Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: CJ Arlotta.

Backup and management solutions for public cloud storage services vendor CloudBerry Lab has released a new version of CloudBerry Backup adding new capabilities for scheduled and real time backups to any FTP or Secure FTP.

CloudBerry Backup aims to automate encrypted and compressed data backup directly to public cloud storage such as Amazon S3, Amazon Glacier, Windows Azure, HP Cloud, Rackspace or OpenStack. The upgrade, CloudBerry Backup 3.4, includes the FTP and Secure FTP server backup storage options…

Grazed from CloudPro. Author: James Stirling.

Infor and IBM have announced an agreement which will see Infor offering its enterprise application software on IBM’s public, private and hybrid SmartCloud infrastructure. Infor offers enterprise CRM, ERP, financial management, human resources and business intelligence software. The deal means that Infor’s popular applications such as Infor LN, Infor M3, Infor Lawson, and Infor HCM will be available through IBM’s cloud.

Infor said that many organisations are keen to take advantage of cloud computing to run business critical applications on the cloud, but may require around-the-clock customer service, security and high availability, as well as greater resiliency for mission-critical operations…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Thomas Claburn.

Apple’s iCloud experienced technical problems for several hours early Tuesday morning, although the extent of the outage remains unclear due to lack of information from Apple.
Some of the issues appear to have been resolved, but Apple’s Game Center showed problems with user sign-ins reoccurring at 10:30 a.m. Pacific time, after issues earlier in the morning had been resolved.

Although Apple improved its Services, Stores and iCloud status page late last year, the company still does not publish much detail about the cause of service outages or the number of affected customers…

Grazed from GNC.com. Author: Michael Daconta.

The term “cloud broker” currently has two definitions that are different enough to cause confusion in the government IT community, especially in the frenetic landscape of cloud computing.
Originally, the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Cloud Computing Reference Architecture defined a cloud broker as an entity (person or organization) that provides intermediary-type services between a cloud consumer and multiple cloud providers. For the Defense Department, the DOD CIO specified that the Defense Information Systems Agency would fulfill the role of Enterprise Cloud Service Broker.

This is the traditional definition of a broker, akin to a stock broker or commodity broker, where an intermediary assists a customer navigate through a complex environment of many options. A better name for this may be “cloud agent.” A second definition of cloud broker pertains to a new type of software that sits on top of cloud providers to abstract, simplify and map various cloud offerings to your environment. Cloud broker software assists organizations in creating solutions in the cloud, migrating solutions to the cloud and moving solutions between clouds…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: David Davies.

Converting a virtualized data center to a software-defined data center enables automation and self-service. In practice, VMware’s software-defined data center concept restructures the data center’s software and the virtualization admin’s role to provide Infrastructure as a Service.

"Software-defined data center" (SDDC) is a generic term that doesn’t describe any particular vendor’s solution. However, VMware coined the term — a very new concept and one that is not even fully fulfilled by VMware’s current offering. You could implement a software-defined data center with other competitive solutions, but VMware is the only vendor using the SDDC moniker. VMware says that its software-defined data center concept is different from other cloud offerings, with a focus on Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)…

Grazed from CIO. Author: Thor Olavsrud.

"There aren’t just skill gaps among technologists," Tom Clancy, vice president of EMC Education Services at EMC, says. "They also exist at the business leader and manager level." "Implementing transformational IT strategies, such as cloud and [IT as a Service] ITaaS, or data science and big data analytics, isn’t just about the technology," he adds. "At EMC, we say ‘transformation transcends IT,’ because transformation requires new business models, new roles, new skills, new organizational alignment and, most importantly, a new mindset."

Business transformation often requires executives or business leaders with vision who are prepared to force the business to break down organizational and information silos and turn corporate culture on its ear. That vision requires understanding of the concepts, skills and strategies associated with big data and cloud technologies, and many executives lack the fundamental understanding they need, according to Clancy…

Grazed from MarketWire. Author: PR Announcement.

CoreMatrix(R), a leading cloud computing consulting company, today announced that the healthcare industry is increasingly adopting cloud solutions to help meet many of the new IT challenges it faces in an era of healthcare transformation.

Government incentives and mandates are driving every healthcare provider organization — from the smallest medical practices to the largest healthcare systems — to use electronic health records (EHRs). This has created an urgent need for healthcare organizations to manage volumes of data and have at their disposal IT expertise. Both capabilities are signature attributes of cloud solutions…

Grazed from MarketWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Taulia Inc., the market-leading SaaS platform for dynamic discounting, announced the addition of one of the world’s largest automobile manufacturers to their rapidly growing client portfolio. Taulia will provide its entire Business Exchange Suite to the auto, motorcycle and power-equipment manufacturer, which will include its innovative dynamic discounting and supplier self-services solution.

Taulia’s cloud-based platform will allow the manufacturer the ability to eliminate supplier invoice inquiry calls, reduce operating expenses and save millions annually by capitalizing on early payment discounts. For the automaker’s supplier-base, the switch to Taulia’s platform will provide a host of benefits, including:…

Grazed from CloudTech. Author: Jane McCallion.

Salesforce.com, the software-as-a-service (SaaS) provider best known for its CRM platform, has unveiled what it is terming the third pillar of its Marketing Cloud offering, Social.com. The new service, which joins Radian6 and Buddy Media to make up Marketing Cloud, will allow brands and advertising agencies to build social ad campaigns for Facebook and Twitter that are both proactive and reactive, the company claims.

Gordon Evans, global senior director of product marketing at Salesforce, told Cloud Pro: “We believe this is the first truly social marketing platform. As well as offering campaign creation, optimisation and automation, Social.com also has two features we believe are unique: listening integration and CRM integration.”…

Grazed from The Wall Street Journal. Author: PR Announcement.

CA Technologies today announced CA Clarity Playbook, an innovative mobile application that uniquely empowers CXOs to strategically manage their organization’s technology investments in the context of their high-level business goals and objectives–right from their iPads.

Delivered via a SaaS model, CA Clarity Playbook also makes it easy for CXOs to quickly collaborate with key process stakeholders and respond more quickly to changing business needs anywhere, any time. "IT and the business have to work hand-in-hand to create new revenue streams and deliver a differentiated brand experience–even in the face of finite structural and human resources," said Lokesh Jindal, general manager, Service and Portfolio Management, CA Technologies. "CA Clarity Playbook enables this critical coordination by giving executives the ability to nimbly adapt plans, activities and priorities."…