Grazed from American Banker. Author: Penny Crosman.

The PCI Data Security Standard Cloud Computing Guidelines are detailed and spell out who — client or cloud service provider — has responsibility for what types of security precautions. For instance, installing and maintaining a firewall to protect cardholder data would be a shared responsibility between client and provider under infrastructure-as-a-service and platform-as-a-service cloud configurations. But for software-as-a-service, in which the cloud provider hosts software delivered over the web, the firewall would be the sole responsibility of the provider, the PCI Council has decided.

An overarching theme of the guidelines is that users of cloud services should not lean on their cloud providers for security. "Cloud security is a shared responsibility between the cloud service provider and its clients," the report states. "As they should, the rules put some onus on the cloud service provider and some on the client," observes Anton Chuvakin, research director at Gartner. "In general, a client has more responsibilities and the document reflects that correctly."…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

Gravitant is expanding the governance capabilities on its cloudMatrix cloud brokerage and management platform. The new capabilities will first roll out for Amazon Web Services (NASDAQ:AMZN), but Gravitant plans to roll it out for other cloud platforms over time.

The two main enhancements to the platform include:

• Continuous cloud asset discovery and sync, which will begin with Amazon Web Services and roll out to other providers over time. According to Gravitant, the new discovery and sync capabilities enhance internal governance capabilities to discover and control shadow IT and provide an alternate sourcing option.
• The integration of government-certified cloud providers into the cloudMatrix electronic services catalog, which is designed to enhance external governance capabilities through secure clouds…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Jeffrey M. Kaplan.

While industry pundits continue to debate the merits of public versus private clouds, most business technology decision-makers are trying to determine the best way to manage a mixed environment. But it’s proving difficult for a number of reasons. Most mid-size and large organizations have never gained full control over their on-premises IT operations and business applications. For many IT groups, legacy network and systems management software has been far too complicated and costly, much like ERP systems, which most businesses still haven’t been able to implement fully.

The way in which companies adopt cloud services and the various ways in which cloud service providers support their offerings compound the IT department’s challenges. The consumerization of IT lets business units and end users acquire software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service and even infrastructure-as-a-service alternatives without IT’s help or approval. This end-run can strain networks, trigger security alerts and create additional integration requirements, putting another layer of complexity on top of the existing data center chaos…

Grazed from Investors Daily. Author: Reinhardt Krause.

Amazon.com (AMZN) is likely to spin off its cloud computing arm, Amazon Web Services, says Oppenheimer. In a report on the cloud industry released Monday, Oppenheimer analyst Tim Horan says Amazon’s cloud computing unit would be better off as a publicly traded subsidiary. "We believe an ultimate spinoff of AWS is inevitable due to its channel conflicts and the need to gain scale," Horan wrote. " We see the business as extremely valuable on a stand-alone basis, possibly even operating as a REIT (real estate investment trust).

"To date, public cloud users, including online retailers, have had few alternatives when utilizing the cloud, other than to fund one of its biggest competitors. New competition will change the dynamic, and with more credible options from which to choose, an increase in the number of defections and/or a loss or pause in market share will pressure Amazon to create two separate companies that are more horizontally segmented."…

Grazed from ComputerWeekly. Author: Archana Venkatraman.

Software as a service (SaaS) continues to be the top cloud service that the UK enterprises plan to use in 2013, despite newer cloud services such as datacentre as a service, database as a service or even testing and development as a service. A majority (55%) of respondents of the TechTarget and Computer Weekly UK IT priorities survey 2013 cited SaaS as the external cloud service that they will use this year.

Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) was the second most popular cloud service, with around 34% of some 400 IT executives surveyed planning to use it. In comparison, only 12% of respondents said they will use datacentre as a service and only 11% said they will use collaboration as a service. Other cloud computing services such as testing and development and private cloud design were also cited by less than 20% of the respondents…

Grazed from ITWeb. Author: Roelof Louw.

Cloud computing is predicted to be the future of the technology world, and analyst reports abound on the expected growth of the uptake of these solutions. However, security issues remain one of the dominant barriers with the adoption of cloud solutions. Many organisations are hesitant to migrate to the cloud in light of the ever-increasing number of attacks on cloud-based solutions, as well as the risk of downtime caused by natural disasters and other issues in the regions where cloud data is stored.

When making the transition to the cloud, it is critical to adopt an end-to-end approach that focuses on IT security, data protection and availability, enabling organisations to leverage the multiple benefits of the cloud while minimising the risks. Furthermore, it is crucial to factor in both the internal and external risks associated with cloud computing, which too require a holistic approach, says Roelof Louw, Cloud Expert at T-Systems in South Africa. This in turn requires that all potential threats be identified, and structured protection mechanisms are put into place which go beyond technology and incorporate processes and people across multiple areas…

Grazed from ElectronicsNews. Author: Isaac Leung.

NEW cloud computing algorithms may make high performance computing networks cheaper and more energy efficient. Professor Albert Zomaya, IT expert at the University of Sydney and director of High Performance Computing and Networking at the University’s Faculty of Engineering and Information Technologies, says computing needs to be more ecologically friendly.

Professor Zomaya will address next week’s Australian Data Centre Strategy Summit and argue the need to move to more ecologically friendly practices of computing. In that speech, he will reveal the development of new algorithms and tools for energy-aware resource management allocation for large-scale distributed systems, such as clouds, enabling these systems to become environmentally friendly…

Grazed from GigaOM. Author: Sanjay Poonen.

There is widespread agreement—across the globe and in every industry—that mobile, big data, and cloud computing are the three cornerstone issues of tomorrow’s business environment. In fact, a strong organizational response to each of these issues is already critical to competitive survival.

As a result, CIOs, business strategists and IT leaders are working furiously to make sure their businesses have plans in place to stay ahead of these challenges. But there is one subtlety that is frequently overlooked: When it comes to mobile computing, big data and the cloud, what we have is not three problems but one…

Grazed from CT Post.  Author: Editorial Staff.

When it comes to getting business done more efficiently, cloud computing has certainly helped; but up until recently, most business owners could only take advantage of cloud computing services on their PCs. This often meant that team members working on a project would need to physically be in front of their computers in order to collaborate on project files. Thankfully, service providers have taken notice of this disadvantage and have begun offering cloud computing for mobile devices as well.

Whether you have a Google phone or any other type of smartphone, you can now use a number of cloud networking technologies to access files from virtually any connected PC or mobile device. Essentially, using this technology, you, your employees and their coworkers will be able to upload files to central depositories, work on files together in real-time and then download files to mobile devices that receive a data connection. All of this means that your workforce will no longer be required to be in front of a PC to access your company’s important files from the cloud…

Grazed from Seattle Post.  Author: Editorial Staff.

When we think of the cloud’s impact on the corporate world, it is easy to get caught up in how it has changed the way we do business on a global level, how we can connect using a multitude of devices, or even how it has given small businesses access to better technology.  What sometimes gets lost is how the cloud has changed the IT industry as a whole.

Cloud computing is revolutionizing the IT industry, not only because it provides robust technology solutions at a variety of price points, but because it facilitates a change in the role of the IT organization itself.   "Cloud computing has the ability to transform an IT’s focus from performing business as usual activities (keeping the organization running) to driving IT innovation," explained Shally Stanley, managing director, Global Services…