Hewlett-Packard, a stalwart of the previous era, finds it hard to keep up.

It is not alone in that struggle. H.P., along with well-established tech companies like Dell and Cisco Systems, is contending with a faster-than-expected move by consumers and businesses from personal computers and small racks of computer servers toward mobile phones and tablets that are connected to millions of servers, all lashed together in remote supercomputing “clouds.”

The new systems are cheaper and more flexible, which businesses found appealing in a slow-growing economy. As for consumers, they have been dazzled by the new devices and abilities of those devices enabled by the cloud…

Combined legal and market factors may force online companies to offer more flexible contract terms, suggests new research from Queen Mary, University of London.

The paper examines how and why companies providing IT services over the internet, also known as cloud computing, have begun to negotiate standard contract terms to better meet cloud users’ needs, minimise operating risks and address legal compliance obligations.

The research, by the Cloud Legal Project at the Centre for Commercial Law Studies at QM, is primarily based on in-depth interviews with global and UK cloud providers, cloud users, law firms and other market players…

Big businesses use cloud services. You and I use cloud storage services like DropBox, Google Drive, and Amazon Cloud Drive every day. But, with each you have to trust your data on other people’s systems. With ownCloud, an open source file sync and share project, which began as a KDE project, you can keep your data on your servers and decide what other public cloud services you want to integrate into your personal cloud.

OwnCloud is primarily as an Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud service. With it you can store your files, folders, contacts, photo galleries, calendars and more on a server of your choosing. You can then access that storage from your mobile device, your desktop, or a Web browser. You can also sync your date with local devices and share your data either with the world at large or specific approved users…

Cloud services contracts often provide little to no wiggle room for organizations. In planning to use cloud computing services, what steps do organizations need to take before signing any contract? IT security lawyer Françoise Gilbert offers some key strategies.

Gilbert, a founder and managing director of the IT Law Group, says most cloud providers offer their services with no room for customization, except for their bigger customers. Knowing this, organizations need to approach service agreements cautiously.

To begin, organizations need to figure out if they can enter a cloud contract legally. This means if a U.S. healthcare organization, for example, wants to enter into a contract with a cloud provider, they need to abide by the regulatory requirements of HIPAA, which might suspend them from doing that, Gilbert says…

The cloud computing industry needs a common code of practiceand certification if users are going to trust cloud services, says Cloud Industry Forum (CIF).

Proposals for the code practice, intended to strengthen customer trust in cloud computing and demonstrating “clarity in ethics, practices and processes”will  be presented at the Cloud Computing Industry Forum, at Earls Court in London on the 12th and 13th of June.

Code Calling

The Cloud Computing World Forum is the highest attended cloud event in Europe. It will attract over 4,000 senior IT decision-makers from around the globe, host 150 seminars and feature exhibits by 150 cloud companies…

Several days ago, IHS iSuppli released a report on storage market and technologies called “HDD Industry Enjoys Best Performance despite Volume Fluctuation”.

Most businesses are aware of the advantages of cloud computing in terms of data recovery and storage, but not how the cloud saves money. Microsoft reported in a recent Information Week post that cloud computing can save significant money for small to midsize businesses (SMBs) throughout the year.

But how does a paid service save an SMB money in the long run? The Trustworthy Computing Division within Microsoft conducted a survey with 100 to 250 SMBs. Some utilized cloud computing, while others did not, and locations varied from Hong Kong to the United States. For just the SMBs located within the United States, 93 organizations utilized cloud computing, while 94 did not. Microsoft determined that the SMBs utilizing cloud computing are doing three to five times better than those that do not, in terms of better IT costs, value, and less time with security management. By spending less time on security management, an SMB is able to divert that employee or group resource toward another aspect of the business, thus, lowering data storage costs overall…

In a bid to strengthen its desktop virtualization segment, VMware Inc. (VMW – Snapshot Report) is set to acquire Wanova Inc., a cloud-based desktop virtualization solutions provider. The financial details of the deal were not available.

Privately-held Wanova Inc. has its headquarters in Silicon Valley, California, and has a research facility in Netanya, Israel. The Wanova acquisition will expand VMware’s end-user computing product portfolio. With the combination of Wanova’s Mirage and VMware’s View, clients will get an integrated desktop virtualization solution in a cost-effective manner.

Desktop virtualization essentially eliminates the location-based access problems, as employees in an enterprise can access and manage required business data that are lodged in their respective desktops remotely from multiple devices (PC, Laptops and Mac). According to ABI Research, the global market for virtual desktops is projected to grow from about $500 million in 2009 to nearly $5 billion in 2016…