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Azure Stack TP3 Delivers Hybrid Application Innovation and Introduces Pay-as-you-Use Pricing Model

Building innovative applications on cloud technologies is critical for organizations to accelerate growth and create differentiated customer experiences. Applications leveraging cloud technologies with pay-as-you-use pricing are now standard. Our goal is to ensure that organizations choosing hybrid cloud environments have this same flexibility and innovation capability to match their business objectives and application designs. This is why we are extending Azure technologies on-premises with Azure Stack and today, are announcing several updates for Azure Stack:

TP3 available for download: Technical Preview 3 (TP3) is available for download today and has new features that enable: more modern application capabilities; running in locations without connections to Azure; along with infrastructure and security enhancements.
Packaging and pricing model: Azure Stack brings the cloud economic model on-premises with pay-as-you-use pricing.
Roadmap Update: Shortly after TP3, Azure Functions will be available to run on TP3, followed by Blockchain, Cloud Foundry, and Mesos templates. Continuous innovation will be delivered to Azure Stack up to general availability and beyond. TP3 is the final planned major Technical Preview before Azure Stack integrated systems will be available for order in mid-CY17.

Extending Azure on-premises

Azure Stack enables three unique hybrid cloud scenarios for organizations looking to build new apps and/or renovate existing apps across cloud and on-premises environments:

Consistent hybrid application development: Organizations investing in people, processes, and applications can do so knowing that it is transferable between Azure and Azure Stack. Individuals looking to develop skills can take those skills to any organization using Azure. Consistency between Azure and Azure Stack means organizations can draw from a worldwide pool of talent that can be productive on day one, easily moving from one project to another.  Individuals with Azure skills can move projects, teams, DevOps processes or organizations with ease. The APIs, Portal, PowerShell cmdlets, and Visual Studio experiences are all the same.
Azure services available on-premises: Infrastructure and Platform services fuel the next generation of application innovation. Delivering Azure IaaS and PaaS services on-premises empowers organizations to adopt hybrid #cloud computing based on their business and technical requirements. They have the flexibility to choose the right combination of public, service provider, and on-premises deployment models. If they decide an app should be deployed in another location, they can easily move it without any modifications.
Purpose-built systems for operational excellence: To help organizations focus on work that drives their business, Azure Stack is delivered through integrated systems that are designed to continuously incorporate Azure innovation in a predictable, non-disruptive manner.

Hybrid use cases for Azure and Azure Stack

As we talk to customers about their cloud strategy, hybrid will be their steady state operating model and are looking to augment their cloud strategy with Azure Stack in a few key scenarios:

Edge and disconnected solutions: Address latency and connectivity requirements by processing data locally in Azure Stack and then aggregating in Azure for further analytics, with common application logic across both. 
Modern applications across cloud and on-premises: Apply Azure web & mobile services, containers, serverless, and microservice architectures to update and extend legacy applications with Azure Stack, while using a consistent DevOps process across on-premises and cloud.
Cloud applications that meet every regulation: Develop and deploy applications in Azure, with full flexibility to deploy on-premises with Azure Stack to meet your regulatory or policy requirements, with no code changes needed.

Customers who have factory floor automation, remote use needs like cruise ships and mines, or requirements for isolation, like government systems, can all adopt modern designs, developing in the cloud and deploying in their locations. 

What’s new in Azure Stack TP3

With Azure Stack TP3, we’ve worked with customers to improve the product through numerous bug fixes, updates, and deployment reliability & compatibility improvements from TP2. With Azure Stack TP3 customers can:

Deploy with ADFS for disconnected scenarios
Start using Azure Virtual Machine Scale Sets for scale out workloads
Syndicate content from the Azure Marketplace to make available in Azure Stack
Use Azure D-Series VM sizes
Deploy and create templates with Temp Disks that are consistent with Azure
Take comfort in the enhanced security of an isolated administrator portal
Take advantage of improvements to IaaS and PaaS functionality
Use enhanced infrastructure management functionality, such as improved alerting

Roadmap Update

As part of our continuous innovation model, we will be adding Azure Functions, VM Extension syndication and multi-tenancy shortly after TP3. This will be followed by new workloads such as Blockchain, Cloud Foundry, and Mesos templates.  We will continue to refresh TP3 until we GA in mid-CY17.

In mid-CY17, the Proof of Concept (POC) deployment will be renamed to the Microsoft Azure Stack Development Kit. This single server dev/test tool enables customers to prototype and validate hybrid applications. It is a key piece of the continuous innovation model that Azure Stack will use to bring new functionality from Azure quickly to customers. It provides a way for new updates to be distributed early to customers so that they can experiment, learn and provide feedback.  

TP3 is our final planned major Technical Preview before GA.  The Azure Stack Development Kit will be released as GA first and at the same time we will release the software to our hardware partners so that they can finish the last mile of co-engineering work required to deliver multi-server Azure Stack integrated systems, mid-CY17.

After GA, we will continuously deliver additional capabilities through frequent updates. The first round of updates after GA are focused on two areas: 1) enhanced application modernization scenarios and 2) enhanced system management and scale. These updates will continue to expand customer choice of IaaS and PaaS technologies when developing applications, as well as improve manageability and grow the footprint of Azure Stack to accommodate growing portfolios of applications.

Extending cloud economics to on-premises with pay-as-you-use pricing

Azure Stack brings the cloud economic model on-premises, with pay-as-you-use pricing. As with Azure, there are no upfront licensing fees for using Azure services in Azure Stack and customers only pay when they use the services. Services are transacted in the same way as they are in Azure, with the same invoices and subscriptions. Services will be typically metered on the same units as Azure, but prices will be lower, since customers operate their own hardware and facilities. For scenarios where customers are unable to have their metering information sent to Azure, we will also offer a fixed-price “capacity model” based on the number of cores in the system.

Customers will acquire Azure Stack hardware from our hardware partners, Dell EMC, HPE, Lenovo and (later in the year) Cisco. We are excited to work with our hardware partners to provide a flexible range of buying options, including pay-as-you-go, for the hardware that underpins the integrated systems.

Customers can reach out to their Microsoft and hardware partner account representatives for detailed pricing information.

Final thoughts and next steps

Every company in every industry around the world transforming from an organization that simply uses digital technology, to a digital organization. We are dedicated to helping organizations grow by creating continually evolving products for their customers.

Azure and the Azure Stack integrated systems enable businesses to focus on investing energy and talent on turning their application portfolio into a strategic differentiator for their business. This approach enables customer choice and flexibility of deploying and operating their application where it best meets their business needs. IT can deliver far greater value by empowering development teams with self-service provisioning and cloud services while partnering with them to establish DevOps workflows that meet business policies and requirements.

Learn more about Azure Stack and download Azure Stack TP3.

Jeffrey Snover
Azure Infrastructure and Management Technical Fellow
Follow me on Twitter at @jsnover
Quelle: Azure

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How much should hybrid cloud cost?

If you’re thinking about adopting hybrid cloud, you’re probably also thinking about cost.
Every day, I speak to IT architects who are rethinking their #cloud computing strategies. Questions about cloud cost are usually at the tops of their minds.
One big advantage of working for a company like IBM is access to the latest market research. Independent reports by organizations such as Aberdeen are a great place to start reviewing how much to expect a hybrid cloud investment to cost.
No reason to fear cloud costs
In a recent analysis of how companies combine virtualization and public cloud, Aberdeen found that some IT architects are discouraged from executing a hybrid strategy because of uncertainties about costs.
These fears are misplaced. When designed correctly, the cost savings of implementing a hybrid cloud can quickly repay an initial upfront investment. Aberdeen shows that businesses using hybrid cloud are 38 percent more likely to see a reduction in overall IT expenditure.

What matters is getting the hybrid cloud blend right. For that, an organization must have a realistic sense of how its requirements can be met to deliver the best value for its environment.
Best, not cheapest
When weighing infrastructure, virtualization and hybrid options, customers are often tempted to follow the lowest cost projections, but cloud costs should always be evaluated in context. IT architects know one requirement should be considered particularly carefully: integration.
A hybrid cloud strategy is built on partnerships. The infrastructure and virtualization organizations rely on must work together to deliver to deliver the required performance while meeting projected cost and efficiency savings. The best solutions usually rely on collaboration between multiple vendors and offerings.
Check that your preferred vendors work well together first to avoid disruption later.
The real cost
Like all investments, hybrid cloud should be assessed in terms of value rather than cost. Upfront costs are only the beginning of a hybrid cloud story. Once a solution is implemented, the performance clock starts ticking. A suspiciously low price point will soon start to look expensive if reliability or security complications arise.
IBM offers the full range of infrastructural and platform solutions and integration skills, so we can afford to talk openly with customers about all their options. Over the last few years I’ve found that more and more customers are best served by the flexibility and pay-as-you go pricing of truly hybrid partnerships such as VMware on IBM Cloud.
It’s critical that this decision-making process is built on the solid foundations of data. That’s where reports by bodies such as Aberdeen and Frost & Sullivan are invaluable. Before you make the leap to hybrid, read these reports to help assess what you can help your organization to save. Or send a quick email and I’ll give you a call. The IBM Cloud team is here to consult.
Read the full report now.
The post How much should hybrid cloud cost? appeared first on Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud

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Twitter Will Start Using Algorithms To Crack Down On Abusive Accounts

Ariel Davis/BuzzFeed News / Via buzzfeed.com

Today, Twitter will start relying on algorithms to identify and restrict accounts for engaging in “abusive behavior,” which the company defines as either “repeatedly Tweeting without solicitation at non-followers” or violating the Twitter terms of service. The change goes beyond what some thought would be simple keyword policing (read: swear words) by also considering the relationships between users when determining abuse.

Penalties may include making an account's tweets only visible to its followers, being forced to verify a phone or email address associated with the account, or being suspended for 12 hours or more. In a statement about the changes, the company&039;s vice president of engineering Ed Ho wrote, “Our platform supports the freedom to share any viewpoint, but if an account continues to repeatedly violate the Twitter Rules, we will consider taking further action.”

Twitter seems to expect this approach will have hiccups, as Ho acknowledged: “Since these tools are new we will sometimes make mistakes, but know that we are actively working to improve and iterate on them every day.” There isn&039;t a process to appeal any of the the penalties yet, though Twitter&039;s plan to “iterate every day” indicates that may change.

Twitter will also allow you to filter out notifications from accounts that do not have a profile photo or that list an unverified email addresses or phone number, which are sometimes signs that an account was created specifically to abuse others anonymously. You&039;ll also be able to decide how long you want to mute accounts, conversations, and keywords. These features resemble the quality filter and notifications settings that verified users have had for some time now.

Aside from its new filter options and algorithmic abuse policing, Twitter will start sending notifications about the status of reported tweets and accounts to the people who flagged them. Specifically, the company will ping you when it has received your report and when it decides to take action. Twitter previously didn&039;t notify users when it received harassment reports or when it made a decision on how to handle them, which left many in the dark about whether they had even successfully communicated with the company.

The social network has shipped a number of product updates in the past month, many of which were tools intended to combat harassment: hiding tweets and conversations that mention you if you&039;ve been blocked by the writer, a setting to only see replies by people you follow, hiding sensitive content in search, and the ill-fated hiding of notifications when you&039;re added to a list.

Twitter has struggled with online abuse and harassment since its inception, especially with the question of how to define abuse on it platform — something that may have hindered its recent failed attempt to sell itself.

Quelle: <a href="Twitter Will Start Using Algorithms To Crack Down On Abusive Accounts“>BuzzFeed

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Industry Zone at Interconnect: latest in AI, blockchain and IoT

If you know anything about cloud or cognitive computing, you know that every industry will be affected by these advances in technology. Either you’ll embrace them or you will fall behind. It’s time to take the lead. Visit the Industry Zone at IBM InterConnect. You’ll hear from experts on cloud in finance, healthcare and more and get a chance to experience cognitive first hand. Join us and be inspired. Bring the latest thinking back to your organization. Take a look at four of my favorite demos.
1. Cognitive and security
As the world becomes more connected, the threat of cybercrime looms large. How will you protect your organization? Witness a state of the art security operations center during an attempted cyberattack against a financial institution. This virtual reality experience will let you observe your own team of cyber professionals as they detect and combat an active attack against your payment infrastructure. Learn how groundbreaking developments such as Watson for Cyber Security and IBM QRadar combine to defend against this growing threat.
2. Healthcare and cloud
Cloud and cognitive technology have the potential to make sense of data and solve tough healthcare challenges. Learn how one company is providing media-delivered therapies that target age-related behavioral symptoms. SimpleC uses individualized, drug-free therapies to improve well-being and independence through research-based techniques.
If you’re passionate about healthcare, you’ll also have to catch the IBM demonstration on how Watson Health Platform will combine with cloud to enable new possibilities.
3. A look at the future of retail
There’s no denying that consumer behaviors are changing. Retailers must respond by finding new ways to understand and engage customers in this digital world. By combining data from your store’s devices with external data and cognitive analytics, Watson IOT can provide new methods to reduce costs, improve the store experience and generate new revenue. Learn how IBM recommends specific tasks and enables process automation to achieve these benefits. It’s time to bring the future of technology to your customers and staff.
4. Solutions for financial services
Learn how IBM is helping financial institutions increase client engagement and operational agility while reducing regulatory burden and addressing risk. See demonstrations on how factors such as IBM Bluemix, hybrid cloud, IBM Cloud Managed Services, security, IoT, blockchain and cognitive can transform the financial services industry and help you find an edge.
If you are intrigued by these demos, understand this is only the tip of the iceberg. InterConnect will bring thousands of sessions, trainings and networking opportunities to you and your organization. If you still haven’t signed up, be sure to register today.
 
The post Industry Zone at Interconnect: latest in AI, blockchain and IoT appeared first on #Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud