Grazed from CloudCouncil. Author: Editorial Staff.

Failure to ensure appropriate security protection when using cloud services could ultimately result in higher costs and potential loss of business, thus eliminating any of the potential benefits of cloud computing. The aim of this guide is to provide a practical reference to help enterprise information technology (IT) and business decision makers analyze the security implications of cloud computing on their business. The paper includes a list of steps, along with guidance and strategies, designed to help these decision makers evaluate and compare security offerings from different cloud providers in key areas.

When considering a move to cloud computing, customers must have a clear understanding of potential security benefits and risks associated with cloud computing, and set realistic expectations with their cloud provider. Consideration must be given to the different service categories: Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), and Software as a Service (SaaS) as each model brings different security requirements and responsibilities…

Grazed from CIO. Author: Bernard Golden.

I stumbled across a ZDNet article by Larry Dignan linking to Rightscale’s 2015 State of the Cloud Report referencing how Azure’s use is growing and it’s now become an emerging No. 2 competitor to AWS, a la the famous Avis commercials of long ago, where Avis said “we’re number two but we try harder.” This aligns with the general perception that Microsoft seems to have gotten its feet under it and is charging hard into the public cloud.

After downloading the report, subtitled “Central IT is Taking the Lead to Broker Cloud Services to the Enterprise,” I believe the more interesting and important material is, so to speak, buried in the back pages — where the respondent’s adoption patterns and technology choices are surveyed…

Grazed from Mashable. Author: Seth Fiegerman.

Alibaba may be taking on Amazon in another key category. The Chinese e-commerce giant announced on Wednesday that its cloud computing business, Aliyun, is entering the U.S. market with a new data center located in Silicon Valley. "Now, Aliyun hopes to meet the needs of Chinese enterprises in the United States, and the ultimate objective of Aliyun is to bring cost-efficient and cutting-edge cloud computing services to benefit more clients outside China to boost their business development,” Ethan Sicheng Yu, vice-president of Aliyun, said in a statement.

A rep for the company said the service is available to U.S. customers starting Wednesday. Aliyun will offer customers a free six-month trial of its elastic computing service. The entry would seem to put Alibaba into closer competition with comparable cloud offerings from U.S. tech giants, including Amazon, Google and Microsoft…

Grazed from 24/7WallSt. Author: Douglas A. McIntyre.

Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. (NASDAQ: BABA) will start to offer cloud-based services in the United States. These services are the cornerstone of the recovery of International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM) and critical to future sales at America’s largest tech companies, which include Microsoft Corp. (NASDAQ: MSFT) and Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN). Alibaba has unusual resources. It is the largest e-commerce company in China, and it is bristling with cash from its recent initial public offering.

Recently, IBM announced its plans to increase falling sales. Cloud computing sits at the core of those plans. Amazon Web Services may pass the company’s e-commerce operation in revenue, according to founder Jeff Bezos. That means its cloud sales would approach $100 billion. Microsoft’s plans are just as aggressive. As it released quarterly earnings last month, the importance of the cloud was front and center:…

Read more: http://247wallst.com/apps-software/2015/03/04/alibaba-moves-into-cloud-computing-business-challenging-huge-us-tech-firms/#ixzz3TQliBBLF

Grazed from Tech.co. Author: Editorial Staff.

The SXSW Interactive Conference and Festival is just about the greatest place for creators and builders in the tech space to gather for learning, connections, and unique party experiences. We’re proud to partner with Google Cloud Platform to promote a series of events in Austin from March 13-16 called Hang out with Google Cloud Platform @ SXSW.

Next-generation cloud technology is helping developers build applications faster. This represents a new wave of technologies that enables new frontiers of scalability, portability, and developer productivity. What can Google Cloud Platform do for you? Whether you’re a business owner who needs to make important decisions about cloud computing, or an app developer who wants to build the next addictive gaming app, you’ve got to come hang out with the Google Cloud Platform team…

Read more from the source @ http://tech.co/hang-google-cloud-platform-sxsw-2015-03

Grazed from TheRegister. Author: Editorial Staff.

Security and privacy issues are holding back "the cloudification of governmental services" in the EU, according to a new report. The European Union Agency for Network and Information Security (ENISA) said concerns about how sensitive data is protected in a cloud computing environment have not been resolved. It said data security and privacy issues were the main reasons that "deployment of governmental cloud computing is in general at a very early stage (click through for 40-page/3.03MB PDF)" in the EU.

"Security and privacy issues are considered as key factors to take into account for migration, and at the same time are the main barriers for adoption," ENISA said. "Protection of sensitive data is still an issue seeking solution, spanning from the SLA provisions to the actual technological mechanisms i.e encryption etc…

Grazed from CloudWedge. Author: Jesse Bird.

It’s no secret that adults who live with a disability frequently struggle to find their place in the workforce – not because of their impairment, but frequently because of the lack of jobs that can accommodate their challenges. Over the past several years a significant amount of money, time and resources has been dedicated to developing technologies that improve the quality of life for disabled individuals, from the ibot stair climbing wheel chair to Apple’s VoiceOver.

Yet beyond improving just quality of life, finding a ‘home’ in the workplace for this demographic, where they can be accepted and thrive, has remained a challenge. Luckily the gaining popularity of cloud-based technologies and applications is opening up new opportunities of employment for the disabled…

Grazed from BusinessInsider. Author: Matt Weinberger.

Pivotal has just hired engineer Benjamin Black — the regular Amazon employee who co-wrote the paper that would become cloud titan Amazon Web Services all the way back in 2003. Black most recently worked at Microsoft, where he helped build Office 365, its answer to Google Apps, and prior to that founded a startup called Boundary, which monitored computer networks. Wired first reported the news last week.

Black becomes the third such cloud pioneer to join Pivotal recently, joining OpenStack co-founder Joshua McKenty and Puppet Labs co-founder Andrew Shafer. These are important people in the world of cloud computing — a major movement that is reshaping how companies spend money on technology…

Read more: http://www.businessinsider.com/aws-creator-benjamin-black-joins-pivotal-2015-3#ixzz3TMi6PtQi

Grazed from ReadWrite. Author: Matt Asay.

You can’t really blame your IT staff for inflicting a private cloud—actually just a corporate data center with a fancy new name—on you. In some ways, their jobs depend upon it. Self-preservation is a powerful incentive. Of course, your CIO’s job is only truly threatened by the public cloud if she chooses to fight it, or mindlessly continues to believe she can build a better cloud than Amazon, Google, and Microsoft.

For 99.999% of enterprises, building your own cloud or data center may be a comforting way to stick with old habits, but it’s generally going to be the wrong decision. While there are certainly workloads that will perform better or need to be secured within the four walls of your firewall, the reality is that most infrastructure belongs in the cloud…

Read more from the source @ http://readwrite.com/2015/03/03/public-cloud-trumps-private

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: CJ Arlotta.

There’s a way of thinking about cloud computing that the channel needs to throw out the window faster than IBM can lay off employees — and that’s the "all or nothing" approach. Not everything needs to live in the cloud, even though almost every partner conference points you in this direction.

There are times when businesses will want to keep sensitive data on the ground, and their needs — not a vendor’s solutions roadmap — are what keep you in business, don’t you agree? Going all in with cloud isn’t always the best route for every channel partner. Some business models leave room for opportunity in the cloud while others don’t…