Grazed from NorthEast Computer Services.  Author: Editorial Staff.

It is commonplace today to hear businesses voicing concerns about using cloud based services as though the cloud is much less secure than any system you might purchase or devise on site. In reality it is not the cloud or any other platform that determines how much of a security risk you are taking with your data.

The security of your data quite simply starts and ends with you. The commitment you make as the owner of a business to plan and do research to discover the best safety system fit for your company is easily the most important piece of the security risk puzzle. Once you have determined the most appropriate security configuration for your needs the next step is to put protocols in place from the top management on down to ensure the security systems as designed are working consistently and properly…

Grazed from CCI.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Do you know how many of your employees are using public cloud sync and share services? Despite many IT leaders’ best intentions, they remain a popular way to share and collaborate within the enterprise. Yet the truth is that these services are not only bad for your business but are failing commercially. So what happens if or when they start to disappear, taking your corporate data with them?

Do you have an exit strategy?

Watch the glossy marketing campaigns promoted by these public cloud file share providers and you’d be forgiven for thinking that business is booming. The likes of Dropbox, Amazon Cloud Drive, Box, Microsoft OneDrive and others all talk a good game. And they’re certainly popular in the enterprise, amongst staff looking to circumvent inflexible, non-user friendly corporate storage systems. But they represent just 1% of the total income of the enterprise storage market…

Grazed from TechTarget.  Author: Crystal Bedell.

While the benefit of recurring revenue makes it worth the effort, transitioning from value-added reseller (VAR) to the cloud or managed service provider (MSP) business model is no easy task.

Solution providers encounter a number of challenges along the way, many of which can be an impediment to success. Here are 10 common mistakes solution providers make while transitioning business models and how to avoid or address them…

Grazed from PR NewsWire.  Author: PR Announcement.

ProtectWise, the provider of the Cloud Network DVR for enterprise security, has been included in the Gartner, Inc. report: "Cool Vendors in Cloud Security Services, 2015."[i] The report notes, "Gartner’s Cool Vendors in cloud security services offer highly innovative technologies that address an organization’s demand for agile, responsive and cost-effective solutions."

"We believe inclusion in the Gartner ‘Cool Vendors in Cloud Security Services’ report validates the value of our disruptive cloud approach to enterprise network security," said Scott Chasin, CEO and co-founder of ProtectWise.  "By leveraging the cloud, we give enterprises a level of visibility and detection of network security events, both in real time and retrospectively, that just isn’t possible using traditional, on-premises hardware solutions. This is imperative in a post-prevention world where network breaches go undetected for an average of more than six months."…

Read more from the source @ http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/protectwise-named-a-gartner-2015-cool-vendor-in-cloud-security-services-300078670.html

Grazed from WSJ. Author: Alistair Barr.

Google is opening up one of its most popular cloud-based app-building tools to run on other companies’ computer servers, in part to help developers deal with rules requiring data be stored within national borders. Google launched App Engine in 2008 to help outside developers write and run apps on Google’s network of data centers and servers, getting the company into the public cloud-computing business in competition with leader Amazon.com.

Cloud computing providers typically compete to get as many customers using their data centers as possible. But on Tuesday, Google unveiled a partnership with startup AppScale that lets App Engine apps, which number roughly six million, run on other cloud services or companies’ own data centers and servers without modification…

Grazed from CIO. Author: Agam Shah.

Dell is offering to helping cut business’ reliance on Windows PC hardware with a new management appliance, which could serve up virtual Windows desktops to Chromebooks. Dell’s Appliance for Wyse – vWorkspace product uses desktop virtualization technology to deliver Windows desktop software to Chromebooks and other endpoints. Though brokered from a remote location, the Windows OS will be fully functional and run as if it were loaded locally.

As part of its Chrome for Work program, Google has aggressively pushed Chromebooks into businesses as an alternative to Windows PCs. Chromebooks are thin, lightweight laptops for those who do most of their computing on the Internet. Google has said that Chromebooks are tuned for the future of cloud computing, as they were built from the ground up to run rich Web applications…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: CJ Arlotta.

SAP CEO Bill McDermott took center stage today at Sapphire Now 2015 to expand on the enterprise resource planning (ERP)’s company vision of making the world a better place and improving the lives of people by introducing data-driven and seamless solutions into the marketplace.

"Data-driven businesses must be seamless," McDermott told conference attendees. "When you think seamlessly, you can be a champion." With more than 20,000 customers in attendance, Sapphire Now, being held this week in Orlando, Florida at the Orange County Convention Center (OCCC), promoted the concept of digitally transforming businesses by keeping things simple for its customers, something McDermott harped on during his keynote address last year at SAP Sapphire Now…

Grazed from ReCode. Author: ARIK HESSELDAHL.

NetSuite, the cloud business software company, announced a strategic alliance with Microsoft that will tie its products closely to both Office 365 and the Azure cloud computing service. The plan calls for Microsoft to integrate NetSuite’s cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning software that companies use to track their financial, supply chain and other operational data, to Office 365, the cloud-based office suite.

Additionally, Azure will become NetSuite’s preferred cloud platform for building custom software enhancements to NetSuite. NetSuite CEO Zach Nelson announced the tie-up in a speech in San Jose, Calif., at the company’s SuiteWorld conference. Nelson said the partnership was the result of a series of meetings with Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella…

Grazed from TechVibes. Author: Knowlton Thomas.

Adoption of cloud computing continues to grow globally, according to a recent research report from EMC Corporation, with the hybrid cloud being the most popular option. However, 35% of executives believe their organization doesn’t have the right level of skills and knowledge to achieve key business priorities, while 69% of respondents believe training IT staff to keep pace with the implications of megatrends such as cloud, mobile, and big data will be a challenge for their organization over the next couple years.

Still, evidence for increasing adoption is undeniable: hybrid cloud adoption has grown 9% since 2013, with 27% uptake across the globe, driven, among other factors, by the fact that 74% believe that increasing automation in their infrastructure is imperative to business growth, according to EMC…

Grazed from TheVarGuy. Author: Elizabeth Montalbano.

Cloud security remains a big concern for solution providers and vendors alike, which is one of the reasons why two leading industry organizations have collaborated to offer a new certification that will ensure VARs have the training and experience they need to properly secure their customers’ clouds.

The (ISC)² and the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) are now offering the Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) certification, which will require solution providers to have advanced skills required for cloud security. They also aim to establish an international standard for professional-level knowledge in the design, implementation and management of cloud environments, according to a Cloud Security Alliance press release…