Grazed from NetworkWorld. Author: Susan Perschke.

Once moved to the cloud, applications become more challenging to manage. Cloud app performance management and performance monitoring tools help identify bottlenecks and other performance metrics. Good tools can help determine if bottlenecks are isolated to the application itself or if there are system-wide issues with a particular provider.

The most granular tools can even do a deep-dive into the app to see if individual processes, such as database queries, are running optimally. For this review, we tested four commercial products, Exoprise CloudReady, AppNeta, ThousandEyes and Dynatrace. We focused mainly on ease of deployment, day-to-day management, overall features and cost…

Read more from the source @ http://www.networkworld.com/article/2915837/cloud-computing/top-tools-to-manage-cloud-apps.html

Grazed from Fortune. Author: Barb Darrow.

We live in strange times. Companies are increasingly running applications on computers owned and operated by another company. Employees tend to look upon their colleagues in information technology as more of a nuisance than an asset. Satya Nadella thinks his company can help make sense of it all.

On Monday, at Microsoft’s Ignite conference in Chicago, the chief executive will directly address those tech professionals who make sure email gets where it needs to go and that corporate databases keep chugging along. To them Nadella will issue a reminder that even though many dollars budgeted for technology are now flowing to marketing or other corporate departments, that doesn’t mean IT spending is down overall or that the need for tech specialists has evaporated. Quite the contrary…

Read more from the source @ https://fortune.com/2015/05/04/satya-nadella-ceo-microsoft/

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Editorial Staff.

Cloud security certification is getting a new dimension. At the RSA conference earlier this month the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and (ISC)² announced a new cloud security certification: Certified Cloud Security Professional, or CCSP for short. (ISC)² is most famous for its flagship certification: Certified Information Systems Security Professional or CISSP. More than 100,000 professionals maintain this certification and it is widely recognized. The Cloud Security Alliance pioneered the cloud security field a few years ago, and runs the CCSK (Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge) programme. The CCSP body of knowledge covers 6 domains:

• Architectural Concepts and Design Requirements
• Cloud Data Security
• Cloud Platform and Infrastructure Security
• Cloud Application Security
• Operations
• Legal and Compliance…

Grazed from NetworkAsia.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Cloud service providers (CSPs) serving a growing a customer base must be prepared to tackle challenges that are inherent in widespread cloud adoption and optimize their service performance. One key success factor is interconnection – the ability to connect to customers, networks and each other in an instant.

This year, tactical cloud computing benefits, such as elastic capacity, utility pricing and deferred capital investments, are no longer enough, according to Frost & Sullivan’s Stratecast practice. Enterprises will seek out providers that support greater end-to-end performance, visibility, and accountability to help drive their strategic goals…

Grazed from ComputerWorld.  Author: James Henderson.

Are Microsoft, VMware and Red Hat better value than OpenStack distributions for total cost of ownership?  That’s the key question circulating the cloud market following the launch of 451 Research’s latest Cloud Price Index, billed as one of the most rigorous and comprehensive analysis of the cost of cloud computing.

According to findings, the typical cost of small-scale enterprise private clouds powered by VMware, Red Hat and Microsoft are all within half a cent of each other at about US$0.10 per virtual-machine hour while OpenStack distributions cost, on average, $0.08 per VM hour, a 20 percent saving…

Grazed from SysCon Media.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Everyone’s talking about the Internet of Things recently, but one topic I don’t see addressed much is the difference between Service-Focused IoT and Device-Focused IoT. The concept of “The Internet of Things” has always been about vast, heterogeneous networks of small, limited-purpose devices. However, there is a growing need to further differentiate IoT into the two delivery models.

In my previous blog, I discussed how hardware manufacturers are able to leverage IoT and recurring revenue to further lock in customers, increase lifetime value, and raise exit barriers around their services. However, these examples all require the service provider to also be some sort of hardware manufacturer. Nest (the popular smart thermostat company) is fantastic, but you must buy a Nest-branded device in order to leverage Nest cloud services…

Grazed from TechTarget.  Author: Jessica Scarpati.

Networks have developed a middle-child syndrome over the years.  Ever since the first server virtualization platforms allowed systems administrators to easily spin up or decommission virtual machines (VMs) within minutes, the data center solidified its place as the golden child, representing agility and efficiency in infrastructure. It paved the way for cloud computing, putting more pressure on IT to be responsive to dynamic environments.

While virtualization soon seeped into other parts of IT like storage and desktops, the network was largely ignored. Although Layer 4-7 appliance vendors released virtualized versions of their products — virtual firewalls, virtual load balancers, virtual WAN optimization controllers and so forth — their primary focus was on reducing expenses, not improving agility. Networking as a whole remained frozen in hardware governed by static architectures, and most attempts to innovate focused on moving bits faster…

Grazed from CFO.  Author: David M. Katz.

In a February editorial about the buildup of cyber attacks between the United States and Iran, The New York Times quoted President Obama’s observation that, compared with conventional weaponry, cyberweapons provide “no clear line between offense and defense.” For example, getting into the enemy’s networks to exploit its weakness and disable its ability to attack you is both offense and defense.

Citing “major banks, Sony Pictures Entertainment, [and] an electrical utility,” the newspaper observed that such recent examples reveal that even corporate computer systems once considered impregnable are vulnerable to attack.  In the borderless world of information technology, in fact, computer-security specialists and corporate risk managers have begun working on the assumption that it’s impossible for companies to keep their networks completely free from penetration…

Grazed from Wired.  Author: Jessi Hempel.

On a recent morning in downtown Manhattan, IBM’s Virginia Rometty and Apple’s Tim Cook sit on a small riser, each leaning back slightly with legs crossed. Between them sits Taizo Nishimuro, an older Japanese man with heavy black orthopedic shoes and an elegant cane. Nishimuro helms the Japan Post, a company that owns the country’s postal service, a bank, and its largest life insurer.

We are gathering to hear the trio make an announcement that, just by virtue of their attendance, must be important.  But it also feels a bit curious: what could be this important?  The venue is IBM’s new global headquarters, a 12-story glass tower designed by the Pritzker-Prize winning architect Fumihiko Maki. It sits just across the way from Facebook’s Silicon Alley outpost in Astor Place, eight blocks south of Google’s New York offices…

Grazed from FineChannel. Author: Editorial Staff.

HP on April 30 announced it has made multiple contributions to the OpenStack Kilo release, including new converged storage management automation and new flash storage technologies to support flexible, enterprise-class clouds. Drivers such as data growth, software-defined data center technologies, and the Internet of Things continue to fuel cloud adoption.

Enterprises are deploying OpenStack technology to overcome private and public cloud challenges, including costly vendor lock-in, lack of control or customizability, and inability to scale applications for the cloud, according to HP. As a testament to the company’s ongoing commitment to open source cloud technology, HP is a Platinum Founding member of the OpenStack Foundation and a key contributor to multiple OpenStack projects, including funding, code, reviews, testing, and training…