Cloud computing vendor lock-in: Avoiding security pitfalls
Most of us already know from personal experience that changing from one service provider to another can be challenging. Think about, for example, the level of frustration you may have experienced in the past changing your telephone company, Internet provider or cell phone service. The process of ending a service provider relationship is always likely to be rockier than other interactions you have with them — that’s a natural consequence of business dynamics.
Let’s face it, a service provider isn’t usually inclined to provide a seamless process for sending business to competitors. But what customers may not realize is that less-scrupulous service providers can — and actively do — build in roadblocks with the specific intent of locking in customers. Meaning, they make the process of transitioning more difficult by design to help increase customer retention (i.e., “stickiness”)…
Cloud Computing: CGI Selected to Deliver Emerging Technology Solutions Thru the U.S. Government-Wide Contract Vehicle, CIO-SP3
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Information Technology Acquisition and Assessment Center (NITAAC) has awarded CGI Federal Inc. (CGI), a wholly-owned U.S. operating subsidiary of CGI Group Inc. (NYSE:GIB)(TSX:GIB.A), a prime position on the indefinite-delivery, indefinite-quantity (ID/IQ), multiple-award contract for the Chief Information Officer-Solutions and Partners 3 (CIO-SP3). The ten-year ID/IQ has a program ceiling of US$20 billion.
Under the vehicle, CGI will deliver a range of technology services and solutions to federal health organizations, federal civilian agencies, and the Department of Defense across 10 task areas. Services include, but are not limited to: CIO support, outsourcing, systems integration, software development, data center consolidation, health IT, cloud computing, mobile solutions, and cybersecurity…
Moving to the Cloud and Need to Protect Sensitive Financial Data?
Among small and mid-size businesses, the refrain is increasingly familiar: “We’re responsible for sensitive financial data, and our customers trust us to protect it at all times. We want to move to the cloud but have concerns about the risks in handing this data off to another company. If we make the switch, how can we be certain our data will be protected?”
According to Adam Stern of Infinitely Virtual, a leading provider of virtual server cloud computing services for growing companies, the rationale for migrating to the cloud is sound, the questions are valid, and the answers are becoming ever more straightforward…
Mirantis to Discuss Continuous Deployment for OpenStack
Jason Venner, senior director at Mirantis, a leader in engineering services for OpenStack™ Cloud, will be a featured speaker at Cloud Computing Expo East 2012, on June 14 in New York.
Venner, who has worked with organizations such as NASA, Dell, and Cisco on a variety of OpenStack system integration projects, will share his experience and approach by discussing DevOps for Application Infrastructure. The talk will focus on continuous deployment at the infrastructure layer as it relates to OpenStack Cloud.
OpenStack is one of the most popular open source platform for building private and public clouds. The number of code commits and the engineering velocity of this project is matched by no other technology adoption in history. While OpenStack is merely two years old, there have been six production releases of it. Those who opted to deploy an OpenStack-based cloud a year ago are now likely running production workloads on a version of OpenStack that is three releases behind…
Appcara Debuts Its AppStack R2 Platform, A Dynamic Application Layer Above the Cloud for Enterprise Applications
Appcara, maker of cloud application lifecycle solutions, announced a major new version of its AppStack(R) application and portability platform that helps enterprises and service providers accelerate complex applications into the cloud and deliver new application-based revenue sources. Incorporating a real time Dynamic Application Environment layer that eliminates the need for server templates or scripting, AppStack Release 2 changes the rules of cloud computing. With AppStack 2, enterprises and service providers gain exceptionally fast time-to-market for key business applications — maximizing time, knowledge and profitability.
While cloud deployments are common for simple web apps, the $385 billion enterprise application market remains the province of on-premises data centers, in large part because IT staffs lack the tools required to truly govern VMware, Citrix, or other private and hybrid applications running on Amazon Web Services, Citrix CloudStack or VMware vCloud. While cloud app management solutions exist, they require deep technical knowledge of application stacks, and a lot of manual, error-prone effort to use…
Technology Integration Group Aims To Whet China’s Cloud Appetite
For centuries, China has excelled at designing and building large-scale infrastructure. Now, in its eagerness to become a cloud-computing powerhouse, the country is building data centers with an eye on the future.
Yet, much of China’s data center infrastructure is underutilized due to a lack of killer cloud applications, and local software development expertise is not easy to find. And this classic technology chicken-and-egg scenario is preventing the Chinese cloud-computing market from taking off.
Technology Integration Group, San Diego, Calif., has a plan for stimulating cloud application development. If it works, it just might jump-start China’s long awaited cloud revolution…
Cloud Computing: Salesforce.com Signs Definitive Agreement to Acquire Buddy Media
Salesforce.com [NYSE: CRM], the enterprise cloud computing ( http://www.salesforce.com/cloudcomputing/ ) company, today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Buddy Media, the world’s leading social media marketing platform, for approximately $689 million payable in cash and salesforce.com equity. The transaction is expected to be completed during salesforce.com’s fiscal third quarter ending October 31, 2012, and is subject to customary closing conditions.
Comments on the News
"Salesforce.com now has the number one players in social listening and marketing – Radian6 and Buddy Media," said Marc Benioff, chairman and CEO, salesforce.com. "With CMOs surpassing CIOs in spend on technology within the next five years, our Marketing Cloud leadership will allow us to capitalize on this massive opportunity."…
Cloud Computing: Amplidata Defines Big Data Best Practices at Cloud Expo
Amplidata, an innovator in optimized object-based storage technology, will define best practices for storing Big Unstructured Data at Cloud Expo next week in New York City, on June 11- 14.
Big Data has come a long way to encompass a variety of subsets, including the fast growing Big Unstructured Data domain, where Big Entertainment, Big Science, and many other Big Demands are quickly overwhelming enterprise data stores…
4 Tips To Ease Cloud Bill Shock
There’s no magic potion for stamping out cloud computing’s copious hidden costs. Rather, the answer lies with getting serious about tried-and-true best practices to deliver enough real-time visibility so there are no surprises when the bill arrives.
"Transparency is really the challenge, especially when you’re looking at costs across various public clouds," notes Dave Zabrowski, founder and CEO of CloudCruiser, a cloud cost-management platform. "There are very tangible hidden costs that can be eliminated just with transparency of knowledge."
For example, consider the simple problem of over-allocation. Companies typically sign up for public cloud computing power or storage capacity with the assumption that their workloads command a specific instance–therefore, they err on the side of over-provisioning and lock in at a higher price just to make sure they are covered. "But what happens is a lot is the workloads in real life aren’t as demanding as people think," Zabrowski explains. "By having transparency into usage vs. allocation, for example, companies within hours can downgrade to a cheaper instance."…
Marsh Launches Innovative Insurance Solution for Cloud Computing Risks
To assist companies in managing the risks associated with cloud computing, Marsh today announced the launch of what is believed to be the industry’s first insurance solution designed to protect companies against first-party losses stemming from a cloud service provider’s failure.
Improvements in technology and the need for greater efficiency have led to heightened interest in cloud computing–the delivery of information technology services, data storage, and/or software applications using the Internet and central remote servers…