Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Leiden Johnson.

Making the switch from hardware to the cloud is a decision that requires a lot of thinking. While there are a lot of pros that can be said, there are also some cons which may affect the way a business runs. Before any major changes, a business must look into what they are potentially going to invest in.

There are so many services based on the cloud these days, from Google Drive to RingCentral but being well-informed is not a difficult task. Here are a few factoids from Vorsite, Nuage Consulting Group, D Cloud Computing, and Capgemini regarding cloud computing that may help make any decision-maker’s task a little bit easier while learning some trivia in the process…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

Logicalis, an international IT solutions and managed services provider (http://www.us.logicalis.com), has been named “Best Cloud Consultant” at the Cloudcor UP 2012 Cloud Computing Conference held last month in San Francisco. The conference’s 2012 UP-START Cloud Awards have become the cloud community’s de-facto recognition for organizations that contribute to and cultivate the understanding, appreciation and advancement of cloud computing to the business and technology community.

Disruptive and next-generation cloud computing companies as well as innovative solution providers are invited to showcase their capabilities during the conference and to nominate themselves in any of 22 prestigious categories for consideration by a global community of cloud experts…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Randy Weis.

The idea of offering Disaster Recovery services has been around as long as SunGard or IBM BCRS (Business Continuity & Resiliency Services). Disclaimer: I worked for the company that became IBM Information Protection Services in 2008, a part of BCRS. It seems inevitable that Cloud Computing and Cloud Storage should have an impact on the kinds of solutions that small, medium and large companies would find attractive and would fit their requirements. Those cloud-based DR services are not taking the world by storm, however. Why is that?

Cloud infrastructure seems perfectly suited for economical DR solutions, yet I would bet that none of the people reading this blog has found a reasonable selection of cloud-based DR services in the market. That is not to say that there aren’t DR “As a Service” companies, but the offerings are limited. Again, why is that?…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Ted Samson.

Microsoft is rumored to be in talks to invest as much as $3 billion in Dell’s much-hyped buyout, according to various sources, leaving observers scratching their heads as to what the software giant would possibly have to gain from owning a significant chunk of the struggling hardware maker. One possibility: Microsoft needs a hardware partner to further its cloud ambitions and take on Google, and cloud-focused Dell could fit the bill.

The bottom line: Microsoft may believe it needs a hardware partner to further its cloud vision. Dell, meanwhile, is in a vulnerable position in the increasingly competitive PC market and is welcoming a buyout to go private and redefine itself as a cloud hardware company while avoiding the scrutiny, impatience, and fickleness of public investors. By sinking a couple billion dollars into helping Dell go private, Microsoft could leverage that investment to use Dell as its go-to hardware partner and as a vehicle to advance its cloud vision — the way it sunk $1 billion into Nokia to compete in the smartphone market…

Puppet Labs, a leading provider of IT automation software for system administrators, today announced that VMware, Inc. has invested $30 million in the company. Coincident with the funding, the companies agreed to a strategic partnership for delivering IT management solutions that will enable customers to fully realize the agility and productivity benefits of virtualization and cloud in heterogeneous, multi-vendor IT environments. Through the funding and partnership, Puppet Labs will be able to accelerate the development of its award-winning products, increase market adoption in new geographies, and work jointly with VMware to deliver, market and sell solutions.

"Puppet Labs is at the forefront of IT automation, and is a catalyst in the DevOps movement — accelerating service delivery and business agility," said Ramin Sayar, Vice President and General Manager, Virtualization & Cloud Management, VMware. "This strategic investment and partnership will further accelerate the software-defined data center, and will allow a more extensive automation and orchestration solution across infrastructure and application elements for VMware-based private and public clouds, physical infrastructures, OpenStack and Amazon Web Services."

Grazed from DazeInfo. Author: Abhishek Singh.

IBM Q4 2012 earnings report is now globally available. The company has reported a GAAP net income of $5.8 billion for Q4 2012, up 6% from the same quarter of the previous year. On the other side, its Non-GAAP net income was $6.1 billion in Q4 2012. Last year, the company outstandingly performed in BRIC countries–Brazil, Russia, India and China. Really, Q4 2012 was one of the best quarters for the company over the last couple of years.

IBM Q4 2012 Earnings:
IBM has reported revenues of $29.3 billion in Q4 2012, down 1% from $29.5 billion in Q4, 2011. The company’s earnings per share were $5.39 in Q4 2012, up from $4.71 billion in the last year. Furthermore, the company’s net income for the year, ended December 31, 2012 – was $16.6 billion, increased from $15.9 billion from the prior year. In addition, operating (non-GAAP) net income was $17.6 billion in Q4 2012, up 8% from $16.3 billion in 2011…

Grazed from HOB Software. Author: PR Announcement.

HOB announced today that the Cloud Computing Awards, a program dedicated to celebrating excellence in cloud computing across the U.S. and internationally, has named HOB the winner of the Security Innovation of the Year. The Cloud Computing Awards program recognizes the best web-based cloud computing services from both start-ups and established enterprises. The Security Innovation of the Year is awarded to the company with a genuinely original and inventive approach to cloud security.

HOB is the market leader in pure software-based solutions, specializing in secure connectivity – and mobile worker access. HOB’s core competence is in server-based computing with RDP. HOB provides secure access to remote desktops, virtual desktop infrastructures, legacy systems, data or networks from any device around the world with its most popular security solution, HOB RD VPN. It provides multi-client capability and utilizes reliable SSL-encryption, ensuring a high level of security…

Grazed from CRN. Author: Rick Whiting.

Reaping the benefits of its initiatives in cloud computing, mobile technology and its HANA in-memory database, software giant SAP (NYSE:SAP) Wednesday reported double-digit growth for its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2012 sales. SAP also is undergoing a reorganization and centralization of its sales operations, putting both channel sales and regional direct sales under Rob Enslin, president of global operations.

SAP reported total revenue of 5.0 billion Euros (U.S. $6.7 billion) for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31, up 12 percent from 4.5 billion Euros (U.S. $6.0 billion) in the same period one year earlier. After-tax profits, however dropped 8 percent to 1.1 billion Euros (U.S. $1.5 billion) from 1.2 billion Euros (U.S. $1.6 billion) one year earlier…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

Intermedia, a provider of cloud services and one of the largest third-party providers of hosted Microsoft Exchange services, is planning to acquire cloud-based communications services providers Telanetix for about $55 million, including the assumption of approximately $13 million in net debt and certain liabilities.

With the pending acquisition, Intermedia plans to expand its Office in the Cloud strategy, which includes an integrated suite of cloud services for small and medium businesses. Telanetix does business under the AccessLine brand, and through that, Intermedia will gain about 100 new staff members with experience in providing hosted voice services…