Is your enterprise on par to invest in cloud with pacesetting organizations?

How much are enterprise companies planning to increase their investment in cloud technologies two years from now? Is your enterprise planning accordingly or do you need to rethink your strategy to stay competitive?!

The IBM Center for Applied Insights surveyed over 1,400 decision-makers in 15 industries across 5 continents to get a current global snapshot of how companies are using key technologies, like cloud, to stay ahead of the pack. And we're ready to share with you what they learned! Register now for my webcast where I will reveal the answers to these questions and so much more. Join us on August 21, 2014 at 1:00 PM EST.

You DO NOT want to miss this webcast! Register now!


The 2014 IBM Business Tech Trends report: Raising the game

We can all see that cloud, big data & analytics, mobile, and social are becoming more and more important to businesses, but certain companies are using these transformative technologies to truly thrive and stay ahead of the pack! If you are like me, I'm sure that you are curious about the secret ingredients that make these companies successful while others might struggle.

The 2014 IBM Business Tech Trends report examines these successful companies - called Pacesetters - and looks at the key characteristics that they exhibit. And here's the good news: I'm hosting a webcast for the public release of the Business Tech Trends report on August 21st, and you are invited!

Watch my video for further details:
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sb0Nb-UuUSs&w=560&h=315]

Joining me for the webcast will be Ray Wang, Principal Analyst, Founder & Chairman at Constellation Research, Inc., and Susanne Hupfer, Research Lead for the study from the IBM Center for Applied Insights. We'll also hear from IBM Business Partners Pitney Bowes, Esri, Hootsuite, and Fiserv to get their point of view. This will be a great webcast with tons of info!

Register now for the webcast. I know you'll learn valuable info and discover the secrets of becoming a Pacesetter!


Announcing our newest BlueMix Garage: The Israel ALPHAZONE!

AlphaZone_blog_fullimage

 

Are you ready to accelerate your startup? Click here to access the IBM Alpha Zone: A Bluemix Garage!

Have questions? Check out our FAQ here!

Didn't register for this semester? Click here to apply (Second semester registration starts October 2014).


CNBC Top 50 Disruptors - Of the Top 20, 25% are Social

top diruptorsI love disruptors.   I love innovation and creative thinking.

So the CNBC Top 50 Disruptors was interesting.   (read the full story here 

I found it interested that ALL these companies are either based on Cloud, Social, Mobile, or Analytics.   All are based CAMS!

And of the Top 20, 25% are Social Business oriented.

Whose your favorite?  And what's your biggest AHA on the list?

 


Upcoming Cloud Webcasts!

I want you to be aware of some great opportunities on Codename: BlueMix and SoftLayer coming up in a matter of days. There are two webcasts you can attend to learn about our new and exciting cloud-based solutions!

BlueMix is fantastic for building, managing and running apps and services of all types (web, mobile, big data, new smart devices). The May 15th webcast will benefit developers and Business Partners alike on hearing how BlueMix offers a low-risk, secure, cost sensitive environment—using new capabilities and technologies geared towards the cloud.

Here's a brand new video to help you get up to speed on the power and potential of what BlueMix has done for others and what it can do for you!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DbXN2mz90b0&w=560&h=315]

SoftLayer provides a robust, scalable and secure platform for born-on-the-cloud applications. The May 22nd webcast will provide an introduction to SoftLayer and cover the business strategy for Business Partners, the value proposition, and the subscription model.

Be sure to take advantage of this opportunity to sign up for both webcasts. You don't want to miss them!


Who Rocks Open Technologies? IBM

cloud foundry

We've got some big news on the Cloud front!

The expansion of Cloud Foundry Foundation sponsorships jumped to 8 additional Gold sponsors: Accenture, BNY Mellon, Capgemini, GE, Ericsson, Intel, NTT and Verizon. That brings the total number of contributing companies to 43!

A huge WELCOME ABOARD to our new Cloud Foundry Foundation sponsors!

Did you know that IBM is one of the original founding sponsors of Cloud Foundry? Cloud Foundry is a global collaboration of developers and cloud computing technologists that seek to produce a ubiquitous Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) open source cloud computing platform for public and private clouds. And IBM wanted to be a part of it. As Angel Diaz, VP of IBM Open Technologies & Cloud Performance, puts it, "IBM sees Cloud Foundry as yet another opportunity to help our clients develop and adopt open cloud computing platforms."

As you can imagine, there's also a Codename: BlueMix element! BlueMix is leveraging Cloud Foundry and its capabilities to enable developers to rapidly build, deploy, and manage their cloud applications, all while accessing a growing ecosystem of available services and runtime frameworks. It's all about building and creating apps!

To learn more about Cloud Foundry, go to http://www.Cloudfoundry.org, or better yet, attend the Cloud Foundry Summit  in San Francisco! It'll be on June 9-11, 2014.

And lastly, be sure to check out Chris Ferris' article  in the Thoughts on Cloud blog and follow @cloudfoundry <for tweets!


Buildings become smarter with Big Data, Analytics, and Cloud!

Happy Monday and welcome to our Coffee Break!

Today, we are going to see how buildings become smarter with big data, analytics, and cloud.  These "smarts" are important to help companies to optimize their office space.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ImykW8nBNkg&feature=youtu.be]