Bluelock offers public cloud newsletter featuring Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud IaaS report.

Cloud computing is revolutionizing the way enterprises consume information technology. We've already seen the ways cloud services create new efficiencies and transform datacenters into IT game-changers. Improved infrastructure agility, security, and efficiency enable enterprise business strategies. Companies can better compete in evolving markets. But, adopting a cloud model can be confusing for enterprise users.

The first thing any organization needs to consider when evaluating a cloud computing model is which approach to take. One size cloud does not fit all. Choosing the right private, public, or hybrid cloud can transform IT into a significantly leaner, more responsive business entity.

Bluelock now offers our "Choosing the Right Approach to Public Cloud Infrastructure as a Service" newsletter to guide cloud adoption. The newsletter also includes a complimentary copy of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Public Cloud Infrastructure as a Service report.

Discover how a tailored cloud solution from Bluelock can keep pace with your specific business needs.
Download Bluelock’s Newsletter featuring Gartner research »

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Registration is now open for Bluelock's upcoming cloud webinar "Hybrid Cloud: A Pragmatic Approach for the Enterprise" on Thursday, March 22, 2012 at 4:00pm EST. Register for this webinar for a chance to win a free Kindle Fire! This webinar is presented by Bluelock's CTO, Pat O'Day and Senior Systems Engineer, Jake Robinson.

Public Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is transforming the hosting industry. Traditional hosting companies and fresh service provider faces both play an active role in this emerging market. IaaS offerings taut agility for early adopters, while slower moving enterprises—still managing their own cloud—watch from the sidelines. Ever expanding datacenters, operational responsibilities and security requirements, amidst shrinking IT budgets, means traditional infrastructure often only makes sense for the largest of organizations.

1. Is the IaaS model right for you, or are you  better off with PaaS, SaaS or other cloud models?
   Disseminating IaaS from PaaS and SaaS is simplest to understand using the cloud stack model. IaaS includes all datacenter and network plumbing and service and storage hardware. A virtualization layer on top encases the IaaS offering. PaaS handles the next two layers of the stack; operating systems and infrastructure software. Finally, SaaS delivers hosted applications, ranging from personal email to full blown CRM systems. Leveraging the on-demand nature of these mdoels requires that an organization understand how they intend to develop and deploy applications. IT agility and autonomy beckons an IaaS structure.
2. Will implementing IaaS require additional IT resources?
   Adjusting from a static on-premise datacenter to a dynamic IaaS model can be a tremendous shift for enterprise IT organizations. IaaS solution providers also vary in their delivery of managed services. Providers like Bluelock offer managed services traditionally handled by internal IT to streamline operational tasks. This allows organizations to focus on their core business, not running their business. Examples of Bluelock managed services include operating system patching, load balancing, virtual machine backup and antivirus. The ease of IT operations inherent in IaaS solutions makes cloud particularly attractive to nimble startups with limited resources. Cloud investment and resources can scale with fluctuating businesses.
3. How easy is it to scale up (or down) your services?
   A key characteristic of cloud computing is scalability, or more precisely the ease with which scalability can be achieved. IaaS enables scalability through dynamic provisioning of resources on a self-service basis to meet business demands. While easy cloud offering takes a different approach to scaling parameters, all IaaS models are far more flexible than traditional one-app-per-service computing.
   A good illustration of IaaS scalability existed when Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc (LMHI) filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2008. Amist the sell off of business divisions, LMHI was left without the technology assets necessary to support the wind-down of the company. Lehmann formed an asset manager business, LAMCO. Tasked with building infrastructure able to assume peek capacity day one and slowly wind down over time, cloud computing was the logical choice. LAMCO selected Bluelock’s VMware-based Virtual Datacenters due in large part to its flexible scaling capabilities.
4. Does the IaaS provide adequate support?
   The ability to quickly and accurately diagnose and resolve issues with infrastructure not only ensures reduced downtime, but keeps one issue from threatening an entire network. Dedicated support teams ensure enterprise IT and infrastructure keep pace with your business. Keep in mind, select vendor’s customer service is not offered 24/7 or is only available at an additional cost.
   Transitioning to the cloud is no small task. A staff of cloud experts at your disposal for guidance and support may help organizations new to the cloud. Bluelock has a proven track record in providing scalability and client support.
5. What is your plan for outages?
   Outages are a problem for any computing model. On-premise datacenters are especially susceptible to outages. Designing for failure should be obvious, but each cloud providers approach to blackouts varies. For example, Bluelock offers 99.99% uptime in the cloud because our clients are enterprise-level companies with mission-critical production environment needs. You likely can’t afford the downtime that would be threatened with a provider who can only promise 99.9% or 99.95% uptime.

VMware recently released their first installment of ‘Public Cloud Diaries.’ We’re proud to announce that Bluelock offered up nine of the sixteen cloud entries. This project documents business situations and challenges that companies experience when moving to the public cloud. Entries capture the clients' key requirements for selecting a cloud vendor and the business benefits they experienced with a public cloud solution.

Global Washington’s mission is to help Washington State’s non-profits work together to alleviate world poverty, however they lacked the budget and IT expertise to build an effective technology solution. Bluelock, with Esri ArcGIS (Geographic Information Systems) and VMware, developed and launched a sophisticated database-driven GIS application delivered as SaaS from the cloud.

A membership association that promotes and supports the global development sector in Washington State, Global Washington’s vision was to create a cohesive, viable online community where non-profits can learn and collaborate with other members working in the same space. Technology implementation is especially difficult for international development organizations. Global Washington addressed this technology gap with Bluelock Virtual Datacenters, powered by VMware vCloud Director.

On-demand access to computing resources through Virtual Datacenters allowed Esri to package the GIS applications as a virtual appliance (or vApp) within 48 hours and complete the first phase of the project within two months. Future customers seeking this type of GIS cloud-based solution can now publish that vApp from the vCloud App Catalog on-demand.

The pilot was a resounding success and the GIS application dramatically improved service delivery. “With the help of Esri, VMware, and Bluelock, we’re using cloud technology from our Virtual Datacenter to help our non-profit members increase the visibility of their activities, improve communication and collaboration, and advocate more effectively for the causes they support.” stated Bookda Gheisar, Executive Director at Global Washington.

Read Entire Success Story >>

enStratus recently announced that customers can now manage 18 public and private clouds through the enStratus platform. Provided by enStratus, a cloud infrastructure management solution provider, the platform adds cloud management, governance, and automation capabilities to public, private and hybrid clouds. One such cloud supported by the platform is Bluelock's cloud. enStratus has a multi-cloud architecture that provides security, reliability and cloud independence.

Thanks to Bluelock Virtual Datacenters, enStratus now provides unified cloud manager for 18 public and private clouds. David Bagley, CEO of enStratus, stated “Bluelock’s focus on security and reliability are a natural fit for us and we look forward to working with them and their clients.” Additionally, Bluelock’s CTO Pat O’Day agreed that “enStratus and Bluelock share a focus on the enterprise market and are excited about their approach to deliver additional cloud governance and automation capabilities to vCloud users.” enStratus support for Bluelock is available immediately.

Read full press release.

Determining which applications are cloud ready and which need to stay in your datacenter can be difficult. You will need to be able to address each workload's unique infrastructure, security and performance requirements to choose which cloud offering is best for your respective applications.

VMworld 2011, hosted by VMware, is in full-swing at Las Vegas (August 29 – September 1). The largest virtualization and cloud infrastructure event of the year was just the place for Bluelock’s unveiling of their all-new cloud-aware decision support tool Bluelock Portfolio™. The first of it’s kind, Portfolio will offer customers deeper visibility into the true cost of IT resources, enabling them to adjust their Virtual Datacenters to best align spending and utilization.

With great power comes great responsibility, and cloud infrastructure is no exception. The ability to see infrastructure consumption levels is increasingly important to understanding and managing the true costs of IT. Both over-allocation and under-allocation can spiral costs out of control. Now, Bluelock Portfolio enables customers to break down their cloud costs by region, site location, line of business, application or even by Virtual Datacenter. Monitoring usage and spending has never been easier in the cloud. Over-provisioned applications and potential overages can be adjusted through the self-service portal powered by VMware vCloud® Director.

Watch the Bluelock Portfolio in action to see how you can manage and monitor your Bluelock Virtual Datacenter accounts:


You can also read the entire Press Release.

One contract, multiple providers. That’s VMware’s global cloud vision, and Bluelock’s onboard. VMware launched Global Connect, among several other new vCloud offerings, at this year’s VMworld in Las Vegas. Global Connect, an optional feature of the vCloud Datacenter service, will allow customers to use cloud services from multiple providers across the globe as if they were a single virtual cloud. Get the cloud computing infrastructure you need, where you need it, and when you need it.

Global Connect is fully compatible with VMware vSphere® and the VMware vCloud architecture. Applications will be provider agnostic, traveling to and from clouds without modification. Management of private and global public cloud resources through a single-pane-of-glass is made possible with VMware vCloud Connector console. As service provider adoption rises, geographic boundaries among clouds will continue to fall. Global enterprise hybrid cloud will deliver applications and services to a worldwide customer base.

I expect to see growing relationships between vCloud Datacenter partners through the Global Connect initiative. The service provider network is expected to grow to 25 datacenters in 13 countries by the end of the year.

Read the full press release.

Opcode's John Willis, VP of Training, Services, and Evangelism shares insight on cloud computing and their partnership with Bluelock.

Willis compartmentalizes cloud to three functional spaces:

Phase 1, provisioning, involves raw computing resources. Resources are used to create instances.
Phase 2, configuration management, employs instances for desired instrumented servers.
Phase 3, system integration, connects servers to create a functional environment.

Bluelock delivers the cloud computing resources necessary for Phase 1. Bluelock also offers a significant piece of Phase 2, configuration management, to deliver on customer needs. Opscode utilizes cloud instances for Phase 3, system integration. 'Opscode Chef' constructs and delivers the solution built off Bluelock Virtual Datacenter resources.

Bluelock is dedicated to providing a challenging and stimulating work environment to help employees succeed both professionally and personally. Our team is always on the lookout for qualified, hardworking professionals with a keen entrepreneurial spirit that are passionate about delivering client success. Bluelock offers a variety of employment opportunities for growth and development.

Do you like to achieve high levels of performance through collaborative teams, yet function independently in areas of specialty? Bluelock's stimulating culture may be what you're looking for. Bluelock is seeking an experienced Systems Engineer to join the Operations Team. Candidates need experience in virtualization and VMware products with knowledge of servers, networks, virtual machines, and storage.

Duties for a Bluelock Systems Engineer include installation, configuation, monitoring, and backup of Bluelock product environments for our clients to meet SLAs. Leverage your critical thinking skills to troubleshoot complex issues to ensure delivery of client services. Drive your technical knowledge and develop your skillset in our fast-paced environment.

Learn more about becoming a Systems Engineer well as other opportunities at Bluelock team on our careers page.

Do you enjoy delivering client success in a fast-paced technological environment? If you're a motivated self-starter that shares our passion for delivering quality software and service, you might be the right persion. Bluelock, a leading infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provider of cloud hosting solutions, believes that each employee who joins our staff is important to the success of our company and that everyone makes a difference. Bluelock's success is driven by hard work, dedication and commitment to and by our employees.

The Bluelock team is seeking an experienced Software Engineer able to deliver commercialized web-based software. Analysis, design, development, testing, owner acceptance, and deployment of software products highlight this role. In our ever-expanding IT horizon, individuals driven by their technical inclinations and personal initiative thrive at Bluelock. Software Engineers at Bluelock are customer and results oriented, focusing on enabling clients through outcomes rather than activities. Problem solving skills in our team-based environment are emphasized competancies for the Bluelock team.

Experience for the Software Engineer position at Bluelock demands at least four years software engineering experience. A strong comfort level with enterprise software development frameworks is favored. Engineers should have a fluent vocabulary in emerging web standards and browser-independent web applications.

Excellent benefits and opportunities for personal and professional growth and development await you at Bluelock! Learn more about becoming a Software Engineer well as other opportunities at Bluelock team on our careers page.

Do you have a knack for client success? We have the position to satiate your customer service needs. Bluelock, a leading infrastructure-as-a-service provider of cloud hosting solutions, is now hiring for the Engagement Manager role. Our team of customer-oriented cloud junkies is committed to delivering an unsurpassed customer experience.

This strategic role on the Bluelock team will leverage management, communication, and team-based skills. With client-centric priorities, the Engagement Manager provides first-line services to clients and partners. Daily duties include managing ticket requests, event communications, crisis protocol, business analysis, and client metrics.

Both an advocate and advisor for clients and the team, this collaborative position requires excellent problem solving an troubleshooting skills. Five years or more of client management experience is recommended. If you're a customer oriented individual that shares our commitment to delivering outstanding service to clients, we encourage you learn more about the Engagement Manager opportunity.

Excellent benefits and opportunities for personal and professional growth and development await you at Bluelock! Learn more about becoming an Engagement Manager well as other opportunities at Bluelock team on our careers page.

Are you a competitive self-starter with strong interpersonal and communication skills? Bluelock's Account Executive position is calling your name. As a certified VMware vCloud Datacenter Services provider, Bluelock delivers enterprise-class cloud computing and managed IT services. Leveraging VMware technology, Bluelock enables hybrid cloud strategies for the enterprise.

Account Executives collaborate with Bluelock's VP of Sales to prepare and execute quaterly sales plans. Through a consultative approach to selling our cloud services to a variety of influencers and IT decision-makers, Account Executives help shape and refine the sales process as the company enters our next growth phase.

Results-oriented individuals with five to ten years technical sales experience are encouraged to apply. Adaptability and problem solving intuition in the fast-paced cloud computing space offers a variety of opportunities for personal and professional growth. This client facing role will respond to and strive to meet customer needs. Bluelock's intimate work environment means all employees can contribute to a positive and fun work atmosphere.

Account Executives hands-on approach involves understanding prospect's specific business needs and matching our cloud hosting services to those needs. Bluelockers evangelize the advantages of virtualization and cloud computing. Think you got what it takes? We'd love to hear from you!

Excellent benefits and opportunities await you at Bluelock! Play an integral role in our growth team's success. Learn more about becoming an Account Executive well as other opportunities at Bluelock team on our careers page.

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If you're looking for an employer who is strongly committed to developing talent and rewarding achievement, come grow with us at Bluelock. The Bluelock team currently is looking for a second shift Support Administrator. Individuals with strong interpersonal skills and a passion for delivering an unsurpassed client experience are encouraged to apply. Support Administrators demonstrate a high degree of customer ownership. Attention to detail and self-management are vital to this role.

Duties for this multifunctional role include, but are not limited to, backup monitoring, OS patching management, service ticket management, and on-call rotation. The Support Administrator works closely with the Operations teams to ensure quality of service. Adaptable and responsive team players will react to customer concerns and confront barriers to successful project completion.

Bluelock’s success is attributed to the hard work, dedication and commitment of our employees. If you’re a motivated self-starter that shares our obsession with building a world-class organization, you might be the right person for Bluelock. Credentials and experience? A Bachelor’s degree or equivalent experience, an understanding of Bluelock technology, problem solving and communication skills, and adherence to industry best practices and standards.

Excellent benefits and opportunities await you at Bluelock! Play an integral role in our growth team's success. Learn more about becoming an Support Administrator well as other opportunities at Bluelock team on our careers page.

Bluelock, among several other Indiana companies, was named among Lead411’s “Hottest Companies in Midwest” award list. Lead411, a research team, sifts through press releases and business articles each year to give insight on the fastest growing companies in the U.S. What began with more than 1,500 candidates has been narrowed down to the top 60.

Amazon Cloud Player, Google Music Beta, and Apple iCloud. The stage is set for a new battle over dominance in the entertainment world. Music and content management in the cloud is all the buzz. In the race to build the best cloud-based services and devices, however, all parties should take heed the cautionary tales about hacker attacks that compromised personal data (including credit and identity information) for millions of customers. As fiduciaries of customer information, companies offering cloud services have a moral and legal obligation to protect that data.

Join us this Friday, June 3rd to hear from Bluelock's CTO, Pat O'Day, share thoughts at TechPoint's 'New Economy, New Rules' breakfast series. Held the first Friday of each month, June's topic is titled 'Cloud in Crisis: Learning from the Entertainment Giants.' The event is open to the public and is broadcast via a live, interactive video feed to many locations throughout Indiana.

Bluelock’s Pat O’Day will be speaking alongside Melvin Chua, North American Channel Manager for Google, about lessons learned in the cloud for enterprise entertainment companies.


Free registration here.

 
There is still a great deal of uncertainty surrounding the nation’s economic climate. That uncertainty is placing pressure on organizations to limit costs and investments until demand is reestablished. Companies had to improve operations management and agility. Learning to live with unknowns, handling uncertainty, and pivoting on-demand became a valued skill. Cloud computing has become more attractive because it provides the ability to manage unknowns, act quickly, and change your mind later if your IT needs change.

CIO.com provided a thorough story on how Lehman Brothers, which later spun into LAMCO, used the cloud to manage a major spin-down of their assets in the wake of the 2008 financial meltdown. Here's just a short snippet: