Grazed from VentureBeat. Author: Editorial Staff.

Once a catchy PR buzzword, the cloud has become a very real and vital element of the modern technology landscape. But as with every technological step forward, the cloud has brought with it some unintended side effects. In the case of enterprise cloud technology, those side effects include concerns over loss of control and security risks.

That’s especially true since revelations were made earlier this year about mass data surveillance programs, such as the National Security Agency’s PRISM project. If you host your company’s data in a public cloud, such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, what assurances do you have that government agencies aren’t monitoring — or may subpoena — your data? Cloud providers have stated unequivocally that they do not give direct access to the NSA, FBI, or other organizations — but it’s also widely known that the these agencies have broad access to many data sources once considered private…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

The federal government has embarked on an ambitious plan to transform IT acquisition and management by implementing cloud computing in every federal agency. WSO2 Federal Systems Director of Solutions Adam Firestone will explore the factors in making cloud computing a reality for defense, intelligence, and homeland security in his talk at the Cloud Computing & Network Symposium for Defense, Intelligence & Homeland Security. The conference runs October 8-9, 2013 at the Holiday Inn Rosslyn at Key Bridge in Washington, D.C.

The Governed Cloud

Through carefully governed cloud computing, the federal government aims to provide on-demand access to a shared pool of configurable resources that can be quickly established and quickly dismantled. The resulting savings in IT spending within the Department of Defense, Department of Homeland Security, and intelligence community could total more than 20 percent of operational costs. However, with these benefits come risks in maintaining security and assurance of services in highly mission critical business and tactical applications…

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Josh Manchester.

What is SaaS? The ability to store data easily on third-party servers and access it quickly via the Internet creates the possibility of delivering software over the web. This is precisely what is meant by the phrase “software-as-as-service,” frequently abbreviated as “SaaS.” Indeed, this is the second half of cloud computing: if your computing is in the cloud, then your software is almost by definition delivered as a service over the Internet.

Some History and Evolution

Over the past twenty years, before the advancement of cloud computing, the process of developing, deploying, and using software was both long and expensive. Historically, the software development cycle underwent multiple stages. In the past, enterprise software businesses developed their products for installation on desktops or servers; this required a large expenditure in order to purchase the necessary hardware for the software’s operation…

Grazed from ITWorldCanada. Author: Nestor E. Arellano.

Communications software provider Avaya Inc. is looking to beef up its cloud computing, contact centre, and social media monitoring and management offerings with the acquisition of the software division of Israeli-based ITNavigator Ltd.

Avaya did not say how much the deal will cost but ITNavigator is the second Israeli company the American software firm has bought. In 2012, Avaya purchased video conferencing and telepresence technology firm Radvision Ltd. for $230 million…

Grazed from The Register. Author: Richard Chirgwin.

The ISA’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) – recently accused of collaborating with the NSA to weaken security standards – has put together a paper highlighting the key-management challenge posed by cloud computing platforms.

As readers will know, key multiplication (and therefore management) can be headache-making even in in-house IT environments. Just one service, SSH, was criticised by its creator earlier this year for spreading 1unwanted keys far and wide. The paper, Cryptographic Key Management Issues & Challenges in Cloud Services, would be available at http://www.nvlpubs.nist.gov/nistpubs/ir/2013/NIST.IR.7956.pdf if it were not for the fact NIST’s site has been DOSed by the US government shut down. The Reg has popped it into Dropbox here as a PDF. (See – we don’t need no lousy government, do we?)…

Grazed from ComputerWorld. Author: Chris Kanararcus.

SAP may build a second data center in Australia in order to meet customer demand for locally delivered cloud services in the wake of revelations over the National Security Agency’s Prism surveillance program. "When I talk to the public sector . . . it’s clear they will only consume cloud if we can guarantee their data stays here in Australia. And we are ready for that," co-CEO Jim Hagemann Snabe told the Australian Financial Review in a report published Monday.

Former NSA contractor Edward Snowden’s stream of leaks about the agency’s spying programs have changed the game for tech vendors, Snabe told the AFR. "I think the stakes have moved up," Snabe said. "People have realized that you need to manage the data center in a physical location where the jurisdiction fits your assumptions."…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

CompTIA is expanding on its existing cloud certification program launched two years ago with a new Cloud+ designation. The association, which offers a growing number of vendor-agnostic certification exams to its members, collaborated with ITpreneurs two years ago on the CompTIA Cloud Essentials exam.

The new CompTIA Cloud+ certification is aimed at IT professionals with 24 to 36 months of work experience in networking, storage or data center administration. Although not required, CompTIA recommends professionals interested in gaining the credential to have CompTIA Network+ and/or CompTIA Storage+ Powered by SNIA certifications before pursuing the new credential…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Charles Babcock.

With its online retail business growing, Amazon.com will hire 70,000 seasonal workers in the fourth quarter to help it fulfill holiday orders, an increase of 40% or 20,000 workers over last year. The announcement comes as something of a jolt. How can hiring on such a massive scale be going on in a limping economy? The federal government is laying off two-thirds of its employees due to the stand-off over funding bills in Congress. Will your former IRS auditor be fulfilling your holiday purchases this year?

Amazon.com said in its announcement today that last year, it converted 7,000 of these seasonal workers or 14% into full-time jobs after the holiday season was over. If that ratio holds, it would mean 9,800 of this year’s 70,000 would end up in permanent jobs. Furthermore, an Amazon.com spokesman hastened to add that the seasonal workers are hired into temporary but full-time jobs, earning 94% of the starting pay of regular workers at its chain of fulfillment centers. They also receive health benefits…

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Anthony Smith.

Businesses want to focus on the main tasks at hand – for one, growing their sales – not the ins and outs of IT issues that arise from complicated technology solutions. Turning to cloud services is one way companies can do this. The cloud is a strategic asset for small businesses and startups, and more are jumping on board.

Why rely on the cloud?

Cloud solutions, or software-as-a-service (SaaS) tools, are easy to implement; often you can sign up for an account with just an email address. By using cloud-based email, project management, accounting and other services, companies can make sure their operations are running as optimally as possible. Cloud solutions are also less expensive than on-premise ones, and small businesses don’t need to worry about on-site maintenance requirements. Outsourcing to the cloud makes it easier for a business to run smoothly because employees don’t need to worry about backups, server upgrades or security. Running a business on a cloud-based model means companies can more easily share information, back it up automatically and not have to worry about administering services…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

Dovetail Software, a leading provider of SaaS HR Help Desk and Case Management solutions, today announced its latest release of Dovetail Employee Engagement Suite. Dovetail Employee Engagement Suite 8, including over 50 new features and improvements, is Dovetail’s largest, most advanced release to date in terms of features, technology, architecture, and new operations capabilities.

New features include a redesigned console displaying the most used and accessed features in the tool; an extensible object model that enables fields to appear based on specific attributes, such as case type; improved search functionality that auto-searches for relevant solutions and similar cases when a new case is created or an existing case is opened; and point-in-time support for employee data, which ensures accurate case history regardless of dynamic data changes. Additionally, several features and enhancements have been added to improve workflow, case notes, and case routing…