• Why the Cloud Can’t be Separated From Open Source

If you don’t have enough time to scroll through Salesforce’s entire summer 2011 release notes, Douglas gives us a strong outline of the new features. The release announces changes to Jigsaw, Chatter, Force.com, and security enhancements for all of salesforce.com.

• My Favorite Salesforce.com Summer ’11 Features

According to IBM’s 2011 CIO Study, “60 percent of organizations are ready to embrace cloud computing over the next five years” in order to grow their businesses and gain a stronger competitive advantage. The cloud offers these businesses a simple way to access information in a cost efficient, readily available manner. These numbers extend outside of the US, as CIOs in Japan, South Korea, and China all view the cloud “as a top priority.” Business intelligence and analytics are among the top priorities for the majority of companies surveyed, and the cloud provides them with an easy and quick way of doing these tasks.

• 60 Percent of Organizations Ready to Embrace Cloud Computing- IBM Reports

Every now and then when I tell people I work in cloud computing they look at me like I’m crazy. Most people have at least some idea of what “the cloud” is, but there are the few out there who are still in the dark. Sourya Biswas offers multiple examples of how the cloud benefits the end user, even when they might not even realize it. For example, email services (especially Gmail) are the most popular cloud service, and most often are free, allowing users to receive information quickly and inexpensively. Moreover, Google Docs eliminates the need to purchase software such as Microsoft Office for presentations, reports, or spreadsheets. The fun does not stop here, however, many end users use Dropbox, Box.net, Flickr, and Amazon’s Cloud Player to make their lives easier, their work more mobile, and saves money- all without them realizing they are in the cloud.

• How the End Consumer Benefits From Cloud Computing

Salesforce’s growth is accelerating faster than they anticipated, producing “better-than-expected first quarter results,” which raised their outlook for the next three months and fiscal year. Salesforce is now on track for “a $2 billion revenue run rate” for fiscal 2012. Overall, subscriptions are up, customers are up, and shares are up- definitely looking to be a great year.

• Salesforce.com Growth Accelerates; Fiscal 2012 Outlook Raised

• Skype’s VP of Consumer Products on Mobile Video; The Cloud and Monetization
  

The big prize in the Salesforce Spring ‘11 Release has been the General Availability of the REST API. The REST API will provide greater options for developers on other platforms, including the increasingly popular Android platform. This post on the Force.com Blog provides a link to the Force.com Toolkit for Android as well as an article detailing use case with “a simple Android application that uses a combination of OAuth 2 and the REST API to perform basic CRUD operations on Force.com data.”

• Rest API + Android = Awesome
  

As Social Media usage continues to increase, web-based e-mail among teens continues to decrease. Platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are replacing traditional email, as younger generations spend more time with social networking. Last year, companies saw a “59% decline in [email] use among people between the ages of 12-17,” and time spent on social networking sites increased from 3.8% to 14%. This is why websites are implementing applications that mimic these popular social networking sites, such as Salesforce Chatter, in order to adhere to new trends.

• ComScore Says You Don’t Got Mail: Web Email Usage Declines 59% Among Teens
  

According to Kepes, newer acquisitions by salesforce.com, such as Manymoon, Chatter, and Seesmic, seem to be moving in a direction that could appear to be counterproductive for Salesforce users. The moves seem to be “designed more to reinforce (or reinvent) salesforce’s image,” rather than simply functional. He brings up the point that there may be a time when Salesforce users take a step back from all of these new acquisitions, wondering if they really are beneficial.

• Salesforce, Seesmic, and Manymoon – Good Move or Kool Aide Consumption?
  

Open-source cloud-management software project OpenStack announced its latest release last week which includes image management and support for unlimited object sizes in its object storage service software. The bigger development in the announcement, according to James Urquhart, is the growing number of big name networking vendors that support OpenStack, such as Cisco Systems, Extreme Networks, Arista Networks, Citrix, and Dell. “To me, the way the network’s relevance will be defined–or at least standardized–will be through open-source efforts. And OpenStack may be the effort where the industry comes together and hammers out one or more solutions.”

• Open Source and the Network’s Role in the Cloud

Local intellectual property attorney Daliah Saper and her firm are hosting an event in Chicago on February 17 that focuses on the intellectual property implications of open source.  From the event page:

This all day conference brings together members of the open source community for an in depth discussion of the business and legal ramifications of using or producing open source software. The panel of speakers will range from independent software developers, to CTOs of established businesses, to representatives of software giants like Microsoft. In addition, Saper Law attorneys will delve into licensing and intellectual property issues while university professors will lend the policy reasons behind the open source movement. New software that assists businesses and their attorneys with open source licensing compliance will also be debuted at the event.

Delivered Innovation will be represented and is actively promoting the event.  Hope to see you there!

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