Sandesh Raikar (Discussing Cloud Technologies)

 Our guest today is Sandesh Raikar. He has a wealth of experience in the Cloud space. He is the Director of Operations for Softlayer which is now called IBM Cloud. He played an instrumental role in increasing revenue for IBM Cloud by 300% and also grew their staff base by 300% in a 24-month period. I had the opportunity to meet him in Singapore and he totally dazzled me with his wealth of knowledge in Cloud technology. 

We're going to start off by talking to him about the basics of Cloud computing and we will attempt to slowly get into more detail about the subject during the latter part of our conversation with him.

"Sandesh's background"

1. Could you please introduce yourself in your own words and saw a few words about your background?

2. You've got a strong background in building and managing large scale Data Centers. Did you seek out those jobs because of an interest in this area or did these jobs find you?

3. Are data centers bought or rented by companies like IBM? What are the benefits of owning a data center vs renting one?

4. Is speed of connectivity the most important differentiating factor for a data center? 

"Cloud Computing"

1. For the average not-so-technical person, what is Cloud Computing? Why are you so passionate about it?

2. What problem does Cloud Computing solve?

3. Can you please explain these concepts: virtualization / VMWare

4. We hear about SAAS, PAAS, IAAS - what's the difference between them?

5. There seem to be many firms like Google Cloud, MS Azure, AWS and now Alibaba Cloud. Can you talk about the market shares of these companies?

6. What is the difference between these Cloud providers?

7. How does IBM Cloud differentiate itself and who are the main target customers?

8. How can one judge the quality of a good Cloud Platform? Is speed the main criteria?

9. Talk about Cloud Security and Cyber Security. It seems to be on the news everywhere. What is the difference between IT Security, Cyber Security, Cloud Security and Cyber Risk?

10. MS recently sunk one of their Data Centers to the bottom of the ocean for what they claim is because of better cooling. Do you think it was more of a marketing stunt or is such cooling the thing of the future?

11. Is Cloud computing already mature as a technology? How do you think Cloud Computing will evolve in the future? 

"Advice and Future Trends"

1. How will data centers evolve in the future in your opinion?

2. Are you following other trends in FinTech like BlockChain, AI and Cryptocurrencies? What is your view on them?

3. In your opinion, how should today's computer science student prepare for work in the FinTech world of tomorrow?

4. What books do you read? Is there a pattern and what are some of the top books you'd recommend?

5. Has there been a key mentor or a significant person in your life so far that has enabled you to achieve the success you have had in your career?

6. Knowing what you know now, if you could travel back to when you were 20 years old, what advice would you give yourself?

7. Is there anything else you would like to say that we haven't asked you?