Opinion

The agent security mess

Humans don’t use most of their granted permissions, but agents will—and the results will be disastrous.

By Matt Asay

Mar 23, 20266 mins

Access ControlDevelopment ApproachesIdentity and Access Management

Using Pulumi 3.0 to manage Azure infrastructure

Pulumi’s infrastructure-as-code platform gets a major upgrade, with Azure at the core.

By Simon Bisson

Apr 28, 2021 6 mins

Cloud Computing Microsoft Azure Open Source

Edge computing can be a data cache for public clouds

Better performance and reliability plus lower costs and greater security make this architecture worth keeping in the toolbox.

By David Linthicum

Apr 27, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Computing Data Architecture

Tapping into the smartest software developers

Both the single-stack architecture and the best-of-breed approaches can limit you. Open source and building in the capability for change are key.

By Matt Asay

Apr 26, 2021 5 mins

Careers Open Source Software Development

3 cloud architecture mistakes we all make, but shouldn’t

Are we getting good at cloud architecture, or do we still have a lot to learn?

By David Linthicum

Apr 23, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Architecture Cloud Computing Cloud Security

Build more secure software with Rust for Windows

Microsoft has released an early version of its Rust tool for Windows development. It’s well worth a look.

By Simon Bisson

Apr 21, 2021 6 mins

Programming Languages Rust Technology Industry

Edge computing archetypes are emerging, and they are not pretty

As edge computing explodes, we’re faced with complexity, security, and management challenges that don’t have easy answers.

By David Linthicum

Apr 20, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Computing IoT Security

Python is devouring data science

Someone once said that Python’s data science training wheels would increasingly lead to the R language. Boy, was he wrong.

By Matt Asay

Apr 20, 2021 3 mins

Data Science Python R Language

3 usability standards for web and mobile applications

Create applications that delight people with disabilities, customers in other countries, and real-world users.

By Isaac Sacolick

Apr 19, 2021 6 mins

Agile Development App Testing Diversity and Inclusion

Pulling devops and multicloud together

Multicloud is more than just additional deployment platforms. Making devops work effectively with multicloud is trickier than many people think.

By David Linthicum

Apr 16, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Architecture Cloud Computing Devops

Microsoft returns to Java with Azure-focused OpenJDK release

It’s been a long time since Microsoft brewed its own Java. But now it’s back, with the Microsoft Build of OpenJDK, fit and finished for running in the Azure cloud.

By Simon Bisson

Apr 14, 2021 6 mins

Java Microsoft Azure Technology Industry

Moving cloud resources to an ‘edge cloud center’ near you

Most points of presence are in urban areas, but a more distributed workforce relocating into rural regions has sparked the rise of smaller cloud centers that provide local processing.

By David Linthicum

Apr 13, 2021 4 mins

Cloud Computing Technology Industry

What the heck does the Google vs. Oracle decision mean?

Few of the Supreme Court Justices seemed to understand what an API is or does, but their decision was a victory shout for software developers of all kinds, including open source developers.

By Matt Asay

Apr 12, 2021 5 mins

APIs Java Open Source

Packing safety intelligence into robots’ AI brains

We’re finding that smart robots don’t necessarily have the common sense needed to keep human beings out of harm’s way.

By James Kobielus

Apr 12, 2021 6 mins

Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Robotics

3 multicloud architecture mistakes

Lots of enterprises think their cloud architecture is optimized, but most are way off their objective. Here are three ways it may be falling short.

By David Linthicum

Apr 9, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Architecture Cloud Computing

The pesky reality of multicloud

The commodity services that would allow workloads to run seamlessly across multiple clouds simply don’t exist. But that hasn’t stopped the multiclouders from trying.

By Matt Asay

Apr 8, 2021 5 mins

Cloud Computing

Microsoft gets serious about WebAssembly

Compiled code running at near-native speeds in the browser is getting the .NET touch.

By Simon Bisson

Apr 7, 2021 7 mins

Microsoft .NET Microsoft Azure Software Development

Our cloud complexity bias may be hurting business

Most cloud architects favor the more complex solution over the simpler one. Let’s consider why and look for a better way.

By David Linthicum

Apr 6, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Architecture Cloud Computing

Data lineage: What it is and why it’s important

As your data evolves, you need a way to track the who, what, when, why, and how of those changes. You need a data lineage system.

By Isaac Sacolick

Apr 5, 2021 7 mins

Analytics Data Governance Data Science

Are industry clouds an opportunity or a distraction?

The notion of industry-specific clouds continues to evolve. Enterprises must decide if their specific benefits are worth the wait.

By David Linthicum

Apr 2, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Computing

Microsoft inches closer to unified Windows SDK

The latest preview bits of Microsoft’s Project Reunion for building Windows 10 desktop applications are ready for testing and even for production.

By Simon Bisson

Mar 31, 2021 7 mins

C# Microsoft .NET Small and Medium Business

The cloud attack you didn’t see coming

If stealth hacking hasn’t already come to cloud computing, it will shortly. Protect yourself by knowing your responsibilities and using effective tools.

By David Linthicum

Mar 30, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Computing Cloud Security

Artillery: Finding open source success between dev and ops

For Artillery’s creator, the key to the popularity of the open source load testing tool is a focus on the needs of both developers and operations. Early bets on Node.js and YAML didn’t hurt.

By Matt Asay

Mar 29, 2021 7 mins

Devops Open Source Software Development

3 surefire ways to kill your multicloud deployment

You can do a lot more things wrong than right when it comes to multicloud. These three tips will keep your deployment in good health.

By David Linthicum

Mar 26, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Computing Software Development

Ensuring that citizen developers build AI responsibly

'Trust but verify' is good advice, but can we realistically do either with AI?

By James Kobielus

Mar 25, 2021 6 mins

Artificial Intelligence Cloud Computing Machine Learning

Automate your Windows workflow with Power Automate Desktop

Microsoft is adding an automation tool to Windows, ready to manage our day-to-day tasks.

By Simon Bisson

Mar 24, 2021 8 mins

Small and Medium Business Software Development

The pandemic-driven rush to cloud is compromising security

COVID-19 has been a boon for cloud computing. However, the haste to move to cloud is causing some enterprises to neglect security. Here’s what you need to look out for.

By David Linthicum

Mar 23, 2021 4 mins

Cloud Computing Cloud Security

Authorization is the next big technical challenge

Oso’s CEO says authorization will be the next layer of software to be abstracted and made less onerous for developers. If you ask developers, it can’t happen soon enough.

By Matt Asay

Mar 22, 2021 5 mins

Application Security Devops Software Development

How to pick cloud dev tools and infrastructure

We’re becoming dependent on more dev tools and technology to complete cloud migration or development projects. Let’s reduce the risk of choosing the wrong ones and avoid failure.

By David Linthicum

Mar 19, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Architecture Cloud Computing Development Tools

Knowledge management for agile and devops teams

Developers may come and go, but good documentation lasts forever—and is valuable to many different audiences.

By Isaac Sacolick

Mar 18, 2021 7 mins

Agile Development Development Tools Devops

Getting started with winget, the Windows Package Manager

Microsoft is adding Linux-like package management tools to Windows for scripted application installs from a searchable repository.

By Simon Bisson

Mar 17, 2021 7 mins

Development Tools Small and Medium Business Software Development

Why loosely coupled state in public clouds is better

We’ve been keeping track of state from within applications for years, but new options in the public cloud can save money and time.

By David Linthicum

Mar 16, 2021 4 mins

Cloud Computing

Forget databases. You need a data platform

We need one platform to ‘process, store, secure, and analyze data in real-time, across all the relevant data sets,’ says MongoDB’s CTO. But not a data warehouse and not a data lake.

By Matt Asay

Mar 15, 2021 5 mins

Analytics Cloud Computing Databases

The cloud is green. Let’s get on with migration

A new study proves what I’ve been saying for years: The use of cloud computing does more for the planet than every enterprise having its own data center.

By David Linthicum

Mar 12, 2021 3 mins

Cloud Computing Technology Industry

Battling bias and other toxicities in natural language generation

Despite numerous and concerted efforts to train NLG systems to generate content without offensive elements, success is still elusive.

By James Kobielus

Mar 11, 2021 9 mins

Artificial Intelligence Machine Learning Natural Language Processing

Has the cloud been good for open source?

We're 10 years into the cloud movement, so it's a good time to consider what the cloud has done for—or to—the open source movement.

By David Linthicum

Mar 9, 2021 5 mins

Cloud Computing Open Source

What Microsoft Mesh means for developers

Microsoft has unveiled a new framework for building collaborative, mixed-reality applications. What is Microsoft weaving into the Mesh toolchain and what will it mean for application development?

By Simon Bisson

Mar 9, 2021 7 mins

Microsoft Azure Technology Industry Virtual Reality

You can’t escape Pulumi and other IaC tools

Allowing developers to call APIs across dozens of cloud and SaaS providers in the language of their choice, Pulumi promises to help enterprises embrace increasingly complex cloud deployment models with confidence.

By Matt Asay

Mar 8, 2021 5 mins

Cloud Computing Devops Software Development

Multicloud architecture decomposition simplified

Underoptimized architecture is costly and inefficient. It's worth taking some extra time to decompose your proposed solution to avoid trouble down the road.

By David Linthicum

Mar 5, 2021 4 mins

Cloud Architecture Cloud Computing

What is discovery and dependency mapping?

DDM powers the configuration management database for multicloud, infrastructure changes, and frequent application changes.

By Isaac Sacolick

Mar 4, 2021 6 mins

Build Automation Cloud Management Devops

2021’s Ignite shows off new Cosmos DB features

Microsoft’s second virtual Ignite conference is promoting new Azure data services, including major upgrades to its planet-scale distributed database.

By Simon Bisson

Mar 2, 2021 7 mins

Databases Microsoft Azure Technology Industry

One application across multiple clouds? 3 big problems

Before you run a distributed application across multiple public cloud providers, you need to understand the trade-offs (many) and the opportunities (few).

By David Linthicum

Mar 2, 2021 4 mins

Cloud Architecture Cloud Computing

OpenStreetMap just turned 100 million

The open mapping data project is a colossal success story, but faces some hurdles. Here’s how you can help.

By Matt Asay

Mar 2, 2021 6 mins

Open Source

Does AI-driven cloud computing need ethics guidelines?

It’s clear that artificial intelligence is powerful and cost-effective in the public cloud. However, it can be weaponized for unethical tasks.

By David Linthicum

Feb 26, 2021 3 mins

Artificial Intelligence Cloud Computing Natural Language Processing

Is geofencing a protective bubble or a heap of trouble?

A tool that monitors your location and immediately alerts authorities could either be a public-health carrot or an authoritarian stick.

By James Kobielus

Feb 25, 2021 8 mins

Cloud Computing Technology Industry

Are software developers important? Yes, very

Survey of senior IT decision makers suggests that most execs understand the importance of listening to developers and making them happy.

By Andrew C. Oliver

Feb 23, 2021 2 mins

Careers Engineer Software Development

Higher education embraces cloud computing just in time

Rising demand for remote learning plus growing student dissatisfaction equals colleges and universities rushing to cloud-based platforms.

By David Linthicum

Feb 23, 2021 4 mins

Cloud Computing

Introducing Microsoft .NET 6

Microsoft is unveiling its road map for the next major release of .NET, along with a first preview download.

By Simon Bisson

Feb 23, 2021 6 mins

Libraries and Frameworks Software Development Technology Industry

The real value of open source in the cloud

It’s a mistake to believe that running open source in the cloud will protect you from vendor lock-in. But open source certainly offers freedom and independence to developers.

By Matt Asay

Feb 22, 2021 5 mins

Cloud Computing Open Source