Grazed from ComputerWorld. Author: Eric Knorr.

When we started talking about cloud computing five years ago, it meant one thing: Services such as Amazon or Salesforce that customers could self-provision over the Internet and pay as they go.

That’s what we call the "public cloud" today, as opposed to the "private cloud," which refers to the application of public cloud technologies and practices to one’s own data center. And guess what? The public cloud was where the action was in 2012 — and it’s where much of the action is going to be in 2013. According to IDC, businesses will spend $40 billion on the public cloud this year, rising to nearly $100 billion in 2016…

Grazed from WorksManagement.co.uk.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Businesses remain sceptical over cloud services, especially public cloud computing, and while they see the benefits of adoption, perceived risks are causing concern.  That’s chief among findings just release by global IT professionals organisation ISACA, which conducted research among 4,500 senior IT people across 83 countries.

Commenting its 2012 IT Risk/Reward Barometer report, Marc Vael, international vice president of ISACA, says: "What is apparent from this study is the perception of control. Private cloud scores better than both public and hybrid cloud, when asked if the benefit outweighs the risk, yet take up is still relatively low."…

Grazed from Reuters.  Author: Alexei Oreskovic and Alistair Barr.

When Amazon.com Inc CEO Jeff Bezos got word of a project at Google Inc to scan and digitize product catalogs a decade ago, the seeds of a burgeoning rivalry were planted.   The news was a "wake-up" call to Bezos, an early investor in Google. He saw it as a warning that the Web search engine could encroach upon his online retail empire, according to a former Amazon executive.

"He realized that scanning catalogs was interesting for Google, but the real win for Google would be to get all the books scanned and digitized" and then sell electronic editions, the former executive said.  Thus began a rivalry that will escalate in 2013 as the two companies’ areas of rivalry grow, spanning online advertising and retail to mobile gadgets and cloud computing…

Grazed from CloudTech.  Author: Wieland Alge.

You may already be familiar with the term ‘Real Time Protection’, which could just as easily be labeled ‘Cloud Protection’. Simply put, when a vendor’s research team identifies a new email threat, the characteristics of the message are sent to all affected hardware appliances straightaway, so that the malicious content is immediately blocked. This all happens far ahead of the regular update by on-premise virus signatures.

Because they are outsourced, Cloud technologies can be implemented far more flexibly; it could also be referred to as an "elastic protection". Conventional security technologies demand computing power from both onsite hardware and software. But when new threats emerge it means that much more computing power is necessary to take successful action against the threats from one moment to the next. This performance can be provided in the Cloud without having to replace or upgrade the customer’s equipment…

Grazed from CloudTimes.  Author: Sue Poremba.

Use of cloud services at home, in the workplace and in large enterprises has steadily and significantly increased. Now we are seeing a similar trend with mobile devices and cloud technology. Mobile devices are already accessing a number of cloud services, such as Dropbox, and more third-party applications utilize cloud computing technology. It is only a matter of time until the technology becomes the central force to mobile applications. Where will the future of the mobile cloud lie?

“Mobile platforms are already accessing the cloud for a lot of consumer-based services such as email, social media, online file storage and corporate communications tools. But so far, there are essentially only two players here ñ the individual or consumer, and the consumer cloud service,” said Dan Matthews, chief technology officer with IFS North America. “One of the biggest changes I think we will see in the next year or two is the entry of a third player ñ the corporate back-end system (e.g., corporate ERP, Financials, SCM and other mission-critical systems).”

Grazed from BizJournals.  Author: Lauren K. Ohnesorge.

Five years ago, Jim Whitehurst was introduced to investors as CEO of Raleigh-based Red Hat (NYSE: RHT).  Last night, following the release of Street-beating earnings, we chatted about his tenure as CEO (“I picked a great company to work for,” he laughs) and, most importantly, about what Red Hat sees for the cloud.

“I think cloud, ultimately, is about having this single fabric,” he says, adding that it should be like a highway transportation system. “It’s there. Any car can use it. Any car can drive on it. You don’t make cars too big to fit in a lane. It’s a common system.”…

Grazed from RGC.  Author: Steve Cerocke.

2012 has been a challenge and a year of recovery and change for Northern Nevada. If you are reading this, then you have survived the end-of-time hype of the Mayan calendar prophecies and probably are resigned to continue your march toward the new year. As you contemplate the beginning of a new calendar, it is a good time to review 2012 and see where past developments portend new opportunities.

One of the biggest local announcements was Apple’s decision to build a data center and office space in the region. While this is great news for our local economy, the real benefits will come from the name recognition and the diversification that this type of industry can bring. Technology-focused businesses like Apple, Intuit and Microsoft attract and develop a new type of workforce that will positively influence the economy, education and our community for years to come…