Microsoft, Toyota join forces on cloud computing for cars
Microsoft and Toyota have entered a new strategic partnership to build a next-gen information and telecommunications platform for Toyota’s vehicles based on the Redmond company’s Windows Azure cloud computing system.
The companies say they will participate in an investment of 1 billion yen (about $12 million) in Toyota Media Service Co., a Toyota subsidiary focused on information management. The rollout will begin with Toyota’s electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles next year, focusing in part on energy management systems.
Concerted drive on security will benefit cloud says Webroot
Cloud computing clients ‘benefiting from Salesforce.com updates’
Salesforce.com customers who have cloud computing solutions from the company are benefiting from the regular updates it makes to its products.
This is according to Steve Fisher, executive vice president of technology for Salesforce.com, who explained upgrades to the core software behind the applications allow clients to focus on improving their own business rather than worrying about whether their IT systems are up to date.
"Every four months we are introducing major new functionality," he stated in comments reported by the Wall Street Journal.
Incapsula Launches Cloud-Based Web App Firewall
With a New CEO, MarkLogic Eyes Big Data IPO
Cloud Architect: Triple Play of Skills
According to my colleague Arthur Cole, a few things about cloud computing are becoming evident. He writes:
A Call for the Separation of IT Church and Business State
Slowly but surely a line is being drawn between IT infrastructures and the business processes that depend on them. In effect, this line is an attempt to provide some demarcation between what should be the IT church and the business state.
The reason that it is in everyone’s best interest to create this new line of demarcation is because back in the 90s, when packaged applications were all the rage, business processes became embedded in our enterprise applications. That sounded like a good idea at the time, but like most good ideas, it was taken to an extreme, resulting in another instance of too much of a good thing gone bad.
IEEE aims to drive cloud computing standards
Standards organization IEEE has decided to get involved in cloud computing, starting with two development projects related to cloud interoperability, it said on Monday.
The current state of cloud computing is comparable to the nascent Internet, according to IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). Cloud computing is primed for explosive growth, but "without a flexible, common framework for interoperability, innovation could become stifled, leaving [users] with a siloed ecosystem," the organization warns in a statement.
Seven in 10 businesses worried about managing cloud
Seventy one percent of businesses are concerned about managing cloud computing, according to a survey.
The companies are worried about the potential complexity of controlling a software as a service setup, the survey found. Additionally, over half of IT directors said they feared they would lose control of infrastructure if they shifted systems to the cloud.
Nevertheless, the research demonstrated changing perceptions around the usefulness of cloud computing, and around the best ways to set it up.
Cloud contracts stalled by existing support & maintenance
A survey of 200 IT directors within large enterprise organisations has found that IT directors are worried about the potential management headaches of cloud computing.
The Vanson Bourne survey commissioned by 2e2 reported that 71% of IT directors are concerned about the potential management complexity cloud services will bring.
Current maintenance, support and managed service contracts act as a barrier to moving IT services into the cloud among 57% of IT directors surveyed. Such contracts would lead to delays in them deploying some cloud services.