Multiple Middlewares or.....a Super Middleware

As I tried to envision Potential System Integration challenges in the future....I was thinking about a world in which companies system profile would be a mixture of on-site applications and cloud based applications (and that too applications from multiple clouds). The first question that occured was would there be middleware for the integration between an on-site application and cloud computing and a second middleware for integration between the clouds? So are we going to see multiple middlewares within the same organization?

In my naivety I thought I had stumbled upon an original thought......:-) But as I went 'googling'...I found that this question has already been answered . I found an excellent article by David Linthicum that addresses this question and more. His article indicates there are products already in the market that achieve cloud-enterprise integration but also cloud-cloud integration (aha..a Super Middleware!!!). One of the products that he has mentioned is Informatica on Demand.

As soon as I find one, I will post an example that showcases cloud-cloud and cloud-enterprise integration by the same product. Keep checking this blog.....!!!

References:
http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/integration-challenges-cloud-computing-157?page=0,1http://www.univaud.com/about-cloud/challenges.php

Evergreen IT ??

I recently came across this article by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) (“The real promise of Cloud Computing”) which introduces a concept that they call “Evergreen IT”. So what is Evergreen IT?

According to PwC ,”An Evergreen IT environment is the end state that frees enterprises of costly, inefficient, legacy IT by enabling enterprises to build a more flexible and agile environment. Evergreen IT requires technology architecture and IT infrastructure management strategies consistent with the strategies used in cloud computing. It creates the potential for continually refreshing IT capabilities without distracting the business and for staying in alignment with business needs. Although this vision is inspired by external cloud computing providers, the goal is Evergreen IT, not cloud computing per se.”

Evergreen IT applies the principles of Cloud Computing inside a business, changing the way technology supports the organization.

The article also features a case study where they talk about how Evergreen IT was successfully implemented by a major construction company , Bechtel Corporation and how after the implementation
it now only takes them 1 – 2 days to setup the IT infrastructure for a project as compared to 60 – 90 days earlier.

References :

1. http://www.pwc.com/us/en/view/fall09/cloud-computing.jhtml
2. http://www.pwc.com/us/en/technology-forecast/summer2009/cloud-computing-evergreen-bechtel.jhtml