PaaS Definition: It Depends On Whom You Ask...

David Chappell wrote an interesting post on what the "real" definition of PaaS (Platform as a Service) is.

As with many emerging technologies, vendors try to cast their offering in the most favorable light by adjusting the definition to match what their product does.

He talks about the four main competitors: Microsoft (Windows Azure), Google (AppEngine), SalesForce (Force.com) and Amazon (Elastic Beanstalk) and how their systems have similar and also widely varying approaches.

The one capability that sticks out for me the most is "updating with no downtime." That seems like a entry-level requirement and one that surprisingly Amazon's Elastic Beanstalk currently doesn't support. This is a very new offering for Amazon so I have to imagine that it is on the radar for future enhancements. "Root Access to the VM" the application is running on seems like more of a selling opportunity to IT buyers concerned about giving up control-- if it works the way PaaS is supposed to, do I really need that level of access? Auto-scaling is another one that I think is a must-have across all of the stacks. If my demand spikes at 3am, please tell me a human is not required to increase the capacity-- automate please.

The PaaS space is certainly one that we at Pariveda see as the most promising and one that we look forward to discussing further with organizations. I will be speaking with Vaughan Merlyn in February and early March on the Threats and Opportunities in the Cloud in Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Seattle. If you're near the area during that time, sign up and come see us.

Microsoft to offer Chatter-like OfficeTalk

This could be great for Microsoft technologies.

I have to say that when I first heard about SalesForce.com's Chatter, I wasn't intrigued. It sounded like "just another enterprise micro-blogging tool." When I caught up with a contact who had recently moved over to work for SalesForce, and I got the scoop on what Chatter really is I was incredibly impressed.

The concept of not only being able to follow people within my company but also things is very cool. So any entity that I create on the Force.com platform can participate in my Chatter stream. That is powerful. I could follow a client, an opportunity, a project, a team... hopefully if and when Microsoft gets on the micro-blogging bandwagon, they take the same approach to allowing anything to be followed.

Microsoft makes OneNote free on the iPhone. Is iPad next?

Key quote from this piece:

Microsoft is a software company. The company should offer software products across platforms to maximize its addressable market. The entire Microsoft Office suit should be made available on the iPad. Otherwise, Numbers, Pages, etc. for iPad will only continue to grow.

It's great to see that they are developing more apps for iOS. As the device space heats up and more non-Windows devices make their way into our lives, Microsoft Office, their cash-cow, must try and be on as many of them as possible.

My gut tells me it won't happen, but I was surprised to see even OneNote. Baby steps.

Visual Studio STILL Calls It JScript?

Just when I think Microsoft is gradually accepting some common community standards: embracing MVC, framework support of JSON, TDD...

Today I am deploying a web app to Azure, and I decide to write my current Sencha demo using Visual Studio 2010:

• Javascript Intellisense - Check
• Easy Packaging to Azure - Check
• Familiar IDE - Check

I go to add my javascript file and I search for "Javascript" using the handy power tools when adding files.  I type javascript - "No items found" Huh?  Turns out Microsoft still prefers to refer to the js files as JScript files.  Really?  It's 2011.  It is supposedly to avoid trademark issues with Sun:

As explained by JavaScript guru Douglas Crockford in his talk entitled The JavaScript Programming Language on YUI Theater, "[Microsoft] did not want to deal with Sun about the trademark issue, and so they called their implementation JScript. A lot of people think that JScript and JavaScript are different but similar languages. That's not the case. They are just different names for the same language, and the reason the names are different was to get around trademark issues."

I seriously doubt that adding javascript in the name of the file you are creating in an IDE would violate trademark issues.  Every other IDE doesn't seem to have a problem it.

Chrome OS vs. Android

I have to say that this post is spot-on. I can't see both Chrome-OS and Android succeeding in the long run. The benefits of Chrome-OS seem to be met and then some by Android and with the industry momentum around Android, I don't see how Chrome-OS can carve out a niche. I'm willing to be proven wrong. I still am a huge fan of Chrome and think it will take a great deal of market share (as it already has) from the other browsers, but the OS is a different story.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM and the iPad - Better Get Moving, Microsoft

I assume out of the gate that SalesForce.com can run on the recently released iPad. It's a browser app. Why shouldn't it? Good for SalesForce.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM is an entirely different animal. Even though CRM is a "browser app" it requires Windows IE - can't run it on Mac IE or Firefox or Chrome or Opera or anything else. Kind of defeats the purpose of being a browser app, in my opinion.

And who is one of the largest target demographics for the iPad? Mobile Sales Professionals! While it may pain Microsoft to have to play well on non-Microsoft OS's and browsers, if they want to stay relevant in this space, they better get moving.

And yes, the iPad can terminal service in and run IE virtualized from Citrix, etc... but why should you have to? If I were SalesForce.com, I would be marketing this for all it's worth.

Weathering an economic challenge as a consultancy

As we all experience one of the more challenging economic times in our history, it becomes even more critical to revisit how companies can stay resilient.  At Pariveda, we have asserted that even in the most challenging of times the information technology knowledge worker pool is supply-constrained.  Does this mean that over the past six months, layoffs in our industry haven't occurred?  Absolutely not.  They have.  But what we have experienced first hand, is that our clients are having a harder time finding competent candidates.

We think the reason is straightforward.  After the first and second rounds of layoffs within the IT industry, the bottom percentages of workers are typically the ones laid off first.  This has resulted in a larger overall pool of candidates with the same amount of good candidates as before-- the same number of "needles" (good candidates) in a much larger haystack. 

We are investing in recruiting, training and growing our people now more than ever before.  We just hired a new recruiter, we continue our push for top-tier college graduates and experienced hires and our sales pipeline is strong.  Our clients continue to confirm our difference in the industry- our people. 

Now more than ever companies cannot afford to go with "average" firms.  People's jobs are on the line and project success is critical.  Does it matter what the rate of a firm is if they fail to deliver the solution? 

All of us at Pariveda could work at other places if we wanted; what keeps us at Pariveda is the ability to work with some of the most intellectually curious and talented folks in the industry.  Even in a down economy, we have fun and do interesting work.  The best way to beat the economic blues is to surround yourself with people who enjoy what they do, are interested in continuous learning and are focused on providing the most value possible for their clients.