Understand who’s responsible for protecting data in cloud computing
When it comes to storing data in the cloud, companies too often take security for granted, says Mario Santana, who handles security for Verizon Communications’ data-storage division.
Some businesses mistakenly assume that once they opt to store data on outside servers instead of their own, they no longer have to concern themselves with safeguarding that information, he says. "I’ll run across a problem and point it out as a courtesy, like, ‘Hey, you should fix this,"’ Santana says. "They’re surprised. They had just expected that they wouldn’t have to deal with anything." …
Five Cloud computing trends that will impact Cloud strategy
Continual monitoring of cloud computing trends, with regular updates to the enterprise’s cloud strategy, will be essential to avoid costly mistakes or miss market opportunities over the next few years, according to analyst firm Gartner. Although the potential for cloud computing is significant, the breadth and depth of the impact, as well as the level of adoption over time, are uncertain and will require frequent review.
"Cloud computing is a major technology trend that has permeated the market over the last two years. It sets the stage for a new approach to IT that enables individuals and businesses to choose how they’ll acquire or deliver IT services, with reduced emphasis on the constraints of traditional software and hardware licensing models," said David Cearley, vice president and Gartner Fellow. "Cloud computing has a significant potential impact on every aspect of IT and how users access applications, information and business services."…
U.S. Army to Deploy Clouds, Modular Data Centers
In a move to modernize its infrastructure, the U.S. Army will spend up to $249 million to deploy private cloud computing services and modular data centers. General Dynamics, HP and Northrop Grumman are among the service providers selected for the Army Private Cloud contract (APC2), which will provision cloud computing services to consolidate data centers using a secure private cloud.
The Army divided this contract to acquire enterprise cloud computing services in two parts. The first suite will provide savings by using private cloud computing capacity for commercial or government-owned buildings. The second suite will utilize mobile, containerized data centers for contingency operations or when rapid or temporary cloud computing is needed…
Cloud computing gets more complicated, govvies say
The move to the cloud is not longer in question but that doesn’t make the technology a one-size fits all solution.
In some ways, the decision to move to the cloud has gotten more complicated as federal CIOs learn about the nuances of cloud computing.
For example, in the early days of the cloud, it was a question of go or no-go. Now agencies must decide which model is most appropriate for them: private (government only), public (commercially available) or hybrid. And that decision depends on the specifics of an agency’s application, said David McClure, associate administrator of the General Services Administration’s Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies…
Dell Makes A Wyse Move To Grab More Of The Enterprise Computing Value Chain
Dell‘s shopping spree continues with the acquisition of Clerity and Wyse this week. Dell is clearly looking to diversify away from its PC business, and it seems cloud computing is the way to go for the Round Rock, Texas-based company. The details of both the acquisitions were not revealed by Dell. These acquisitions will put Dell in direct competition with software solution providers such as IBM, HP ,Cisco and Juniper Networks.
We currently have a $25.60 Trefis price estimate for Dell which is significantly above the current market price.
Wyse To Enable Desktop Virtualization Business
Wyse is known for making software and hardware for thin clients and has recently expanded into desktop virtualization software and hardware. Thin clients essentially remove the need to do computing at the client end by using servers and the Internet to provide all the computing on remote servers. This makes thin client computing cheaper in the long run and easier to maintain. If we go by IDC’s estimate, the thin client market size will grow to about $3 billion by 2015 at a CAGR of 15%…
KT Adopts Apigee Platform for Its ucloud biz Services
Apigee, the API company, today announced that KT Corporation (NYSE: KT), South Korea’s leading telecom company, has chosen the Apigee Enterprise API platform to deliver and manage the application programming interfaces (APIs) for KT’s ucloud public cloud service. KT (formerly Korea Telecom) adds to the growing list of global telecommunications organizations working with Apigee to expand their third-party application ecosystems, including AT&T, Telefonica and the Wholesale Application Community (WAC).
"KT’s ucloud is an affordable public cloud infrastructure for on-demand elastic computing with a wide variety of APIs to fuel the ucloud software ecosystem. We are thrilled to work with Korea’s largest landline operator and mobile service provider to help drive continued innovation around the ucloud platform through APIs," said Chet Kapoor, Apigee CEO…
Northrop Grumman Awarded Army Private Cloud Contract
Northrop Grumman Corporation has been awarded an Army Private Cloud (APC2) contract by the U.S. Army. This contract will enable warfighters to have global access to information and allow the Army to achieve higher levels of computing efficiency, security and flexibility.
Northrop Grumman is one of five companies selected to compete for the fixed facility task order awards under the APC2 program. The indefinite delivery, indefinite quantity contract is valued at $249.8 million, collectively, over a one-year base period with four one-year options.
APC2 will be the Army’s preferred vehicle to consolidate data centers and establish private clouds to provide on-demand provisioning for storage and systems…
Open Data Center Alliance Releases Five New Usage Models Focused on IT Requirements for Cloud Computing
The Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA) today announced the availability of five new usage models focused on security and infrastructure, and an overview document on identity management in the cloud. These user-driven requirements are based on the most pressing cloud computing challenges faced by Alliance member organizations. The Alliance also announced the first sponsors of Open Data Center Alliance Forecast 2012, an event designed for IT leaders to harness the latest developments on solution delivery for the expected 2012 ramp in cloud solution deployments. Held on June 12 in conjunction with the 10th International Cloud Expo in New York City, ODCA Forecast 2012 will bring together hundreds of members of the Alliance, industry experts and leading technology companies to showcase how ODCA usage model adoption can accelerate ROI for businesses deploying cloud solutions and services…
The Dangers of Unmanaged Clouds
Cloud computing is taking the business world by storm, despite the efforts of those looking to enforce data governance controls and maintain the integrity of IT operations. In many cases, shifting processes, applications and data to the cloud can be a smart business move. However, without due diligence and proper planning, businesses could be opening themselves to previously unforeseen threats.
Nevertheless, the seduction of cloud services proves to be something far too difficult to resist for business units seeking agility and speed, especially when internal IT balks at meeting the apparent needs of a business unit. The contention between internal IT and business units has led to an explosion of unmanaged clouds, which reach across corporate departments and outside of the view of internal IT–a situation that can be summed up as a recipe for disaster…
The three Cs of cloud computing
Ian Moyse, recently appointed UK sales director at web-based CRM vendor Workbooks.com, shares his perspective on the cloud.
Cloud is the big ‘C’ word in the channel right now, posing ‘C’onflict, ‘C’onfusion and ‘C’hallenges to the status quo. The IT industry is a fast-paced, constantly evolving beast, and yet the extraordinary speed at which cloud computing has come to dominate the landscape has caught many by surprise. On reflection, few would deny it was the Zeitgeist for 2011 and it’s likely to remain a much discussed topic in 2012.
We are seeing a channel landscape where partners are reporting a number of concerns around selling cloud, the key ones I have heard cited being; "I don’t want vendors to sell direct", "The margins are too low", "Where do I make service revenues?", "How do I make the transition to a different billing and commercial model?", "I want to bill my customer and not have the vendor doing it"…