September 17, 2012 Off

Apprenda seeks to make private PaaS more practical

By David

Grazed from GigaOM. Author: Barb Darrow.

Apprenda, hopes to make private PaaSes more attractive to companies by giving developers access to a public instance of its Paas to experiment with, then pull in house, according to company CEO Sinclair Schuller.

Many corporate developers have tried a platform as a service — Heroku, Engine Yard, Cloud Foundry — to develop and test applications. But when it comes time to deploy those applications, it’s hard to get their companies to approve running those applications on PaaSes that themselves run atop Amazon Web Services or other public cloud infrastructure…

September 17, 2012 Off

NetSuite Announces UK Cloud Event

By David

Grazed from PR NewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

NetSuite Inc. (NYSE: N), the industry’s leading provider of cloud-based financials / ERP software suites, today announced its Cloud Event in London for those interested in learning how to unleash the power of cloud computing in their organisation. NetSuite’s CEO Zach Nelson will be sharing strategic insights into the future of cloud computing, whilst a panel of business leaders, including Harvey Maria and 2Pure will discuss how companies can use the cloud to accelerate sales, delight customers, transform business productivity and improve operational efficiency.

The NetSuite event in London will be held from 3.00 – 6.30 p.m. at One Whitehall Place on Wednesday 26th September. For registration and additional details, please visit here…

September 17, 2012 Off

Cloud sovereignty? No problem!

By David

Grazed from ITWire. Author: Stephen Withers.

While making it clear that "We’re not trying to promote the idea that everything goes in the cloud," Rocky Heckman, technical evangelist at Microsoft, pointed out that most CIOs have to accommodate workloads that are inherently short term (eg, processing associated with Federal elections), fast growing (eg, at startup companies), or subject to predictable or unpredictable bursting.

Those workloads, he said, are suited to cloud deployment. The problem – from some organisations’ perspective – is that all of Microsoft’s Azure infrastructure is located outside Australia…

September 17, 2012 Off

IBM chief: Supercomputing to SMEs will be huge cloud market in the future

By David

Grazed from ComputerWorld. Author: Derek du Preez.

Tikiri Wanduragala, a senior systems consultant at IBM, has said that the next big thing to happen in the cloud computing market will be the availability of supercomputing applications to small and medium sized businesses. Wanduragala told Computerworld UK that he believes this will change the process of manufacturing for mid-sized companies.

“One of the biggest things in the future of cloud computing will be the ability to get supercomputing to mid-sized businesses. For example, fluid dynamics was only in the realm of the aerospace industry and big car companies,” he said…

September 16, 2012 Off

Motorola intros Android-based cloud desktop

By David

Grazed from CIOL.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Motorola Mobility and Wasu Digital Group, a cable and telecommunications service providers, launch HMC3260, an Android-powered cloud computing device.

Motorola HMC3260 is a desktop with 18.5-inch LED touchscreen display. It is Motorola Mobility’s first Android-powered home broadband device, and is dubbed as Cloud Broadband by Wasu.

“The Motorola HMC3260 not only provides subscribers with a fast broadband connection, it also enables them to enjoy a range of cloud-based services provided by Wasu, including games, high-definition television and movies, web browsing and more,” said Kevin Keefe, vice president & regional general manager, Motorola‘s Home Division, Asia. “The powerful touchscreen interface capitalizes on the power and flexibility of Android to enable Wasu to differentiate itself from operators who only offer a pipeline for data. It is an important step toward our vision of a smart, simple, connected home.”…

September 15, 2012 Off

Five cloud computing tips for SMBs

By David
Grazed from Techgoondu.  Author: Aaron Tan.

You’ve read countless case studies of how small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have turned to cloud computing to raise productivity, improve customer service and stay ahead of the competition. But is your company ready to jump onto the bandwagon? Here’s what you need to know before moving to the cloud:

1. Define your needs
While cloud computing may seem like hype, it has leveled the playing field for SMBs that would not have been able to afford sophisticated business applications. According to a Dell-sponsored study, 87 percent of SMBs surveyed said cloud applications have given them a competitive advantage, while 85 percent agreed that cloud applications have improved employee productivity. However, to realize the full benefits of the cloud, it is important to define what you want to achieve. Are you hoping to improve customer service by allowing your sales team to respond to customer requests quickly? Or, do you want improve collaboration among employees? Articulating those needs clearly will go a long way in choosing the right cloud service provider…

September 15, 2012 Off

Navigating the Politics of the Cloud

By David
Grazed from eCommerce Times.  Author:  Jeffrey M. Kaplan.

The only topic getting more attention in the tech industry than the Cloud is the debate over the future implications of the upcoming US presidential election. And, in many ways the two topics are intimately intertwined. Both are being propelled by plenty of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD).

Fear about the current state of affairs is driving many voters to consider changing presidents in the same way that fear about escalating competition and rising end-user and customer demands is driving many CXOs to consider Cloud alternatives…

September 15, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing: Terrible or Terribly Misunderstood?

By David
Grazed from GovExec.  Author: Mark Micheli.

The Government Business Council (GBC) recently asked federal managers to rank eight different areas of government spending, from most to least efficient. Spending on technology came in sixth, with only 56 percent of federal managers feeling tax dollars spent on technology were used wisely.

When GBC asked the managers to rate the quality of various technologies and how frequently they are used, the results revealed an interesting disparity.

For all the talk we hear about cloud computing, only 24 percent of the 548 respondents felt cloud computing was of high quality, and even fewer, just 15 percent, said they used it on a regular basis…

September 14, 2012 Off

Global Survey Reveals Why NGOs Are Moving IT to the Cloud

By David
Grazed from TechSoup Global.  Author: PR Announcement
 
TechSoup Global (www.techsoupglobal.org) announced today the results of its 2012 Global Cloud Computing Survey of 10,500 nonprofits, charities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from 88 countries — the most extensive technology survey ever conducted of NGOs worldwide.
 
TechSoup Global’s report on barriers and motivators in cloud computing reveals that a majority of NGOs are planning to move their information technology (IT) to the cloud. However, they need more ed ucation and support to take full advantage of the benefits cloud computing offers regarding costs, productivity, and collaboration. Many NGOs are not even aware that they are using cloud applications already, or they are not familiar with the full suite of cloud-based applications available to them.
 
September 14, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing: Acer Nukes Smartphone Launch Due to Google Threat

By David

Grazed from Reuters. Author: Kevin Parrish.

Google supposedly threatened to cut off Android support to Acer if the handset maker launches a phone with a rival mobile OS. Taiwan-based Acer was reportedly forced to cancel (or postpone) the launch of its new CloudMobile A800 smartphone on Thursday due to intense pressure from Google Inc.

According to Reuters, the phone was a joint venture between Acer and Alibaba Cloud Computing, deemed as the first to use the latter company’s new mobile operating system, Aliyun. Acer and Alibaba originally planned to launch the device in Shanghai on Thursday afternoon, and then go into full retail mode on Friday…