Big name firms form alliance to drive cloud standards
Some of the world’s biggest companies are using their market clout to demand that computer equipment makers change the way they make their machines.
The 70 firms, which includes BMW, Shell and Marriott Hotels, said systems that do not work together are holding back the spread of cloud computing.
The companies have formed the Open Data Alliance Centre to push for unified standards for technology.
The businesses involved account for more than $50bn (£32bn) in IT spending.
"The old way just won’t work anymore," said Andrew Feig, an executive director at Swiss bank UBS.
Consumers Favor Personal Data in the Cloud, up to a Point: Survey
SMB Nation Wrap Up: Clouds Fill the Conference Hall
What a difference a year makes. Back in 2009, most attendees at the fall edition of SMB Nation, a semi-annual trade show for VARs and managed service providers, exhibited little interest in cloud computing. This year it was the dominant theme at the conference, held October 22nd through 24th in Las Vegas.
“We’re at the point where we’ve got to start figuring out the right places to use this technology,” said Dave Sobel, CEO of Evolve Technologies, an MSP and business IT consultancy in Fairfax, Va.
The Next Big Battle in the Cloud
The price of raw storage in terms of the cost per terabyte keeps dropping. So it shouldn’t come as a huge surprise to see application service providers such as Box.net announcing upgraded offerings that give an individual user access to up to 5GB of free storage, while giving business customers plans that start with a basic level of 500 GB of storage per user.
How Mobile and Cloud Computing Drive Each Other
The killer application for cloud computing will be mobile computing; and vice versa the killer application for mobile computing is going to be the cloud.
IBM Aims To Ease Partners’ Move To The Cloud
IBM (NYSE:IBM) this week launched its Cloud Computing Lab, a platform on which technology and channel partners can test different models for developing cloud computing products and explore potential technical and sales strategies.
The new Cloud Computing Lab, based in Hursley, U.K., gives partners access to the IBM Test Cloud from any of IBM’s 38 Innovation Centers worldwide, said Dave Mitchell, director of strategy and emerging business for IBM.
Cloud computing expansion planned by environmental services company
The use of cloud computing offerings is proving to be a success at an environmental services company.
Mark Stone, chief information officer at Safety-Kleen Systems, explained that his organisation currently uses cloud computing technology in around 15 per cent of its applications, reports Computerworld New Zealand.
While this usage is currently confined to functions such as customer relationship management systems and travel management, the executive explained that the company is looking to increase its cloud usage.
Apple Could Buy Facebook, Twitter, Zynga, Others with Its $51B
Integration as a Cloud Pilot Project
It seems IT executives are still a bit skittish over moving their applications to the cloud, a hesitation based largely on lingering concerns about security and compliance concerns.
Smartly, they’re using small projects as a way to test the waters, according to a recent InfoWorld article. Interestingly enough, the “starter” project mentioned in the piece is hosted integration.