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…

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…

Grazed from Technorati.  Author:  Jefferey Rigler.

Cloud computing sounds complicated and ethereal – doesn’t it? (I picture Lando Calrissian tending to computers in Cloud City for the benefit of us all.) "That’s cutting edge; I need to get my business on the right track and look into cloud computing." These thoughts can be overheard at most companies. So, what does it mean anyway? I was going to write about a shared network of servers off site. The fact that you can save a ton of money by cloud computing. (You actually can.) However, a much simpler definition of cloud computing exists…

Grazed from Inquirer.net.  Author:  Doris C. Dumlao.

Businessman Eusebio Tanco has invested in Los Angeles-based cloud computing firm Morphlabs Inc. through his STI Colleges, creating synergies in pooling manpower for the IT firm’s operations in the Philippines, Japan and Australia…

Grazed from Blastline.  Author: Editorial Staff.

The environmental impact of so much online time really boils down to energy usage, which in turn affects the amount of greenhouse gases we pump into our atmosphere. For one, each of us can help by limiting computer time (whether surfing the ‘net or not) and shutting them down or putting them into sleep mode when we aren’t using them (this can be automated via the computer’s power management control panel)…

Grazed from InformationWeek.  Author: Thomas Claburn.

Google has launched a new service to make its cloud computing platform more appealing to businesses. The company on Thursday introduced a limited preview of Google Cloud SQL, a scalable, hosted MySQL database environment.

Navneet Joneja, product manager for Google Cloud SQL, says that one of the most frequent requests from Google App Engine users has been for an easy way to develop traditional database-driven applications. Using App Engine, Google’s platform-as-a-service offering, in conjunction with Cloud SQL allows developers to avoid the burden of database management, maintenance, and administration…

Grazed from Sys Con Media.  Author: Maureen O’Gara.

IBM is buying privately held security ISV Q1 Labs, whose software is used to detect hacking threats and attacks through real-time data analysis…

Grazed from Silicon India.  Author: Editorial Staff.

A ray of hope for those enterprises who wants to store a huge data and needs to increase information technology capacity or capabilities quickly without investing in buying new infrastructure, licensing software and training staff, cloud computing is constantly showing an increased template. But, when it comes to selecting a cloud computing vendor, there are thousands of options. Now, the question arises, how to find the best one that suits your business needs?…

Grazed from Data Center Knowledge.  Author:  Rich Miller.

It seems that every time a high-profile Internet service goes down, pundits predict that it will undermine confidence in cloud computing. And yet through 2010 the cloud model has shown surprisingly resilience in the face of this “headline risk,” continuing to gain momentum and mindshare.

But that may be changing. High-profile service outages at Amazon and Microsoft have made some prospects wary of placing business applications on cloud computing services, and have altered the way many existing customers deploy their services, according to analysts from The 451 Group…