Grazed from Wired. Author: Tim Panagos.

Cloud computing is a technology megatrend whose explosive growth and broad adoption is radically changing the IT world. The availability of cloud computing resources has opened up a wide range of architectural options for enterprise IT. It has also dramatically increased the expectations of shareholders and executives. With a range of new regulations that differ by industry and geography, it appeared possible that cloud computing had fueled the perfect storm.

But, today, hybrid cloud architectures–those that span from private (onsite, on-premise data centers) to public cloud computing platforms and back–are creating practical ways for even the most conservative, regulated industries to gain value from the cloud revolution. Despite the many benefits provided by the hybrid cloud, this technology is still in its infancy and exhibits some weaknesses that prevent enterprise adoption; however technology is quickly evolving to solve these issues and unlock greater possibilities…

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Reuven Cohen.

Cloud computing is quickly becoming, or possibly has already become, the de facto way new applications are developed and deployed. The days of on-premises, device specific software for the most part, has come to end. Data and its related API’s is now the platform of choice for developers. At the forefront of this transition are online tools like the free open source hosting platform GitHub, which has become the key method for where and how developers contribute and collaborate in 2013. In many ways, GitHub is the very definition of “openness” with-in the development world with millions of hackers around the globe actively and openly collaborating with one another.

A recent ReadWrite.com post describes GitHub as “the largest online storage space of collaborative works that exists in the world. Whether you’re interested in participating in this global mind meld or in researching this massive file dump of human knowledge, you need to be here.”…

Grazed from NetworkWorld. Author: Brandon Butler.

When most people who track the industry think of the cloud computing market, big names like Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google, Rackspace, Verizon Terremark and others come to mind. HP, Joyent, IBM and Dell even. But Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC)?

Each year research firm Gartner puts out its Magic Quadrant, and this year’s report caused some to do a double-take. CSC beat out all those other companies – except for Amazon – and was the only company named with AWS in the coveted "leaders" quadrant of the report…

Grazed from Bloomberg. Author: Leslie Picker.

Veeva Systems Inc. (VEEV), the maker of Web-based software for pharmaceutical sales, plans to raise as much as $182.6 million in a U.S. initial public offering. The company and existing shareholders are offering 13 million shares at $12 to $14 each, according to a regulatory filing today. Pleasanton, California-based Veeva plans to list on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol VEEV.

The funds will help Veeva step up its challenge to Oracle Corp. (ORCL), the world’s largest database-software maker, with tools to help drugmakers promote treatments to doctors. It has already won over many of the world’s top drugmakers with technology tailored to the pharmaceutical industry, counting 33 of the 50 largest global pharmaceutical companies among its customers, according to the filing…

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Cloud Security Corporation, an emerging technology company focused on the next generation of Internet and mobile security, today announced that the Company is pursuing the purchase option of the assets of Hong Kong-based, App Ventures Ltd. as part of its previously announced joint venture agreement. The acquisition of App Ventures’ assets will allow Cloud Security the opportunity to expand its App and website security development and marketing in North America, as well as give it access to critical Asian markets.

The two companies formed a joint venture agreement to pursue technology and intellectual property that was equally owned. Cloud Security Corporation and the joint venture filed a patent (US Serial Number 61/832,534) for a process and methods for one-time password generation on mobile computing devices. This patent-pending process reduces several risk factors related to current one-time password technology. Cloud Security Corporation will own 100% of this patent following completion of the asset purchase agreement…

Grazed from MarketWire. Author: PR Announcement.

RiverMeadow Software, Inc., developer of the world’s only automated server migration platform developed specifically for carrier and service provider clouds, has announced that the RiverMeadow Cloud Migration SaaS is now available through the Cosentry Cloud Computing platform. Under terms of the agreement RiverMeadow will serve as Cosentry’s exclusive cloud migration platform, integrated into the Cosentry cloud services portfolio and providing clients with a quick and efficient migration path into the cloud.

"Cosentry offers a dynamic opportunity that enables comprehensive computing solutions and delivers great value to mid-market and enterprise customers," said Mark Shirman, President and CEO, RiverMeadow Software. "The Cosentry Cloud Computing platform gives clients’ access to the RiverMeadow Cloud Migration SaaS and makes for a world-class combination capable of migrating a broad range of servers quickly, and for a fraction of the cost of competitive offerings."…

Grazed from FierceCIO. Author: Derek C. Slater.

From a cost perspective, cloud computing decisions are often cast as OpEx versus CapEx–simplified even further to "rent versus buy". But if that’s the discussion in your organization, you’re missing some crucial points, says Bernard Golden. "Cloud is serving as a forcing function in IT," he writes, making companies arrive at a much more fine-grained understanding of their costs.

The fact that Amazon Web Services pricing is posted openly on the web creates discomfort for its competitors, who are traditionally more accustomed to the leverage that comes with closed-door negotiations. However, it also puts the onus on IT shops to provide the same level of transparency for internal IT service costs…

Grazed from TechRepublic. Author: Thoran Rodrigues.

Back at the end of August, Gartner released their 2013 Magic Quadrant for Infrastructure-as-a-Service. The IaaS market is still a very volatile and competitive market that’s growing steadily, so changes on the relative positions of the market players are to be expected from one year to the next, but the dominance that Amazon Web Services has displayed is simply incredible, and raises some interesting questions related to the future evolution of the cloud market as a whole.

According to Gartner, AWS today has overwhelming market share. What do they mean by overwhelming? More than five times the compute capacity than the aggregate total of the other providers considered in the study. Not only that, but at the end of the report they state that the gap between the share leader (AWS) and the others is widening due to increasing customer expectations and the broadening of use cases. Are we headed towards a one-player cloud computing market?…

Grazed from IT Pro Portal. Author: Gil Allouche.

Cloud computing is a hot topic but, like most technological trends, has its own set of vocabulary. To get you caught up on the conversation so you can hopefully get a better understanding of what cloud computing can do for you and your business, here is a list of 10 common terms you need to know.

SaaS, BDaaS and IaaS

Don’t worry. These are actually acronyms that stand for something. IaaS stands for infrastructure as a service, and is the most basic level of cloud computing. This service takes care of all of the equipment, from the servers to networking components. BDaaS stands for big data as a service and, as the name suggests, it refers to the systems that analyse large and complex sets of information. SaaS stands for software as a service and supplies ready to use, web-hosted applications…

Grazed from V3.co.uk. Author: Alistair Stevenson.

Businesses will have to redesign their networks from the ground up if they hope to protect their data from next-generation hackers, according to McAfee president Michael DeCesare. DeCesare said business and high-tech companies will have to use a by-design strategy if they wish to remain ahead of the threats they face. He was speaking during a keynote at the McAfee Focus conference, attended by V3.

"We have to figure out how to integrate security into [networks] from the get-go. We have to redefine the role of network security. Companies are going to have to change. All companies will be rebuilding their networks," he said. DeCesare cited new trends resulting from developments in mobile cloud technologies, such as bring your own device (BYOD), as proof of the weakness of current networks…