Google's Attempt to Take Over - Recreate Email

I just read an article about Google releasing a version of GMail that includes a client side adapter that lets the user continue to use Microsoft Outlook. This makes it much easier for an organization to replace Microsoft's Exchange product and use Gmail, Google Calendar, and other features for $50 per user per year. In addition to that, the Google Wave (Open Source) product that was unveiled last month seems to be a direct shot at Microsoft's Sharepoint.

Washington Technology Article

The last couple of years have certainly been very exciting in the technology space and personally eye opening for me as well. I was once a "Die-Hard" Microsoft Fan, but through experience, education, and exposure I have been able to see and acknowledge the alternatives that are out there. Microsoft writes good code and has been the market leader for a long time in client desktop operating systems, email products, and even mobile devices for that matter. However, innovation has created strong competition in all of these areas. Apple has made significant progress in the desktop/client environment. First Apple, with the Iphone, and now Google, with Android, have taken over the mobile device market. I thought Microsoft had email locked up, but this announcement by Google seems to change that.

Email services are a standard and somewhat ubiqitous service that lends itself to be easily transfered into the cloud. There are a few potential issues still out there (Email Filtering, Active Directory Authentication, and Virus/Security) but those issues exists in both the internally hosted Exchange Model and the GMail Cloud option.

Bottom line... Innovation has brought significant value to the consumer and the enterprise through unique services and less costly "cloud" solutions. Innovation has also created a lot of competition for Microsoft. I wonder how Microsoft will react. Microsoft... Your Move.

(and don't tell me Bing.com is your first move)

Great Post by Tim Orielly on new Federal CTO Position

I had to post a link to this blog post. Very nice article on how the federal government should pursue the use of new technology.

http://tinyurl.com/cp3xen

How Cloud Computing is changing the IT Landscape

I haven't posted a blog post in a while. I think the dust has settled from my "academic endeavor" and I'm ready to pick up where I left off.

I have been overly critical, in other posts, about "Cloud Computing". Possibly, too much so. My own thoughts on the challenges involved in this technology can be misconstrued as a lack of support. In fact, it is not. Merely a hope that the discussion can move towards the "real world" implications of adopting these tools and the challenges we face. As a technologist I find these new advances as inevitable. Especially with cloud computing. In fact, "the cloud" can (and probably already is) be implemented without the end-user's involvement or action.

I recently came across this article on CIO.com. It is a great discussion of the cloud and two Nicholas Carr's books. He is controversial "IT Doesn't Matter" and his latest book "The Big Switch". I haven't read the 2nd book but the article gives some great information and parallels between how electricity was de-centralized and produced locally within corporations for years before the advent of the power grid and utility companies. This sound erily family to the in-house data centers that are slowly being migrated to "the cloud".

Check out the article. Very interesting read.