Cloud computing

Cloud computing is defined uniquely as the combination of management abstraction/automation + network-centric data-centric applications. The use of applications in the cloud by consumers is growing and this rapidly emerging class of internet applications will shape our experiences as consumers over the coming decade. From productivity apps like mail and calendar all the way to entertainment apps like YouTube®, a wide range of apps are hosted in the cloud, and consumed around the world. The quick adoption of this category of applications residing in the cloud which itself is abstracted out enough that we, as users, do not even have to think about the underlying architecture is now available to us anyplace, anytime and on any device. Ram Shriram will discuss this trend and its impact on internet users and developers worldwide.

Presenter(s)

Ram Shriram started Sherpalo Ventures in January 2000, with the goal of applying his wealth of operating and company building experience to promising early stage ventures. As a tech industry insider for over 25 years, he has worked in companies across all functional areas and through fluctuating business cycles. He is always eager to roll up his sleeves and work closely with the founding teams on challenging issues that confront and sometimes confound early stage ventures.

Immediately prior to founding Sherpalo, Ram served as an officer of Amazon.com where he had been since August 1998 - when Amazon acquired Junglee.com, an online comparison shopping firm of which Ram was president. While at Amazon, he helped grow the customer base during its early high growth phase in 1998-99. Before Junglee and Amazon, Ram was a member of the Netscape executive team. He drove the many partnerships and channels that Netscape employed to get massive distribution for its browser and server products during the early days of the Internet.

Ram is a founding board member of Google Inc. and 247customer.com and also serves on the boards of Zazzle.com and Mevio. He serves on the advisory board of Naukri.com, a leading classifieds site in India.

Last year Ram was named number three on the top tech dealmakers by Forbes magazine, and number six on top ten kingmakers in tech by Business 2.0 magazine. Ram is a Charter Member of TiE® (The Indus Entrepreneurs).