Coté's Commonplace Book - Issue #56
What does "multi-cloud" mean? There are multi-definitions. Har har. Also, securing cloud applications and custom software in state and local governments. Also: kubernetes is not for developers...?
The many meanings of "multi-cloud." (Well, two at last.)
I really like the recent O'Reilly cloud survey. There's a lot going on in there especially when it comes to seeing how people use cloud, concerns they have, and so forth. The major take-away for me is that people use all the clouds and, of course, still have a huge amount of "not-cloud," on-premises IT.
Cloud-type usage by industry is probably the best chart for this:
I thought it was weird to see "multi-cloud" as a type of cloud. Luckily, the write-up defines it:
A multicloud strategy builds systems that run across multiple cloud providers. Hybrid cloud goes even farther, incorporating private cloud infrastructure (on-premises or hosted) running cloud APIs. When done correctly, multiclouds and hybrid clouds can provide continuity in the face of provider outages, the ability to use “the best tool for the job” on different application workloads (for example, leveraging Google Cloud’s AI facilities), and easier regulatory compliance (because sensitive workloads can stay on private systems).
When I think about those two app architectures, I'd call both of these uses "hybrid cloud." That said, I haven't really heard the phrase "hybrid cloud" in a long time. To me, "multi-cloud" simply means that your apps don't all run on one cloud: one app might run in AWS, another app in Azure, more on-premises.
This seems like overthinking it. However, with the surge in the use of "multi-cloud," if you're looking at all the options, you should should always ask "are we talking about individual apps that run on multiple devices clouds and use services from multiple clouds, or just the fact that we run apps everywhere?" The first is what I'd call "hybrid," the second the more general "multi-cloud."
Over the years, the definition of the various types of"cloud" has gone back and forth. I remember a long meeting back around 2014 when I was at 451 Research where we tried to find the de facto meaning of hybrid, bursting (remember that one?!), public, private, and so forth. And before that, when I was doing cloud M&A at Dell, we had a long meeting on the topic...and before that, when I was at RedMonk there was much discussion.
Always ask people what they mean with a cloud term.
What's a Tanzu?
I did a short presentation on Tanzu this week. Well, in the style of "not a vendor pitch, vendor pitch." Here's my practice recording:
Relevant to your interests
Painful as it is for me, I thought I'd be more limited in my link listing. If you want to see all the things I've found that are interesting, check out my public bookmarks.
How Big Tech Runs Tech Projects and the Curious Absence of Scrum “My personal view is that in organizations with empowered teams, objectives and key results (OKRs), key performance indicators (KPIs) and goals are far better tools for aligning teams, than rolling out a rigid methodology like Scrum for the sake of reporting. However, in organizations that are not empowered, where teams and individuals are not autonomous, Scrum might work better than alternatives.”
Kubernetes: what are the key benefits for companies?
Excellent summary of the current pitch for kubernetes. No need for anymore typing on the topic, just send them to this URL.
3 Tactics to Accelerate a Digital Transformation This is more a list of ways to monitor employee sentiment and internal processes.
Why Sabre is betting against multi-cloud
With multi-cloud as the positioning thing now-a-days, it's interesting to see the counter-point. Also, great win for Google Cloud PR, or whatever that group is. "But by mid-2018, the team realized that using multiple clouds became a limiting factor. While all of the different providers offered a plethora of interesting services, being multi-cloud meant the team had to limit itself to the lowest common denominator across the different providers".
App Modernization: When 'Lift and Shift' Isn't Enough
Digital transformation: Are IT leaders and teams on the same page? “If you’re in the C-suite, there’s a good chance you think things are going pretty well; 35 percent say they’re in the “leading” category for digital transformation progress, the highest category. But if you’re a director? Only 14 percent chose leading. Vice presidents were intermediate between directors and CxOs. These results line up with our analysis of last year’s survey.”
Accelerating Transformation: Why Did Your Business Need A Crisis?
A good couple of case studies.
Depression is more than low mood – it’s a change of consciousness Huh...something to think about.
Original Content
People complain about the complexity of kubernetes for developers all the time. I re-did my old talk on kubernetes for developers to answer the question: is kubernetes for developers?
Chop wood, carry water - Software Defined Talk #333
This week we discuss the State of Developer Relations and Cloud Adoption Trends. Plus, some thoughts on taking out the trash.
Securing Cloud Applications, the book, with Adib Saikali Security for developers has always been…complex. When you re-design for and move your application to the cloud, there’s a new set of security concerns to work with. Adib Saikali’s working on a book on this topic, and he discusses it with Coté in this episode. It all starts with the basics of security, and goes from there.
Tanzu Talk: Outrunning the Bear - a tale of Digital Transformation in Government IT Governments run on just as much software as the private sector, sometimes it can seem like even more! Government agencies feel the need to run their processes on software like any other organization and are starting to prioritize custom written software. Like everyone else, people in government feel the need to get better at software. In this episode, Jeremiah Sanders and Igor Steinberg talk with Coté about the motivations for getting better at software, common barriers, and a little bit of how people get over those barriers.
There's several more videos I've done since the last newsletter, check out the Tanzu Talk playlist if you're interested.
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