Grazed from GigaOM.  Author: James Urquhart.

Many vendors pushing so-called enterprise cloud computing are really targeting those businesses who develop lots of their own software. But there are a whole lot of — maybe too many — companies to whom that description doesn’t apply.  I have been discussing, writing about and working on cloud computing for almost seven years. It takes a lot to shake my basic beliefs about the importance of cloud computing, and how its adoption will radically change — heck, has radically changed — the IT industry.

However, every once in a while something happens to remind me that there are more nuances to cloud adoption than any one person, or even group of people, can fully ascertain.  Most recently, I was reminded that “cloud adoption” isn’t a single path, and we as industry practitioners (vendors, service providers and customers alike) have to be very careful how we generalize the use of cloud computing in business…

Grazed from ITProPortal.  Author: Derek Britton.

The demise of mainframe computers has been predicted for decades, but they still thrives as the reliable core processing workhorse for many industries. In fact, IBM was able to report over 50 per cent increase in mainframe revenues in 2013.  But as the technology world evolves, games are changing, and the relevance and apparent suitability of the mainframe world is struggling to keep pace with the expanding demands of today’s information-hungry customers, including trends such as cloud computing.

This is compounded by recent high-profile mainframe outages that have dented not only customer service but also the reputation (and share price) of some major organisations. Can mainframe overcome the core challenges it faces? These include its assumed high cost, the IT skills crisis, and a perceived irrelevance to modern computing…

Grazed from eWeek.  Author: Jeffrey Burt.

Cloud computing, unified communications and BYOD promise to bring big benefits to organizations, from greater collaboration and productivity to improved efficiency and lower costs.  However, the trends, which are hitting the data center at the same time, also pose some significant challenges, not the least of which is gaining enough visibility into the networks to ensure that the IT staff can properly manage and secure them, according to a survey by Network Instruments.

"The technologies are kind of being forced on them," Brad Reinboldt, senior product manager at Network Instruments, told eWEEK. "They need the technology," but need the tools to manage and monitor them properly…

Grazed from Cloudtimes.org.  Author: Irmee Layo.

Cloud computing has gained leverage over the last decade as businesses are compelled to migrate to this new platform. Virtualization has capitalized on cost efficiency as its main strength for any industry. However, recent revelations has uncovered that there may be hidden costs that cloud providers are not showing.  Loopholes that may have been missed by cloud fanatics are the concerns of power shortages and security issues.

These potential glitches can actually bring up the costs for any company. It is also expected that as more companies force into the cloud, heavy traffic becomes a likely incident.  The issue now is not just the cost, but unsatisfied customers that will scout for competitor providers. CIOs are also concerned that when things are running smoothly, this may be the time when issues of performance, security or service availability may arise…

Grazed from NewsWire.  Author: Teddy Abdurrachim Jasin.

For over last ten years or more, VM World has turned out to be one of the most sought after event on different aspects of cloud computing. Today the event boasts of over 21000 attendees and it could be even more in the upcoming event to be held on Tuesday, 30^th July, 11 AM PT.

Latest trend in the modern commercial world dominated by information technology is cloud computing. Commercial organizations; especially large ones are considerably dependent on their employees having the right hardware as well as software to perform their jobs. Just buying computers for every employee won’t be enough as you will have to take care of right hardware and software to perform the job including user license for them…

Grazed from MarketWired.  Author: PR Announcement.

TIBCO Software Inc. TIBX -0.94% today announced it has been positioned by Gartner, Inc. in the "Leaders" quadrant of the "Magic Quadrant for On-Premise Integration Platforms."  "We are happy with our continued placement in the ‘leaders’ quadrant, especially in a market that is at the core of our strategy," said Lou Jordano, senior director of product marketing, TIBCO.

"In addition to helping our customers extract value from their applications, integration nowadays allows them to manage the increased volumes coming from their Cloud, Mobile, Social and Big Data initiatives in real time."…

Grazed from Mondaq.  Author: Jason Weinstein.

The International Association of Privacy Professionals has published my article on how US cloud providers and the US government can respond to the wave of hypocrisy from the EU over PRISM.  European cloud providers have tried for years to gain a competitive advantage in the European market over U.S.-based counterparts by claiming that content stored with European providers is more protected from government access than data stored with U.S. companies. These European providers have tried to instill fear in potential customers, claiming that the USA PATRIOT Act gives the U.S. government essentially unfettered access to content stored with U.S. companies.

As has been well-documented here and elsewhere, the truth is that the U.S. imposes tighter restrictions on the ability of its law enforcement and security agencies to get data stored in the U.S. than many EU governments face in accessing data stored in their home countries. Moreover, unlike in the U.S., providers in the EU can voluntarily provide content and customer data to the government, and EU providers are required to retain data for up to two years, helping ensure the data is there when the government comes looking for it…

Grazed from InformationWeek.  Author: Doug Henschen.

Statements about the death of the mainframe have been made for at least a couple of decades. But IBM keeps proving that with new technology and timely facelifts aimed at the latest market demands, mainframes can stay relevant.  The latest wrinkle remover for the System Z mainframe, spotlighted with this week’s release of the IBM zEnterprise BC12 (Business Class) entry-level mainframe, is extended support for growing use cases including big data analytics and cloud computing. The BC12 will start shipping in September, about one year after the release of vendor’s latest Enterprise Class machine, the zEnterprise EC12.

New capabilities inherited from the EC12 include an IBM DB2 Analytics Accelerator that IBM says provides significantly faster performance for workloads such as Cognos and SPSS analytics. That’s compared to BC12’s predecessor, the z114, and to alternative platforms, like highly distributed x86 server deployments. The BC12 also attaches to Netezza and newer PureData for Analytics appliances used for high-scale data warehousing…

Grazed from TechRepublic. Author: Will Kelly.

Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) as a trend is touching enterprises of all sizes. The Small to Medium Business (SMB) can find a lot to love in BYOD, but to reap the benefits, they need to pay close attention to the basics and not be drawn into the hype.

BYOD policies of even a formal BYOD initiative may seem overkill for an SMB. There’s a lot of contradicting viewpoints about whether or not an SMB even needs to worry about BYOD. However, if an employee’s personal device is accessing your corporate network and being used to conduct corporate business on a regular basis, then your SMB needs at least a basic BYOD framework that covers device security, network security, and related policies. Here are some basics for SMBs to consider about BYOD…

Grazed from NewsFactor. Author: Editorial Staff.

EMC Relevant Products/Services’s second-quarter net income was driving higher by nearly 8 percent thanks to surging demand for data Relevant Products/Services storage Relevant Products/Services equipment. The company affirmed its full-year profit and revenue guidance, and its shares jumped more than 6 percent in early trading. For the quarter ended June 30, EMC earned $701 million, or 32 cents per share, compared with $650 million, or 29 cents per share, last year. Adjusted to exclude stock-based compensation expenses, amortization costs and other items, earnings were 42 cents per share.

Revenue rose 5.7 percent to $5.61 billion from $5.31 billion, with both product sales and services logging gains. U.S. revenue, which represents just over half of all revenue for the company, rose 4 percent. Revenue outside of the U.S. jumped 8 percent. The Asia Pacific and Japan and the Latin American regions both posted double-digit gains, EMC said…