Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Anne Stuart.

In this Q&A, Thomas Erl, co-author of Cloud Computing: Concepts, Technology & Architecture (Prentice Hall, 2013), talks to Senior Site Editor Anne Stuart about why companies need to get smarter about cloud computing. Erl, also the CEO of Arcitura Education Inc., an IT training/certification company, offers insights on cloud portability, integration, security and more. This Q&A has been edited for length, clarity and editorial style.

In the introduction to Cloud Computing, you write that "There is no greater danger to a business than approaching cloud computing with ignorance." Could you expand on the need for cloud-related education? What do businesses need to know about developing a smart cloud migration strategy?…

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Metacloud, Inc., which delivers the industry’s first on-premise, private cloud as a service, today announced that it was named as a finalist in the Best of VMworld 2013 awards in the private cloud computing technologies category. As the first company to offer a private cloud solution that leverages clients’ existing hardware investment, Metacloud combines the simplicity of the public cloud with the performance, security and cost advantages of the private cloud.

Delivered as a service, Metacloud’s Carbon|OS empowers businesses to scale dynamic applications quickly by combining the power of OpenStack with critical enhancements for the enterprise. "We are honored to be recognized in the private cloud computing category in this year’s Best of VMworld 2013 awards," said Metacloud Founder and President Steve Curry. "This award is a testament to our team’s commitment and enthusiasm for delivering private clouds to the enterprise in a way that instantly modernizes customers’ existing infrastructure and allows them to maintain on-premise control."…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Walter Bailey.

Large businesses depend a lot on Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and every decision taken by them is solely based on information extracted by using ERP application. There is no business domain that does not use ERP in today’s fast moving world. ERP is installed on a centralized server in the company and is managed by a team of specially trained people who look over all the functions and operations of it. From generating critical real time reports to marking employees’ attendance, ERP plays a critical role in controlling the flow of information throughout the company.

With all the benefits of ERP, it still requires a lot more attention and resources to be managed. With the increase in cost of maintenance, many companies are thinking to move the whole ERP system over the cloud. Cloud Computing which was once seen as a total disaster for the ERP systems is now being linked with it for the better management of ERP…

Grazed from SmartDataCollective. Author: Paul Barsch.

Over the long-run, is cloud computing a waste of money? Some startups and other “asset lite” businesses seem to think so. However, cloud computing for specific use cases, makes a lot of sense—even over the long haul. A Wired Magazine article emphasizes how some Silicon Valley startups are migrating from public clouds to on-premises deployments. Yes, read that again. Cash poor startups are saying “no” to the public cloud.

On the whole this trend seems counter intuitive. That’s because it’s easy to see how capital disadvantaged startups would be enchanted with public cloud computing: little to no startup costs, no IT equipment to buy, no data centers to build, and no software licensing costs. Thus for startups, public cloud computing makes sense for all sorts of applications and it’s easy to see why entrepreneurs would start—and then stick with public clouds for the foreseeable future…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

myApollo, the brainchild of Greater Toronto Area-based Arroware Industries Inc, is a social media platform that will offer users an efficient and reliable way to synchronize, back-up and share their files while discovering the media content of other users. Powered by a dedicated team of young entrepreneurs and built upon groundbreaking proprietary technology, myApollo wants to make the lives of its users easier and more efficient by helping to manage their digital identity while connecting to one another in a true convergence of cloud computing and social media.

Where the potential of myApollo truly shines is in expanding the capabilities of an iOS or Android smartphone in conjunction with affiliated Macintosh and PC devices to create personal file-sharing and synchronization networks. Pictures, videos, music, and documents: people use these mediums every day to enrich their lives and get things done…

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Lindsey Nelson.

I know you have heard a lot about the “alleged” results of cloud computing, but as more and more businesses actually try it we now have hard data. Think of cloud computing like an entertainment system. It’s comprised of many different pieces, each working well by plugging into what you already have.

But the wow factor only truly arrives when you have a fully integrated, end-to-end system, working together to produce the perfect movie night. Cloud computing integration in business is no different. Did you know 79% of senior business and IT executives expected “meaningful improvements as a result of cloud initiatives” in the areas of “innovation, speed, and efficiency of processes”?…

Grazed from CIO. Author: Chris Meager.

A recent series of cloud briefings sought to address the technology, legal and change management aspects of cloud. They prompted some thought-provoking discussions around the longevity and value of cloud computing.

With so much noise around ‘cloud’ and so many opinions, it can be difficult to get consensus in the true benefits of cloud. There are many cloud-sceptics, quite understandably from the overload of cloud hype out there. During these briefings, we wanted to offer some insights into how to migrate IT services to a cloud-based model and some of the pitfalls to avoid – and to field questions on the challenges cloud might be creating. Topics of discussion included:…

Grazed from CBR. Author: Editorial Staff.

Dell has launched a new portfolio of cloud and virtualisation applications including data centre and cloud client computing applications as part of the firm’s collaboration with VMWare. Dell Networking added the new S6000 switching platform for data centres, which incorporates virtualisation and automation features.

The computer technology firm claims that the new S6000 platform offers two times more density and throughput while consuming up to 50% less power than its successors. S6000 will also support the latest network virtualisation and software-defined networking features such as hardware-accelerated L2 Gateway functionality for deployment with VMware NSX, linking traffic between virtualised and non-virtualised environments…

Grazed from HuffingtonPost. Author: Elaine Mah.

When news first broke that the United States’ National Security Agency (NSA) was "operating a covert program, called Prism, which obtains email and other electronic data records from Internet companies," a furor erupted over the violated privacy of information once it enters the cloud. It shocked a nation and then the world. I’m not sure what was more shocking: the fact that it happened or that so few people were truly prepared for this possibility.

Concerns that our online information could face government scrutiny first arose over 10 years ago when the Patriot Act was signed into law, and has now raised questions for businesses as to the security and privacy which could be afforded when uploading content to the cloud. With the ongoing revelations from the NSA files, many organizations that have embraced cloud computing in recent years now face new uncertainty and may even go so far as to revert to on-site only access to information and abandon the cloud…

Grazed from HPCWire. Author: Tiffany Trader.

Today’s clouds are built on a mix of technologies, including virtualization, automation and orchestration. In some circles, virtualization is nearly synonymous with cloud, but above all a cloud is a pool of resources that is elastic, scalable and accessible on-demand. For the HPC community especially, much of the cloud computing that takes place is of the "bare metal" kind, aka non-virtualized cloud.

Although today’s server virtualization is a lot sleeker than in years past, nothing can beat the performance of bare metal. Some of the issues with virtualized cloud computing were detailed recently by Internap Vice President of Hosted Services Gopala Tumuluri…