Grazed from NetworkWorld. Author: Brandon Butler.

Amazon Web Services, one of the most popular cloud computing platforms, which hosts a large number of websites on the Internet, said this week that it has been able to mitigate the impact of the Heartbleed OpenSSL bug revealed this week. But, it because of a "shared security" model that AWS operates under, some customers can take action if they want to take extra precautions to ensure the vulnerability does not impact their operations.

In a blog post, AWS recommends that customers using the popular Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) service – which provides virtual machine images – who implement OpenSSL on their own Linux images should update VMs to ensure the OpenSSL patch is in place. "As an added precaution, we recommend that you rotate any secrets or keys (e.g. your SSL certificates) that were used by the affected OpenSSL process," AWS recommends. AWS provides instructions on its blog of how to update Amazon Linux, Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Ubuntu VMs…

Grazed from CloudTimes.org. Author: Saroj Kar.

How companies are adopting cloud computing and how they are addressing the changes that it entails in the management of IT resources? RightScale tries to find the answers in its RightScale 2014 State of the Cloud Survey. The survey results found that cloud adoption is picking up steam as enterprises increase both public and private cloud adoption. More interestingly, enterprises have increased the adoption of public cloud services.

Much of that credit goes to how public cloud services like Amazon, Microsoft, Google, RackSpace and others are aggressively marketing their offerings. Nearly 1,100 enterprises and small-and-mid-sized businesses (SMBs) surveyed, 89 percent are using public cloud for something and the rest are planning to use in future…

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Keith Tilley.

Successfully managing IT strategy is no simple task, particularly when the decision makers’ roles vary from company to company. Research findings from Gartner and Financial Executives Research Foundation, for example, found that 42 per cent of organisations said their IT division reports to the CFO, 33 per cent to the CEO, 16 per cent to the COO, 2 per cent to a chief administrative officer and 7 per cent to other officers.

So with finance frequently involved in sanctioning IT expenditure, it’s no surprise that CIOs and CFOs have often had a troubled relationship. As cloud computing starts to become part of companies’ IT strategies, what effect has this had on the CIO/CFO relationship? Do the views between the CIO and CFO remain opposing? Is this conflict holding up adoption of the technology? And what is needed for both parties to capitalise on its potential benefits? Let’s explore…

Grazed from Globe Newswire. Author: PR Announcement.

ChinaCache International Holdings Ltd. ("ChinaCache" or the "Company") (Nasdaq:CCIH), the leading total solutions provider of Internet content and application delivery services in China, today announced that it has signed a framework agreement ("agreement") with People.cn (Shanghai:603000), a large-scale information interaction platform constructed by People’s Daily, relating to ChinaCache Atecsys International Data Center ("Atecsys"), to address the cloud computing and cloud storage needs of People.cn’s growing user base.

Atecsys is a cloud infrastructure strategically located in Beijing’s tax free, custom bonded zone. The investment in Atecsys will enable People.cn to reduce long term spending on cloud infrastructure and to leverage ChinaCache’s expertise on total network solutions to assist them in the long run…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: David Linthicum.

Technology issues don’t typically stop cloud implementations. More often than not, it’s the people. Office politics, unrealistic expectations, and general stupidity are the common culprits that hinder cloud computing use at many enterprises. The vocal opponents to cloud computing we heard in 2008 are mostly quiet in 2014.

However, they are still lurking. Today, they use closed-door conversations to call the cloud into question, often for the wrong reasons. By doing so, they create a toxic culture around the use of cloud computing — or any new technologies that may prove to be innovative and helpful but threaten the status quo…

Grazed from BusinessInsider. Author: Editorial Staff.

It’s been two days since the Heartbleed bug was exposed, a security flaw so bad, security expert Bruce Schneier has called it "catastrophic." The flaw allows hackers to intercept and read website information supposed to be encrypted, like passwords and credit card info. This problem was found in the really popular security software known as OpenSSL used by many huge websites and devices.

That means Heartbleed was found in some of most popular cloud services on the Internet, like Gmail, Yahoo, Flicker, OkCupid, Tumbler and others. The good news is that those sites have been fixed, Mashable reports. More good news: hundreds of other websites are racing to get rid of the bug as we write this. 24 hours after the bug was reported, security vendor SkyHigh Networks had found 368 cloud providers that still had the bug…

Grazed from BSMInfo. Author: Megan Williams.

While migration to cloud platforms presents unique challenges for VARs working with federal agencies, it also offers business opportunities in addressing issues unique to the government sphere. What opportunities does federal migration to cloud platforms provide for you as an IT reseller?  Quite a few. Federal agencies have a long road ahead of them in their migration to cloud computing. Even after the decision to migrate is made, uncertainty looms about the best way to approach the migration for government agencies.

Challenges With Migration

As far back as 2012, the Government Accountability Office was calling for better planning of cloud migration procedures. The implementation (across seven agencies) brought the following common challenges to light…

Grazed from Midsize Insider. Author: Marissa Tejada.

The cloud is becoming the center point of IT for midsize firms. A new report, featured on Channel Partners Online, delves into the details concerning why growing firms are more accepting of the technology. When it comes to keeping a cloud implementation running smoothly, experienced partners are often necessary to fill any knowledge gaps and to ensure productivity.

Adoption Trends

A new report by Techaisle entitled "SMB & Mid-Market Cloud Computing Adoption Trend" revealed that 25 percent of midsize firms are using one or more cloud computing-based systems. Midsize firms, here defined as companies with 100-999 employees, are utilizing the cloud as the center point of their IT. The survey found that, at those companies, there was an average of 227 employees working from four locations…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

Panda Security, The Cloud Security Company, today announced the addition of significant enhancements and new features to Panda Cloud Systems Management (PCSM), its remote management and monitoring solution designed to help organizations manage, monitor and support all types of devices on their computer networks, both in the office and on the road.

The new features incorporated in Panda Cloud Systems Management include printer management via SNMP, which allows IT administrators to configure monitors and alerts to control printer status, track toner and paper usage, etc. This feature will extend to routers and switches in future releases…

Grazed from IntegrationDeveloper News. Author: Vance McCarthy.

New Relic is bringing the power of its cloud-based analytics platform to business users, letting companies gain real-time deep insights into many core business operations. New Relic Insights, now in beta, is designed to be an easy-to-adopt SaaS service that can deliver real-time software analytics to non-IT stakeholders.

New Relic Insights is powered by the company’s cloud data platform and query tools developed to let IT operations and application owners track and diagnose app and network performances in real-time. Reaching business users with New Relic Insights is what Jim Gochee, New Relic’s senior vice president of products, calls the company’s “Second Act.” …