Grazed from Forbes.  Author: Louis Columbus.

The five highest performing cloud computing stocks year-to-date on the Cloud Computing Index are Qualys (NASDAQ: QYLS), Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), NetSuite (NYSE:N), Workday (NYSE:WDAY) and CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA).

A $10K investment in Workday shares made on January 4^th of last year is worth $15,802 as of market close yesterday, and $10K invested in Qualys shares are worth $15,421 for the same time period. Included in the comparison is the annualized gain or loss and total gain or loss of IBM, Microsoft, Oracle and SAP shares for the same time period…

Grazed from FierceBioTech.  Author: John Carroll.

Google Ventures has joined a group of investors seeding DNAnexus‘ cloud-computing services for biomedical researchers with a $15 million C round.  Mountain View, CA-based DNAnexus bills itself as a centralized hub for sorting through the virtual mountain of genetic data that is being generated, working with researchers hunting down the causes of complex diseases in search of new therapies. That’s right down Google Ventures‘ alley. The round was also backed by Claremont Creek Ventures, TPG Biotech, and First Round Capital.

Just weeks ago DNAnexus joined with Amazon ($AMZN) and Baylor College of Medicine to update researchers on a huge sequencing program aimed at understanding the genetics involved in heart disease and aging. Hundreds of scientists have sequenced thousands of genomes and exomes, creating 430 terabytes of data, which the consortium provides tools and cloud services to analyze in search of the genetic causes of diseases…

Grazed from TheAustralian.  Author: Editorial Staff.

THE National Security Agency is making strides towards building a "quantum computer" that could break nearly any kind of encryption, The Washington Post has reported.  The Post said leaked documents from fugitive ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden indicated the "cryptologically useful computer" would allow the secret intelligence agency to break encryption used to protect banking, medical, business and government records around the world.

Quantum computing has been a goal among commercial firms such as IBM because it could exponentially increase the speed and security of computers and other devices…

Grazed from TalkinCloud.  Author: Chris Talbot.

InterCloud Systems, a Red Bank, N.J.-based IT and telecom solutions provider, is adding to its growing cloud portfolio through the acquisition of Integration Partners-NY (IPC-NY).  The two companies serve similar markets—enterprises and services providers. InterCloud already has a cloud practice, serving its customers by providing cloud platforms and professional services wrapped around those platforms. By acquiring IPC-NY, InterCloud is expecting to add to its portfolio of cloud and managed services.

Through IPC-NY, InterCloud plans to further its distribution of its cloud platforms to both new and existing customers. According to InterCloud, IPC-NY has grown rapidly over the last five years, with 2013 revenue of $25 million…

Grazed from ComputerWeekly.  Author: Adrian Bridgwater.

Developers should take note of the more evolved and complex nature of cloud computing environments in the wider sphere of total computing ecosystems — so much so that they should consider cloud as sometimes, more than just "simple" software application development processing and storage capacity capabilities supplied as a service.

Sometimes, a cloud is not just a cloud.  Now we also have to consider the fact that a cloud can be a Geopolitical Cloud.  SAP cloud computing evangelist Sven Denecken reminds us that in China you need a local Chinese cloud and that, unfortunately, security and data protection concerns have accelerated the geopolitical discussion around cloud datacentre location dramatically in recent times…

Grazed from InfoWorld.  Author: David Linthicum.

Private clouds were the right solution for many enterprises that wanted to realize the value of cloud services without actually moving to a public cloud. However, from what I can see, the trend now appears to moving to deployments on public or hybrid cloud models.  Gartner seems to agree. Michael Warrilow, a research director at Gartner, says more enterprises will look to use public and hybrid cloud models in 2014 as they realize "it’s impossible to private-cloud everything."

Although a private cloud is indeed a solid and viable architectural option, it’s typically overused. Enterprises that want to maintain control of their hardware and software see the private cloud as an option to help them kick the cloud can farther down the road. They can claim to have a cloud, but that cloud looks like the other systems lying around the data center. Moreover, the cost is about the same or more than traditional systems…

Grazed from BizTech2.  Author: Editorial Staff.

ABI Research forecasts that the active accounts associated with personal cloud storage services will exceed 1 billion at the end of 2013, nearly twice as many as a year ago. Over the next five years the global account base will more than triple, reaching 3.61 billion by the end of 2018. In the meantime, the aggregated data storage utilised by personal cloud services is expected to increase from 685 petabytes in 2013 to 3,520 petabytes in 2018.

Senior analyst Aapo Markkanen comments, “Various factors are contributing to the rapidly increasing personal cloud uptake, including the consumerisation of enterprise IT and multiple device ownership. For storage needs, the most far-reaching driver is the expansion and improvement of camera technologies. In particular, cameras embedded in smartphones have generated large amounts of high-resolution image and video content. This trend toward ubiquitous cameras is only set to intensify, as camera capabilities gain traction in wearable computing and the Internet of Things.”…

Grazed from V3.co.uk.  Author: Michael Passingham.

Cloud computing remained the main force for change for V3‘s readership of IT professionals, with four-fifths of voters in our end of 2013 poll citing the cloud as having had the most impact on business technology over the last 12 months.  Off-site services dominated proceedings, receiving 78 percent of the vote. In recent years cloud has become a ubiquitous term for all off-premises services which cover almost every element of the business technology landscape, so it is no surprise IT chiefs continue to rate its significance.

Issues surrounding cost and security, which have so often been the key reasons to avoid cloud computing, are beginning to fade away as data centres powering cloud services become ever more efficient and even governments begin to take some of their private data off-site.  More than $100bn will be spent on cloud computing services in 2014, according to IDC, making up five percent of the predicted global IT spend of $20tn, further proving its worth…

Grazed from MotelyFool.  Author: Timothy Green.

2013 has not been kind to IT giant IBM . The company’s stock has been declining since hitting highs last March, with disappointing earnings and a collapse of the hardware business in emerging markets largely to blame. IBM was the only stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average to decline in 2013, even after a significant end-of-year surge.

2014 will be a year of challenges for IBM, but the company should continue to make progress toward its long-term goals. Hewlett-Packard managed to win some market share from IBM in the server business in 2013, and the general trend toward cloud computing will continue to pressure IBM’s hardware business and the server industry as a whole. Meanwhile, Amazon’s aggressive expansion of its cloud services has put IBM in the position of playing catch up, with at least one high-profile private cloud contract going to the retail giant instead of Big Blue in 2013. There’s certainly plenty to worry about going forward for IBM, but many of these worries seem overdone…

Grazed from FederalTimes. Author: Nichole Blake Johnson.

The June deadline is quickly approaching for cloud providers to prove their services meet federal security standards. Meanwhile, agencies are being advised to inventory whether their cloud contractors have made the cut. The deadline isn’t that far off considering it can take a company six months to complete the government’s security cloud program, known as FedRAMP. Cloud services in use at federal agencies must meet FedRAMP security requirements by June 5.

“If agencies have cloud providers that have not been accredited they should contact my office and ask if they are in the pipeline,” said Maria Roat with the General Services Administration. Roat, who serves as FedRAMP director, spoke last month at the Federal Cloud Computing Summit in Washington…