Here’s some of the stuff I’ve written in the past couple of months.

The Feedback Economy (Forbes)

We’re drowning in data. Bits are faster than atoms. Our jungle-surplus wetware can’t keep up. At least, not without [military strategist John] Boyd’s help. In a society where every person, tethered to their smartphone, is both a sensor and an end node, we need better ways to observe and orient, whether we’re at home or at work, solving the world’s problems or planning a play date. And we need to be constantly deciding, acting, and experimenting, feeding what we learn back into future behavior.

We’re entering a feedback economy.

Top 12 cloud trends of 2012 (InformationWeek)

Only a few years ago, cloud computing didn’t exist. Or rather, it existed by a dozen other names–such as virtualization, managed hosting, or simply The Internet. Today, it’s the must-have feature of every product or service, from mobile phones to cameras to TVs.

Nobody knows this better than enterprise IT professionals, who have to deal with a rising tide of hyperbole and insatiable consumer expectations even as their budgets shrink and the role of technology in business grows. What nobody disputes, however, is that on-demand IT is here to stay.

How businesses are adopting and dealing with Big Data (O’Reilly Radar)

Concerns do seem to shift over the course of adoption and maturity. Early on, companies struggle to define what big data is and worry about staffing. As they get closer to implementation, their attention shifts to legacy system integration. Once they have a system, talent shortages and a variety of other, more specific concerns emerge.

Thoughts on hybrid cloud computing (Microsoft enterprise viewpoints)

I actually don’t believe in this “hybrid cloud” idea. It’s like saying you’re half pregnant. Cloud computing covers a range of architectures, both on-premise and public, both IaaS and PaaS. Better to say, “I have a variety of children, with different temperaments, talents, and convictions, and I love them all equally.”