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…

There’s been a lot of hype around cloud computing, but many small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) often aren’t clear how to maximize the cloud’s power. In conjunction with the Small Business Association’s (SBA) National Small Business Week, Intermedia offers SMBs five keys to maximizing the cloud. Intermedia is a leader in business cloud services for SMBs and the world’s largest Microsoft Exchange hosting provider.

"Small and medium-sized businesses are the innovators and job creators driving growth in today’s economy. Technology serves as a great equalizer as they compete against large enterprises," says Michael Gold, president, Intermedia. "Leveraging the cloud is a highly efficient and cost effective way for businesses to access technologies and services that are critical to running a successful business in today’s global environment. However, it’s important for businesses to understand that all clouds are not created equal — SMBs need to make sure their cloud services are business grade."…

Oracle isn’t sitting quietly by today after rival SAP bought a cloud-computing company Tuesday.  It is buying cloud-based social-marketing company Vitrue for an undisclosed amount.

The move comes only hours after SAP spent $4.3 billion on Ariba and marks yet another shot fired in the Great Cloud Computing Mobilization.

This is Oracle’s third deal this year after making a large deal last year. CEO Larry Ellison has in the past dismissed cloud computing as “gibberish,” but it appears Oracle is now gathering as much cloud as it can…

Thunderhead.com today announced it has launched its first cloud application, ONE Correspond for Salesforce, on salesforce.com’s AppExchange, helping to accelerate the market shift to the next cloud computing paradigm which is inherently social, mobile and open.

ONE Correspond for Salesforce is the first of a number of cloud customer experience solutions based on Thunderhead.com’s new ONE customer engagement platform. The application delivers enterprise-class customer experience management to support businesses in the way they interact and engage with their customers. ONE Correspond for Salesforce enables users to create highly personalized communications across multiple customer touch points. It creates opportunities for innovation in customer interactions and real-time business processes and drives enterprise mobility through its support for tablet devices…

There’s a lot of contention these days not so much over whether customers should embrace cloud computing as much as what’s the right path to get there.

This debate has some significant implications of solution providers that are being asked to represent various cloud computing service providers, especially in the enterprise. One knock that cloud service providers such as Amazon and Google routinely get in the enterprise is that from a support perspective they are known as “faceless entities.” There is generally no one to talk to at these companies in terms of support and the service level agreements (SLA) these organizations provide are all but meaningless…

Open … and Shut The good open source lord giveth, and it taketh away, and no one knows this better than Red Hat.

As Red Hat chief executive Jim Whitehurst declared at this week’s Open Source Business Conference in San Francisco, California, open source and its children – including cloud computing – are laying waste to the economics of how traditional enterprises do business, forcing them to gravitate to information to compete. Red Hat’s role in this tectonic shift? Arms dealer.

Appnomic Systems today announced its strategic decision to join forces with the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA) through which the company hopes to help drive the Alliance’s focus on actively shaping the future of Cloud computing. Appnomic’s core technology and solution mirror the ODCA’s vision of seamless, secure environment.

Appnomic also announced its participation in the Open Data Center Alliance Forecast 2012 Conference in New York City on June 12, 2012. Appnomic president, Ray Solnik will present critical strategies and emerging technologies to ensure effective application performance optimization and management during the Rapid Fire Panel from 1:50 to 2:35 p.m. Eastern Time…

IBM is set to roll out lower-cost products and services for cloud computing in order to attract more clients. In a move to compete against HP, Cisco, and Equinix, IBM will be offering cloud applications for continued interoperability with Norway’s Otrum, Dell, and Germany’s SAP AG. Instead of managing software applications by themselves, potential clients can choose from the wide varieties of cloud offerings IBM offers. According to IBM’s vice president for SmartCloud and Managed Services Marketing, Craig Sowell, the company will be offering optimized solutions because there is really no one-size-fits-all solution when it comes to cloud computing services.

Aside from the product offerings, IBM is also set to offer companies their data center management service as well as other software and services fitted for the customers’ needs. IBM’s revenue from services grew by 2% for the first quarter while software revenue rose by 5%. However, hardware sales were decreased by 7%. Net income rose by $3.1 billion or 7.1%. IBM’s program director for smart cloud services, Tim Kounadis, said that the company will be offering such products and services at a competitive price. Pricing will be according to the company’s needs and size…