Category
Cloud
-
If you can’t get GPUs, can you use CPUs?
If I can't get GPUs, can I run AI work on CPUs I already own?
-
They Shipped Buggy Code Faster. AIOps Is About to Do It Again.
Is buying AIOps tools without changing our operating model going to repeat the DevOps mistake?
-
Encode the Why, Not the Step
Why doesn't writing better documentation keep an AI agent from ignoring your process?
-
I Built a Framework Because I Couldn’t Move My Own App
What did Keith find when he ran the 4+1 DAPM assessment against his own Virtual CTO Advisor app?
-
Every vendor sells an “AI Platform.” None of them sells a complete one.
Can I buy a complete enterprise AI platform from a single vendor?
-
The Fourth Cloud Vendor Map Is Live
What does the Fourth Cloud vendor map at cloud.layer2c.com actually measure?
-
From Migration Factory to Migration Control Plane
How do you safely use LLMs to scale cloud migration across a large application estate?
-
Hybrid Is Not a Place: The AI Architecture Google and Dell Both Pointed Toward
Should I run agentic coding on cheap cloud models like Gemini Flash or on-prem hardware like Dell's?
-
The Industry Is Watching GPU Prices. Google Just Moved the Fight to the Judgment Layer.
If Google Cloud Next was all remixes and no new products, why did it matter?
-
I Just Wanted Endpoints
Why can't I just get inference endpoints from my own AI hardware?
-
Layer 1A Is Table Stakes. The Real AI Infrastructure Question Is Above It.
If every storage vendor passes the Layer 1A checklist, what should I actually evaluate?
-
One Problem, Five Frameworks: Why Enterprise AI Stalls — and How to Fix It
Why does enterprise AI stall between pilot and production?
-
You Don’t Start Your AI Journey With Nvidia
Should we start our enterprise AI buildout with Nvidia GPUs?
-
When Developer Workflow Discipline Isn’t Enough
Can developer workflow discipline control enterprise AI costs, or does that control belong to platform engineering?
-
Fourth Cloud Reality Check (Permission First)
Can my team implement a true Fourth Cloud today?
-
Hybrid AI Is Inevitable. Workflow Discipline Is Not.
Why do two teams with the same AI models and vendors end up with radically different costs?
-
Before You Build a Private Cloud, Ask This One Question
What's the one question to ask before building a private cloud?
-
The Developer Speed vs. The Enterprise Brake: Merging the a16z Stack with the 4+1 Model
Should we standardize on the a16z LLM app stack or the 4+1 model for enterprise AI?
-
The VMware Migration Everyone’s Getting Wrong: Why Your 6-Month Project Just Became 24 Months
Why did our 6-month VMware migration plan turn into 18 to 24 months?
-
Why Migrating from VMware Isn’t as Simple as Changing Hypervisors
Is migrating off VMware just a matter of swapping hypervisors?
-
Part 1: How to Build the Fourth Cloud MVP — The Four Non-Negotiable Pillars
What do I actually need to build first for a Fourth Cloud minimum viable platform?
-
When Small Isn’t Simple: Lessons from Deploying Granite 13B on IBM Cloud
Are smaller LLMs like Granite 13B just cheaper drop-in replacements for large models?
-
Evolving the Virtual CTO Advisor: From Fixed-Cost Experiment to Cloud-Efficient Architecture
Why did the Virtual CTO Advisor's cloud bill blow up, and what fixed it?
-
Thinking About VMware Alternatives?
What's the real alternative to VMware after the Broadcom acquisition?
-
AWS EVS: A Step Toward VCF Everywhere
Is AWS EVS a good escape hatch from Broadcom's VMware changes?
-
The Fourth Cloud Landscape: Understanding the Approaches
What is the Fourth Cloud, and how are the vendors approaching it differently?
-
You Want to Migrate from VMware? Ask Your Architecture Review Board First
Should cost drive our decision to migrate off VMware?
-
HPE + Juniper: Apstra, Intent, and the Battle for the Next-Gen Data Center
What does HPE's Juniper acquisition mean for the next-gen data center?
-
Unlocking On-Prem Value: Key Insights from CxO Conversations & The Rise of the Fourth Cloud
What is the Fourth Cloud, and why are CTOs re-evaluating on-prem infrastructure?
-
Forget the AI Factory. The Real Battle Is Hybrid AI Infrastructure
Do I need an AI Factory full of H100s to run enterprise AI?
-
A CTO’s Guide to Migrating from VMware
What does it actually take to migrate off VMware to HPE's VM Reset offer?
-
VMware Isn’t Broken — So Why Fix It?
If VMware isn't broken, why would large customers leave it?
-
Enterprise Doesn’t Move at the Speed of Keynotes: Why Grace Hopper Still Matters
Should enterprises dump Grace Hopper now that Blackwell is shipping?
-
87% Faster Code Delivery with AI? Here’s What They’re Not Telling You
Are the productivity gains vendors claim for AI coding assistants real?
-
Gemini Flash: Google’s AI Edge Play Delivers for Security-Conscious and Latency-Driven Enterprises
What does Gemini Flash on Google Distributed Cloud offer security-conscious enterprises?
-
Why Your AI Talent Doesn’t Want to Shovel: Blackwell, H100s, and the Cost of Enterprise Inertia
Why doesn't my expensive AI talent want to work on the H100 cluster we just bought?
-
The Token Economy: The Hybrid Approach to AI Infrastructure?
Should we pre-purchase large on-prem AI inference clusters, or is there a more flexible path?
-
Understanding Private Cloud, Hybrid Infrastructure, Multi-Cloud, and Distributed Cloud: A Comprehensive Framework
What's the difference between private cloud, hybrid infrastructure, multi-cloud, and distributed cloud?
-
When to Consider Building a Private Cloud: A Pragmatic Perspective
When does building a private cloud actually make sense?
-
The Evolution of Infrastructure in the Cloud Era
How are cloud abstraction layers changing what infrastructure teams actually do?
-
Capital One’s Masterclass in Serverless Observability: Insights from AWS re:Invent 2024
What can enterprises learn from Capital One's approach to serverless observability?
-
Exploring Sovereign Cloud Options: A Introduction for IT Infrastructure Decision-Makers
Which sovereign cloud options were worth evaluating in 2024?
-
Embracing the Cloud: How DB2 on RDS Revolutionizes Enterprise Application Migration
What does DB2 on Amazon RDS mean for enterprises with legacy DB2 applications?
-
VMware Cross-Cloud: Is it a viable path post Broadcom?
Was VMware Cross-Cloud a viable path after the Broadcom acquisition?
-
Navigating Multicloud Security Challenges: A Deep Dive into Prosimo’s Approach
How does Prosimo handle security across multiple clouds with conflicting access control models?
-
Navigating Multiple Observability Tools: Mezmo’s Goal of Simplifying the Journey
Can I run multiple observability tools without the data fragmentation and lock-in headaches?
-
Hashicorp – What CIO’s Need to Understand
What do CIOs need to understand about HashiCorp beyond Terraform?
-
BYOI Cloud Conundrum: Navigating the Future of Hybrid Infrastructure
Which cloud providers let you bring your own infrastructure and still get a managed cloud control plane?
-
Is AWS Leading Hybrid IT Storage?
Is AWS leading hybrid IT storage?
-
4 Steps to Avoiding Cloud Repatriation
How do I cut cloud costs without repatriating workloads back to the data center?
-
Returning to the Data Center: 4 Essential Skills for Repatriating Your Workloads
What skills does my team need before repatriating workloads from the public cloud?
-
Using Machine Language to Improve AWS Operations
Can AWS DevOpsGuru replace hiring a Site Reliability Engineer?
-
Leading Successful Application Rationalization Projects – It’s the Messenger
Who should lead an application rationalization project, IT or the business?
-
AWS – The Lotus Notes of Public Cloud
Why call AWS the Lotus Notes of public cloud?
-
3 Things to Consider for Multicloud Data
What should I be considering for multicloud data management?
-
AMD vs. Intel – Which is better for the Data Center?
AMD or Intel, which x86 platform is better for the data center?
-
Juniper Apstra Proof of Concept
Did Juniper Apstra hold up in a real-world proof of concept?
-
The CTO Advisor Virtual Seminar
What was the CTO Advisor Virtual Seminar in July 2022 about?
-
VMware Broadcom – Employees Customers and Partners What’s Next?
What should VMware employees, customers, and partners have done when Broadcom announced the acquisition in 2022?
-
I Broke The Data Center – DNS
What broke when the CTO Advisor migrated VMs from vSAN to a dedicated storage array?
-
Cloud Adjacent vs. Native Cloud Services
Should I pick a native cloud service like FSx for ONTAP or a cloud adjacent one like VMware Cloud on AWS?
-
Solving the Cloud Skills Shortage
Why did AWS partner with NetApp to deliver FSx for ONTAP?
-
Leveraging 3rd Gen Intel® Xeon® in Hyperscale Cloud Providers
How can you experiment with Intel Ice Lake features like SGX without buying new data center hardware?
-
Whitepaper on Containers
Where can a CTO get an architect-level introduction to containers and Kubernetes?
-
On-Premises vs. Public Cloud Telemetry
Can you get on-premises-style processor telemetry from public cloud VM instances?
-
Microsoft is VMware’s Biggest Threat
Why is Microsoft, not the public cloud generally, VMware's biggest threat?
-
VMware Public Cloud Enables Infrastructure as Code
Is VMware Cloud on AWS just cloud washing, or does it enable real infrastructure as code?
-
Can Managed Service Providers Cloud?
Should I hand my public cloud operations to a managed service provider?
-
Serverless Functions on vSphere?
Does VMware really have a serverless functions platform, and should I run it in production?
-
Do I Still Hate Kubernetes as Much?
Do you still hate Kubernetes a year after writing 'Why Do I Hate Kubernetes so Much'?
-
We’ll Never Buy Another Server
Is it worth building your own SDDC on used servers instead of buying a pre-engineered HCI platform?
-
Connecting HPE’s The Machine to VMware Cloud Foundation
What did VMware's Project Monterey SmartNIC announcement mean for my data center in 2020?
-
The Deployment of the CTO Advisor Hybrid Infrastructure
What were the phases of the CTO Advisor Hybrid Infrastructure project?
-
A Comparison of the VMware Cloud Solutions
Which VMware cloud solution won your 2020 comparison of VMC on AWS, Google VMware Engine, and Oracle Cloud VMware Solution?
-
The Edge vs. IT
Why doesn't traditional IT management work for edge computing?
-
How Much Did our VMware Cloud Study Cost? – Running POCs
How much does a serious proof of concept actually cost to run?
-
The Demise of the Platform Team – Let’s Blame OpenStack
Why did our platform team fail, and what should its charter be now?
-
The Myth of M & A and Multi-Cloud
Doesn't heavy M&A activity force my company into a multi-cloud strategy?
-
Cloud Migration Rookie Mistakes – Virtual IP Addressing
How do I know if my application will hit network problems when I migrate it to the public cloud?
-
Cloud Application Mobility – The Hard Way
How do I pull a workload back from the public cloud to my on-premises data center?
-
Securing the Data Center from Serverless Functions
How do I protect a data center application from a rogue AWS Lambda function when there's no headend IP to firewall?
-
When Scale isn’t Infinite
Did Azure's COVID-19 capacity constraints prove enterprises need multi-cloud for vendor diversity?
-
Welcome Intel as the Sponsor of The CTO Advisor Hybrid Infrastructure
Who sponsored the CTO Advisor Hybrid Infrastructure build-out in 2020?
-
Good Content 2-24-2020
What was worth reading in enterprise IT the week of February 24, 2020?
-
The CTO Advisor’s Cloud Journey
Why did The CTO Advisor decide to build its own data center in 2020?
-
Kubernetes and Traffic Lights
What do dynamic traffic lights teach us about Kubernetes?
-
Kubecon 2019: Kubernetes and Enterprise IT Collide
After KubeCon 2019, does my enterprise actually need Kubernetes?
-
Microsoft Ignite 2019 Readout
What actually mattered at Microsoft Ignite 2019?
-
Commvault Metallic and AWS RDS on vSphere – The Future of IT
What do Commvault Metallic and AWS RDS on vSphere say about where enterprise IT is headed?
-
VMware’s Cloud in 300-words
Can VMware's public cloud strategy be explained in 300 words or less?
-
Why Do I Hate Kubernetes so Much?
Why did Keith say he hated Kubernetes in 2019?
-
The Campus and Cloud-First
How does a cloud-first strategy change my campus network design and security?
-
Introducing the CTO Advisor Newsletter
What did the CTO Advisor newsletter cover when it launched in 2019?
-
Don’t Waste Time Learning Kubernetes
Should a CTO or enterprise architect learn to install and configure Kubernetes?
-
VMware Cloud on AWS: Business Outcomes
What business outcome does VMware Cloud on AWS deliver for an SAP shop stuck in legacy provisioning cycles?
-
Understanding VMware Cloud on <Insert Here>
What's the difference between VMware Cloud on AWS and the VMware offerings on Azure, Google, and other clouds?
-
Google Cloud Anthos Migrate – The Future of Cloud Lift & Shift?
Could Anthos Migrate give Google an edge over AWS and Azure for lift and shift?
-
Google Anthos Migrate vs. Complexity
Is Google Anthos Migrate worth the added operational complexity?
-
SaaS and Multi-Cloud
Do SaaS applications count as part of my multi-cloud strategy?
-
Hybrid isn’t a Place – It’s an Operating Model
If cloud is an operating model and not a place, what does that make hybrid?
-
Understanding Multi-Cloud for the non-IT Executive
What does a non-IT executive need to understand about multi-cloud?
-
Is Nutanix a Cloud Company?
Is Nutanix a Cloud Company?
-
Moving SAP and other legacy apps to the cloud
Does it make sense to move SAP and other legacy apps to the public cloud?
-
Webinar – Disaster recovery in the era of Public Cloud
How does public cloud change the economics of disaster recovery?
-
An update on Oracle’s Cloud
Who was Oracle's cloud actually built for in 2018?
-
Why are box sellers at AWS re:Invent with Cohesity
Why was a backup company like Cohesity at AWS re:Invent?
-
Re-play of Severless Webinar
What actually makes a platform serverless?
-
Understanding Serverless Computing
What is serverless computing, and where does it actually save money?
-
Tread carefully before you lift and shift to the Cloud
Should I lift and shift my workloads to the cloud?
-
After HPE, VMware and Cisco, why should I trust Google Compute Engine?
After watching HPE, VMware, and Cisco fumble their cloud strategies, why should I trust Google Compute Engine for enterprise cloud?
-
AWS Snowball Edge doesn’t compete with Nutanix but…
Does AWS Snowball Edge actually compete with Nutanix and other HCI platforms?
-
Don’t be quick to build or migrate to cloud
Should CIOs skip private cloud and move everything to public cloud?
-
Container networking is hard?
Is container networking actually a hard problem?
-
VMware – Michael Dell’s big bet on Hybrid Cloud
Was Michael Dell really going to leave VMware alone after the EMC acquisition?
-
Clouding is Risky
Can cloud consultants reliably guide my enterprise's move to public cloud?
-
Are you using Public Cloud as an Expensive Data Center?
How do I know if my organization has truly adopted public cloud or is just paying for expensive hosting?
-
AWS Security Fundamentals
Where can I get a practical introduction to AWS security concepts like IAM, S3 encryption, and CloudTrail?
-
All Public Cloud roads lead to Hybrid Infrastructure
Should my enterprise go all-in on public cloud, or does hybrid infrastructure win out?
-
No single vendor offers a complete Software Defined vision
Can any single vendor deliver a complete software-defined data center?
-
Don’t waste money on automation before looking at processes
Should I invest in automation tools before fixing my IT processes?
-
What’s not boring about HPE’s real hyperconverged strategy
What was HPE's real hyperconverged strategy in 2016?
-
Azure Service Fabric – Microsoft’s container management solution
What's Microsoft's container orchestration play for Windows Server 2016?
-
Containers vs. Virtual Machines: What you Need to Know
What did Keith cover in his containers vs. virtual machines conversation with HPE and Docker at HP Discover 2015?
-
Understanding VMware’s many Cloud Strategies
How was the 2016 IBM/VMware partnership different from vCloud Air and the vCloud partner network?
-
Devops, Docker and Data Center Telemetry – CTOCoffeeChat
What is Keith Townsend's take on "Devops, Docker and Data Center Telemetry – CTOCoffeeChat"?
-
Azure Stack: Microsoft’s chance to show if Private-Cloud is a thing
Will Azure Stack prove whether private cloud is a real market?
-
Simplifying Private Cloud – Easier said…
Is there a simpler way to stand up a private cloud than the heavyweight EMC and HPE offerings?
-
The 5 Attributes of Private Cloud
What makes an infrastructure an actual private cloud?
-
Think (about ITSM) before undertaking IT automation
Should I automate IT operations before fixing service management?
-
An argument for DevOps
How do I make the case for DevOps in an enterprise that isn't Netflix?
-
Why are HPUX, Solaris and Mainframes still a thing?
Why are HPUX, Solaris, and mainframes still a thing in enterprise data centers?
-
Cloud – A C-Level Definition
What does 'cloud' actually mean when a business leader asks me for it?
-
Private vs. Public Cloud is all about Friction
Why do my departments keep running to public cloud instead of using our private cloud?