Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

Dimension Data has implemented WAN optimization technology across its entire global cloud data center to speed up application performance for its customers. According to the ICT solutions and services provider, the deployment of WAN optimization controller appliances across its Managed Cloud Platform cloud data centers, the company has "significantly" increased application performance across its entire cloud around the world. Customers use Dimension Data’s cloud for database replication, file synchronization, and backup and disaster recovery between data centers, and the company noted improved performance across the cloud.

The appliances were rolled out in the cloud data centers in San Jose, California and Ashburn, Virginia in the U.S.; Amsterstam in The Netherlands; Sydney, Australia; and Johannesburg, South Africa. To keep things secure, Dimension Data set up the system to encrypt data over a VPN tunnel and optimized for delivery using deduplication and application-specific protocol optimization…

Grazed from VentureBeat. Author: Editorial Staff.

While software has been “eating the world” for years in the consumer world, now start-up software is infiltrating even the largest of enterprises at an ever increasing rate. Today’s enterprise-grade datacenter infrastructure makes it easier than ever for startups to rapidly build and deploy disruptive software. This is the basis for applications like Box.net, Marketo, and Nimble that quickly emerged as “must-have” software.

I’ve been in the software and infrastructure business long enough to have seen everything – from the fall of the VAX to rise of fall of client/server architectures – but it’s within the last 3 years that rapid displacement of enterprise software has taken place. It’s a mix of “must have” and “good enough” that drive the growth of these start-ups and it’s Cloud computing that is “greasing the wheels.” Gartner says the worldwide market for Software as a Service (SaaS) will be $14.4 billion in 2012. Much of that is from companies and products created in the Cloud…

Grazed from eWeek. Author: Nathon Eddy.

Nearly three-quarters of IT professionals believe that employees’ personal use of cloud applications and mobile devices has significantly influenced their organizations’ decisions to adopt cloud computing, with 68 percent stating that employee requests for cloud services have increased in the last two years, according to CDW’s "2013 State of the Cloud Report." Based on CDW’s survey of 1,242 IT professionals, the report indicated cloud computing is on the rise within organizations, as 39 percent of organizations reported they are implementing or maintaining cloud solutions—up from 28 percent in 2011.

Two-thirds of the IT professionals surveyed said that their use of cloud applications and services in their non-work lives directly influences their cloud-related recommendations at work. "Organizations’ adoption of cloud computing has steadily increased, which comes as no surprise given the growth of mobility and the consumerization of IT," Stephen Braat, CDW’s general manager of cloud solutions, said in a statement. "By aligning cloud services with critical applications and preferences of employees that use mobile devices, organizations can better capture business value that includes cost savings, increased efficiency, improved employee mobility, and an increased ability to create innovative new products and services."…

Grazed from BillingWorld. Author: Craig Galbraith.

A new year brings new opportunities and seven key challenges for IT managers. While this new white paper discusses "Seven communications trends for 2013," today we will focus on just one: the cloud! According to a recent Gartner study, cloud computing was expected to grow 19 percent, from $91 billion in 2011 to $109 billion in 2012. By 2016, the 2012 number will nearly double to $207 billion. Forrester Research’s The Cloud Computing Playbook suggests that "Cloud computing has reached an inflection point for enterprises — a comprehensive strategy for its use is now required.

Until now, most companies ha[ve] adopted cloud services in an ad hoc fashion, driven mostly by business leaders and developers looking to deliver new systems of engagement they felt could not be delivered by corporate IT — or in the time frame required. These ad hoc experiences prove that cloud solutions are now ready to be strategic resources in your business technology portfolio."…

Grazed from CIO. Author: David Taber.

The promise of cloud computing is that you, the customer, don’t ever have to buy another server, back up another disk drive or worry about another software upgrade. All those promises are true-and now there are multimillion-dollar companies without a single server closet. Cool.

Unfortunately, too often cloud applications and services are bought by people who really shouldn’t be buying. Sure, they may have the budget-did you hear Gartner’s prediction that the CMO will spend more on tech than the CIO by 2017?-but that doesn’t mean they necessarily have the training to make good IT decisions, let alone the discipline or skills in their underlings to actually execute a coordinated technology strategy…

Grazed from Investors Daily. Author: Reinhardt Krause.

Rackspace Hosting (RAX) late Tuesday reported fourth-quarter sales below estimates, as cloud computing growth slowed, sending shares down in after-hours trading. Rackspace said Q4 revenue rose 24.5% to $352.9 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected sales of $355.4 million. Rackspace posted Q4 profit, minus items, of 21 cents a share, up 17% from a year earlier, in-line with estimates.

Rackspace garnered 24.7% of Q4 sales from cloud computing products, up from 20.6% in the year-earlier period. Rackspace said cloud sales rose to $87.3 million in Q4, up 49% from the year-earlier quarter. But Q4 marked more slowing in cloud growth. Cloud revenue rose 69% in Q2 and 57% in Q3 year over year. Adjusted earnings rose 27% to $130 million, Rackspace said…

Grazed from Insider Monkey. Author: Editorial Staff.

Want your mind blown? The Motley Fool Rulebreakers released this report revealing the significance of what has now become referred to as “the cloud.” Give it a read. What is the cloud?

To be clear, the definition of cloud computing is sometimes still debated among investing and technological professionals. In short, though, cloud computing is a new industry where services are offered and delivered via a network, primarily the internet. Most all firms providing cloud computing services utilize rental or pay as you models for charging users.

Following are 3 of some of the most utilized services:

• Software (like accounting, information systems, or HR)
• Storage (benefits of data storehouses without owning the necessary tools)
• Infrastructure (benefits of hardware and structure without owning the assets)…

Grazed from PRCarbon. Author: Editorial Staff.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. (NYSE:AMD) displayed a poor performance at stocks market last year. The stock that touched the peak of $8.35 dropped to as low as $1.81 – a net 78% implosion, due to the fact of slowing down PC business. Advanced Micro Devices is also expected to be non profitable in the initial time frame of 2013.

Advanced Micro Devices, Inc. currently doesn’t make the cheapest or fastest and most powerful micro processors; that honor is still with the Intel. But AMD does make a micro processing server chip with amazingly fast speed and energy-efficient and when these machines are arranged to work alongside, they can be more effective as faster and more powerful than Intel chips and still consumer less power…

Grazed from MarketWire. Author: PR Announcement.

AltiGen Communications, Inc. (OTCQX: ATGN), the leading provider of integrated Microsoft-based Unified Communications solutions, today announced that Auxilion (www.auxilion.com) has deployed AltiGen’s MaxACD contact center solution for Microsoft Lync. Auxilion is an innovative virtual support services provider that uses Microsoft cloud technology and a virtual workforce to deliver affordable, enterprise-quality business outsourcing solutions in the areas of IT support services, customer support and project support.

Auxilion recently replaced its aging Nortel Meridian phone system with Microsoft Lync, which provides a complete unified communications solution encompassing voice, video, IM, conferencing and desktop sharing. In addition, Auxilion needed a turn-key Microsoft certified contact center solution that included advanced call routing, agent monitoring/management, call recording and reporting for its virtual support services…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Vanessa James.

There is little argument today that cloud-based computing has taken the IT world by storm and continues to gain in popularity, including within the realm of nonprofit organizations. Unlike the usual small-business-style enterprises, nonprofit organizations are generally not resource rich and usually not terribly fluent in the IT business. We’ll walk through some of the cloud computing basics in this first of a two-part series devoted to the particular cloud-based computing needs of small to medium-sized nonprofit agencies.

Funds are stretched pretty thinly, especially in today’s economic climate — where giving has markedly decreased or is limited to grant-mandated specific uses. In turn, budgets for nonprofit organization IT expenditures are often small. Choosing the right technology and using IT budgets effectively is crucial to an organization’s health and allows CIOs and executive directors to focus on membership and the mission…