I am thrilled to be involved with something that will radically change the way storage is purchased and provisioned.   I’ve been working with a team of VISI hosting and network engineers for the last couple months – and I’m really starting to see the results.  We’re getting very close to announcing the availability of our new Cloud Storage product.

What is cloud storage?  Cloud storage allows users the ability to scale their platforms up and down as their needs change.  This allows you to essentially ‘pay-as-you-go’ –  changing the amount of data stored on a day to day basis as needed… or  remaining static.    Cloud storage provides elastic storage for a wide variety of use cases and can be accessed via standard drive mounts, http and API protocols.

Next Wednesday (September 2nd), VISI will host a free webinar on Cloud Storage which will provide you with ample information on this new technology as well as inform you on ways to leverage our cloud storage platform. Our chief technology officer and cloud expert, Jason Baker, will lead the webinar. You can register online to reserve a virtual seat.

We will begin beta testing cloud storage in mid-September.  If you’re interested in volunteering to help us test our new product, it’s not too late to sign up.  We’d love to hear your valuable feedback to help make our launch in October as successful as possible.

Mike Sowada, CEO for VISI and the recently named Twin Cities Entrepreneur of the Year by the TwinWest Chamber, will appear as a “special guest expert” on the Twin Cities Entrepreneurs Radio Show this Saturday, August 15th. The purpose of the radio show is to “inform, educate, and inspire entrepreneurs in our area with information, advice, and stories that will help them move forward in their business”. Mike will be interviewed live in the studio by Jim Cormican and Pamela Muldoon.

To hear what advice Mike has for other entrepreneurs, tune into 950AM KTNF between 1:00 – 2:00 pm on Saturday, August 15th.

Update:  If you missed the show, you can view the podcast online.

The first annual Fringey Awards was a huge success! We would like to thank all who participated in the event. Overall, we received 37 video trailers of Fringe performances and thousands of hits to the site daily. The Fringey Awards made it possible for fans of the Minnesota Fringe Festival to engage with the event in a fun, interactive way. It allowed fans to sneak preview of some of the performances and vote on their favorite trailers, while performers received free advertising for their shows.

This past Sunday, just after 11:00 pm, the winner of the Fringey Awards was announced by Jonathan Hamilton of VISI at the Guthrie. The two runners-up, both receiving one year worth of free Web hosting from VISI, were The Traveling Musicians and The Harty Boys in: The Case of the Limping Platypus. The grand prize winner also received one year worth of free Web hosting as well as $500 from VISI. Jonathan announced Sarah, Your Ovaries Are Drying Up: The Musical as the winner before handing them a giant check, which they held above their heads in pride as the crowd of 500+ people began to chant “Big check, big check!” We could not have asked for a more excited, dynamic, and engaged group of people. Our hope is that the Fringey Awards will spiral into something even bigger next year.

If you are interested in learning more about the Fringey Awards, you can follow us on Twitter, check our our Facebook page, or visit the official Fringey Awards Web site.

Click on the thumbnails below to view the full-sized images of the closing night ceremony.

Jonathan, about to announce the winner

The excitement of winning!

“Big check, big check!”

The excited winners

Runner-Up Trophy

Mr. Jason Baker, CTO for VISI, led our webinar today on the topic of ”What You Need to Know About Cloud Computing”. He gave us an overview of cloud computing, complete with its advantages, disadvantages, use cases, and service types. We would like to thank everyone who attended. If you were unable to attend, you can now download a PDF of the slides.

There are plenty of other cloud learning initiatives that VISI will be hosting within the next few months:

1. Our Cloud VISION 2009 event, a free breakfast seminar at the Metropolitan in Minneapolis, will be held on October 21st. Seating is limited, so sign up quickly.

2. Beta testing for VISI’s cloud products will begin soon. If you are interested in playing a key role in the development of our cloud offerings, you can’t miss this!

3. A webinar on the topic of cloud storage is scheduled for September 2nd. Registration has already begun.

“Show don’t tell,” is what I was always told in elementary school English class. While I don’t think my teacher meant create a video, I hope she would still be proud. As technology becomes increasingly complex, the ability to demonstrate key concepts and ideas via the web has been extremely valuable for me. I hope this video providing an overview of our VDS in the Cloud product, based on VMware, is equally valuable for you. Enjoy!

Please visit visi.com/business/cloud/vdsinthecloud.aspx for more information on our VDS in the Cloud product.