At the end of each year, when SYS-CON informally polls its globe-girdling network of software developers, industry executives, commentators, investors, writers, and editors, our question is always the same: where's the industry going next year? Every time, the answers are surprisingly different from the year before, and of course throw light not just on where the industry is going but also how it's going to get there, why, because of who, within what kind of time-scale - all that good stuff. Enjoy! Ruby on Rails . JRuby . AJAX . Rules-Based Programming JASON BELL Enterprise Developer, Editorial Board Member, Java Developer's Journal My predictions for 2006.... 1.  Incremental mainstream adoption of Ruby on Rails It's going to happen, isn't it? Keep an eye out for Sun's offering of JRuby. Whether this is the death of other open source scripting languages like Groovy ... (more)

Who Are The All-Time Heroes of i-Technology?

I wonder how many people, as I did, found themselves thrown into confusion by the death last week of Jean Ichbiah (pictured), inventor of Ada.  Learning that the inventor of a computer programming language is already old enough to have lived 66 years (Ichbiah was 66 when he succumbed to brain cancer) is a little like learning that your 11-year-old daughter has grown up and left home or that the first car you ever bought no longer is legal because it runs on gasoline in an age where all automobiles must run on water. How can something as novel, as new, as a computing language possibly already be so old-fangled that an early practitioner like Ichbiah can already no longer be with us? The thought was so disquieting that it took me immediately back to the last time I wrote about Ichbiah, and indeed about Ada Lovelace for whom his language was named. It was in the context ... (more)

PaaS and the Cloud Continuum

We were recently Tweeted an inquiry about what exactly cloud computing means.  If you are listening in to tech chatter these days it's impossible to avoid the flurry of opinions about what the cloud is. So ... we figured we might as well add our two cents and spent a thought provoking morning developing a cloud stack analogy. Cloud services tend to fit into the category of SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service) or IaaS(Infrastructure-as-a-Service), each one delivering a service that encompasses the stack components below.  So, IaaS provides everything needed for server operation so that customers don't have to set-up their own server operation, hardware and server connectivity.  PaaS adds a further layer of integrating providing the traditional server stack elements and installed code bases and databases as well as frequently layering on a codele... (more)

Join Me at the 1st Government IT Conference & Expo 6 Oct

I hope to see you at the SYS-CON sponsored Gov IT Conference and Expo 6 Oct 2009. I’ll be there to learn from some great practitioners and IT providers. See: http://govitexpo.com for more. I’ll also spend time during the day attending the day thinking through everything I’ve ever written and learned about Cloud Computing and Federal IT and hope to bring that to bear in my interactions with Jeremy Geelan, Terry Woloszyn and Barry X Lynn at the end of conference panel on Cloud Computing and Federal IT. Jeremy will focus this panel on the future and I’m sure this action-oriented panel will help bring clarity to this fast moving subject. COUPON CODE FOR FREE REGISTRATION: VIPguest You can attend the entire event free by use of the guest code VIPguest here [case sensitive] Related posts: Day Three of the Synergy Conference I hope to see you at the Synergy Conference D... (more)

Cloud Computing in Emerging Markets at Cloud Expo 2011 New York

Cloud Expo 2011 New York $800 Savings here! Emerging markets are a very good revenue opportunity for cloud providers. Having a clean slate gives start-ups in emerging markets an optimal opportunity for cloud solutions. These markets are also a place where a lot of development organizations are flourishing and play an important role as advisors in the implementation of cloud computing solutions in other markets. In his session at the 8th International Cloud Expo, Larry Carvalho will explain the challenges and opportunities that India holds for cloud computing providers based on his recent experience of conducting a five-city tour of CloudCamps in India. Explore Cloud Expo Sponsorship & Exhibit Opportunities ! Speaker Bio: Larry Carvalho runs Robust Cloud, an advisory services company helping various ecosystem players develop a strategy to take advantage of cloud com... (more)

Architect Certification in the Cloud Era

We've assembled a panel in conjunction with the recent Open Group Conference in Austin, Texas, to explore the impact and role of certifications for IT professionals. Examine here how certification for enterprise architects, business architects, and such industry initiatives as ArchiMate are proving instrumental as IT organizations seek to reinvent themselves. There are now a lot of shifts in skills and a lot of movement about how organizations should properly staff themselves. There have been cost pressures and certification issues for regulation and the adoption of new technologies. We're going to look at how all these are impacting the role of certification out in the field. Here to help better understand how an organization like The Open Group is alleviating the impact and supporting the importance of finding verified IT skills is Steve Philp, Marketing Director fo... (more)

FC2 Access Analyzer Has Been Released in Portuguese

LAS VEGAS, April 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The global web service company, FC2, Inc. now supports Portuguese on its "FC2 Access Analyzer" service ( http://analyzer.fc2.com/ ), making up a grand total of 11 languages (Japanese, English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Korean, French, Spanish, German, Russian, Indonesian and Portuguese). (Logo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/2009/12/03/20091203591671.jpg ) FC2 Access Analysis Portuguese Version  http://analyzer.fc2.com/pt/ About FC2 Access Analyzer FC2 Access Analyzer is a free access analysis service developed first in Japan in March, 2003. Users are able to breakdown visitors to their blog or website in detail, simply by placing a small icon on their page. With this release, we have added Russian, Indonesian and Portuguese to our supported languages. The Merits of FC2 Access Analyzer Advertising icon displays fo... (more)

The i-Technology Right Stuff

Related Links: Wanted: 19 More of the Top Software People in the World Sung and Unsung i-Technology Heroes Who's Missing from SYS-CON's i-Technology Top Twenty?" Our search for the Twenty Top Software People in the World is nearing completion. In the SYS-CON tradition of empowering readers, we are leaving the final "cut" to you, so here are the top 40 nominations in alphabetical order. Our aim this time round is to whittle this 40 down to our final twenty, not (yet) to arrange those twenty in any order of preference. All you need to do to vote is to go to the Further Details page of any nominee you'd like to see end up in the top half of the poll when we close voting on Christmas Eve, December 24, and cast your vote or votes. To access the Further Details of each nominee just click on their name. Happy voting!   In alphabetical order the nominees are:   Tim Berner... (more)

The Top 150 Players in Cloud Computing

Cloud Expo Early Bird Savings A robust ecosystem of solutions providers is emerging around cloud computing. Here, SYS-CON's Cloud Computing Journal expands its list of most active players in the fast-emerging Cloud Ecosystem, from the 'mere' 100 we identified back in January of this year, to half as many again - testimony, if any further were needed, to the fierce and continuing growth of the "Elastic IT" paradigm throughout the world of enterprise computing. Editorial note: The words in quotation marks used to describe the various services and solutions in this round-up are in every case taken from the Web sites cited. As ever we encourage software engineers, developers, IT operations managers, and new/growing companies in every case to "suck it and see" by downloading or otherwise sampling the offering in question for themselves. (Omissions to this Top 150 list sh... (more)

The Top 250 Players in the Cloud Computing Ecosystem

In the run-up to the next Cloud Expo, 7th Cloud Expo (November 1–4, 2010) being held at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Silicon Valley, it's time to give my earlier list a complete overhaul. Here, accordingly, is an expanded list of the most active players in the Cloud Ecosystem. I have increased it from the 'mere' 150 I identified back in January of this year, to 250, testimony – as if any were needed! – to the fierce and continuing growth of the "Elastic IT" paradigm throughout the world of enterprise computing. Editorial note: The words in quotation marks used to describe the various services and solutions in this round-up are in every case taken from the Web sites of the companies themselves. Omissions to this Top 250 list should be sent to me via Twitter (twitter.com/jg21) and I will endeavor to include them in any future revision of this newly expanded rou... (more)

Where Are RIA Technologies Headed in 2008?

I am always being told off by i-technologists for quoting Picasso as having said that computers are useless. But I still love his reasoning? "Because they can only give you answers." Picasso, like AJAXWorld Magazine, liked questions. So we thought we would share with you what some of the world's leading rich Internet application pioneers are thinking may be the next questions that we need to see answered. From that readers can themselves infer where AJAX is headed. What are the top questions to ask next about AJAX? Eric Miraglia of Yahoo! 1.  (From March'08) How do I calculate the ROI of building my RIA on the iPhone SDK vs using AJAX? 2.  How do I assess the performance of my app and decide what to do next to make it faster?  3.  When it comes to accessibility, how do I know what's required of me for my rich web apps?  Beyond what's required, what makes good business se... (more)