Pivotal launched from VMware, EMC technologies

General Electric has invested $105 million in the new company

Making good on a promise made in December, VMware and parent company EMC have launched a new company, called Pivotal, to offer an enterprise-ready data analysis platform as a service (PaaS) based on software from both companies.

Pivotal's new services and newly retailored software packages will allow enterprises the ability to replicate the IT operations used by today's "Internet Giants" such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon Web Services, said Paul Maritz, who is the Pivotal CEO and was the CEO of VMware from 2008 until 2012. Maritz spoke in a webcast Wednesday launching the new company.

The new company, Pivotal, also got $105 million investment from General Electric, which plans to use Pivotal's technologies as part of its own set of analysis services to industry.
Maritz and Ruh
Stephen Lawson

Pivotal CEO Paul Maritz, left, and General Electric Vice President and Corporate Officer Bill Ruh spoke on Wednesday at Pivotal's launch event in San Francisco.

Today, the large Internet services handle and analyze data far more efficiently than most enterprises do, Maritz said. "If you look at the way they do IT, it is significantly different than the way enterprises do IT," he said. Specifically, they are good at storing large amounts of data and drawing information from it in a cost-effective manner. They can develop applications very quickly. And they are good at automating routines, Maritz said. "They used these three capabilities together to introduce new experiences and business processes that have yielded -- depended on how you want to count it -- a trillion dollars in market value," Maritz said.

To replicate the way these Internet services use IT, today's enterprises will require "a set of new applications that can be easily run on existing substrates," Maritz said. Pivotal will offer a unified platform of a PaaS service and on-premises technologies to make this possible, he said.

The PaaS will run on top of the customer's choice of an infrastructure as a service (IaaS), such as Amazon Web Services, or Microsoft's Azure IaaS service. "We like to think of the current generation of infrastructure-as-a-service as the new hardware," Maritz said.

Taxonomically speaking, Pivotal One will be broken into three sets of technologies. The cloud fabric will be based on the Cloud Foundry PaaS software, which can pull in IaaS services from providers such as Amazon and OpenStack. The data fabric set of offerings will include tools for analyzing data, such as Pivotal's distribution of Hadoop, the Hadoop File System (HDFS), and real-time database services. The application fabric will provide tools for enterprises to quickly build and deploy their own cloud applications.

Pivotal is using a number of technologies developed or acquired by EMC and VMware. From EMC, Pivotal is using the Greenplum data analysis software. From VMware, it will use the Spring Java framework, the GemFire messaging platform, the Cloud Foundry PaaS software, and the Cetas business intelligence software. It will also be using various supporting technologies from the VMware vFabric packages of software to run cloud operations.

In addition to the PaaS, Pivotal also will continue to offer these technologies as stand-alone software packages, for use on premises. Many are rebranded under the Pivotal name. GemFire will be known as Pivotal GemFire, RabbitMQ will become Pivotal RabbitMQ, and so on. The company launched a Hadoop distribution, called Pivotal HD, in February.

Pivotal will use the GE investment to fund additional research. GE also will use Pivotal's data analysis service for its own customers. GE has been ramping up a set of services around what it calls the industrial Internet, where transportation, energy, health care and other industries would benefit from advanced analysis of machine intelligence-generated data.

Incorporated on April 1, Pivotal will have over 1,250 employees, including more than 700 engineers. It will be owned by VMware and EMC, and, with its investment, GE has taken an ownership stake in the company as well. The service is expected to be generally available by the end of 2013.

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Microsoft may backtrack on Start button in Windows 8

Analysts urge company to recant design ideology as nod to customer complaints

Microsoft may recant its Windows 8 design theology, bloggers reported Tuesday, by offering Windows 8 users an option to bypass the "Modern" UI and by restoring the Start button and menu to the beleaguered operating system.

A pair of longtime Microsoft hands, Mary Jo Foley of ZDNet and Tom Warren of The Verge, citing unnamed sources and messages on Windows discussion forums, said Microsoft was considering those tweaks for an upcoming update, called "Windows Blue" by some and "Windows 8.1" by others. The upgrade, the first of a planned faster development and release tempo, is allegedly slated for an October debut.

Warren pointed to evidence that Microsoft might allow boot-to-desktop with Windows 8.1. Foley added that the Redmond, Wash., developer was also pondering a return of the Windows Start button and associated menu.

Analysts welcomed the news, assuming it's accurate.

"I don't see this as a defeat but as a good thing," said Patrick Moorhead of Moor Insights & Strategy. "It's shows you're willing to make changes based on customer feedback."

The tweaks would be a concession for Microsoft. Publicly, the company has repeatedly maintained that its design decisions were correct and its executives have suggested that users would, in time, learn to live without a Start button and grow to appreciate the Start screen.

Today, Microsoft declined to comment on the reports.

But contrary to Microsoft's assertions that the dual user interfaces (UIs) in Windows 8 were "fast and fluid," customers have barraged the company's blogs and the Web in general for more than a year with complaints.

They were most upset about the disappearance of the iconic 17-year-old Start button and menu, but also griped that they weren't able to boot right to the "Classic" user interface (UI), or desktop, rather than first hitting the tile-style Start screen. Both issues have been sores spots among longtime Windows users, and at the top of virtually everyone's most-hated lists.

Even Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen took Windows 8 to task, calling it "puzzling" and "confusing" when last year he urged the company that made him a billionaire to offer an option that set the desktop as the default mode on boot.

And they voted with their wallets, either by staying away from Windows 8 -- and shying from any new PC purchases -- or if forced to the new OS, by supporting a cottage industry of third-party add-ons that restored both boot-to-desktop and the Start button. StarDock, for example, claimed earlier this year that its $5 Start8 add-on had been downloaded 3 million times, with thousands of people trying it daily.

Even with that on the line, StarDock CEO Brad Wardell applauded Microsoft's presumed move. "I hope Microsoft adds back the Start button and a boot to desktop option," said Wardell in an email Tuesday. "While we would miss the short-term revenue boost of Start8, it is important to keep the Windows software ecosystem healthy and growing."

The talk today suggests that Microsoft has rethought not only the design of Windows 8, but also its strategy.

"The feedback they've had should tell them that people are not ready to live in the Modern UI, so they need to make [Windows 8's desktop] as good as, if not better, than Windows 7," said J.P. Gownder, an analyst with Forrester Research. "When the tipping point happens, perhaps in a couple of years as the Windows Store fills up, when all the key apps are there, then they can rethink."

And withdraw the Start button yet again, Gownder meant.

Most outside Microsoft believe the company's decision stemmed from a misguided touch-first doctrine, fueled by the belief that only if customers were forced to run apps would they buy apps, and that only by coercing them could Microsoft quickly create a pool of users large enough to attract app developers to the new platform.

Gownder understood that thinking, even appreciated it, but still said it had been wrong.

"I understand Microsoft wanting to drive charms," Gownder said, referring to the set of persistent icons for chores such as searching, sharing content or accessing the OS settings. "There is an argument toward design purity, to reimagine Windows, and that people must become comfortable with the charms. That's legitimate. But the overwhelming feedback was that perhaps the train was taking off a little too early."

Moorhead argued that backpedaling wouldn't significantly hurt Microsoft's push toward an app ecosystem.

"This is very positive, because it doesn't take away from the experience of 'Metro,' " he said, using the older term for the Modern UI. " It just gives users a way to get back to Metro that's obvious. It doesn't say anything about Metro, doesn't say it's good or bad. It doesn't change that argument at all."

Gownder urged Microsoft to backtrack on the boot-to-desktop and Start button controversies, noting in a longer blog post Tuesday that the horse had left the barn -- users were already adopting Start button emulators -- and that the company should accept the inevitable, if only to keep its enterprise customers happy.

"Microsoft needs to step back and do this," Gownder said. "Enterprises are not about to support one of these workarounds. For them, this [functionality] needs to be in the OS layer."

Redmond has done 180-degree turns before. When customers howled about Windows Vista's intrusive User Account Control (UAC), the prompts designed to warn of risk when installing and running software, Microsoft dramatically reduced UAC's impact in Windows 7 three years later.

Now it has an advantage, as it's committed to a faster release cycle -- one executive called it "continuous" -- and assuming the leaks are correct, can modify Windows 8 in a third of the time.

"Microsoft misstepped a number of ways with Vista," Gownder said. "But they did change it. They have an established market and a lot to offer, and [Windows Blue] is, by no means, the last chance for Windows 8."

What a reversal will not do is magically turn around depressed PC sales, on which Microsoft is reliant for Windows 8 sales. Offering options to boot to the desktop or restore Start functionality won't change the dynamics of the industry, where consumers in particular are buying less expensive touch-enabled tablets rather than replacing older Windows computers.

But what if? What if Microsoft's design ideology had been more flexible before it shipped Windows 8? Would it have made a difference? Would Windows 8 devices be flying off shelves?

Not likely.

"Had Microsoft added the option of restoring the Start button and boot-to-desktop, they would be in a slightly better position than they are today, but not much," said Moorhead. "In fact, Metro app development would be behind the curve had they added the options."

The UI mistakes, Moorhead added, were secondary to a more fundamental misreading of the market and the available technologies. "In retrospect, Microsoft should have marketed and built a more pervasive and high quality touch pad experience. "They misjudged the number of touch-based devices that would be out, and under-emphasized the quality experience of a good touch pad."

Apple, for instance, has ignored touch-based computers thus far, instead depending on larger touch pads built into their notebooks and on the gesture support they've integrated with OS X.

Had Microsoft taken that approach for Windows 8, it could have avoided the entire touch screen issue -- shortages caused by low yields, and corresponding high prices -- Moorhead asserted.

"Unlike touch display functionality, which can add $100 to the [bill of materials], a quality touch pad may cost as little as an incremental $5," Moorhead said.

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

70-410 Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA): Windows Server 2012

QUESTION 1
You work as an administrator at Certkingdom.com. The Certkingdom.com network consists of a single domain
named Certkingdom.com. All servers on the Certkingdom.com network have Windows Server 2012 installed.
Certkingdom.com has a server, named Certkingdom-SR07, which has two physical disks installed. The C: drive
hosts the boot partition, while the D: drive is not being used. Both disks are online.
You have received instructions to create a virtual machine on Certkingdom-SR07. Subsequent to creating
the virtual machine, you have to connect the D: drive to the virtual machine.
Which of the following is TRUE with regards to connecting a physical disk to a virtual machine?

A. The physical disk should not be online.
B. The physical disk should be uninstalled and re-installed.
C. The physical disk should be configured as a striped disk.
D. The physical disk should be configured as a mirrored disk.

Answer: A

Explanation:

---

QUESTION 2
You work as a senior administrator at Certkingdom.com. The Certkingdom.com network consists of a single
domain named Certkingdom.com. All servers on the Certkingdom.com network have Windows Server 2012
installed.
You are running a training exercise for junior administrators. You are currently discussing the new
VHD format called VHDX.
Which of the following is TRUE with regards to VHDX? (Choose all that apply.)

A. It supports virtual hard disk storage capacity of up to 64 GB.
B. It supports virtual hard disk storage capacity of up to 64 TB.
C. It does not provide protection against data corruption during power failures.
D. It has the ability to store custom metadata about the file that the user might want to record.

Answer: B,D

Explanation:

---

QUESTION 3
You work as a senior administrator at Certkingdom.com. The Certkingdom.com network consists of a single
domain named Certkingdom.com. All servers on the Certkingdom.com network have Windows Server 2012
installed, and all workstations have Windows 8 installed.
You are running a training exercise for junior administrators. You are currently discussing a
Windows PowerShell cmdlet that activates previously de-activated firewall rules.
Which of the following is the cmdlet being discussed?

A. Set-NetFirewallRule
B. Enable-NetFirewallRule
C. Set-NetIPsecRule
D. Enable-NetIPsecRule

Answer: B

Explanation:

---

QUESTION 4
You work as a senior administrator at Certkingdom.com. The Certkingdom.com network consists of a single
domain named Certkingdom.com. All servers on the Certkingdom.com network have Windows Server 2012
installed, and all workstations have Windows 8 installed.
You are running a training exercise for junior administrators. You are currently discussing the
Always Offline Mode.
Which of the following is TRUE with regards to the Always Offline Mode? (Choose all that apply.)

A. It allows for swifter access to cached files and redirected folders.
B. To enable Always Offline Mode, you have to satisfy the forest and domain functional-level
requirements, as well as schema requirements.
C. It allows for lower bandwidth usage due to users are always working offline.
D. To enable Always Offline Mode, you must have workstations running Windows 7 or Windows
Server 2008 R2.

Answer: A,C

Explanation:

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Google-led group warns of 'patent privateers

BlackBerry, Red Hat, Google and EarthLink say businesses use patent trolls as mercenaries to harass the competition

Patent trolls are increasingly becoming a weapon some companies can use to harm or harass their competitors, according to public comments jointly submitted today to the Federal Trade Commission and the Justice Department by lawyers for Google, Red Hat, BlackBerry and EarthLink.

The comment detail what the companies say is a rising tide of so-called "patent privateering" and called for a large-scale government probe of the matter. The term refers to the practice of selling patents to a patent-assertion entity (or patent troll), which enables the troll to turn around and sue a competitor without the original company having to expose itself to negative publicity or countersuits.

Google senior competition counsel Matthew Bye explained why the process works in an official blog post.

"Trolls use the patents they receive to sue with impunity - since they don't make anything, they can't be countersued. The transferring company hides behind the troll to shield itself from litigation, and sometimes even arranges to get a cut of the money extracted by troll lawsuits and licenses," he wrote.

What's more, according to the companies, patent privateering can be used to circumvent fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory licensing agreements - exposing businesses that made good-faith decisions to create products based on a given technology to infringement suits by trolls.

Google and its co-signers urged an FTC investigation into the practice, saying that the extent of patent privateering and its effects is difficult to quantify without additional information.

"The secrecy in which PAEs cloak their activities exacerbates all of these concerns and leaves the public without information needed to access the likely competitive effects of patent outsourcing practices," the companies said.

Google recently announced an Open Patent Non-Assertion Pledge, saying that it will agree never to sue over the use of some designated patents unless attacked first. The first 10 patents in the program all relate to MapReduce, a big data processing model.

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Windows XP decline stalls as users hold onto aged OS, flaunt 2014 deadline

A third of all Windows users could still be running XP when Microsoft pulls patch plug in 53 weeks

The decline in usage share of Windows XP, which is slated for retirement in 53 weeks, has slowed significantly, hinting that millions of its users will hold onto the operating system much longer than some, including Microsoft, expect.

Data published monthly by California-based Web analytics company Net Applications indicates that XP's long-running slide has virtually stalled since Jan. 1.

In the past three months, Windows XP's monthly drop in share has averaged just 0.12 of a percentage point. That's less than a fifth as much as the 12-month average of 0.68 percentage points.

Other averages point to a major deceleration in declining usage share: XP's most recent six-month average decrease of 0.42 percentage points was less than half the 0.94 point average for the prior six months.

Likewise for longer timespans. In the last 12 months, Windows XP has dropped an average of 0.68 percentage points, while in the 12 months prior it fell by 0.83 percentage points.

In other words, in the second half of a 12-month stretch, XP's decline slowed by 55%; in the second year of a two-year span, it slowed 18%.

The slowdown paints a picture that must depress Microsoft, which has been banging the upgrade drum at Windows XP users for nearly two years, and has repeatedly warned them that free security updates will stop after April 8, 2014.

Net Applications' data can also be used to roughly plot XP's future usage share.

If the average decline of the last 12 months holds, XP will still account for 30% of all personal computers at the end of April 2014, or 33% of all systems expected to be running Windows at that time.

Recent estimates of XP's future by analysts, however, have been more conservative, with experts from Gartner and Forrester Research predicting that 10% to 20% of enterprise systems will still be on the aged OS when support stops.

Microsoft has not pegged XP's current corporate share, but the Redmond, Wash., software developer clearly knows it's large: In January, during the company's last quarterly earnings call, CFO Peter Klein said 60% of all enterprise PCs were running Windows 7.

Since few businesses adopted Windows Vista -- and with Vista's usage share now under 5%, some that did likely ditched it -- the remaining 40% must, by default, largely be Windows XP.

Windows XP will not suddenly stop working 53 weeks from now; it will boot, run applications and connect to the Internet as it did before. But it will not be served with security updates. Minus patches, and knowing how frequently cyber criminals uncover vulnerabilities, security experts expect hackers to exploit XP bugs that users will have no way of quashing.

Those same experts have split on whether Microsoft will extend Windows XP's support to protect what increasingly looks to be a major chunk of Windows users. But Microsoft has not signaled any desire to do so.

Granted, Microsoft will have supported XP for 12 years and 5 months, or about two-and-a-half years longer than its usual decade. That will be a record, as XP this month tied the previous Methuselah, Windows NT, which received 11 years and five months of support.


But Microsoft could still rethink its XP policy, and mimic rival Apple, which has continued to support OS X Snow Leopard, an operating system that, like XP, maintains a robust usage share.

Apple, which has never spelled out its security update policies, typically has stopped supporting "n-2," where "n" is the most current edition of OS X, around the time it releases "n."

Snow Leopard -- "n-2" in that formula, having been superseded by Lion and Mountain Lion, the latter representing "n" -- has continued to receive security updates, most recently on March 14, or about eight months after Mountain Lion's launch.

By continuing to update Snow Leopard, which powered 27% of all Macs last month, Apple patched 91% of all Macs last month.

Microsoft could do even better -- cover 96% of all current Windows PCs -- by continuing to support XP after April 2014.

But one expert thought that very unlikely. "I think they have to draw a line in the sand," said John Pescatore, then an analyst with Gartner, now with the SANS Institute, in an interview last December. "They've supported XP longer than anything else, so they'd be pretty clean from the moral end."

To track how long XP has before retirement, users can browse to an online countdown clock maintained by Camwood, a U.K. firm that specializes in helping businesses migrate to newer operating systems.

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com

Amazon.com upgrades Cloud Drive with file syncing

Amazon's cloud storage service adds a feature included in Dropbox and Google's Drive

Amazon.com has added a file-syncing feature to its online storage product, Cloud Drive, putting the service on par with competitors such as Dropbox and Google's Drive.

The syncing feature will allow users to view an up-to-date file across several devices. Cloud Drive is a desktop application for Windows and Mac, and Amazon.com also has a version designed for Android, just for photos. Amazon.com also offers a Web-based upload panel if users don't want to download the desktop application.

Online storage applications are a very competitive market segment. The services allow users to spread the same version of a file across several computers and prevent the loss of a file in case a computer is lost or stolen or breaks. But it is also an area where technical glitches and performance issues are a concern.

Late last month, Google Drive suffered three service problems that prevented some users from accessing their files and applications. One of those outages lasted three hours and affected about a third of requests to the service. Effects included error messages, long load times and timeouts.

Dropbox, which uses Amazon's Web Services for its infrastructure, had problems with syncing and uploading files in January.

Amazon.com's Cloud Drive desktop application is compatible with Windows XP, Vista, 7, and 8, and Mac OS X versions 10.6 through 10.8. Cloud Drive offers 5GB of free storage, with annual subscription packages going up to 1,000GB for US$500.

The company has incorporated Cloud Drive into its Kindle Fire tablet. Photos uploaded to Cloud Drive will appear in the Kindle Fire's Photo library as well as the Cloud Drive Photos application on an Android device. Photos that are uploaded from an Android device are also copied into the Cloud Drive folder on a desktop computer.

---

Best CCNA Training and CCNA Certification and more Cisco exams log in to Certkingdom.com

Microsoft to Make Leaps in the Mobile Enterprise

Shocking developments in the mobile enterprise race show the market's incredible volatility, according to a new survey by Aberdeen Group. The survey looked at mobile app deployment plans by platform--Apple iOS, Android, Windows 8/Windows Phone and BlackBerry--covering both tablets and phones.

"The plans for mobile app deployment in 2013 were a big surprise," says Aberdeen research director Andrew Borg. Aberdeen plans to release its official findings next week, but gave CIO.com a sneak peek.

The data shows Microsoft Windows Phone 8 and Surface tablets poised to make a profound leap, as CIOs hope to retake control of the mobile enterprise. Apple iPhones and iPads may be reaching a point of saturation. Google phones and tablets are holding steady, but will users let loose the reins?

As for BlackBerry, the future looks bleak.
Aberdeen surveyed 348 organizations about their mobile strategy in November and December last year. The chart above shows the percentage of respondents currently deploying apps on a given mobile platform, as well as the percentage of respondents planning to build apps on the platform for the first time in 2013.

Here's a breakdown of what's behind the numbers.

Microsoft, Don't Call It a Comeback
Microsoft was the big winner with 35 percent of respondents planning to develop apps on the Surface tablet over the next 12 months, in addition to 8 percent currently deployed. Windows Phone fared well, too, with 25 percent planning to develop apps on Windows Phone, in addition to 26 percent already deployed.

"The data shows that IT is holding out hope that Microsoft's mobile strategy will be well-integrated with their overall data center and cloud strategy," Borg says. "You might say IT has been waiting for Microsoft to make its enterprise mobile play."

Microsoft, though, might have already disappointed respondents. The Aberdeen survey was conducted late last year before all the criticism of Surface RT, well, surfaced and before the Surface Pro was even released. At the time, there was hope that Microsoft would deliver a completely integrated strategy.

But the Windows 8 user interface consistency from smartphone to tablet to desktop did not extend to the back end. In other words, the primary criticism of Surface RT is that the apps are not compatible with the rest of Windows 8. Surface RT is not in the same app ecosystem as Windows 8.

"IT and lines of business were looking for a point of consolidation and integration with backend services," Borg says. "This lack of integration from IT's perspective is a disappointment."

Microsoft blew the branding and messaging opportunity, Borg explains. The average consumer didn't grasp the difference between Surface RT and Surface Pro. Many simply and wrongly expected Surface RT to be a Windows laptop replacement.

It's too bad, because Surface RT is a pretty slick device with a nice industrial design and user interface, Borg says. Among all tablets, Surface RT boasts the best integration with Office. It shouldn't matter that it's not tied to Windows 8 applications on the desktop. Apple iOS apps aren't compatible with OS X, nor are Android apps with Chrome OS.

March of the Androids
Google Android smartphones and tablets are steadily marching into the enterprise. According to the Aberdeen survey, 23 percent of respondents plan to develop apps on Android tablets over the next 12 months, in addition to 40 percent currently deployed. And 17 percent plan to develop apps on Android smartphones, in addition to 55 percent currently deployed.

These numbers show incremental growth for the platform, which is nothing unexpected.
However, this doesn't mean that Android will continue to plod along. The survey was taken before Samsung announced the Galaxy S4 smartphone, which is expected to be released in late April. For the enterprise, the most compelling feature is KNOX, a dual-persona solution at the kernel layer. If the dual-persona concept takes off, then Android platform adoption in the enterprise could spike.

But dual-persona acceptance on the smartphone is far from a sure thing. For starters, dual-persona has been in the market for at least a year and has had negligible adoption in the enterprise. While dual-persona allows end users to securely separate personal data from work data on a corporate device, we're living in a Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, world.

"With BYOD, the company is going to put its data on your device and borrow some of your assets that you bought--RAM, memory, processor--all of which may decrease performance of your device," Borg says. "Will end users permit that? It's unclear."

Apple's Microsoft Problem
Apple's iPhone and iPad have been enterprise sensations, but there are signs pointing to challenges ahead. In the Aberdeen survey, 15 percent of respondents plan to develop apps for the first time on iPhone and iPad over the next 12 months, with 63 percent and 61 percent currently deployed, respectively.

"We're a little surprised that the numbers show it to be slowing down," Borg says. "Granted, three-quarters of the organizations are still developing for the platform, greater than any other platform. But it could be getting to a saturation point."

Slideshow: Apple's 15 Boldest Computer Designs, 1976 - 2012
As the dominant mobile enterprise player with the biggest app store and the largest percentage of developers, Apple seems to be sitting in the catbird seat. The danger is complacency and lack of innovation. Think: Microsoft during its reign on the desktop.

Today, iOS is looking long in the tooth. Microsoft and BlackBerry have more advanced operating systems. Samsung has shown innovation advancing the Android OS. Where art thou, Apple? iPhone and iPad apps don't talk to each other, don't share data. In comparison, Windows Phone 8 supports inter-app communication, which makes for a fluid user experience.

"If Apple does not innovate on the OS, it may impact enterprise acceptance and continued commitment to deploy apps on the Apple platform," Borg says.

Storm Clouds Over BlackBerry
And then there's BlackBerry. The Aberdeen survey showed a paltry 6 percent of respondents plan to develop apps on the BlackBerry PlayBook over the next 12 months, with only 15 percent currently deployed. On the BlackBerry smartphone, 5 percent plan to develop apps, with 49 percent currently deployed.

"This data does not speak optimistically for BlackBerry's outlook," Borg says. "There are definitely storm clouds over Canada."

Borg does expect the smartphone number to creep up given the release of BlackBerry 10, which appears to be a solid product, but not by much. Meanwhile, the PlayBook outlook is looking worse, as BlackBerry hasn't announced anything of significance with it.

The problem, of course, is that BlackBerry has lost its credibility. It didn't keep its promises, in terms of timeframe delivery. BlackBerry 10 was delayed time and again until its launch earlier this year. The result is that businesses--once, BlackBerry's biggest advocate--have all but abandoned the platform.

"From the data perspective, BlackBerry has significant challenges in 2013," Borg says. "There's a loss of momentum and a lack of confidence in their future from end-users. In addition, BlackBerry has isolated itself from advocates, including analysts. How this all will play out in 2013 remains to be seen."

---

Best Microsoft MCTS Certification, Microsoft MCITP Training at certkingdom.com