GigaOM Structure in San Francisco, June 20 and 21

Skytap is checking out GigaOM Structure today at the Mission Bay Conference Center at UCSF. About the event: The 5th annual Structure conference brings together the leaders innovating, shaping and defining the ongoing evolution in the technology industry – cloud computing. The shift to the cloud isn’t just a change in the way IT is

Everything Dev/Test at Agile West

We’re back from two days at the Agile Development West Conference, and we learned some interesting things. We spoke to many developers, test engineers, IT, and architects about development and testing–and the main pain point we heard over and over again is how long it takes to provision an environment on-premise. That is definitely an

Virtual Trainers: Are You Asking the Right Questions About the Cloud?

Since the economic downturn of 2008, training organizations have been asked to do more with less. I’ve heard from many of our customers that training budgets were the first to be cut, which is now forcing a shift in how training is delivered. Many customers have chosen not to travel to remote training facilities and

Slashdot TV Interview With Brett Goodwin on Skytap Cloud

At last month’s Interop Conference in Las Vegas, Slashdot TV stopped by the Skytap booth to speak with Brett Goodwin, our VP of Marketing and Business Development. In the interview, Brett elaborates on the features and capabilities of Skytap Cloud™ and how application developers and testers use our product to collaborate and do more faster.

Enterprise Networking Planet Picks 10 Networking Newcomers to Watch

In Robert McGarvey’s latest article for Enterprise Networking Planet, he discusses Top 10 Networking Newcomers to Watch, and outlines how beyond the big names like Cisco, Juniper, HP, IBM, Brocade, and Alcatel-Lucent–there are smaller, more nimble, enterprise networking companies that are introducing innovation. From the article: Software defined networking, virtual networking, virtual desktops, cloud …

See You at Agile Development West: June 13 and 14

Skytap is a proud gold sponsor of Agile Development Conference West 2012–six days of interaction between industry experts and peers in the agile community, with learning sessions that help IT professionals make a powerful impact in their job roles and organizations. About the event: Discover Agile Development Conference West 2012 and take back the latest

So, Skytap—What Are You Anyhow?

Considering the pace at which cloud computing is moving, it’s no surprise that many have a tough time putting their finger on what an ever-expanding array of vendors are actually delivering. No need to worry, as I don’t plan to spend this post pontificating on the liberal application of the term “cloud”–or even “cloud washing”

Software Demos and Evaluations: Five Successful Habits for Selecting a Cloud Provider

Since the introduction of client/server architecture in the early 1980s, enterprise computing has only become more complicated. Because of this, enterprise applications are incredibly hard to showcase during a software demonstration to a potential prospect or customer. With a constantly evolving product and large sales force, it becomes even more difficult to guarantee that your

The Cloud … Now With More IaaS

Late last week, Derrick Harris, of tech industry watcher GigaOm, blogged that both Google and Microsoft are readying new entrants to compete in the ongoing Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud arms race. While Harris’ sources in Mountain View and Redmond have “declined to comment” on the particulars, it doesn’t require a wild imagination to

George Carlin Would Have Loved Hybrid Clouds

George Carlin’s bit on the importance of “stuff” is a comedy classic. As human beings, we have an innate need to acquire, hold, move, and find places to put our stuff. In our personal and professional lives, acquiring stuff can give us a sense of accomplishment, security, and control. Historically, acquiring stuff has been common practice

Information Week Cover Story: The Test Lab of Your Dreams

Information Week’s recent cover story talks about how and why more companies are opting to move their development testing labs from traditional in-house infrastructures to new cloud-based test labs. But beyond the glossy descriptions of compelling benefits, Information Week goes a layer deeper to the key question that I hear many enterprises asking: What are

Networking Perspectives: How It’s Done at Skytap

In the first part of this piece, Networking Perspectives: OpenStack v CloudStack, I discussed some of the primary differences between the network architectures of OpenStack and CloudStack. A key point was what we here at Skytap believe are the three core tenets of cloud networking: Clouds are inherently multi-tenant, and network definition and provisioning should