On Cloud

Semiconductors aren't normally hot news. However, the recent chip shortage has them front and center—especially since they power the machines that power cloud. In this episode, David Linthicum talks with Deloitte's Brandon Kulik about the state of the semiconductor industry—how it's leveraging cloud to move faster, and how hyperscalers are beginning to manufacture their own chips to meet demand. Brandon also discusses new players in the market and what the future holds for the industry.

What's in store for cloud in 2022? A distributed, edge-based cloudscape that's more cost effective, and growing at such pace that talent is at a precious premium. In this episode, David Linthicum and Mike Kavis look ahead at cloud's 2022. Their insights? More cloud architectures will include federated containers, companies will compete ferociously over top talent, movement to the edge will continue, and FinOps will enable organizations to understand and govern their cloud spend more effectively.

The past year has been pivotal for cloud. Adoption is growing, but many organizations have growing pains. In this episode, David Linthicum and Mike Kavis look back at 2021 and spotlight four prevalent trends that are shaping cloud today—and tomorrow. According to David and Mike, they are: greater multicloud adoption, an increased focus on CloudOps, enhanced cost-consciousness, and the realization that cloud deployments require the right people and processes to succeed.

AWS re:Invent was spectacular this year, focusing on making cloud simpler, better leveraging technology for more cloud impact, moving older apps to cloud, and building cloud sustainability programs. In this episode, Deloitte's David Linthicum and Tony Witherspoon talk all things re:Invent, from how AWS is helping organizations get to cloud faster—and integrate and operate better once they get there—to new product and service announcements that will make cloud better, starting now

Ever wonder how software developers get those lucrative partnerships with cloud hyperscalers? In this episode, David Linthicum talks with 13three founder Jeff Aden about how 13three helps cloud software vendors begin, or accelerate, their partnerships with major hyperscalers such as AWS to take their software global. Jeff's view is that success takes the right tools and culture, but it also takes a cloud-native mindset and an understanding that change is the only constant in the market.

Migrating mainframe apps to cloud is a daunting journey, but there's a growing need to modernize. In this episode, David Linthicum talks with Deloitte's Bjoern Langmack and AWS's Hemant Ahire about how companies can successfully transition from mainframe to cloud. The challenges are myriad, but not insurmountable. The group's advice: Automate as much as you can in the migration process, use the right tools, and try to disrupt the business as little as possible during the migration

Cloud architecture is more art than science. Building a solid architecture takes a broad understanding of both IT in general and cloud specifically, and it also takes lots of up-front work. In this podcast, David Linthicum shares four key tips for building a sound cloud architecture: Focus on the business value, build in security and governance from the get go, have a solid plan for ops and tech, and test as you go to ensure the final product meets your needs from day one.

Subscription-based billing methods for SaaS products aren't flexible, and they're often not fair. Drop-in metered billing solutions change that dynamic by enabling consumption-based billing—with customer-chosen metrics—for SaaS. The result? For customers, a more equitable billing structure with improved cost control. For software vendors (or any company looking to monetize home-grown software), the ability to build a more flexible, customer-driven product and get it to market faster.

Containers power cloud flexibility and portability, but over time container technology has become complex and expensive to deploy. In this podcast, David Linthicum talks with Portainer.io CEO Neil Cresswell about how Portainer enables Containers-as-a-Service (CaaS) to democratize access to container technology by centralizing container configuration, management, and security. With CaaS, companies can gain the benefits of container technology without having to navigate all of its complexity.

It's cliché, but true: Cloud is different than traditional, on-prem IT operations, and it requires fundamental changes to how IT is done. In this podcast, David Linthicum discusses the emerging discipline of CloudOps and how it can help companies get more value from their cloud journey. With CloudOps, savvy companies can rethink and reinvent their operating model and talent and skills mix—and implement the tools (such as AIOps) they need to operate more effectively in cloud.