Dissecting the New SGI’s Plan for Profitability
Microsoft strikes 14 new cloud services deals with state, local organizations
Microsoft said it has signed new contracts with 14 state and local government organizations for cloud computing services, including the cities of Alexandria, Va.; Chicago; and Virginia Beach, Va.; and the state departments of labor in Colorado and Idaho.
The new deals, signed in the past several weeks, bring the total to 190 state and local government organizations now using Microsoft cloud solutions, company officials said. Altogether, more than 3 million government employees are using the company’s online business services, they added.
Software Licensing Is Sticking Point for Cloud Adoption
Ask folks about barriers to the cloud and you’ll get a very familiar list: security concerns, performance issues and a niggling fear of giving up control. What you don’t often hear about is licensing costs, which could prove to be a pretty big hurdle.
The Chinese Dragon And Cloud Computing
China may not have India’s expertise in software, but it does have expertise in the other half of the cloud computing equation – hardware. With a state-controlled economy that determines whether the nation’s resources are to be directed, it is not surprising that China will dedicate itself towards its area of expertise – manufacturing – and proceed towards building a “city-sized” cloud computing complex in the Hebei province in northern China.
Transphorm: the New Data Center Waste Power Slayer
Businesses assured they can trust cloud computing
Businesses and public sector bodies can put their faith in cloud computing, an industry expert has insisted.
Art Coviello, chief executive of data security firm RSA, insisted it is possible to use virtualisation to make the cloud a safer place, although he acknowledged this may at first appear to be "counter-intuitive".
He went on to state the importance of businesses putting security measures in place, explaining: "We now know a criminal ecosystem has developed.
NoSQL Databases Go Mobile
Key to many high-demand Web and cloud applications today is NoSQL, a collection of database and application technologies that eschew the SQL query language and many of the trappings of relational databases. And as developers of applications for mobile devices increasingly plug into the cloud to power their apps, some are turning to NoSQL again. But this time, they’re putting NoSQL databases right on the mobile device.
The Slow-Motion Internet
The Internet is no longer fast enough for Google.
To see why, try the Chrome netbook. It’s a prototype device that exemplifies one of the company’s visions for the future: the idea that we can do nearly all our computing online, accessing information anywhere on a whim. This netbook has a pared-down operating system that’s essentially a powerful Web browser. It stores almost no files or software. Almost everything you can do on the device requires an Internet connection.
Data ownership in the cloud: Get it in writing
Moving applications to a cloud computing provider does not mean giving up control of the data — as long as agencies get a guarantee in writing, according to a panel of CIOs representing defense and civilian agencies.
For example, agency managers moving to the cloud have to stipulate upfront in their contracts that ownership of data must remain with the agency, agency CIOs engaged in cloud implementation told attendees at the recent Cloud/Gov 2011 conference.