Grazed from NetworkWorld. Author: Jay Alabaster.

Google has ended a free version of its Google Apps online application suite for small businesses, saying it wants to provide a stronger and more uniform experience to users. The Internet giant said Thursday in a blog post that now even small businesses with 10 or fewer users will have to pay to use its online app platform, a group that up until now has been free. All businesses will now be charged $50 per user, per year, for the service.

Google Apps will remain free for individual users, as well as existing business customers that currently use the free version. "Google Apps for Business," the company’s paid offering, provides its email, calendar and online office suite as an all-in-one service, allowing them to be used on private domain names and adding features such as 24-hour phone support. It also offers features such as an archiving service and additional storage for extra fees…

Grazed from NetworkWorld. Author: Brandon Butler.

Amazon Web Services, which Gartner recently named a market-leader in infrastructure as a service cloud computing, has the "dubious status of ‘worst SLA (service level agreement) of any major cloud provider’" analyst Lydia Leong blogged today, but HP’s newly available public cloud service could be even worse..

HP launched the general availability of its HP Compute Cloud on Wednesday along with an SLA. Both AWS and HP impose strict guidelines in how users must architect their cloud systems for the SLAs to apply in the case of service disruptions, leading to increased costs for users…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: David Linthicum.

The recent announcement of Amazon.com’s Redshift — and other cloud-delivered databases, for that matter — makes it clear we’re moving to a future where some or even most of our data will exist in public clouds. Although the cost savings are compelling, I believe this migration will happen much more slowly than cloud providers predict. Indeed, for the Global 2000, cloud-based data stores will initially be a very hard sell, though the poorer small businesses won’t have any other choice, economically speaking.

That said, there are a few problems you need to consider before you load your data onto USB drives and ship it to a cloud computing data center. First and foremost, you’re dumping your data onto USB drives, when are then dropped off at UPS. No kidding — it’s too much data to upload. There are other problems to consider as well…

Grazed from CloudTech. Author: Sharon Florentine.

The Cloud ERP (enterprise resource planning) landscape is expanding, and competition is heating up. Back in July 2012, Web-based business software provider NetSuite’s Q2 revenue and earnings numbers were the first indicators of a growing trend in the Cloud ERP space.

As Ben Kepes reported in the Cloud Ave blog, NetSuite’s subscription and support revenues were $61 million, a 27 percent increase of Q2 2011. And NetSuite’s cash flow from operations was up 80 percent year-over-year to $15.2 million. Don’t yawn – yes, earnings reports in and of themselves aren’t exactly riveting. But as Kepes said, the trend that these numbers indicate signals a very important shift in the ERP space…

Grazed from Product Reviews. Author: Chris Cook.

The processor market is a pretty tough one with the big two trying to outdo each other with a range of new models. Just recently we saw the release of nine new AMD Opteron processors, but what makes these so special is that they are aimed at Cloud computing. So what makes these processors so special that they are better for Cloud computing?

Firstly we’d like to inform you that the new AMD Opteron processors consist of the 3300 and 4300 Series, which are entry-level and mid-range CPUs, and where they differ from the previous generation is not only are they more energy efficient but also offers an increased performance as well. AMD say that these characteristics make them perfect for not only web hosts but Cloud providers also…

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Lindsey Nelson.

What drives IT in your organization – cost or agility? Within the IT organization, most discussions are currently focused on cost controls rather than the greater potential benefit – business agility. More often, we hear “How much capital and operational expense can I cut with cloud?” Yet, business leaders outside of the IT function are beginning to change that conversation to “How will cloud improve revenue or my company’s competitiveness?”

Beyond cost reduction, demonstrating the true value of cloud computing has its challenges. In a newly released business-agility survey, corporate decision makers linked cloud computing directly to business agility. It shows that the hype around cloud computing is maturing into facts that cloud can really support both IT and business transformation. Business leaders link cloud computing directly to significant business improvement. According to a joint survey by VMware and AbsolutData of 600 corporate leaders from around the world, the majority of respondents believe that cloud computing can help:…

Grazed from NetworkWorld. Author: Ellen Messmer.

It’s the time when predictions for the new year run high, and when it comes to IT security, Gartner analysts are predicting that 2013 is going to be about expansion of cloud computing and the struggle by the enterprise to achieve appropriate security for it. "Increased adoption of cloud-based computing is expected to impact the way security is consumed as well as how key government agencies will prioritize security of public cloud infrastructure," was the take from Gartner analysts Ruggero Contu, Lawrence Pingree, and Eric Ahlm in their predictions forecast.

Gartner predicts by 2015, 10% of overall IT security enterprise capabilities will be delivered in the cloud, with the focus today clearly on messaging, Web security and remote vulnerability assessment. However, there’s also the expectation there will be more on the way, such as data-loss prevention, encryption, authentication available too as technologies aimed to support cloud computing mature…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: TJ Keitt.

The online cloud-based collaboration services market is heating up. Established software vendors — think Google, Microsoft and IBM, as well as new entrants to the space — are building impressive client lists that include large enterprises across the vertical spectrum.

This isn’t just vendors trying to one-up each other — there’s a real and growing market demand for these tools. A recent Forrester survey found that more than 56% of software decision-makers are using or would use software-as-a-service (SaaS) offerings to replace or complement their existing collaboration technology. Why are online collaboration services so appealing? Because SaaS gives business leaders the following three advantages:…

Grazed from ClearCi. Author: PR Announcement.

clearCi, a Fort Lauderdale-based technology startup, has officially become a finalist for four impressive categories in the 2012 UP-START Cloud Awards. The competition recognizes companies that advance cloud computing to business and technology communities around the world.

“The first round was entirely based on gaining votes from our customer base and general public,” said Emmanuel Trenche, VP of Marketing Communications at clearCi. “Going up against Microsoft, Dell and SIlicon Valley startups made us think creatively to stand out.”…

Grazed from BNA. Author: Editorial Staff.

States continue to take a checkerboard approach in determining whether sales tax applies to cloud computing, according to a panel of experts at New York University’s 31st Institute on State and Local Taxation, and only recently have buyers, more so than sellers, expressed an interest in the tax consequences of cloud computing issues.

Setting the Stage

From a technological perspective, cloud computing typically falls into three categories: (1) access to software, (2) access to platforms, and (3) access to infrastructure. Yet, according to Arthur R. Rosen, a partner at McDermott Will & Emory LLP in New York, many states will tax such access as either:…