August 13, 2012 Off

Cloud brings foreign IT spending to U.S.

By David

Grazed from ComputerWorld. Author: Patrick Thibodeau.

U.S.-based corporations and government agencies have been shipping application development work to offshore IT services providers for years.

Now, thanks to cloud computing, foreign companies are starting to bring their business to providers of data center services located in this country.

Consider Grupo Posadas, a large hotel company in Mexico that today relies on five data centers to support more than 17,000 guest rooms in over 100 hotels. Grupo Posadas IT personnel run three of those data centers; the other two are run by outsourcing partners…

August 13, 2012 Off

Dangers associated with cloud computing are mounting

By David

Grazed from NewsObserver.com. Author: Paul Gilster.

The cloud is going to be a big part of your computing life whether you like it or not. One reason you’ll like it is that your files will stay synchronized between your desktop PC and the various gadgets you carry with you, like tablet or phone. One reason you won’t like it is that using the cloud means giving up a large measure of control to big companies who will store your data.

Worried? Expect the good and the bad of cloud computing to dominate the news in the next 12 months. Apple users are going to see the iCloud become a major part of the user experience across all Apple devices, while Microsoft is folding its SkyDrive service into the next iteration of Office to synchronize settings, templates and documents. Google already offers a complete office suite available online and Amazon’s cloud options include 5 GB of free storage, competing with Dropbox to snare the interest of mobile-minded users needing desktop files…

August 13, 2012 Off

Avoiding the storms that lurk in the cloud

By David

Grazed from StarTribune Business. Author: Emily Duke and Asmah Tareen.

Cloud computing is changing the face of business.

The rapid expansion of cloud-based solutions for corporate planning, customer and human resources management, accounting and other key business functions has enabled organizations of all sizes to streamline by relying on agile and cost-effective technology services.

But as businesses rely more on technology vendors to manage critical data and facilitate key business operations, there are some best practices to consider. Consider the case of Lilting Loons, a fictional loon decoy manufacturer and distributor whose sad experiences illustrate storm clouds Minnesota companies should avoid…

August 13, 2012 Off

Cloud is now evolving like never before

By David

Grazed from The Financial Express. Author: Sudhir Chowdhary.

In just a few years, cloud computing has reshaped the Indian IT market and the way that enterprises acquire and use IT products and services, feels Neeraj Dotel, country head, Compuware India, the Indian subsidiary of Detroit-based Compuware, a technology performance company. According to him, India is on a high growth trajectory, promising lots of opportunities for technology companies. In a conversation with Sudhir Chowdhary, he talks about the company’s growth strategy and plans for India. Excerpts:

Tech majors seem to be smitten by two new buzzwords these days: cloud computing and mobility. What have you done till now to establish yourself in this space?

According to a recent report by IDC, investments on emerging technologies such as social media, cloud, mobility and big data are on the rise. The total IT market is expected to grow to $43.57 billion in 2012, up from $37.46 billion in 2011. The business world has reached an inflection point, presenting the Indian enterprise with unprecedented challenges. As users become more mobile and applications more diverse, customers want a better understanding of how performance relates to business results…

August 13, 2012 Off

IP Technology Labs Advances Touchless LAN Virtualization with Release of the FastLane-AutoConnect feature

By David
Grazed from IP Technology Labs.  Author: PR Announcement
 

IP Technology Labs, the leading provider of LAN Virtualization and Private Cloud LAN Appliances, announces general availability of its exclusive AutoConnect feature for its FastLane Gateway appliances. AutoConnect allows IpTL FastLane appliances to automatically establish a secure Ethernet VPN without any configuration of the appliance, the router, or the network. AutoConnect works especially well in network environments where NAT, Nested-NAT, or Dynamic-IP/DHCP is present on both ends of a link.

Click here for additional AutoConnect details: http://bit.ly/NhKJXZ

August 12, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing: As Google Fiber rollouts begin, here’s what cable will watch most closely

By David
Grazed from GigaOM.  Author:  Afzaal Akhtar.

Google set its sights squarely on the cable Internet industry with the launch of Google Fiber. While it has a long way to go before truly disrupting that mammoth industry, cable executives are watching a few of Google’s idea very closely. Here’s a list.

Google knows how to make a splash in new markets. Like Search, Gmail, Maps and other innovative products from the company, Google Fiber is shaping up to be a market disruptor. This time, Google’s sights are set on the TV and Internet services industry.

One gigabit Internet connectivity, the Nexus 7 tablet as a remote, a two-terabyte storage box, a build-out strategy based on “fiberhoods,” options to pay only a connection charge to get free Internet connectivity: yes, these are all indeed innovative developments. And Google has stated that it intends for the service to turn a profit…

August 12, 2012 Off

Big data magic trick: Show me a doorway, I’ll tell you the city

By David
Grazed from GigaOM.  Author: Derrick Harris.

Soon, it seems, computers might know our world better than we do. Google is training computers to spot common images on video streams and match user photos of landmarks and other things against its image database. Facial-recognition software could help you identify a complete stranger in the crowd. And now, a group of researchers from Carnegie Mellon University and INRIA/Ecole Normale Supérieure have created an algorithm that can identify cities based on their unique architectural elements and other distinguising characteristics.

The research involved taking 25,000 random samples of photos of cities from Google Street View and letting a machine-learning algorithm figure out how similar features differ in each city. Interestingly, the system seems to be able to indirectly identify cities’ immigration and industrial histories. From their paper:…

August 12, 2012 Off

SaaS Marketplaces Are Ready to Soar

By David
Grazed from MacNews.  Author: Jeff Kaplan.

Now that Software as a Service and the broader cloud computing concept have gained widespread recognition and acceptance, it will be interesting to see whether online marketplaces will become a preferred method for acquiring these on-demand resources.

Given the proliferation of SaaS/cloud providers and solutions, it makes sense that many IT and business decision makers would like to take advantage of a "one-stop shop" where they can procure multiple SaaS apps and cloud services.

One indication of the rapid spread of SaaS/cloud solutions is THINKstrategies’ Cloud Showplace, which has more than 1,900 SaaS, Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) providers divided into 90-plus different application, industry, technology and service categories…

August 12, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing: Better Data Center Standardization Through Pod Architecture Design

By David
Grazed from NetworkComputing.  Author: Joe Onisick.

The traditional piecemeal method of data center hardware acquisition is inefficient, error-prone and costly to maintain. Moving the data center forward toward private cloud architectures requires new thinking, planning and standardization. One proven method for this is pod architecture design.

In this sense, a pod is a set of define compute, network and storage resources. Pods can be designed with expandability options for compute and storage, or can be fixed based on a set compute capacity. Overall, pod designs provide tighter integration and better standardization across the infrastructure board.

One of the key advantages of pod architecture is the tight integration between components. Historically, IT infrastructure has been purchased in disparate refresh cycles and chosen by separate teams. This leads to compatibility complications and, potentially, sub-optimal designs used as workarounds. Designing these solutions with a holistic approach allows feature sets to be tightly coupled, enabling maximum value from the infrastructure as a whole…

August 10, 2012 Off

GSA’s proposed cloud brokerage grabs industry attention

By David

Grazed from FCW. Author: Matthew Weigelt.

The General Services Administration had so much response to its request for information on a possible cloud brokerage services that it has extended the deadline for responses.

Officials initially planned to close the window for responses on Aug. 17. The new deadline is Sept. 7.

GSA had more than 160 industry participants at the Cloud Brokerage Industry Day Aug. 2, and the wait list was large enough that officials could not accommodate everyone who wanted to take part, said Stan Kaczmarczyk, director of cloud computing service at the Federal Acquisition Services’ Information Technology Services Office…