of the unique capabilities and use-cases that have evolved?FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

As AI begins to go mainstream in IT, we’re now at the stage where projects will either be AI-enabled or not, creating the new Bi-Modal IT for the 2020s.  SHOW: 722CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:Find "Breaking Analysis Podcast with Dave Vellante" on Apple, Google and SpotifyKeep up to data with Enterprise Tech with theCUBESHOW NOTES:Why Digital Business needs BiModal IT (Gartner 2015)Slack getting an AI ChatbotNVIDIA shares spike on demand for AI chipsAI announcements from Microsoft Build 2023Windows and the AI Platform ShiftGoogle I/O and the coming AI BattlesRed Hat extends OpenShift for the Generative AI eraStackOverflow usage is down since ChatGPT launchEVERY VENDOR NOW HAS A PATH TO AI-INTEGRATED CAPABILITIESWhen cloud emerged in 2010s, IT projects became Bi-Modal (technology & people)Projects become classified as fast vs slow, old vs newGroups  become classified as fast vs slow, old vs newWILL AI-ENABLED CAPABILITIES CHANGE HOW AI PROJECTS ARE MEASURED?Expect AI to be asked about for every IT project, by leadershipExpect to see AI being pushed into every IT projectEvery vendor is going to highlight the AI integrations in their productsStart learning how the economics change if IT is potentially part of a projectExpect people-reduction to be a real consideration with AI projectsFEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Luca Galante (@luca_cloud, Product @humanitec_com & PlatformCon Organizer) talks about the latest trends in Platform Engineering, what to expect at PlatformCon 2023, and how to get engaged and join the community.SHOW: 721CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwNEW TO CLOUD? CHECK OUT - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:CloudZero – Cloud Cost Visibility and Savings​​CloudZero provides immediate and ongoing savings with 100% visibility into your total cloud spendDatadog Kubernetes Solution: Maximum Visibility into Container EnvironmentsStart monitoring the health and performance of your container environment with a free 14 day Datadog trial. Listeners of The Cloudcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.SHOW NOTES:PlatformCon homepagePlatformEngineering homepageTopic 1 - Welcome to the show. Luca, how did you get involved with Platform Engineering and how did PlatformCon come into being? Topic 2 - Platform Engineering is having its moment. There is a lot being written about Platform Engineering and a lot of customers, companies and vendors are all jumping on board. As someone who was there at the beginning, why do you think this happened? What was the need filled and the main problem solved?Topic 3 - We often hear about IDP’s (Internal Developer Platforms) associated with Platform Engineering, often as the “product” or outcome. What are your thoughts on this?Topic 4 - Every “hype cycle” eventually hits the dreaded trough of disillusionment. Momentum moves from excitement (Backstage as an example) into the “getting things done” stage and often complexity gets in the way. Do you see that happening here and how should the community address this?Topic 5 - Let’s talk about PlatformCon. What is it and what should folks expect? Was 2022 the first year? How did it go? Any lessons learned you are bringing to 2023? Topic 6 - You’re also heavily involved with the Platform Engineering Slack Community. I think you recently passed over 12k members if I remember correctly. How did that get started and what do you think contributed to such growth in such a short amount of time?FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Are some of the flaws of the Cloud-native ecosystem and architectures starting to get exposed? Or is this just the natural evolution of new technologies?SHOW: 720CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:Find "Breaking Analysis Podcast with Dave Vellante" on Apple, Google and SpotifyKeep up to data with Enterprise Tech with theCUBECloudZero – Cloud Cost Visibility and Savings​​CloudZero provides immediate and ongoing savings with 100% visibility into your total cloud spendSHOW NOTES:Good article from Adrian Cockroft on the Prime Video take on Serverless vs. MonolithsAWS grows 16% as margins narrowHere Comes the Anti-Cloud Crowd (The Cloudcast Feb 2023)THE CLOUD-NATIVE MOVEMENT WAS BUILD ON A FEW PRINCIPLESPublic Cloud would be the dominant place to run appsPublic Cloud would be cheaper to build/operate than DIY or on-premisesJust use open source softwareBuild new applications with microservicesMulti-cloud is not a real thing anyone will doIT’S VERY RARE THAT ANY NEW TECHNOLOGY REPLACES THE PREVIOUS TECHNOLOGYCNCF / KubeConEU just had 10,000 people in attendanceWe’re seeing backlash against some of the modern technologies as “one-size fits-all”.We’re seeing cloud-cost-optimization becoming a focus areaWe saw layoffs, and we continue to see companies not invest in internal skillsOne story doesn’t make a trends (but it is easy to repeat)From lulls and economic downturns have historically come great technology advancesCompanies value experience and expertiseFEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Sam Clark (Technical Account Manager, @doitint) and Miguel Mendao (CTO @Recognyte) talk about managing the cloud costs of AI services, FinOps implementations, and spinning out new business services. SHOW: 719CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:Find "Breaking Analysis Podcast with Dave Vellante" on Apple, Google and SpotifyKeep up to data with Enterprise Tech with theCUBEDatadog Security Solution: Modern Monitoring and SecurityStart investigating security threats before it affects your customers with a free 14 day Datadog trial. Listeners of The Cloudcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.SHOW NOTES:DoIT (homepage)DoIT Flexsave (dynamic cost management)Topic 1 - Welcome to the show. Tell us a little bit about your backgrounds, Topic 2 - We’ve spoken several times on the show about tools to control cloud cost management, but we don’t spend much time talking about the process of how companies decide it’s time to make it a focus area. Let’s talk about what thresholds tend to trigger customers to make cost management a focus area. Topic 3 -  Is cost management something that companies can think about ahead of time, or do they usually need to get past the excitement of being able to do things dynamically in the cloud first? Topic 4 - Do you find that there are unique things in different clouds that customers should focus on around cost management? For example, you spend a lot of time with Google Cloud. Topic 5 - Can you tell us some more about DoIT Flexsave, and maybe how it differs from some of the other types of cloud cost management tools out there? Are there typical savings that companies might expect to see? Topic 6 - What are some of the best practices that DoIT uses with customers that are at different stages of cloud cost management, and want to get their bill under control?FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Can we take the lessons we learned from our mothers (on Mothers Day), and apply some of those lessons to the known challenges of generative AI?   SHOW: 718CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwCHECK OUT OUR NEW PODCAST - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:Find "Breaking Analysis Podcast with Dave Vellante" on Apple, Google and SpotifyKeep up to data with Enterprise Tech with theCUBESHOW NOTES:Rise of AI also Raises Demand for Creative SkillsAn Early Look at the Impact on the Labor Market for LLMsCreativity is in more demand than ever DON’T FORGET TO CALL YOUR MOTHER, OR SUPPORT YOUR MOTHERHow did your mother support or encourage you?What lessons from your mother do you carry forward to this day?How often do you keep in touch with your mother?EMBRACE CREATIVITY, AND DON’T BE AFRAID TO PARTNER WITH AN EXPERIENCEDKnowing if output from tools like ChatGPT are correct will often require domain expertise (at broad levels and nuanced levels). How to get that experience? How will you do onboarding to new roles, with new hires without domain experience? Thoughtful adults realize that they often don’t understand new trends, and will ask younger people to explain it. They embrace the unknown if it can be explained.FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet

Jason Edelman (@jedelman8, Founder/CTO @networktocode) talks about the challenges of managing complex networks in a world of DevOps and automation.SHOW: 717CLOUD NEWS OF THE WEEK - http://bit.ly/cloudcast-cnotwNEW TO CLOUD? CHECK OUT - "CLOUDCAST BASICS"SHOW SPONSORS:Datadog Monitoring: Modern Monitoring and AnalyticsStart monitoring your infrastructure, applications, logs and security in one place with a free 14 day Datadog trial. Listeners of The Cloudcast will also receive a free Datadog T-shirt.CloudZero – Cloud Cost Visibility and Savings​​CloudZero provides immediate and ongoing savings with 100% visibility into your total cloud spendSHOW NOTES:Network to Code (homepage)Nautobot (homepage)The Cloudcast Eps.114 - Evolving to SDN DevOpsThe Cloudcast Eps.150 - Evolving from Plumbers to CodersTopic 1 - Welcome back to the show Jason. Tell us a little bit about your journey with Network to Code, and your focus these days.Topic 2 - Let’s talk about network automation and how it’s evolved over the years. Give a sense of the scope of complexity that companies are facing these days. Topic 3 - How has the concept of a CMDB for the network, or Network Source of Truth emerged to provide a more centralized view of all aspects of the network? Topic 4 - How does the Nautobot framework work? What type of team or skill sets typically build and maintain it? Topic 5 - What are some of the typical problems that Nautobot is able to solve for companies? Topic 6 - How does Network to Code engage with companies to get their Nautobot environments running? FEEDBACK?Email: show at the cloudcast dot netTwitter: @thecloudcastnet