Roger Strukhoff

As I continue to meander through the early stages of our software-development project, I've encountered a large measure of scope creep. Scope jog or scope sprint might be a more accurate term. What started as a modest, internal workflow project has been intertwined with a more ambitious, external content delivery system. One company, one vision, two seemingly unrelated projects. As I've written before, we're hosting and streaming content for the content system from the cloud, with one of the big public vendors. Separately, our internal data workflows are also being considered for the cloud, but we've been stopped dead in our tracks by concerns about Vendor Lock-in 2.0 in this case. We don't mind being locked into a vendor to handle what may be terabytes of data from the external project's customers, but we fear lock-in of our modest amount of internal data. However... (more)

ICT Rankings to be Updated at Cloud Expo

I like to organize part of my life around Cloud Expo, coming up again in New York June 10-13. One new tradition is to published our updated Tau Index results at the event. We will be doing this in New York again this year. We published our original Tau Index results in conjunction with Cloud Expo's Fall 2010 Silicon Valley event. The Tau Index takes a relative look at national ICT commitments throughout the world. Our original algorithm relied significantly on World Bank statistics regarding ICT spending, leavened by income disparity and cost of living. The idea was that high inc... (more)

How Can I Avoid Cloud Vendor Lock-In?

"Despite the lock-in...it's really not about the money but about the features and the product offering." So states a blogpost I just read from a company that is dissatisfied with one major cloud vendor and is moving to another. Yet cloud vendor lock-in -- what I like to call Vendor Lock-In 2.0 -- seems to me to be a major issue facing our industry. I say this as I experience my own cloud build-out. I'll be spending a lot of my time this year implementing a number of cloud-based solutions at a small enterprise near by current base in northern Illinois. We are already hosted by one... (more)

It's Fun to Razz France -- But US is No Better

The bloviations of a wacko CEO in the US against French workers provided some comic fodder this week. Making fun of the French is a bit of a national sport in the US, and the expected barbed retorts have come back from France this week. More seriously, the "dirigiste" approach to government taken by France's Fifth Republic since its founding in 1958 can seem to many Americans to be an impediment to economic and societal growth. But the less varnished, ostensible free-market approach taken by the US can seem barbaric to our European friends. Indeed, France trails several of its ... (more)

Yahoo Commits to Great Journalism

Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer has revealed her latest surprise, announcing that the company "is now committed to great journalism." "With almost 150 million unique visitors per month, our company is the most dominant media presence in the world," she said. "It's time for us to commit to serving this massive audience responsibly." At least one media critic applauded the move. "The decline of American journalism in the Internet Age is no secret," said Aprile DiPesce, Associate Professor of Mass Communications at Manhattan State University. "When Yahoo lost its dominance in search to Goog... (more)