Cloud Movements

Precise Software Solutions, Inc. announced that its flagship transaction performance management (TPM) application is now available as a virtual appliance. Meanwhile, according to a CDW Corp. poll, among IT professionals, private clouds hold a wide lead over public clouds. Finally, Citrix Systems, Inc. founder Edward Iacobucci launched a new company, VirtualWorks Group, which will offer solutions for managing structured and unstructured data, whether stored in the cloud or hosted locally.

Focal Points:

• In an effort to reduce deployment time, Precise Software announced that it has packaged its TPM application in a virtual machine (VM). According to the vendor, the Precise TPM Virtual Appliance is embedded into a VM based on VMware, Inc.'s technology. Users will be able to download the software to a server, start the VM, and point it to the specific network. There will be no need for IT departments to provision and then configure a new server or database for the application, said the vendor. As a result, companies will be able to have the entire Precise platform up and running typically within 30 minutes, Precise added. The package includes the basic application, as well as the server software and the database of application profiles, said the vendor. The Precise Virtual Appliance is available now, with pricing based on central processing units (CPUs) or virtual CPUs. Additionally, depending on the size of systems being monitored, the cost for the package can range from tens of thousands of dollars to millions, said Precise.
• According to CDW's "2011 Cloud Computing Tracking Poll," public clouds fall significantly behind private clouds as the preferred choice for storing resources in a shared, centralized computing environment. CDW interviewed 1,200 IT professionals across a variety of industries, and a mere seven percent of respondents said that they would most likely use public cloud services. Meanwhile, 47 percent of respondents said that they would make a private cloud their first pick. The primary concern with adopting public clouds is security, with 41 percent of respondents indicating it as a major deterrent. However, 40 percent also said that cost is a concern as well. The poll found that cost worries are more pronounced among IT professionals that have yet to try cloud services. Interestingly, privacy and compliance came in a distant third, with only 26 percent of respondents expressing this as a concern. The CDW poll also found that 36 percent of respondents believe that cloud applications cost less than traditional applications. However, 84 percent of those respondents who are actually using at least some cloud applications report saving money by moving applications to the cloud. Finally, the poll found that two-thirds of respondents have yet to start using cloud services, with half learning about it and the other half making firm plans to implement them. Only eight percent said that they are not considering cloud computing at all.
• Citrix founder Edward Iacobucci is launching VirtualWorks, which was founded in 2009 in Boca Raton, Fla. and is emerging with $8.5 million from private investors. According to the company, VirtualWorks has built technology that indexes both structured and unstructured data from local devices and cloud-based systems. This "Virtual Index Architecture" enables employees to retrieve files from any application, device, or location rapidly and securely, the company added. The technology will be released this summer, and will index data across IBM Corp.'s Lotus Notes, intranets, Microsoft Corp.'s SharePoint, and many other sources. VirtualWorks also said that it will eventually publish its application programming interfaces (APIs) to third-party developers and independent software vendors (ISVs). The company added that it will preserve the security of the data by integrating with Active Directory and other authentication systems.

Experton Group believes cloud computing will see an adoption continuum from predominantly private clouds in large enterprises to primarily public ones in small businesses. The use of private clouds will enable enterprises to develop differentiated applications that can provide a competitive advantage while smaller shops will prefer packaged cloud solutions that are economical and do not require in-house resource investments. IT executives should think of public cloud usage as the opportunity to offload non-differentiated applications so that precious resources can be allocated to more important tasks. Precise's TPM virtual appliance allows IT executives to track transactions from end to end, including the end point devices and storage regardless of whether the application and/or storage is located in the cloud or data center. Having this knowledge will enable IT executives to more rapidly identify any transaction performance problem points and get them corrected sooner. The switch from a standard software offering to a VM-based appliance that can be quickly installed and made operational is a clever move and should enable the company to sell more offerings more quickly. If VirtualWorks' Virtual Index Architecture performs as advertised, it will provide IT executives with new, innovative technology that will greatly improve retrieval of information from unstructured data. IT executives seeking a solution to indexed unstructured data retrieval should talk to VirtualWorks about its architecture and products to determine if the vendor's solutions can satisfy the firm's requirements.