Alex Williams - ReadWrite

Is the EcoPOD the World's Greenest Data Center?

Alex Williams — Wed, 08 Jun 2011 09:30:00 -0700

HP introduced a new modular data center at HP Discover this week that resembles a double wide mobile home with a cooling system that the company says has 95% better efficiency than the monolithic data centers built over the past 20 years.

The cooling system for the HP EcoPOD is designed to adapt to IT loads and outside conditions. For the most part, it uses air it pulls into the EcoPOD.

Here's a hologram of the HP EcoPOD that I shot at HP Discover this week. There is a bit about the particulars of the EcoPOD in the video.

The container market is a crowded one as Rich Miller points out in a blog post this week on Data Center Knowledge. HP maintains its Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) rating is as low as 1.05. That's pretty low. But is it the lowest?

Setting aside the PUE Olympics, the efficiency ratings for the EcoPOD certainly place it on a competitive footing with other modular designs offering free cooling, a group including SGI ICE Cube, BladeRoom, i/o Anywhere, the Dell DCS modular unit and even Microsoft's IT-PAC design, which has recently been licensed to Savier. The growing number of players in the modular market is creating a virtuous cycle in which competitors are continually revising their designs to enhance their efficiency and usability.

HP touts the cost savings of the modular technology, which it says costs $8 million, compares to the $33 million for building a data center from the ground up. Those are impressive numbers but it is important to remember that this is a bit of a horse race. Competition is fierce in this data center boom time.

The new data centers represent transformation in IT but it really is a commodity game, a race for the most efficient data center technology at the lowest price. This is highlighted by projects such as OpenCompute, the data center initiative that Facebook launched. The goal for that project is to show how open systems can be used to create an efficient data center. That's a philosophy shared by HP and one we can expect to be more common as infrastructures become standardized to support application innovation.

Still, the HP EcoPOD is a new innovation for HP. It plays on the need for new, efficient data centers that have efficiency and power savings as the top priority.

Why webOS is a Challenge to iOS and Android in the Business World

Alex Williams — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 04:30:00 -0700

webOS is the heart of how HP will compete against far more established competitors in the mobile marketplace, especially in the enterprise, where it may have its best chance of success against Apple iOS and Google Android.

At the opening keynote yesterday for HP Discover, CEO Leo Apotheker said the TouchPad is designed with the enterprise in mind. It's the first serious device that HP has offered in the tablet space with features that do differentiate it from its competitors. At its core is webOS 3.0.

The HP TouchPad is late to the party. But sometimes being late to the party is really the best way to make an entrance, especially about enterprise.

Three reasons why HP's focus on the enterprise makes sense:

Apple will never say iOS is built with the enterprise in mind.
Google wants Android to be everything for everyone.
Blackberry is losing its stature. It will take time for the company to rebound.

Microsoft may be its biggest enterprise rival. Its emphasis on the enterprise is evident in Mango, the latest version of Windows Phone.

Paul Bryan of Microsoft writes:

"Customers tell us they're continually trying to stay on top of their busy schedules. With this in mind, Mango is designed to make you even more productive right out-of-the-box--helping you quickly and easily stay connected with the people and information that are most important to you. For instance, we've heard that you like how the Office Hub helps bring together Office documents like Word, Excel, One Note, and PowerPoint in one place. In Mango, we're adding the ability to save and share Office documents through Office 365 and Windows Live SkyDrive, ensuring you have access to the latest documents when and where you need them."

Other factors in play that help tip things in HP's favor:

An open app environment. Enyo is a framework for webOS 3.0. It allows the developer to take code and condense it. The framework still executes and does so more efficiently. It's easier for developers.
Developers can create cross-platform apps. Enyo is again the magic sauce. It allows for the app to work across different screen resolutions, laptop, smartphone or tablet.
webOS runs Citrix Receiver, allowing for a secure, virtualized mobile desktop.
webOS will be added to all HP, PCs, laptops and printers.
Enyo can be used in WebKit.
An independent software vendor network that includes SAP and Microsoft.
webOs has a connected component. You can touch a Palm Pre smartphone to the Touhpad or vice versa. That's a compelling seamless capability.

This all may be irrelevant, considering the strength of the iOS and Android. Apple's app ecosystem is built for developers to benefit with a percentage of what is paid for the app. webOS needs its own app ecosystem but now that is still just emerging. That will be a critical component as the webOs matures and looks for traction with the developer community.

Plus, there's another factor in play. And that's the bring your own device (BYOD) movement. People are using their own smartphones and tablets for work and in the home. They will not necessarily need a new device. But we'll see. HP knows how to market computers.

HP paid the airfare and hotel for the writer to attend HP Discover.

MacBook Air Contest: What are the Considerations When Looking at Server Infrastructure?

Alex Williams — Fri, 03 Jun 2011 00:00:18 -0700

What are key considerations when looking at server infrastructure in cloud deployments?

That's the question this month for our MacBook Air contest. Best comment on this post wins. You'll need a Disqus account to participate. The question raises all kinds of potential conversations, ranging from the type of server to integrate to the network considerations. So, let's hear it!

We'll review the comments and pick a winner at the end of the month. Tom Raftery runs GreenMonk. He is is our co-judge this month. Thanks to Michael Krigsman for his help in the May contest.

The winner will be announced on the first of July. We're still waiting to hear back from the winner we selected for May. We'll announce soon!

Now, let's hear it. We look forward to the conversation!

Brief: The Critical Importance of the New Data Infrastructure

Alex Williams — Thu, 02 Jun 2011 05:35:36 -0700

It's really about speed these days. And data. And the right infrastructure so the data can all flow and keep the business running smoothly.

The Critical Importance of the New Data Infrastructure by John Titllow of ReadWriteweb is a brief that explores the impacts that can have when it comes to your organization.

Questions covered in the report include:

What does this new infrastructure look like?
What forms of data are being used on the network?
How can the network cripple a business in a data-intensive environment?
How is the relationship between business and IT impacted by this ongoing transition to elastic environments?

We cover a variety of issues related to the data explosion. This brief outlines the issues and what you can do to avoid costly mistakes when developing your own infrastructure.

White Paper: The On-ramp to the Cloud and the Road to Get There

Alex Williams — Tue, 31 May 2011 10:35:08 -0700

Virtualization is an on ramp to the cloud. But the road to the on ramp is one that organizations are still learning to traverse.

The modern IT organization will get there. The investments in virtualization are being made and they are not expected to slow down.

This white paper from Trend MIcro explores the role of information security that organizations need to think about when adopting virtualization and making that journey to the cloud.

Download White Paper Now

Virtualization is the On Ramp to the Cloud

View more documents from ReadWriteWeb.

White Paper: Making the Convincing Argument for Virtualization

Alex Williams — Thu, 26 May 2011 15:02:22 -0700

What do you need to do to build a case for virtualization? It can be a cultural shift for a company to adopt virtualization. It requires different skill sets and an approach that turns a data center into a network that optimizes an infrastructure according to the principles of a shared infrastructure.

But there are steps you can take that provide executives with a clear path to return on investment.

It starts with telling a compelling story.

37836231-How-to-Build-the-Business-Case-for-Virtualization.pdf

SOAP is Not Dead - It's Undead, a Zombie in the Enterprise

Alex Williams — Thu, 26 May 2011 09:32:00 -0700

SOAP is dead. No it's not. SOAP is undead.

And the undead still inhabit the enterprise... in a big way.

I'm at Gluecon, the kind of event where passionate developers gather. These are people who for the most part never use SOAP. They work with REST - undoubtedly the king of all APIs.

John Musser of Programmable Web set the context yesterday when he gave his address about the "State of the API," a discussion he also led last year at Gluecon.

His presentation showed that 73% of the APis on Programmable Web use REST. SOAP is far behind but is still represented in 17% of the APIs.

But outside Gluecon's passionate circle of developers, SOAP is still used inside many an enterprise. So why is SOAP undead?

Clay Loveless presented "The Failure of SOAP" at Gluecon. Loveless is the former CTO at Mashery. He is now launching a startup called Jexy.com, which will provide integration services for developers.

He cited SOAP's complexity and the vendor wars that made tool chains a nightmare. The problem is that companies are still dependent on internal systems that have not modernized. They are dependent on SOAP. Investments have been made.

"All the tools, hires, licenses & codebase has been built around SOAP for a decade," Loveless wrote on Twitter. "Hard to turn on a dime."

SOAP's complexity also explains why many enterprises have been slow to move to Web Oriented Architectures.

I asked Michael Cote of RedMonk for his opinion about why SOAP is still used in the enterprise: "Existing applications that use it and Enterprise Architects who still want to enforce a top-down, well, architecture with it."

But the current API movement is somewhat fractured. Every developer has their own way of implementing APIs. Monica Wilkinson of Socialcast said to me today that Activity Streams and authentication have standardized to some extent. That trend will continue based upon demand.

There are other issues, too, that come with REST APIs. At Gluecon, JNBridge the release of JNBridgePro 6.0, which enables developers to access both .NET-based and Java-based cloud services and APIs from ground or cloud-based clients written in the other platform. It also allows for the development of cloud-based services and APIs that incorporate both Java and .NET-based components.

Cote was quoted in the company's press release. What he says deserves notice from the most passionate of developers:

"As enterprise development teams start including cloud technologies in their applications, incompatible cloud platforms and APIs will be a huge road block," said Michael Cote, analyst at RedMonk. "We're already seeing a clamoring for tools and services that integrate this spaghetti bowl of end-points, and they're only going to become more important to realizing the benefits of cloud development."

In the meantime, SOAP is not dead by any means. It's undead and will remain that way for some time to come.

White Paper: Scaling a Reliable and Extendable Virtualization Infrastructure

Alex Williams — Wed, 25 May 2011 13:00:42 -0700

Desktop virtualization is a hot topic throughout the virtualization industry. Organizations view desktop virtualization as a way to control costs and use limited resources to manage large-scale desktop infrastructures while increasing security and deployment efficiency. NetApp, VMware, Cisco, Fujitsu, and Wyse joined forces to create an architectural design for a 50,000-seat VMwareView architecture. This project demonstrates the most reliable methods for deploying a scalable and easily expandable environment from 5,000 to 50,000 seats in an efficient manner.

Download Now

The Small Business and the Cloud [Infographic]

Alex Williams — Wed, 25 May 2011 10:00:00 -0700

The small business owner is in that phase right now in which they are asking the young store clerk about all this cloud stuff.

It may be surprising but they are also asking about virtualization. Businesses are starting to understand that they can leapfrog into a new competitive world by using virtualization to use multiple operating systems and to keep apps partitioned and protected.

It's that security question that is one of most critical importance. The question: How can the small business compete in the global market but also keep from losing the store?

It points to why virtualization is on the rise. If you can simply call your desktop from the cloud then there is a degree of security that the apps can be simply turned off if the device goes astray.

David Linthicum makes this point on Focus.com:

Cloud providers will eventually get into desktop virtualization. It just seems to be the logical conclusion of where we're heading right now.
In other words, we're providing all these very heavy-duty IT services, such as database, OSs, and application servers on demand. It just makes sense that eventually we're going to provide complete desktop virtualization offerings that pop out of the cloud.

The beauty of that is that a small business, instead of having to maintain an IT staff, will just have to maintain a few clients. They log into a cloud account and the virtualized desktops come down.

It provides disaster recovery based on the architecture. It provides great scalability, because basically you're paying for each desktop instance and you're not paying for more or less than you need. So, you're not buying a data center or an inventory of computers and having to administer the users.

It has been noted recently that people are quite cavalier with their smartphones and other mobile devices. They just don't think about what can happen if they lose one. You can see from this infographic that small businesses are using apps of all varieties.

How will these kinds of apps be administered in the future? That's the big question which you can see start to surface when looking through an infographic such as this one from Formstack.

A CDN-Style Service for APIs

Alex Williams — Wed, 25 May 2011 01:30:12 -0700

A content delivery network (CDN) is fine for distributing the data from a Web page but the advent of a new programming interface will help create a new method for pushing data to the edge of the network.

The first signs of this new network is coming from companies that are creating a new wave of API services for better distributing the billions of calls that are made daily to an increasing mass network of providers. The latest is a new API Delivery Network from Apigee, a provider of API products and services.

Apigee is providing a new way to distribute APIs from a central point to the edge of the network. It's like a CDN except not for content but for API calls.

There are a number of reasons why Apigee's Sam Ramji says an enterprise grade API delivery networks is needed:

Speed is a huge benefit. It can be up to ten times faster when the API network is distributed across a network of points.
Availability can have marked performance improvements. Core availability goes up.
Having the API network at the edge is better suited to a mass scaling of mobile, connected devices.
And what happens when the site gets popular and there is a spike in API calls? The API fails to do its job. An API network at the edge can help alleviate the issue.

The Apigee service also improves speed and availability for OAuth, which authenticates the API call from the user.

In most OAuth implementations - there is an OAuth server. That server is handling immediate requests. A token is checked on every request. The Apigee network service pushes that authentication dance to the edge, where it is faster and can be handled more efficiently.

Apigee, Mashery and Layer 7 are pushing the boundaries for API networks. They are companies at the edge, so to speak, but also at the center of a new global, commerce infrastructure.

A big question for the enterprise is the performance of APIs. They can be slow and unresponsive. Often, the latency is unbearable, especially on mobile devices. Will the Apigee service help alleviate the issue? We'll have to see. There are several competitors in this space and the issues with APIs will only continue as more devices are connected and greater emphasis is placed on third party application integrations. In particular, we'll be watching companies that offer the network capabilities inside the enterprise to optimize speed and efficiency for the end user.

The Most Confusing Tech Term: 3 Reasons Why You Just Need to Get Over It

Alex Williams — Tue, 24 May 2011 11:00:13 -0700

I've learned one thing when writing about virtualization in the past few years. Most everyone I know has no clue what it means.

It's more confusing than "the cloud," that other topic we cover quite a bit at ReadWriteWeb.

For the sake of those who don't know, virtualization is really pretty simple when you think about what it makes possible to do. Do you have a Mac? You can run Windows on it, too. How? Virtualization. How about all those smartphone apps with that data from work? Virtualized apps can be isolated in case you leave that smartphone on the bus.

We need to get over the confusion that comes with virtualization. I'll give you three reasons why. These are all related to security.

This is Not Your Grandmother's Desktop: The desktop is no longer just the PC. You need to keep it secure, be it your laptop or your tablet. Hosted, virtual desktops allow for more control over apps and data in case your mobile device gets stolen.
Identity: How many online identities do you have? A virtualized desktop can separate that identity maze by isolating apps that are mission critical. Those isolated apps can be administered by IT and have their own separate identity protocol.
Data Management: A virtualized data environment can be a safeguard in case of attacks. As The Register points out:

Virtualization also brings with it an additional degree of resilience. Virtual environments can be configured to incorporate fail-safe mechanisms, so if a virtual machine goes down, it can be started up elsewhere (or indeed, two machines can be running in parallel with replicated state). VMs can also deliver what is known in security parlance as 'separation of concerns' - specific applications can be run in their own virtual machines, meaning that if one is compromised or goes down, it is less likely to bring others down with it.

Virtualization need not be confusing. If you think of its outcomes, it becomes a far more simple concept to understand.

Rackspace and Citrix: Virtualization for Smartphones and Tablets

Alex Williams — Mon, 23 May 2011 08:30:00 -0700

Rackspace is offering a hosted desktop virtualization service with Citrix that provides a way to virtualize all those tablets and smartphones that people are bringing to work.

It also takes the burden off the enterprise, which is having considerable difficulty figuring out how to bring together the multiple parties that are needed to offer a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solution. As we noted in a recent post on the topic of virtual desktop infrastructure, it requires the desktop, storage, network, virtualization and data center teams to work together.

The mobile question is the big one here. The service allows the user to keep apps and data in a separate container. If lost, the apps can be disconnected by the administrator. That's important but there is another aspect to this beyond security. And that's the issue with storage and how a VDI infrastructure keeps performance optimized.

The Rackspace Hosted Virtual Desktop service includes integration with NetApp storage, which helps alleviate the issues that come when a number of people are on the network or go on all at once in a "boot storm."

VMware, MokaFive and Quest are just a few of the companies that compete with Citrix in the VDI space. It's a crowded market and one that analysts question. The difference here is the connection with Rackspace, a hosted service known for its focus on customer support. That means an organization can benefit from the Rackspace infrastructure and Citrix value as a desktop virtualization provider. That may be enough for companies as they adapt to the new mobile desktop environment.

There is also the question about how integration will be accomplished on a hosted service. How do you put all all the pieces together? If Rackspace and Citrix can tie their worlds together, it will help a lot.

The question I have is about the overall market. Gartner predicts that the growth in the market will take place in the next two years with 70 million people using VDI by 2014. According to a ComputerWorld story, IDC expects that by 2014, 34 million seats or 7% of all PC desktop shipments.

But it's not clear that desktop virtualization has had much pick-up in the market. Maybe it's the hosted aspect of the equation that will make the difference. Organizations may want the benefits that come with VDI but the infrastructure requirements are considerable. A hosted service may be more what customers are looking for as mobile devices continue to proliferate in the enterprise.

The War on Sharing [Infographic]

Alex Williams — Sat, 21 May 2011 15:00:13 -0700

The war that the record labels is waging to protect its copyrighted music is mistakenly believed to only concern services that explicitly allow you to share music.

That's not so true anymore. The RIAA is broadening its scope. According to The Hollywood Reporter, Its new targets are services such as Box.net, the subject of a subpoena this week in California, served by the RIAA's vice president of online piracy, Mark McDevitt. The RIAA seeks information about people it believes are using Box to illegally use "sound recordings."

In a prepared statement, Box.net said to The Hollywood Reporter:

"We take the confidentiality of our customers' information very seriously, but just like all other businesses, we are legally required to comply with court orders," said Box.Net in a statement to THR. "Our compliance will be limited to the information the court requires we produce. At Box, we're primarily focused on powering collaboration and information sharing within businesses, and it's rare that we run into copyright infringement issues in those instances."

This is a chilling sign of what may be to come as the RIAA sets its sights upon online services that provide online storage. And that could have impacts on any online service. That could be Google, Dropbox, Zoho or others that provide a space where digital files can be stored.

The entertainment industry's war on sharing is not new, as illustrated by this infographic by Ashley Angell. It shows to what lengths the RIAA and MPAA will go to pursue lawsuits against consumers.

Larger image

With Box, the customers are businesses for the most part. That is a key difference to other challenges by the RIAA. And It sets up a conflict between service providers and their clients who now face a determined media industry with a historic interest in litigation to protect its copyrights.

Poll: Does Cloud Computing Change the Role of the CIO?

Alex Williams — Fri, 20 May 2011 04:15:27 -0700

The software companies that have risen to power in the past 40 years are talking more about the cloud. That has to be a factor of the business market and the interest on behalf of top IT executives, the ones who have in large part commanded the budgets for large-scale solutions projects.

According to a study by IBM, 60% of Global CIOs are now preparing to invest in cloud computing, double the number of two years ago when IBM last did the study.

The poll asked 3000 CIOs about what their reasons are for adopting cloud computing. Many said it's to help develop better insights and analysis.

That's a logical goal for most organizations that face a sea of data but lack effective ways to gain value from it. The shift has an impact on the CIO who now has the chance to be a change agent more than just someone who acts in a support role.

What do you think?

Does Cloud Computing Change the Role of the CIO?online surveys

White Paper: Scaling Desktop Virtualization

Alex Williams — Thu, 19 May 2011 10:00:39 -0700

Desktop virtualization is a hot topic throughout the virtualization industry. Organizations view desktop virtualization as a way to control costs and use limited resources to manage large-scale desktop infrastructures while increasing security and deployment efficiency. NetApp, VMware, Cisco, Fujitsu, and Wyse joined forces to create an architectural design for a 50,000-seat VMware View architecture. This project demonstrates the most reliable methods for deploying a scalable and easily expandable environment from 5,000 to 50,000 seats in an efficient manner.

Download Now

White Paper: Saving Your Servers from Disaster

Alex Williams — Wed, 18 May 2011 16:30:34 -0700

In this article, we'll take a look at some of the key features of virtualization -- specifically VMware virtualization solutions -- that help defend your datacenter against disaster. Virtualization offers hardware independence -- a huge time saver in recovering from a disaster. In addition to this core capability, virtualization provides several other ways to protect your business from server downtime.

Download Now

How People Sign In to Online Services [Infographic]

Alex Williams — Wed, 18 May 2011 10:10:47 -0700

We have any number of ways to sign in online.

Brian Madden points out it's an ever-more-complicated concern as the concept of the desktop changes and we grapple with ways virtualization is treated in a security context.

This infographic from Gigya illustrates the ways people identify themselves. We need to think about how identity is associated with our social profiles, how we use virtualization to enhance security and as a way to administer apps, and how those apps are used.

What do you think?

History of the Network [Infographic]

Alex Williams — Wed, 18 May 2011 08:15:45 -0700

The history of the network is a story about communications. In the late 19th century, the railroads began connecting cities and towns throughout the world. Today, the global digital network gives news definitions to space and time.

In this new space, we are entering the realm of the virtual. The virtual network is becoming the standard that many enterprises are adopting as the performance requirements increase and the need to optimize is driven by costs and competitive pressures.

That's a story that has been told time and again as illustrated in this infographic by GetSatisfaction.

Contest: MacBook Air Giveaway - Still Time to Comment

Alex Williams — Wed, 18 May 2011 03:42:53 -0700

We're a few days away from closing the comments for our latest MacBookAir giveaway.

The question: What is IT-as-a-Service and How Do You Determine its Value?

We have 18 comments and once again, the insights are sharp and intelligent.

Michael Krigsman is my co-judge this month. Once the comments are closed, we'll review and pick a winner.

So, there's still time left to comment. All you need is to register through Disqus, the comment technology we use. Please remember to also the read the rules to determine your eligibility.

Live Blog: In-Memory Sees its Day and We Need it More Than Ever

Alex Williams — Tue, 17 May 2011 22:52:44 -0700

I am sitting among the SAP influencers at SAP SapphireNow, all excited about what we have been waiting for this week and that's the keynote featuring executive board member Vishal Sikka and SAP Founder Dr. Hasso Plattner.

It's a time to reflect on the network. Millions of people are online with data growing exponentially. But the latency issue is not going away. It's actually getting worse. We talk about always being online but it's clear offline access will be increasingly important. That issue in itself drives demand for in-memory technology. It's Ground Hog day all over again. As Forrester's Paul Hammerman just tweeted: "Expecting detailed discussion of in-memory computing as the future for analytics, transactions and cloud apps from Hasso."

Let's get started.

9:01 a.m. EST: The crowd is moving into the main tent.

9:14 a.m. EST: Lights just dimmed. Emcees are taking the stage. Vishal Sikka is taking the stage.

9:16 a.m.: No matter how great the innovation it can not disrupt the client's work. Sikka is talking in context to SAP HANA, the in-memory technology.

9:21 a.m.: HANA revolutionized how SAP manages data. They were able to process 460 billion lines of data in far less time. It made SAP re-think its application development. Sikka calls it a once in a lifetime opportunity. Sikka is calling up a Colgate executive to thank him for HANA who calls the technology a game changer. After Colgate proved it worked, the company did a test in Mexico, one of its largest markets. Sales people are able to run sales reports hundreds of times faster.

9:27 a.m.: Bosch case study is about financial analysis and how customers feel about the product. They can change products and add new ones. Things that once took days now takes seconds. A Caterpillar executive is talking about the analytics that can be turned around in seconds. A Russia oil company challenged SAP to analyze oil production all over the world. The company drills and transports oil using huge amounts of resources. Working in real-time to manage resources, there is a new opportunity to see and use the data.

9:35 a.m.: How do you see real-time views with a worldwide operation? The challenge with Nestle was to accelerate to near real-time so users could see data in a 2,000 time performance improvement.

9:38 a.m.: We''re now talking about real-time analytics and how NRI, a Japanese company is using it to do real-time tracking of traffic data. SAP Hana allowed the company to take 360 million lines of data and process it to optimize taxi routes.

9:41 a.m.: A consortium of companies is owned by Canoe Ventures that is developing interactive advertising for television. Real-time analytics are critical for analyzing the advertising and providing the results.

9:43 a.m.: Infosys, one of the largest IT consulting companies in the world, to do margin management. Infosys leverages HANA to simulate margins in a top down fashion. The results seem to hold a lot of promise that is not constrained by data challenges.

9:46 a.m.: SAP worked with Intel and its Xeon E-7 family of processors. Standard high volume server has four terabytes of memory. SAP HANA has ten cores. That's a powerful machine!

9:53 a.m.: In-memory technology will allow Cisco customers to do real-time analysis. They are able to drill down from 700 million lines of data.

9:56 a.m.: Openness and optimizing acros layers has to be tempered with consolidating existing legacy layers. That means rethinking existing applications and creating new ones.

9:59 a.m.: Application bult natively on HANA is able to drill down to level of individual employee. T-Mobile used HANa to do real-time reporting with 66 million lines of data in seconds versus days.

10:08 a.m.: The way applications are built can be simplified. To enable the new reality requires openness. Why then are legacy systems that are closed? SAP started working on SAP Netwever Gateway. It was designed to be open for developers. SAP's partners at Adobe are working with HANA to combat piracy. Data can be analyzed and combined with financial information and other factors to reduce piracy.

10:14 a.m. Microsoft and SAP are teaming to provide a gateway development kit for .NET developers to raise level of integration between companies.

10:17 a.m.: The future of the cloud is an in-memory cloud, Sikka says. Example: Google instant search. This can be called the RAM cloud.

10:23 a.m.: We're seeing a demo of the HANA Cloud with MediData. The pre-beta of SAP HANA AppCloud is now available from SAP.

10:30 a.m.: Hasso Plattner is on stage, telling jokes. What a leader he is. He is responding to questions from customers. "Why is SAP investing in HANA?" Plattner is talking about the evolution of SAP Business Suite and why it needed to be transformed. The suite can shrink when the data is consolidated on HANA. It is the biggest investment by SAP in the last ten years.

10:37 a.m.: SAP HANA is a project that simplifies more than adding complexity. That's a big change for SAP.

10:39 a.m.: The pieces of software have to be fairly independent. Seems like a loosely coupled approach.

10:41a.m.:Hardware is extremely attractive. Plattner is holding up an Apple MiniMac that can run HANA. It has two CPUs with four cores - a company can run on that.

10:43 a.m.: SAP HANA gets closer to IBM Watson. At a co-location facility in California we are seeing a live feed of a data center running HANA on 1600 cores. Shows how HANA can be scaled. We are seeing how the architecture works and its redundancy.

10:49 a.m.: Can anyone be as fast as we are?, Plattner asked. No,Plattner says. He made a veiled reference to Oracle and how HANA is a clear winner. "Cheers, Oracle!," Plattner said.

10:53 a.m.: SAP HANA runs Map/Reduce for distributed parallel computing.

10:55 a.m. Plattner calls HANA similar tp punch card systems that also did not aggregate data.

11:03 a.m.: What new apps are possible? Interactive analytics, mobile applications, planning applications, text and unstructured applications are all possible.

11:12 a.m.: Seeing ATP (available to promise) examples that show real-time inventories.

11:20 a.m. Going to wrap this up. We'll be back soon.