November 11, 2010 Off

Windows 8 may get cloud storage

By David
Grazed from ComputerWorld.  Author:  Jon Brodkin.

Microsoft seems to be planning robust integrations between its online services and Windows 8, possibly including a cloud-based backup service, according to Microsoft job postings.

One job posting for a Windows Server position — which is no longer available but was quoted by the unofficial Windows8beta blog — states: "We are currently working on a Windows Azure-based service and integrating with certain Microsoft online services and Windows 8 client backup."

November 11, 2010 Off

Cloud Drives Need for Improved WAN Optimization

By David
Grazed from IT Business Edge.  Author: Arthur Cole.

If the public cloud is in your future, there will be no getting around the fact that application performance will very much depend on your ability to negotiate public networks.

That problem is that once your data has left the confines of your internal infrastructure, you are at the mercy of whatever traffic conditions happen to be in place at any given time. For many organizations, that leaves too much to chance, which is why interest in cloud-ready optimization technologies is at fever pitch.

November 10, 2010 Off

Master data management ‘can improve analytics’

By David
Grazed from Experian QAS.  Author: James Glass.

Effective master data management processes can lead to improvements in the accuracy of analytics work, it has been suggested.

This is the view of Sandy Kemsley, an independent analyst and systems architect, who told IT Business Edge that connecting master data management projects with business process management programmes can have considerable advantages for organisations.

"You can get better analytics if you have consistent data models and those consistent data models are going to be helped by master data management, that’s one of the key business benefits," she pointed out.

November 10, 2010 Off

Java cloud fluffer lands Hudson build brain

By David
Grazed from The Register.  Author: Gavin Clarke.

Start-up CloudBees has bought the brains behind the Hudson open-source continuous build system, as part of its effort to fluff Java development in the clouds.

CloudBees has bought InfraDNA – a start-up providing software support and services for Hudson – along with InfraDNA’s founder and Hudson creator Kohsuke Kawaguchi. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.

November 10, 2010 Off

Why ‘the cloud’ doesn’t matter

By David
Grazed from ZDNet.  Author: Patrick Gray.

Surprisingly, a couple years after "the cloud" first arrived on the IT scene I am still hearing IT leaders speak about it with breathless reverence. Even non-IT executives will proudly announce "Oh, we’ll just put that in the cloud" when any technology-related topic appears in a staff meeting.

The fact of the matter is that the cloud is just another boring make vs. buy decision, and the sooner those in IT management realize this, the less likely they are to build potentially career-ending plans based on clouds and rainbows.

November 10, 2010 Off

Will x86 Have a Home in the Cloud?

By David
Grazed from IT Business Edge.  Author: Arthur Cole.

Is it possible that the cloud is poised to remake the entire computing industry in a much more fundamental way than previously imagined? Could the very dominance of x86 architecture be in jeopardy as a new era of Web-based, low-power computing dawns?