ISACA’s 6 Principles for Effective Cloud Computing
Only through proper governance and management can cloud computing achieve its potential for organisations, according to representatives of ISACA–the global provider of advocacy and education on information systems (IS) assurance and security, enterprise governance and management of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance–in a statement to the press issued Tuesday (February 28, 2012).
"Cloud computing presents a unique opportunity for enterprises–and is particularly a game-changer for small and medium enterprises because its availability means that technology infrastructure is not the market differentiator it has been in the past," said Ramsés Gallego, CISM, CGEIT, member of ISACA’s Guidance and Practices Committee and security strategist and evangelist for Quest Software…
USA Ranks 4th In World Cloud Computing Report
Are countries ready for computing in the cloud? The answer is not simple, says a recent Reuters report. According to the results of the Global Cloud Computing Scorecard, recently released by the Business Software Alliance, there are wide variations in countries’ readiness for a global network of cloud services, and this has serious implications for midsized businesses.
The Reuters report says the survey, released for the first time this year, rates 24 countries (which make up 80% of the world’s information and communications technology market) on their readiness for cloud business. The report does this by looking at applicable laws and regulations in seven national policy categories: data privacy, security, cyber crime, intellectual property, standards, promotion of free trade, and information and communication technology (ICT) readiness…
Cloud bouncing tackles latency
Akamai has around 95,000 servers in 71 countries which essentially optimise the performance of the internet. Its intelligent internet platform effectively acts as a network traffic cop, monitoring flows and congestion, and routing data by the most sensible route across the internet.
Riverbed Technology meanwhile is a software company which makes tools to optimise computing performance, especially over wide area computer networks.
The Steelhead Cloud Accelerator combines the smarts of both companies to allow what Riverbed describes as “cloud bouncing”. Companies which have a Steelhead appliance, which optimises wide area network performance, can subscribe to the Cloud Accelerator service and have their data “bounced” across the internet using the Akamai network to reduce latency and speed performance…
From CIA to OMB, Federal Government Gets Serious About Cloud
Attempting to rein in and and squeeze more efficiency out of its $80 billion annual information technology budget, the federal government appears to be pulling out all stops when it comes to cloud computing. A year ago, under the tutelage of then-CIO Vivek Kundra, federal agencies were required to adhere to a “Cloud-First” option when making new technology purchases. It was estimated that up to one-fourth of the government’s IT budget could be moved into the cloud.
Now, there are concerted efforts to bring even more existing systems into cloud formations as well, as exhibited by the newly hatched “Shared-First” initiative — which promotes the government’s own private clouds (as well as commercial resources) as a way for agencies to tap into online resources…
4 Cloud Computing Pain Points That Still Hurt
At this month’s Cloud Connect event, David Linthicum, CTO of Blue Mountain Labs, gave an informative one-hour talk on cloud architecture and design. It concluded with a list of 17 steps to getting it right.
"Most of this is just common sense," he told the crowd. To a practiced architect it may be common sense, but to some first-time implementers, it’s clearly a challenge. The fact that 17 steps are involved may indicate that when it comes to cloud computing, common sense may be less common than some imagine.
From that point on, I started listening to speakers for one particular thing: the moment when they hit the point of pain, where common sense didn’t seem to be enough. Here are a few examples…
Mind the Gap In Big Data Needs and Capabilities
There is significant chatter about the power of Big Data and cloud computing and what it could mean for ad agencies trying to create more targeted digital marketing based on consumers’ online behavior. Researchers and brands alike are discussing the possibility of tailoring display ads, social media messaging and other advertising materials by gathering information on transactional data and internet browsing.
However, a study from LogLogic and Echelon One found that many companies’ desires to make Big Data and cloud computing work for them are much more ambitious than their current capabilities to utilize the technology…
Ethernet Alliance Interoperability Demo Showcases High-Speed Cloud Connections
In one of the largest interoperability demonstrations at OFC/NFOEC 2012, the Ethernet Alliance (Booth 724) is showcasing cost-effective, high-speed connectivity to the cloud via interoperable 10-, 40-, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) optical connections. Because Ethernet equipment suppliers and service providers are the largest consumers of optics, the Ethernet Alliance demonstration focuses on how the Ethernet ecosystem uses optics and how businesses are implementing 10-, 40-, and 100GbE optics in their networks.
The Ethernet Alliance and 10 member companies are demonstrating a variety of high-speed Ethernet technologies illustrating how 10GbE servers are driving the need for 40GbE and 100GbE uplinks within the data center environment and to cloud service providers. The demonstration creates a simulated cloud computing environment between two “data centers.” One data center is connecting a 100GbE lambda across an Optical Transport Network (OTN), while the second data center is connecting via four 10GbE links…
AppAssure purchase adds virtualized backup to Dell’s cloud mix
Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Stuart Johnston.
Dell’s acquisition of the backup software company AppAssure last week fills a gap in its cloud strategy and gives Dell customers a cloud-based alternative to on-premises data backup.
AppAssure is a 230-employee company that’s been offering storage virtualization for backup and disaster recovery for physical, virtual and cloud environments since the mid-2000s. It released the latest version of its flagship product — AppAssure Backup and Replication 4.7 — in November.
AppAssure works with both virtual data centers as well as with public and hybrid clouds. It supports backup and recovery across most popular virtualization platforms, including VMware vSphere, Microsoft Hyper-V, and Citrix XenServer, plus physical servers as well…
Can Organizations Keep Sensitive Data Secure While Embracing the Cloud?
TITUS, a leading provider of enterprise information security and compliance solutions, today introduced their enterprise cloud data security solutions at RSA Conference 2012 in San Francisco.
Enterprises and government organizations are shifting their IT infrastructures to a cloud computing model in an effort to lower costs and drive operational efficiencies. However, security considerations have made many organizations reluctant to leverage this potential. TITUS has been working closely with a number of our enterprise and government customers — listening to their requirements to ensure that their cloud security mandates are being met. Information classification is the first line of defense for securing valuable information in the cloud, because you can’t protect something if you don’t first know its value…
IBM and Business Partners Drive Client Success in the Cloud
IBM today rolled out a set of offerings geared towards helping its Business Partners more tightly integrate with the IBM SmartCloud by helping to connect them with customers, create new applications and improve their cloud computing skills. Expected to grow to more than $214 billion by 2020,* cloud computing has become a catalyst for capturing new business value through innovation, stronger customer relationships, and faster time to market while reducing cost and complexity.
IBM unveiled new resources for its 121,000 Business Partners, including:…