Grazed from IT Business Edge. Author: Michael Vizard.

Perhaps the biggest problem with cloud computing today is not the technologies involved, but rather the way IT organizations approach it.

In a new “Cloud Computing for Dummies” book, Judith Hurwitz, president of the IT consulting firm Hurwitz & Associates, and other well-known industry analysts make the case that IT organizations are not taking enough of a holistic approach to managing the cloud. The economics of cloud computing, says Hurwitz, are far from simple. IT organizations, she says, need to pay particularly close attention to the characteristics of the application workloads that are being put into the cloud and, given network bandwidth fees, how much and how often data is going to need to be moved.

Without a concerted plan, Hurwitz says IT organizations are going to wind up recreating the same mess that many of them have inside their data center in the cloud, which will be even harder to manage across multiple cloud service providers. The discipline needed to manage cloud computing, adds Hurwitz, begins with an emphasis on service-oriented architecture (SOA) fundamentals because at the end of the day, cloud computing is really all about the delivery of IT as a service…

Grazed from The Moscow Times. Author: Val Draggeim.

Internet technology has helped to create new business models since the late 90s that have reshaped how companies do business today. Now, the adoption of cloud computing is producing a new range of business services that are much more comprehensive and efficient, and they will undoubtedly define the next decade of business. The qualities that define cloud computing include on-demand service, elastic capacity, and variable consumption; these qualities offer a powerful new way to deliver new business services and business models.

Prospects of Cloud Computing in Russia

Worldwide spending on cloud computing is forecast to exceed $150 billion by 2013, with Russian spending likely to be in the hundreds of millions of dollars. Since IT use in Russian companies is less developed than in the United States and Western Europe, proportionately fewer organizations in Russia have significant data center infrastructures and fully automated, core business processes. For many companies, the main question is what path to take when building IT structures for the future, and the choice of computing infrastructures and business applications potential offers unlimited opportunities…

Grazed from Wired. Author: Lee Moorman.

Here’s a question. What if your computing needs outgrow the horsepower and features of your current stable of PCs and servers? Simple. You go buy better ones. Maybe try a different brand. And if you hate the new ones? No problem. Simply try another option. Or go back to the original. You always have a choice with hardware.

That, however, was yesterday. Today, companies of all sizes are getting themselves out of the hardware business and instead are buying their computing as a service, in the cloud. Trouble is, the freedom of choice and portability that you’ve enjoyed when purchasing computer hardware has been largely absent when you’re buying cloud services.

To see what I mean, consider movie rentals: a business revolutionized by cloud computing. Remember just a few years ago when you had to drive to Blockbuster and hope the movie you wanted wasn’t already checked out? Now, the cloud has enabled a growing list of services like Netflix, which allow us to stream any movie onto any device with the click of a button. Today’s cloud gives movie buffs unlimited choice and freedom. But is it giving businesses that same kind of choice and freedom?…

Grazed from MarketWatch. Author: PR Announcement.

Special offer for schools simplifies classroom computing with an easy-to-deploy and manage desktop virtualization solution.

–New Dell Wyse E00 zero client lowers costs, simplifies manageability and increases student access to technology globally.

Dell launched today a new Dell Wyse solution and special offer that will provide more students with secure access to digital learning resources, and help schools concentrate less on managing their technology while providing more time for teachers to concentrate on what matters most — helping students reach their full potential…

Grazed from Talkin Cloud. Author: Editorial Staff.

VARs can have mixed feelings about cloud computing. On the one hand it offers many opportunities for new business, but on the other there’s the question of which offerings will work with a customer’s current solutions. For Symantec partners, Backup Exec.cloud is a perfect example of how to effectively offer a cloud-based backup solution when customers already have an on-premise backup solution.

Because every business is unique, each will have varying needs when it comes to protecting information. For those businesses that prefer to keep data onsite and have enough IT resources to do so, locally deployed software might be their preferred backup method. Those that have fewer IT resources or don’t want to be a system integrator may opt for an all-in-one backup appliance that delivers backup software and storage device in one. And, cloud-based solutions might be better for smaller businesses with no dedicated IT support.
Branch Office Data Protection…

Grazed from Business Cloud9. Author: Katy Ring.

In a global survey of more than 1,000 CEOs IBM found that a key theme amongst them is the requirement to collaborate to reinvent customer relationships, and that they view technology as being an increasingly important external factor impacting on business.

I caught up with Fiona Cullen, Vice President Cloud Computing, IBM Europe, who told me that she believes that Cloud delivery is part of the solution to providing CEOs with what they are looking for. Furthermore, she thinks Cloud is now becoming business as usual in IT departments, with a recent IBM/Economist survey finding that around 75% of companies have piloted, adopted or substantially implemented Cloud in their organisation…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Charles Babcock.

Everyone knows that the cloud, whether public or private, is good for reducing capital expenses. It’s an environment built out of off-the-shelf parts instead of best-of-breed systems; virtualization drives up the utilization rate of the equipment; and automated processes reduce personnel overhead.

Chris Perretta, executive VP and CIO of Boston investment management firm State Street Bank, believes there is another rarely discussed–but potentially huge–source of savings from using private cloud computing: more efficient, lower-cost software development. At State Street, the savings could be hundreds of millions of dollars. AdTech Ad

One source of development savings is that with a private cloud, both the development environment and production environment are standardized clusters of x86 servers. They frequently rely on Linux and other open source code, and they’re managed as a pool of resources. That means a developer can spin up multiple servers and try out code in various iterations and configurations, without needing IT to procure and set up servers…

Grazed from GigaOM. Author: Barb Darrow.

Cloud storage player Box is launching its mobile app framework OneCloud for Android Monday, in advance of the Google I/O Conference.

This iteration of OneCloud — the iOS version came out in March — features 50 Android apps including Docusign Ink, Breezy, iAnnotate and Fetchnotes, said Chris Yeh, VP of platforms for Box.

Box, which promotes itself as the enterprise-class cloud storage solution, is trying to build an ecosystem of easy-to-use yet IT-acceptable services and add-ons for its storage service that users can access from their mobile device of choice. Box OneCloud for Android is available as of Monday in the Google Play Store and other Android app stores. Box also introduced a OneCloud SDK for Android to make it easier and faster for developers to integrate their applications with Box…

Grazed from InformationWorld. Author: Eric Knorr.

Last week I caught up with Rackspace president Lew Moorman [1] at the GigaOM Structure [2] event to promote OpenStack [3], the open source "cloud operating system" started by Rackspace and NASA.

Moorman’s pitch went something like this: In the quest for a more automated and agile data center, we need not slavishly follow the cloud leader, as Eucalyptus has done emulating Amazon Web Services, or get locked into proprietary clouds from VMware or Microsoft. An open source alternative needs to emerge — and it has, in the form of OpenStack.

"What I would argue is that there is going to be a Linux in this market," Moorman told me. InfoWorld explored precisely that issue in "Is OpenStack the new Linux? [3]" by contributing editor Oliver Rist just a few weeks ago…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: John Foley.

Federal agencies are moving beyond their phase one cloud computing initiatives. They’re testing and revising different cloud models, types of contracts, and security approaches, among other standard practices.

The Office of Management and Budget lit a fire under federal agencies and departments 18 months ago with its "cloud first" policy. With fed organizations already forced to close hundreds of data centers under the Federal Data Center Consolidation Initiative, they had little choice.

Much has happened in the past few weeks that points to the 2.0 phase of federal clouds. Following are 10 recent developments with long-term implications…