Grazed from MarketStrategies. Author: Paul Hartley.

Who will own the future of cloud computing? This is a hot topic for those of us in the technology and communications groups at Market Strategies International. Cloud computing is an industry that has been expanding at a steady 18-20% for the past few years and is predicted to top $200 billion by 2016. The growth is impressive, but it is the highly dynamic nature of the market that has us really intrigued.

Cloud Computing’s 800-Pound Gorilla

“Dynamic?” I hear you ask, “Surely it’s been game-set-match to Amazon Web Services (AWS) for some time now?” And you would be partially right. AWS clearly dominates the public cloud computing space. Its Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) business has five times the utilized compute capacity of the next 14 cloud providers combined, and along with its Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) business, AWS generates annual revenues of nearly $4 billion…

Grazed from InfoSecInstitute. Author: Editorial Staff.

In cloud computing, there are a number of components used to build the cloud infrastructure. At the lowest layer there are actual hardware components like servers, network attached storage and network components. In order to limit the possibility of spreading an infection, networks need be properly separated into multiple DMZs with limiting rules of connectivity between two networks.

The very core of cloud computing is virtualization, which is used to separate a single physical machine into multiple virtual machines in a cost-effective way. Don’t get me wrong, running and operating a cloud is certainly possible without virtualization, but requires more work and time to actually pull it off; by using virtualization, we’re basically getting a lot of the work done for free…

Grazed from CiteWorld. Author: Matt Rosoff.

Toward the end of last year, IDC coined the term "third platform" to describe the current wave of technological advances shaping the workplace, including mobile devices, cloud computing, social collaboration, and data analytics. IDC analyst and CITE Conference speaker Joe Pucciarelli explains that these are more than just the hot buzzwords of the moment. To get the most of any of these technologies, you have to deploy them in conjunction with one another.

"Companies are typically combining a sales force app to include mobility based on a new cloud computing platform. They’re using a big data analytics platform, but the data may be drawn from a social community they’re operating. By combining technologies together, you get the real power."…

Grazed from ZDNet. Author: Rachel King.

VMware has unveiled a new cloud-based service tailored to extend disaster recovery to the public cloud. Dubbed VMware vCloud Hybrid Service – Disaster Recovery, the platform has its footing in the virtualization giant’s flagship vSphere cloud computing operating system. Along with the usual promised benefits of all things cloud (cheaper rates, fewer setup requirements), the self-managed solution is touted to provide a continuously available recovery site, repeatedly replicating virtual machines to VMware datacenters via the vCloud hybrid infrastructure…

Read more from the source @ http://www.zdnet.com/vmware-launching-new-cloud-service-for-disaster-recovery-7000028249/

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Grazed from Investors. Author: Patrick Seitz.

The battle to control the infrastructure for cloud computing is coming down to market leader Amazon.com (AMZN) and competitors Google (GOOGL) and Microsoft (MSFT), a report by Bernstein Research says. Amazon is top dog in the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) market, with estimated 2013 revenue of more than $3 billion from its Amazon Web Services (AWS) business, Bernstein analyst Carlos Kirjner said in a report published Friday. AWS revenue jumped 85% in 2013, he said.

In contrast to Amazon’s $3 abillion, Google’s competing Google Compute Engine likely generated $100 million or less in 2013, said Kirjner. And Microsoft probably took in a few hundred million dollars in 2013 IaaS revenue as part of its Azure business, he added. IaaS lets companies and government agencies access computing resources over the Internet on a pay-as-you-go basis…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

Fusion PPT, a recognized strategy and technology consulting firm, announced today that the company is now a Standard tier Consulting Partner with the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN). Fusion PPT joins an extensive community of industry leaders and experts from around the U.S., a partnership that will enable Fusion PPT to stay up to date with the latest technology changes and collaborate to deliver the highest quality, best-fit solutions to the firm’s clients.

Cloud computing is rapidly becoming yet another revolutionary step in the progression of technology in the U.S. and globally. With the introduction of “the cloud” came data that is accessible from practically anywhere. However, as the commercial and government cloud computing markets skyrocket, so do hot-button issues such as cyber security, data privacy, and interoperability, to name a few. As an AWS Consulting Partner, Fusion PPT will be able to further leverage the firm’s growing team of AWS certified consultants along with the experience, architecture, knowledge, and lessons learned gained through its partnership with the most mature cloud computing provider in the industry to help the firm’s clients find the solutions that are the best value…

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Verio Inc., an NTT Communications company and the leading provider of online business solutions, today announced a new Cloudn portal which makes it easy for customers to provision, configure, and manage their cloud solutions by putting everything in a single convenient location. Additionally, Verio and NTT Communications reduced Cloudn pricing by up to thirty seven percent for its Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) Cloudn offerings, effective May 2014. The price reductions are applicable to Cloudn virtual machine (VM) plans and existing customers will automatically be billed at the reduced rate, effective May 2014.

"By lowering pricing, Verio is demonstrating its focus to become a force in the North American IaaS market," says Fred Martin, Senior Vice President of Product, Engineering and Operations at Verio. "Customers do not like surprises and free bandwidth eliminates one of the largest, and most difficult to predict, expenses of cloud computing."…

Grazed from Actco. Author: Brian McCafferty.

Cloud computing is making everything easier. Companies that operated IT infrastructures of their own before the cloud know firsthand how much easier it is thanks to the cloud. A brief comparison of doing business before and after the cloud will show just how much cloud computing is changing things.

Think about what it was like to set up a major business application like hosting corporate email just fifteen years ago. Setting up your company with an application like this would entail purchasing a dedicated server. You would then have to spend a significant amount of hours installing and deploying the new server and software. In addition to this, a server isn’t a piece of equipment that you can simply set up and walk away from, never to touch again. Owning a server requires maintenance, which means having an in-house technician at best, or having regular visits from a break-fix computer repair company at the least…

Grazed from CustomerThink. Author: Paul Anderson.

Gartner, Inc. has highlighted the top technological trends that will affect organizations in 2014. In the words of David Cearley – “We have identified the technologies that companies should factor into their strategic planning processes. This does not necessarily mean adoption and investment in all of the listed technologies, but companies should look to make deliberate decisions about them during the next two years.”

He further added that the convergence of four powerful forces: social, mobile, cloud and information, will drive change in the corporate realm. Taking excerpts from the original Gartner news, below enlisted is a summarized version of seven of those technological trends which (according to Gartner) will impact every organization’s long-term plans and programs:…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Nicole Laskowski.

Is this the beginning of the end for the vaunted data scientist? That’s the clever pitch from Tableau Software, one of a handful of business intelligence vendors pushing the envelope on self-service BI tools. Because the software’s user interface offers drag-and-drop features, even users without a strong math background can build visualizations and interrogate the data, the vendor promises.

Tableau isn’t the only one with a strong self-service play. More and more vendors are offering analytical packaged applications that mask the complexity of analytics on the back end with easy-to-use features, which begs the question: Are data scientists just experiencing their 15 minutes of fame?…