Date: April 18, 2011
Guest: Vanessa Alvarez (@VanessaAlvarez1), Industry Analyst focused on Infrastructure & Operations
Aaron and I Brian start the show with a HUGE thanks to Greg Knieriemen (@Knieriemen) at the InfoSmack podcast for giving us his time and input prior to us starting The Cloudcast. Then we welcome our newest sponsor to help pay the bills.
We skipped the news for this episode because there was a ton going on this past week and we wanted to focus on that for the next show.
Vanessa Alvarez is a long-time friend of the show and distinguished Tweeter. She did a great job talking with us about the business side of IT decisions, how IT is struggling to keep up with the rapid changes in skills needed, and which trends and vendors would be important in 2011-2012.
If you don't know Vanessa, her she is being famous on BloombergTV talking about Amazon Web Services (AWS):
Amongst the highlights:
- We worked @beaker's "Commode Computing" into a normal part of the conversation
- Vanessa introduces us to her "Standardize to Customize" strategy for Cloud adoption within the Enterprise
'Original Interview Agenda until we went off the reservation:
Q: You gave up shopping for Lent...how are you holding up? Can you see straight, or you getting the shakes?
Q: Around here we talk about Clouds. So what’s your definition?
Q: Analysts tend to walk a fine line between industry recommendations/forecasts (Magic Quadrants, Hype Cycles, 5yr forecasts, etc.) and direct client interactions (multiple vendors, risk avoidance, etc.). In today’s market, which is moving really fast and can often be confusing, what do you see your role as being in the market?
Q: You focus on Infrastructure and Operations, the plumbing below the apps. What are you hearing from those teams about Cloud (in whatever definition)?
- Technology
- Skills
- Operational Models
Q: Do you find that many CIOs (or IT teams) are aware of internal groups using Public Cloud?
Q: You get to talk to a lot of technology companies as well as clients. What companies or new technologies have you seen lately that really seem interesting or left you scratching your head?
Q: Put your analyst prognosticator hat on...What’s the next big thing in Cloud, or the IT industry in general?
Q: Spring is in the air....so what are the cool Clouderati kids wearing this spring?
Q: Around here we talk about Clouds. So what’s your definition?
Q: Analysts tend to walk a fine line between industry recommendations/forecasts (Magic Quadrants, Hype Cycles, 5yr forecasts, etc.) and direct client interactions (multiple vendors, risk avoidance, etc.). In today’s market, which is moving really fast and can often be confusing, what do you see your role as being in the market?
Q: You focus on Infrastructure and Operations, the plumbing below the apps. What are you hearing from those teams about Cloud (in whatever definition)?
- Technology
- Skills
- Operational Models
Q: Do you find that many CIOs (or IT teams) are aware of internal groups using Public Cloud?
Q: You get to talk to a lot of technology companies as well as clients. What companies or new technologies have you seen lately that really seem interesting or left you scratching your head?
Q: Put your analyst prognosticator hat on...What’s the next big thing in Cloud, or the IT industry in general?
Q: Spring is in the air....so what are the cool Clouderati kids wearing this spring?
