Cloud computing continues to gain momentum as a description of service offerings based on a virtualized data center infrastructure and provided over the Internet on an as-needed basis. Public clouds, such as Amazon EC2, first brought attention to this model, followed by private clouds built within an organization, as exemplified by IBM's Blue Cloud initiative.

EMC Corporation announced it is acquiring data warehousing database vendor Greenplum, Inc. for an undisclosed amount. This deal is important because the addition of Greenplum's analytic database and cloud data warehousing infrastructure offerings will enable EMC to form a new data warehousing/analytics division within its information infrastructure business.

Have you ever watched the reality TV series Survivor? Many countries around the world have produced variants of it, but essentially they all deal with a small group of mostly young people secluded on an isolated island trying to survive.

The evolution of information and communications technology made the exchange of information between people become more comfortable, simple, and fast. However, there are still traditional services that experience large difficulties in profiting from some of the advantages offered by this evolution, and postal services are a perfect example.

The evolution of information and communications technology made the exchange of information between people become more comfortable, simple, and fast. However, there are still traditional services that experience large difficulties in profiting from some of the advantages offered by this evolution, and postal services are a perfect example.

Sports broadcasting is an industry that does not wait for competitors to vet new technology; rather, it rushes to use new technology, and by doing so, creates a more innovative product -- a uniquely compelling, highly rated broadcast.

Sports broadcasting is an industry that does not wait for competitors to vet new technology; rather, it rushes to use new technology, and by doing so, creates a more innovative product -- a uniquely compelling, highly rated broadcast.

In my last Advisor (see "Has Agile Grown Up Yet? Assessing the Maturity of Your Process," 24 June 2010), I discussed the need for assessing agile process maturity. This week, I provide some methods for going about performing assessments.

There's a brand-new layer of digital intelligence being conceived on the world's century-old electric power grid by way of your regional electric power utility, through your new smart meter, and extending into your future home and business energy-management systems and smart appliances. It's called the Smart Grid.

Here's how the Electric Power Research Institute defines it:

Putting aside rewrites and conversion to a package, there are three primary technical methodologies and technologies for modernizing legacy applications:

Rehosting

Code translation (aka "conversion" and "migration")

Rearchitecting, the newest entry in the field

In this webinar you'll learn how you can weigh the strategic opportunities, benefits, the costs and the risks of cloud computing.

In this webinar you'll learn how you can weigh the strategic opportunities, benefits, the costs and the risks of cloud computing.

The rapid growth in data center energy consumption, coupled with the relentless increase in the cost of energy, implies that energy efficiency in the data center is no longer the handmaiden of good IT governance, but a principal spearhead of it. While the construction and certification of a data center as green usually entails substantial up-front expense (estimates run from 5%-40%), the resultant reduction in cost of operations and maintenance can be dramatic.

The rapid growth in data center energy consumption, coupled with the relentless increase in the cost of energy, implies that energy efficiency in the data center is no longer the handmaiden of good IT governance, but a principal spearhead of it. While the construction and certification of a data center as green usually entails substantial up-front expense (estimates run from 5%-40%), the resultant reduction in cost of operations and maintenance can be dramatic.

In the chaotic world of IT, frontline leaders sometimes struggle to keep up with the pace. Projects and productivity expectations can push the most important asset -- people -- to the back of the pack. Successful organizations know, however, that no matter how good the technology, it is the people who make it work. When people come first, customers win.

Sometimes you get lucky. For the better part of my career, I have been a researcher, consultant, and teacher. Teaching, I find, gives me the most short-term fun, because I get immediate feedback. I think that I learn more when I am consulting, because I'm constantly faced with solving problems in real time. And researching gives me some perspective and ties everything together.

The applicability of statistical process control (SPC) to software development has been debated since 1989, when the Software Engineering Institute (SEI) endorsed its use in the Capability Maturity Model (CMM). Proponents of the use of SPC techniques in software grasped how powerful the techniques could be beyond traditional manufacturing processes.

Back in the 1970s, there was a very popular show called "Happy Days," starring Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, who played Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli. Five years into the series, an episode aired in which Fonzie is shown improbably water skiing and jumping a shark to show his bravery.

Back in the 1970s, there was a very popular show called "Happy Days," starring Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, who played Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli. Five years into the series, an episode aired in which Fonzie is shown improbably water skiing and jumping a shark to show his bravery.

Back in the 1970s, there was a very popular show called "Happy Days," starring Ron Howard and Henry Winkler, who played Arthur "Fonzie" Fonzarelli. Five years into the series, an episode aired in which Fonzie is shown improbably water skiing and jumping a shark to show his bravery.

Recently, I was having a short exchange with Dr. Ken Calvert, chair of our computer science department at University of Kentucky. The topic was relational databases. The question: are they relevant anymore? Do we need still need to teach formal means of describing, searching, and using information?

Recently, I was having a short exchange with Dr. Ken Calvert, chair of our computer science department at University of Kentucky. The topic was relational databases. The question: are they relevant anymore? Do we need still need to teach formal means of describing, searching, and using information?

Recently, I was having a short exchange with Dr. Ken Calvert, chair of our computer science department at University of Kentucky. The topic was relational databases. The question: are they relevant anymore? Do we need still need to teach formal means of describing, searching, and using information?