An alphabetical selection of some of the many themes & topics to be discussed at Cloud Expo Silicon Valley (9th Cloud Expo) - being held November 7-10, 2011, at the Santa Clara Convention Center, CA. The markets may still be melting, but Cloud Expo is definitely coming of age!



Android - see Mobile Cloud Computing Clients Clouds (Michael Behrens)

Application as Conversation - see Open Networks (Peter Coffee)

Application Automation - In a Cloud Expo session entitled How to Accelerate Application Deployment within the Cloud, HP’s Marc Wilkinson will be walking through the automation and testing of applications across public, private or hybrid cloud environments, and describing how new solutions enable enterprises, accelerate innovation and drive a competitive edge.

Automation - In his Cloud Expo session, The Basics of Automating a Cloud Storage Service, Abiquo's Azmir Mohamed will be discussing how the complexity of combining server virtualization with storage virtualization, automation, self-service catalogs and other enabling technologies has become a huge barrier for the IT teams who have to deliver the cloud services. The good news, he will be telling Cloud Expo delegates, is that some cloud vendors have recognized this issue and have partnered to deliver integrated solutions offering the flexibility and cost benefits of cloud on top of familiar infrastructure products.

Cloud Contracts - In a splendidly titled Cloud Expo session called Cloud Computing Contract Issues - If It's in the Cloud, Get It on Paper, the Director of Software Licensing at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) - Thomas Trappler - will be highlighting some key contract issues that are either unique to cloud computing or essential to its effective adoption. 

Cloud Migration - In his Cloud Expo session entitled Practical Cloud Migration, the Chief Architect of Gale Technologies, James Thomason, will describe the dramatic Capex and Opex savings from taking a comprehensive HW/SW/VM provisioning view to create powerful private and hybrid clouds, and will discuss the evolution to a next generation cloud scheduler that intelligently and seamlessly allocates workloads across any type of cloud – private or public. 

Cloud Orchestration - A don't-miss Cloud Expo session by the CEO of OpSource, Treb Ryan, will be called Cloud Orchestration: Automating Cloud Service Management, Delivery & Support. Ryan will be discussing how to create a secure environment with automated orchestration of the cloud, including: a user interface, API, billing, metering, control and provisioning of infrastructure (VMs, storage and memory). Learn first-hand from a leading public cloud operator how to solve these problems!

"Cloud-Ready" - see Google vs Microsoft (Jason Lieblich)

Cloud Security - Anyone at Cloud Expo interested in Building an Effective Cloud Security Program will want to attend the session of that name being given by Tim Mather, Advisory Director at KPMG, alongside Becky Swain, a Board Member of the Silicon Valley Chapter of the Cloud Security Alliance. Cloud Expo delegates will be guided through the process for establishing an effective cloud security program leveraging the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Governance Risk & Compliance (GRC) Stack.

Cloud Security Advantages - see Enterprise Cloud Computing Wave of Change (Jill T. Singer)

Cloud Sprawl - In a Cloud Expo session called Controlling Cloud Sprawl, the Co-Founder & CEO of OutSystems, Paulo Rosado, will be looking at the impact SaaS and PaaS has for IT, and how a new generation of platforms running on private clouds can help IT curb the problem of shadow IT and cloud sprawl.

Cloud Storage - see Automation (Azmir Mohamed)

Cloud 2 - see Open Networks (Peter Coffee)

Context-Aware Clients - In this Cloud Expo session by Rick German, CEO of Stoneware, called Cloud to Client: How Context-Aware Clients Will Enhance the Cloud Experience, delegates will learn how Stoneware's technology has the ability to help enhance client devices when connecting to the cloud. German will demo how webNetwork helps the cloud understand and adapt to the device to deliver a richer experience based on hardware context, in contrast to the "one size fits all" delivery method used today.

Contracts - see Cloud Contracts (Thomas Trappler)

Data Motility - In a Cloud Expo session called What To Do When Your Data Decides to ‘Leave’, Trend Micro's VP of Cloud Security, Dave Asprey, will introduce the concept of "data motility" - the idea that data in the cloud is not just mobile, but can move on its own without administrators’ knowledge or consent. The session will address the important concerns that this “always available from somewhere” data presents to security administrators, and how – or even if - they can comply with new data privacy and processing laws when data is not location specific.

Enterprise Cloud Computing Wave of Change - At the 8th International Cloud Computing Expo in New York City in June 2011, Jill Tummler Singer - CIO of the National Reconnaissance Office - answered the question: "Is Enterprise Cloud Computing for real?" In a follow-on session at Cloud Expo Silicon Valley (9th Cloud Expo), called Riding the Enterprise Cloud Computing Wave of Change into the Future, she will be discussing key elements needed for a triumphant enterprise cloud computing migration and highlight strategies (including security advantages found in the cloud) to ensure that no one crashes and gets caught in the riptide of this rapidly emerging technology. 

Enterprise Clouds - “Services as an Infrastructure:” Looking at Enterprise Clouds in a Different Way is the name of the Cloud Expo session by Rich Wolski, CTO of Eucalyptus Systems. He will be discussing "Services as an Infrastructure" as a way in which enterprises can architect production cloud computing environments. Cloud applications must consider the services they access as “The Infrastructure” independently of how those services are hosted, Wolski will explain. He will illustrate specific deployment strategies based on user experiences with private clouds in various enterprise settings and discuss likely future technological developments.

Enterprise Private Cloud - This Cloud Expo session by ActiveState's Diane Mueller, called US Patriot Act: Making the Case for Enterprise Private Cloud, will discuss: 1. Implications of the US Patriot Act on cloud computing 2. What types of applications should stay private 3. Classes of applications that best leverage the cloud 4. Moving to a private cloud model 5. How to deploy an enterprise private PaaS.

Enterprise Private Clouds - see also Private Clouds (Fred Tanzella)

Enterprise Private PaaS - see Enterprise Private Cloud (Diane Mueller)

Google vs Microsoft - In a Cloud Expo session called Google vs Microsoft: How to Arm Yourself for the Battle of the Century, Jason Lieblich, Founder & CEO of Exporise Systems, will be describing how Google and Microsoft are in a battle for the hearts and minds of corporations worldwide. You and your company can benefit from this battle, Lieblich will argue...but only if you are "Cloud-Ready".

Eucalyptus - see Enterprise Clouds (Rich Wolski)

Future of Cloud Computing -  In a forward-looking Cloud Expo session, titled Are You Ready for the Future of Cloud Computing?, IT pioneer and thought leader David Linthicum will define the future roadmap of cloud computing including how PaaS, IaaS, and SaaS will play out within enterprises, and what will be the ultimate destination for cloud computing. Who will be the major providers left standing? Will we be leveraging private clouds, public clouds, or both?

Hybrid Clouds - Gale Technologies' Akhil Sahai, in a Cloud Expo session called Best Practices for Hybrid Clouds: Template-Based Provisioning, will be exploring best practices for self-service, template-based automation to address virtualization stall and sprawl in cloud environments. Sahai will be predicting that 2012 is the year when enterprises fully embrace their heterogeneous environments to get the best of both cloud worlds, while using legacy IT equipment to build dynamic clouds running virtualized and non-virtualized workloads.

Integration - Terremark's VP of Cloud Services Bill Lowry will be giving a Cloud Expo General Session called Integrating Enterprise Clouds - a practical and pragmatic session on integrating clouds for the enterprise, focusing on how to take advantage of the power and potential of the cloud while minimizing disruption, waste and compromise.

Microsoft vs Google - In a Cloud Expo session called Google vs Microsoft: How to Arm Yourself for the Battle of the Century, Jason Lieblich, Founder & CEO of Exporise Systems, will be describing how Google and Microsoft are in a battle for the hearts and minds of corporations worldwide. You and your company can benefit from this battle, Lieblich will argue...but only if you are "Cloud-Ready".

Mobile Cloud - The president & CEO of Exadel, Fima Katz, will be giving a session at Cloud Expo called What To Expect from Mobile Cloud in which he will discuss a new, quite revolutionary way of building the next generation mobile cloud applications. In this approach, Katz will explain, everything from development platform to deployment to resources resides in the cloud. The underlying platform (PaaS) - Katz will claim - allows you to slash mobile (multi-device) development and deployment by 75%, reducing complexity and cost.

Mobile Cloud Computing Clients - In a Cloud Expo session called Mobile Cloud Computing Clients, the CTO of R2AD, Michael Behrens, will be showing delegates how to develop client side code that interacts with cloud provider services using HTTP. Specifically, Behrens will use the Open Cloud Computing Interface (OCCI) and Cloud Data Management Interface (CDMI)  to create an Android-based client which can manage cloud resources.

Monetizing the Cloud - Recognizing that the cloud changes the way investment and consumption models work, a Cloud Expo session by Capgemini's Mark Skilton called Identifying Successful Business Models to Drive Monetization of Your Cloud Service will identify real examples of how customers and providers of cloud services can target better growth and ROI from cloud computing by positioning and defining their operating model and value strategy.

Open Cloud Computing Interface (OCCI) - see Mobile Cloud Computing Clients (Michael Behrens)

Open Networks - In a world where every IT asset has a feed - in the era of 'Cloud 2' - the cloud model is turning from a perceived challenge into a compelling avenue for IT innovations that need not compromise security or governance. In a Cloud Expo session called Open Networks, Trusted Clouds: The Road Map to 'Social' Security, Salesforce's Peter Coffee will be exploring the potential of “application as conversation.”

Operations in Cloud Computing - In a Cloud Expo session by cloud thought leader Bernard Golden, the speaker will focus on how cloud computing compels IT operations to split into two roles: infrastructure provider and applications management. The expectations, daily work, and employee skill sets for operations will rapidly change as cloud applications are developed and brought online. The session is titled: Operations in Cloud Computing.

PaaS Behind the Firewall - The president & CEO of ActiveState Software, Bart Copeland, will be giving a session on an emerging trend where enterprises require PaaS capabilities, but are on their own terms: a PaaS behind their firewall to enable a secure cloud. The session, titled Why “Private PaaS” is Not an Oxymoron, will cover: The drivers for Private PaaS; How a Private PaaS differs from a Public PaaS; What to consider when implementing and deploying a Private PaaS; and Case studies of enterprises using a private PaaS.

Performance Management - A Cloud Expo session by dynaTrace technology strategist Michael Kopp, titled Performance Management in the Cloud: It's About the Application! will discuss why traditional means of performance management and troubleshooting no longer work - and how this affects everything. Kopp will be looking at how to identify the root cause of performance problems in dynamic environments and will explain how to assess and manage performance when capacity is no longer the issue.

Private Clouds - In a Cloud Expo session called Modular Approach to Private Clouds, the CEO & Co-Founder of Cirracore, Fred Tanzella, will be discussing a modular approach to building private clouds for enterprises by segregating compute nodes, storage and network fabric and combined with open source cloud software.

Private Clouds - see also PaaS Behind the Firewall

Private Clouds - see also Private Paas (Sinclair Schuller)

Private PaaS - In a Cloud Expo session by the CEO of Apprenda, Sinclair Schuller, called Private PaaS: The Convergence of Private Cloud & Enterprise Architecture, delegates will learn how "Private PaaS" is providing a homogenous, highly scalable architecture for the enterprise IT app portfolio, and how private cloud is realized through architectures previously reserved for public cloud world. Rather than evolving down independent paths, Schuller will contend, private cloud and enterprise architecture have converged to private PaaS.

Private Clouds - see also PaaS Behind the Firewall

Public Clouds - In a case study session to be given at Cloud Expo by Abiquo's VP Business Development, Trevor Chamberlain - Why Cloud-Based Business Models are Changing the Way Services Are Being Delivered - Cloud Expo delegates will hear about the journey of CARI.net to providing public cloud services.

Services as an Infrastructure - see Enterprise Clouds (Rich Wolski)

Trusted Cloud: In his Cloud Expo session, Achieving a Trusted Cloud, VMware's George Gerchow will be describing how to achieve a Trusted Cloud that is secure and compliant whether it is Private, Public or Hybrid. His session will highlight how Security and Configuration Compliance management are evolving as well as how securing and ensuring compliance in these environments requires a different approach.

Trusted Clouds - see Open Networks, Trusted Clouds (Peter Coffee)

U.S. Patriot Act - see Private Enterprise Cloud (Diane Mueller)

• Taking the Pulse of Cloud Computing, Fall 2011
• Leading C-Suite Perspectives Upcoming at Cloud Expo Silicon Valley
• AppZero to Demonstrate Zapp Application Migration Automation in Rackspace Pavilion
• WorkVoices Speaks Up at Cloud Expo Holland Pavilion
• ICT Rankings to be Updated at Cloud Expo