October 10, 2011 Off

SMB Vendors find Success in the Cloud

By David
Grazed from FormTek.  Author: Dick Weisinger.

A report from AMI-Partners finds that vendors that are able to offer cloud-based solutions are more successful and their customers are more satisfied with the solutions that they provide.  70 percent of vendors offering cloud-based solutions to small and medium-sized businesses (SMB) found that they found that most cloud pilots rapidly expand the number of users and typically roll out to the entire company after just one quarter of use…

October 10, 2011 Off

Can Microsoft Web Matrix 2.0 lure developers to Azure PaaS?

By David
Grazed from GigaOM.  Author: Barb Darrow.

Microsoft hopes to use the company’s Web Matrix 2.0 tool–now in beta–to lure new-age web developers to Azure, its cloud-computing platform-as-a-service.

While the Azure PaaS has a potentially huge built-in audience of .Net programmers, it lacks cachet among the “cool kid,”  next-gen web developers. Those developers tend to gravitate towards Linux and PERL, Ruby, Python or Java languages…

October 10, 2011 Off

Telstra adds a crucial cog in cloud arena

By David
Grazed from The Australian.  Author:  Editorial Staff.

TELSTRA has added a crucial cog in its cloud computing wheel, joining EMC Australia’s cosy cohort of six to resell the storage giant’s wares.

The alliance will see Telstra bolster its cloud division with new specialist sales personnel, according to Mark Pratley, Telstra Cloud Computing general manager.

The telco joins EMC’s Velocity Service Provider Partner program alongside Melbourne IT, Infoplex, CSC, Macquarie Telecom and Dimension Data. They will also deploy and market EMC gear to cloud computing customers…

October 10, 2011 Off

Why is it called cloud computing?

By David
Grazed from Computer Weekly.  Author: Adrain Bridgwater.

Why did we settle on the name cloud computing for the delivery of hosted and managed service-based computing? All we needed was a term to describe a cavernous domain with (potentially) limitless expanses of space.

Surely "dungeon computing" would have sufficed — or would that have sounded too negative?…

October 10, 2011 Off

Demystifying cloud computing security

By David
Grazed from Help Net Security.  Author:  Mirko Zorz.

Phil Neray is the VP, Data Security Strategy, InfoSphere Guardium & Optim at IBM. In this interview Phil talks about the complex issues surrounding cloud computing security, offers insight into what companies migrating to the cloud can expect and lines up tips for those who have to consider migrating to a cloud computing solution for mission-critical IT services…

October 10, 2011 Off

Oracle’s Half-Hearted Public Cloud is Hugely Important

By David

Grazed from Sys Con Media.  Author:  Roger Strukhoff.

Oracle’s public-cloud announcement at the recent Oracle OpenWorld (OOW) was mostly marketing spin, innuendo, and a half-hearted attempt to get enterprises to move to cloud computing.

It is for these reasons that it’s among the most important cloud announcements of the year…

October 10, 2011 Off

Are dark clouds being created by vendors?

By David
Grazed from Business Cloud9.  Author: Mac Scott.

First things first: Cloud Computing is definitely here to stay and there is plenty of evidence to prove it. For example, almost every CIO (98 per cent) questioned by Xantus for its recent research report had already investigated Cloud services for their organisations; almost a quarter are now using them, with a further third planning to join them within the next six months, rising to 73 per cent within the next two years…

October 10, 2011 Off

Cloud computing ‘removes technology headaches for businesses’

By David
Grazed from HostWay.  Author: Judy Gifford.

The use of hosted cloud services can remove a number of technology headaches for businesses, as well as improving the productivity of employees, one expert has suggested.

According to Phil Wainewright, UK vice chairman for non-profit organisation EuroCloud, utilising the increasingly popular technology could be significantly beneficial for organisations of all sizes…

October 10, 2011 Off

Managing risk in the cloud

By David
Grazed from The Guardian.  Author: Mike Small.

Cloud computing allows the procurement of IT services from both internal and external suppliers to be optimised because the services are delivered remotely in a standard way. The cloud is not a single model, but covers a wide spectrum from applications shared between multiple tenants to virtual servers used by one customer.

The key benefit is one of scale; a cloud provider can potentially offer a better service at a lower cost because it has a large enough operation to afford the skilled people and state-of-the-art technology necessary for a secure service. In general, a large cloud provider is likely to provide a better and more secure IT service at a lower cost than a small to medium sized organisation could provide itself…

October 10, 2011 Off

The Great Cloud Debate

By David
Grazed from Dynamic Business.  Author:  Editorial Staff.

Q: What do you see as the main benefits for SMEs?
A: In many instances, the technology can be used for free, or purchased on a pay-per-use model which makes it far more affordable. Purchasing applications rather than software provides them with far more flexibility in managing their budgets and business requirements. In addition, cloud technology empowers mobile workers, giving them access to their work any time from any device and from any location…