Grazed from ChannelProSMB. Author: Samuel Greengard.

During the last few years, cloud computing has drifted into the mainstream of business. It’s no secret that the technology is changing the way organizations approach IT—and the way people interact and work. But along with all the potential gains come some noticeable pains—especially when data migrations are part of the picture. And nowhere is this more apparent than in the current shift toward Microsoft Office 365.

Although cloud-based email can present significant advantages versus the traditional client/server approach, migrating to a cloud platform can prove difficult and frustrating. “IT projects have been around for decades, but the cloud and the rapid pace of change are placing enormous pressure on SMBs,” says Todd Schwartz, co-founder and co-CEO of Seattle-based migration software provider SkyKick. “Moving applications and data presents challenges and risks.”…

The E&T Magazine. Author: Edd Gent.

The combined computing power of 200,000 private PCs has helped discover 24 new pulsars in archival data. The Einstein@Home project connects the PCs of volunteers from around the world to a create a network with the power of a supercomputer, which scientists from the Max Planck Institutes for Gravitational Physics and for Radio Astronomy in Germany used to analyse archival radio telescope data on the Milky Way.

Using new search methods, the network discovered 24 new pulsars – dense neutron stars that rapidly rotate and emit a beam of radio waves along their magnetic field axis similar to the spotlight of a lighthouse, which can be observed if it points towards…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Charles Babcock.

As the CEO of a cloud startup, it’s a little frustrating for Chris Kemp to sit back and watch VMware bid for cloud customers. Kemp, with no official role at VMworld, has been among the 22,000 VMware customers, partners and onlookers at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. As events unfolded, Kemp saw VMware saying it was offering a different kind of cloud than the one he is trying to deliver.

Kemp’s company, Nebula, makes cloud software based on open source OpenStack, and the former NASA CTO and CIO thinks there’s an era dawning in which many mission-critical applications will be run on cloud architecture. He doesn’t care whether the cloud is inside the enterprise or outside. Nebula will be happy to supply both…

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

WatchGuard® Technologies, a leader in integrated security platforms, today announced its first Unified Threat Management (UTM) solution for Microsoft’s Windows Azure cloud computing platform. As organizations worldwide continue to pour vast amounts of sensitive data, applications and services into the cloud, secure data access becomes paramount. Now these companies can ensure secure cloud access while leveraging WatchGuard’s comprehensive and multi-layered defense across network, email, web and content security.

"Windows Azure’s cloud scalability, speed, and economics make it a compelling option for our customers that want to take advantage of the cloud while continuing to use their on-premises infrastructure," said David Aiken, Group Product Marketing Manager, Windows Azure, Microsoft. "These customers require secure data access from on-premises networks to the cloud, and WatchGuard’s unified threat management platform helps extend on-premises datacenters to the cloud while assuring secure access."…

Grazed from eWeek. Author: Eric Lundquist.

I attended VMworld virtually this year. This means I stayed on the East Coast while on the West Coast the tenth annual show—with the motto “Defy Convention” —unfolded for me on video, news reports and live blogs. Since VMware was all about virtualization before embracing the cloud, software-defined data, virtual trip to San Francisco seemed especially relevant as the Red Sox continued their winning ways in Boston.

Before I get into the main themes as seen from my virtual seat, it is important to note that the ability to attend these events remotely has dramatically increased in the past years. This year deserves a particular shoutout to the live streams and YouTube replays provided by the show organizers. Also valuable are ongoing video interviews via John Furrier’s SiliconAngle and the writing of eWEEK’s own Chris Preimesberger, whose article on collateral damage between VMware and Cisco is a classic example of unearthing the big trends from the PR overload…

Grazed from ITWeb. Author: Christo Briedenhann.

There’s no question that the growth of the cloud computing market has generated a lot of discussion, creating almost as much debate and conversation as it has confusion. But one thing is certain: cloud computing has clearly moved from buzz to business, and has changed the nature of IT delivery in the process. Just consider the numbers. According to analyst firm IDC, the cloud software market reached $22.9 billion in revenue in 2011, and will grow to $67.3 billion by 2016. Not to mention the billions that will be spent on infrastructure to support private and hybrid clouds.

The different types of clouds – private, public, and hybrid – are generally lumped under the cloud computing banner. But they are in fact different. Deciding which is best could add friction to a decision to shift applications, data, and services off-premises…

Grazed from Sys Con Media. Author: Jason Bloomberg.

One of the notable presenters at this week’s Cloud World Forum in Brazil was from telco giant Telefónica. This Spain-based powerhouse has extensive interests across Latin America as well as North America and Europe, and owns everything from undersea cables up to managed services. And as with every other telco on this planet, they’re heavily into Cloud Computing.

Nothing unusual so far. But toward the end of this fellow’s talk, someone asked whether Telefónica was going to either partner with Amazon Web Services (AWS) or compete with them. Seeing as the larger company was all-in with their Cloud bet, I expected the answer would be to compete with the IaaS leader. After all, telcos from Verizon to Alcatel are in the trenches battling Bezos and Company. But to my surprise, he answered that they would prefer to run their SaaS apps on Amazon, while at the same time selling them connectivity. Competing with the Wal-Mart of Cloud was a losing bet, so if you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em…

Grazed from ZDNet. Author: Tim Lohman.

Cloud service providers Google, Telstra, and Microsoft have warned that making a proposed new Cloud Computing Consumer Protocol mandatory will stifle the emerging cloud market and leave businesses, consumers, and startups worse off. The protocol, proposed by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) on behalf of the Australian government, is aimed at encouraging greater take-up of cloud services, particularly by small businesses and not-for-profits by better informing them on issues such as privacy, data security, and data ownership.

Pressing for the protocol to remain voluntary, Telstra in its submission said that there is a "growing and vibrant market" for cloud services in Australia, characterised by an extensive range of competing services and underpinned by well-developed existing consumer protections…

Grazed from Datamation. Author: James McGuire.

As the Head of Technical Strategy for Rackspace International, Toby Owen is responsible for ensuring the organization has the technical capabilities to cover current and future roadmap commitments, and leading the technical go-to-market strategy for new International markets. In this interview, we spoke about the most common issues companies deal with as they migrate to the cloud, including choosing a vendor and understanding the importance of service agreements.

1) When a company looks for a cloud computing vendor, what are some key questions they should ask?

One item to understand is whether your cloud vendor has a complete set of features. Everyone has virtualized servers (aka compute), but what about database services? Load balancers? Deployment automation capabilities? Do ALL the services have API access. In other words, will they work well in a fully automated deployment and management capability, where the application itself can participate in configuring the services to be used?…

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Mike Elgan.

Revelations over the NSA’s aggressive data collection have ignited fears that customers will abandon U.S. cloud companies—or even cloud computing itself. The fears are unfounded and will dissolve. Here’s why…

What We Know So Far

The U.S. National Security Agency harvests communication metadata—who talked for how long on what device, etc.—in a program the NSA calls MAINWAY. It’s collected and stored; it’s also processed to discover suspicious activity. For example, if a terror suspect is apprehended, the metadata for people he contacted in the past may be analyzed…