Grazed from DataCenterKnowledge. Author: Jason Verge.

Amazon Web Services has introduced Cost Explorer, a tool for managing spending on its cloud computing platform. It features reporting, analytics, and visualization tools to help Amazon users track and manage their costs. Pre-configured views and filters give customers control over how they view their spending and also offers an opportunity for further cost cutting through optimizing, right after the recent big overall price cuts.

Cost Explorer is integrated with the AWS Billing Console launched in November. It will be a welcome addition, as it’s not always transparent for some customers as to how much they’re spending, where the spending is coming from, and ways to cut those costs – unless they use third party tools…

Grazed from ITProPortal. Author: Antony Savvas.

Environmental issues are a common part of most IT strategies, as awareness of carbon footprints and the levels of energy use associated with technology have become widespread. But how can cloud computing help to improve sustainability, and what role should the cloud play in green IT planning? This HP whitepaper examines the green credentials of cloud computing.

What is green IT?

Green IT aims to use computers and IT resources in a more efficient and environmentally responsible way. Businesses are becoming increasingly dependent on technology, with staff working on desktops, laptops, netbooks and smartphones all day, which are connected to servers running 24/7…

Grazed from MediaPost. Author: Laurie Sullivan.

IBM reported Thursday entering into an agreement to acquire Silverpop, a privately held software company based in Atlanta, Ga., as it attempts to grab a bigger share of cloud computing to support marketing services. Big Blue believes combining its enterprise marketing portfolio with Silverpop’s marketing automation and real-time personalization technology will create the most complete and advanced customer engagement solution for all types of businesses, start-ups to multinational enterprises.

Privately held Silverpop employs about 500. Founded in 1999, it supports email marketing, lead management, multichannel marketing and marketing automation. The company extends IBM’s client base to power the marketing capabilities of 8,000 organizations in more than 50 countries worldwide…

Grazed from ThoughtsOnCloud. Author: Grant Thomson.

Cloud computing’s proliferation and its accompanying technologies is old news. We’re reading more and more stories about the latest cloud advancements and adopters every day, creating a veritable hype cycle. How these technologies mature and become rapidly applied across eco-systems, business and IT will affect everyone in profound ways, regardless of their business or where they live.

We all know the impact that born-on-the-cloud startups like Facebook acquisitions Whatsapp and Instagram have had in the social arena—now, the focus is on cloud for business, and the reinvention of enterprise IT. Cloud ArchitectureTo date, cloud’s role in the enterprise has been predominantly associated with infrastructure as a service (IaaS)…

Grazed from BroadwayWorld. Author: Editorial Staff.

AppDirect, the leading cloud service marketplace and management company, announced today that it has raised $35 million in Series C funding led by new investor Mithril Capital Management. Existing investors, including iNovia Capital and Foundry Group, also participated. The large investment cements AppDirect’s leadership in cloud services brokerage, the fastest growing sector of cloud computing, and will enable the company to continue its rapid, aggressive growth.

"AppDirect’s founding vision was to make it incredibly easy for businesses to find, buy, and use the services they need to be successful. We’re well on our way to making that vision a reality, and with this investment, we’ll be able to accelerate and go even faster," said Daniel Saks, co-founder and co-CEO of AppDirect…

Grazed from CIOL. Author: Editorial Staff.

The adoption of cloud seems to have gained critical mass, with the concept gaining widespread traction in businesses and homes around the world. While this growth is driven by the benefits of a cloud-based approach to business, concerns still remain with regard to the practical challenges of adopting these highly disruptive technologies.

Despite the proven cost saving and business advantages offered by cloud computing, some CXOs are still wary about making the shift and addressing the potential challenges that come with such a migration. Prasad Natu, senior VP and head – Infrastructure Services, ITC Infotech, says, "There is no doubt that there are several complexities related to cloud migration, but delaying a move or poorly executing the migration process could impact the competitiveness of organisations…

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Bright Computing, a leading provider of management solutions for clusters and clouds, today announced that Bright Cluster Manager® is now certified on Cloudera Enterprise 5. Bright and Cloudera will continue to work together to enable enterprise customers to deploy and manage big data projects with ease.

Bright Cluster Manager enables customers to build and configure a complete cluster on bare metal. Eliminating the complexity involved with installing, configuring, and managing a cluster enables customers to lower their operating expenses, and reduce system down time. "Cloudera Enterprise 5 is a leading choice for organizations that need an enterprise-grade solution to handle their data analysis," said Dr. Matthijs van Leeuwen, founder and CEO of Bright Computing…

Grazed from SiliconRepublic. Author: Editorial Staff.

A raft of new features Dropbox unveiled last night herald a new dawn for cloud computing; a more useful dawn in fact. The cloud storage company revealed a new Dropbox for Business that keeps work Dropboxes in one place, a gallery feature called Carousel, and an ambitious quest to tame inboxes.

The new Dropbox for Business is a rebuild of the original business product, but made more versatile to access personal and work Dropboxes from any device. “We did this to give admins more visibility and control over their company’s data,” said Dropbox’s Ilya Fushman. “Remote wipe helps protect confidential information, account transfer helps you maintain business continuity, and sharing audit logs let you track how your Dropbox for Business information is being accessed.”…

Grazed from Acumatica. Author: Editorial Staff.

As a provider of Cloud ERP (enterprise resource planning), Acumatica is acutely aware of many of the concerns that customers have when it comes to utilizing an external provider for hosting and data storage. In fact, because Acumatica was built from the ground up to exist in a hosted environment in the cloud, the solution was architected with security in mind.

Any browser-based application must utilize strong data encryption techniques to ensure the safety of all data between the client browser and the server-based data store. It is the most fundamental step, and naturally that’s the first step that you need to validate. Ensuring that at least 2048-bit SSL encryption is used in any session based browser application is key…

Grazed from SysCon Media. Author: Pat Romanski.

Database as a Service (DBaaS) is cloud database hosted and managed by the cloud service providers that can be accessed through public cloud or the hybrid cloud. The cloud provider takes care of provisioning, configuring, setup, maintenance, backups and patching the database. Customers are expected to export the database and start consuming the service through the pay-as-you-go model.

There is a debate on whether Database as a Service (DBaaS) should be considered part of IaaS or PaaS. Though databases are part of almost all PaaS offerings, they are quickly becoming the key building blocks of IaaS. While customers can always launch VMs and set up a database of their choice, the DB service is different because it’s set up, configured, managed, and monitored by the infrastructure service provider…