Grazed from MarketWire. Author: PR Announcement.

MapR Technologies, Inc., the leader in Hadoop technology for Big Data deployments, is a winner in the Most Innovative Use of Big Data category of the 2013-2014 Cloud Awards program. Identifying and celebrating excellence in the field of cloud computing, the Cloud Awards program encourages entries from across the globe, from entrants of any size, including start-ups.

Over 200 organizations entered, with entries coming from many regions including Europe, the US and Middle East. "MapR was founded on the premise that we want to deliver innovation, dependability, ease of use and world-record performance with our Apache Hadoop distribution," said Jack Norris, chief marketing officer, MapR Technologies. "Being recognized for our innovation is a wonderful testament to the value of our technology and the benefits it brings to our customers."…

Grazed from UMIEvents.  Author: Event Announcement.

The 4th Cloud And Big Data Summit 2014, to be held in London on April 10-12, 2014, will focus on the emerging area of cloud computing enhanced by latest developments related to infrastructure, operations, and services available through the global network.

Panels, sessions and workshops of this international conference are designed to cover a range of latest topics, trends and innovations related to cloud computing and data management. This Conference is a European platform to identify your company as a key player in the dynamic game changing market priorities in the field of cloud computing, data and information security...

For more information and registration visit:  http://umievents.com/4th-cloud-conference

Grazed from CNBC. Author: Sruthi Ramakrishnan.

Citrix Systems Inc reported lower-than-expected quarterly revenue as sales of its cloud-computing software and licenses grew by less than 1 percent. Citrix shares dropped 4 percent in extended trading. Overall revenue rose 8 percent to $802.4 million but missed analysts’ average forecast of $805.4 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Net income rose to $138.6 million, or 74 cents per share, in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, from $114 million, or 60 cents per share, a year earlier. Excluding items, the company earned $1.04 per share. Analysts on average had expected earnings of 98 cents per share.

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Grazed from PCWorld. Author: Damon Poeter.

Dell’s long-promised, cloud-tapping, enterprise-computing-environment-on-a-stick is finally here. The company on Wednesday announced the general availability of the Dell Wyse Cloud Connect dongle, first unveiled way back in January 2013 with the code name Project Ophelia.

Dell Wyse Cloud Connect devices are priced at $129 per unit and plug into any compatible monitor to deliver access to the desktops, data, apps, and corporate networks utilized by business users. The upshot is that the dongle, which runs a hardened version of Android, offers access to those assets and data from virtually anywhere a user can plug it in, whether it’s the corporate office, home office, or on the road…

Grazed from PCWorld. Author: Stephen Lawson.

If the hardest part of the “Internet of Things” is getting to the Things, Cisco Systems is offering a lifeline. The so-called IoT encompasses a range of Internet-capable devices that could be almost limitless: Thermometers, electric meters, brake assemblies, blood pressure gauges and almost anything else that can be monitored or measured. The one thing they have in common is that they’re spread out around the world.

From a network builder’s perspective, the biggest challenge this poses is backhaul, or the links between devices in the field and data centers that can analyze and respond to the data they spit out. Typically, IoT devices talk to a small router nearby, but that router may have a tenuous and intermittent connection to the Internet…

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Eugene Rudenko.

The beginning of a new year is a perfect time to make plans and predictions for the year ahead. Cloud technologies are one of the most rapidly growing sectors in IT and it draws a lot of attention. I’ve tried to come up with the possible (in my opinion) trends in the clouds that will take place in 2014. Here’s what I’ve got.

Blurred boundaries between cloud technologies and CDN

From the point of view of cloud technologies, network is the last obstacle on the way of common shift to clouds. That’s why network technologies will be subject to improvement and growth, and their efficiency will increase. The main goal of their improvement will be the faster data delivery among cloud servers…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: iWeb.

Many people have heard of cloud computing. There is however a tremendous number of people who still cannot differentiate between Public, Private & Hybrid cloud offerings. Here is an excellent infographic provided by the group at iWeb which goes into greater detail on this subject…

To view infographic, visit http://cloudtweaks.com/2014/01/cloud-infographic-cloud-public-private-hybrid-differences/

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Grazed from Forbes. Author: Joe McKendrick.

Cloud computing represents one of those once-in-a-generation shifts that not only changes the way we think about managing information, but also the way we design and run businesses. Sometimes, people get a little too excited about all the possibilities, however, and jump in with both feet without thinking things through.

For that reason, Mike Kavis, a seasoned chief technology officer and IT architect, urges greater care when rushing into the cloud space. That’s the theme of his latest book, titled Architecting the Cloud: Design Decisions for Cloud Computing Service Models, which explores the key steps both IT and business leaders need to take as they enter the cloud world. (Kavis provided me the opportunity to preview the book a few weeks back, and my endorsement appears on the back cover.) He identifies some of the "worst practices" he has seen that tend to make cloud projects go awry:…

Grazed from ODCA. Author: PR Announcement.

Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA), the global organization where members work together to advance the deployment of enterprise cloud solutions and services that are interoperable, secure and free of vendor lock-in, today announced that it has become a Technology Sponsor of Cloud World Series (CWS) events. As a CWS partner, ODCA will hold leadership events and experts from its membership will deliver keynotes, participate in panels, and lead technology sessions focused on best practices for open enterprise cloud computing at CWS events around the globe. The partnership provides CWS event attendees with a unique opportunity to meet and learn from ODCA members who are leaders in driving the open enterprise cloud.

"The Cloud World Series are important events for bringing enterprise IT experts together to address some of the most important issues facing the data center today," said Correy Voo, president of the ODCA Board of Directors and chief technology officer at UBS. – We’re excited to be collaborating with CWS in markets around the world and look forward to demonstrating how our members are using ODCA usage models to unlock the business benefits associated with open enterprise cloud computing and to ease and speed the migration of data center IT operations to the cloud."…

Grazed from Napatech. Author: PR Announcement.

Napatech, the world’s leading supplier of network analysis adapters, today commented on reports from both Cisco and McAfee predicting a sharp rise in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in 2014. Napatech is focused on addressing the security challenges facing enterprises today and proposes a holistic solution based on analysis of a combination of network and security information.

HIGHLIGHTS:

• As the use of cloud computing, big data analytics and mobility continue to soar, so will an increase in data traffic, changes in traffic patterns and the potential exposure of network vulnerabilities, including DDoS attacks. Cisco reports in its 2014 Annual Security Report that the occurrence of DDoS attacks have been increasing in both volume and severity, while McAfee reports that the deployment of cloud-based corporate applications will create new attack surfaces that will be exploited by cybercriminals…