Grazed from Midsize Insider. Author: Shawn Drew.

Many businesses are still struggling with the idea of entrusting their data to the cloud, but those businesses that are most concerned with security are also the most likely to keep important data in the cloud, a new study by the Ponemon Institute that focused on cloud computing security finds. Midsize businesses struggling with balancing cutting-edge technology and data security should take this information as a sign that the cloud may not be as insecure as it seems.

The Movement to the Cloud

The new report is based on survey results compiled by the Ponemon Institute and is the third in an annual series of cloud security reports. As detailed by eWEEK, the report shows some very positive signs for cloud computing security, although the technology still has a long way to go…

Grazed from ScientificComputing. Author: Editorial Staff.

Penguin Computing, experts in high performance, enterprise and cloud computing solutions, has announced the immediate availability of MATLAB Distributed Computing Server on its HPC Cloud, POD. This solution combines POD’s ease-of-use and high performance computing capabilities in the cloud with MATLAB scale-up capability to solve more demanding and complex problems.

“With over a million users and growing, MATLAB is one of the most respected tools for programming and analyzing numerical data,” said Victor Gregorio, VP/GM of Cloud Services at Penguin Computing. “Penguin Computing is proud to be partnering with MathWorks to provide MATLAB on POD, where we have enabled an HPC Cloud environment for the MATLAB community.”…

Grazed from SFGate. Author: Kristen V. Brown.

Hewlett-Packard is making a major bet on cloud computing, announcing Wednesday that it will invest $1 billion in a suite of open-source cloud products that position the Palo Alto company as a competitor to cloud services like Amazon Web Services and Google Compute Engine.

HP’s cloud products and services, dubbed HP Helion, mark a shift away from what has been the company’s primary business, namely selling products like management software and technology hardware to corporate data centers. Instead, HP will encourage companies to build their own cloud systems, using HP’s version of the open-source cloud software OpenStack…

Read more from the source @ http://blog.sfgate.com/techchron/2014/05/07/hps-big-bet-on-cloud/

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Grazed from CDMMedia. Author: PR Announcement.

CDM Media, the leading B2B Marketing and Media Firm, announced today that they are now accepting speaker applications for their summits taking place during August and September, 2014. Their impressive events plan covers a number of different geographies, industries, and subject matters which are front of mind for C-Suite executives in today’s ever changing organizational landscapes.

Designed by Content Committees, CDM Media’s summit agendas balance networking, thought leadership, one-on-one meetings and relationship building. Differing vastly from the impersonal tradeshow floor, summits are attended by around 50 C-Suite executive attendees from Fortune 1000 companies – creating an intimate environment where sessions are interactive and attendees are very comfortable in sharing their experiences and proven best practices…

Grazed from BizTechMagazine. Author: Lenny Leibmann.

As they consider ways to take advantage of the many benefits of cloud computing, IT managers should consider the suitability of specific types of applications for the cloud. Here are different type of apps and how they may fit in the cloud.

Software Development, Testing and Quality Assurance

Entities with active internal software development teams can benefit substantially from the cloud. Developers and quality assurance testers often need significant computing capacity for relatively short periods of time. Internal IT operations teams may not be able to provide this capacity quickly or cost-efficiently, which can delay important development projects and consume developers’ time…

Grazed from VirtualizationSoftware. Author: WebSurvey.

How Much do you know about Web-scale Storage? 

Share your opinion and you could win a Lego Mindstorms EV3 Programmable Robot!!!

Grazed from NetworkComputing. Author: Robert Mullins.

A survey of companies that use the cloud to deliver business applications shows that nearly three out of four of them think their cloud providers are hiding performance problems from them. The survey of 704 senior IT pros commissioned by Compuware, a provider of application performance management technology, shows that 73% of respondents believe that companies hide performance shortfalls with application delivery.

Seventy-nine percent believe that cloud provider service level agreements (SLAs) are poorly written and don’t adequately explain what assurances providers actually make. Survey respondents view SLAs as too simplistic. "Companies fear that infrastructure and platform-level problems are being hidden behind hollow guarantees, with little incentive for cloud providers to give any greater levels of transparency," a whitepaper based on the global survey states…

Grazed from ComputerWorld. Author: Bonnie Gardiner.

Tackling a risk-averse corporate culture is critical for companies transitioning to the cloud, says a prominent CIO. IT departments must effectively contrast their organisation’s risk appetite with the opportunities in cloud computing in order to be successful, according to Krist Davood, Group CIO, Court Services Victoria.

“It helps to influence people within the organisation as to why this is a beneficial and innovative journey to go on,” he said during his recent CeBIT presentation. “Many businesses are anchored in the past, and there are multiple reasons why they should be wary of the cloud." While people tend to talk about the technical risks that need to be mitigated, Davood claims it’s just as important to be wary of governance and culture, as success depends more on the people surrounding you, rather than just the technology…

Grazed from WhatTech. Author: Luke Frost.

2X Software, a global leader in virtual desktop and application delivery, remote access and corporate mobility, today signed a distribution agreement covering the A/NZ Markets with Value Added Distributor, Connector Systems. Andrew Craze, Connector Systems Country Manager (Australia), said: “The 2X Software offering fits perfectly with our solution portfolio, particularly our VDI/Thin Client Business Unit.

2X Software is the number one alternative to Citrix. The 2X ApplicationServer XG platform offers enterprise-rich functionality at a fraction of the cost of the usual offerings.” “Not only does 2X Software develop innovative products such as 2XOS for converting desktop PCs into thin clients, they create solutions, such as 2XLifeCyclePlus, designed to prolong the life of legacy Windows XP PCs…

Grazed from MidsizeInsider. Author: Sue Poremba.

Cloud computing has gained traction among small and midsize businesses (SMBs), but recent research suggests that cloud adoption might be more hype than reality. A new study from Bitglass found that SMBs, as well as larger enterprises, are worried about the security of their cloud-stored information. "We found that while more strategic, company-wide adoption of the cloud is starting to take hold, there are still basic security mechanisms that have not been put into place," Bitglass CEO Nat Kausik stated in a recent Help Net Security article.

Security Still a Deterrent

In fact, security concerns are the leading reason why SMBs are not migrating to the cloud. Despite improvements in cloud-based security tools, these concerns are actually growing over time. In 2011, 25 percent of companies claimed security was the main reason why they had not yet adopted a cloud computing solution; in 2013, that number had jumped to 42 percent…