Grazed from TechCrunch. Author: Frederic Lardinois.

Canonical, the company behind the Ubuntu Linux distribution, wants to bring its operating system to more connected devices and intelligent objects with the launch of its “snappy” Ubuntu Core for the Internet of Things today. Over the last few months, the company launched “snappy” versions of Core on a number of cloud computing services, but given that the whole idea behind Core is to offer stripped-down versions of Ubuntu that developers can then easily customize based on their needs, the Internet of Things and robotics applications are a logical next area of focus for Canonical.

Ubuntu Core lets developers install the basic OS and then add the applications and services they need. Those applications then run in their own sandboxed environments. Ubuntu Core also features transactional updates, which ensures that the update process either works perfectly or can be rolled back immediately if things go awry…

Grazed from CloudTech. Author: James Bourne.

SAP has released its latest financial figures, and it’s to be expected; cloud subscriptions up, software subscriptions down, overall numbers ticking over, and a pledge that cloud profits will exceed software license revenues by 2018. The company has again shifted its long term goals, with a 2017 operating profit target now of €6.3bn to €7bn, from a previous total of €7.7bn – and it’s all due to the company’s aggressive shift towards cloud.

The full year figures weren’t anything to write home about, but it’s all going in the right direction. Non-IFRS operating profit stood at €5.64bn for 2014, an uptick of 3% on the year before, while total revenue stood at €17.58bn, an increase of 4%. The meatiest figures however were in the software and support sections. Cloud subscriptions and support went up 45% year on year to €1.1bn, while traditional software numbers were down 3%, to €4.4bn…

Read more from the source @ http://www.cloudcomputing-news.net/news/2015/jan/20/sap-financial-figures-offer-few-surprises-expects-cloud-transformation-2018/

Grazed from VentureBeat. Author: Editorial Staff.

Amazon joined existing big-name tech companies last year when it committed to running its cloud-based “Amazon Web Services (AWS)” technology entirely on renewable energy. Though it remains a longer-term commitment, Amazon has today revealed a 13-year partnership with Pattern Energy Group to “support the construction and operation of a 150 megawatt (MW) wind farm,” Amazon says in a press release.

The new wind farm will be built in Benton County, Indiana, and will be called — drum roll — the “Amazon Web Services Wind Farm (Fowler Ridge).” Plans are afoot to start generating around 500,000 megawatt hours (MWh) of power from as early as January 2016. For context, the average residential electricity consumer in the U.S. used around 10,837 kWh in 2012, or 903 kilowatthours (kWh) per month. So Amazon estimates that it’s new farm will help power the equivalent of around 46,000 homes each year…

Grazed from CNNMoney. Author: PR Announcement.

Fusion, a leading cloud services provider, announced today that it has completed a series of technology, network and infrastructure upgrades and expansion projects. The key improvements, planned and executed through the end of last year, reflect the Company’s 2014 focus on building the systems, staff and resources required to scale in anticipation of the Company’s organic growth and acquisition strategy for 2015 and beyond.

In support of its extensive network and infrastructure expansion roadmap, and to ensure that Fusion is securely poised to assert a leadership position as a single source for the Cloud, Fusion has hired a new Chief Technology Officer to lead the Company’s technology and development effort. Tom Durkin, an industry leader in developing and implementing proven cloud technologies, has joined Fusion to advance its cloud strategies…

Grazed from GulfNews. Author: Editorial Staff.

Oracle, like other technology peers, is betting big on cloud computing as it transits from a hardware supplier and developer to a complete cloud solutions provider. Even though cloud offerings posted a robust growth of 140 per cent in the second quarter, Oracle’s dominance in the database market is not exactly leading to its dominance in the cloud space as it still accounts for around five per cent of overall revenues.

“Our strategy in cloud is working and we are going to invest more. We had a tremendous growth in cloud offerings in the Middle East. We have added 300 new and expansion software as a service [SaaS] cloud customers in the first quarter and second quarter,” said Oracle CEO Mark Hurd, who was in Dubai on Tuesday…

Grazed from HostReview. Author: Editorial Staff.

MilesWeb proudly announced the launch of cloud hosting services powered by OnApp for supporting diverse IT projects and for maximizing the potential of cloud computing. This is a major milestone for MilesWeb after the launch of virtual data center platform. The cloud hosting servers offered by MilesWeb are fully equipped for meeting the requirements of large and extensive software developments and business production requirements.

MilesWeb has employed leading and unbeatable cloud server technology available in the market for providing the customers with a profound cloud solution. All the cloud servers are crafted to ensure supreme performance with minimum cost of computing along with the resilience for accommodating the growing technology needs…

Grazed from ITBusinessEdge. Author: Arthur Cole.

Following up on my previous post regarding hyperscale infrastructure, I feel I should point out that once the decision to go hyperscale has been made, it will most likely take place in a Greenfield hardware environment. Unless you are already working with a state-of-the-art data facility, any attempt to convert complex, multiformat legacy environments will almost certainly lead to a morass of integration issues.

The key benefit to hyperscale is that it is both large and flexible, allowing data executives to craft multiple disparate data architectures completely in software. This is why current hyperscale plants at Google and Facebook rely on bulk commodity hardware. But as I mentioned last fall, the average enterprise does not have the clout to purchase tens of thousands of stripped down servers and switches at a time, and besides, all those components still need to be deployed, provisioned and integrated into the cluster, which takes time, effort and of course, money…

Grazed from Smart Company. Author: Editorial Staff.

Often ‘The Cloud’ is spoken about with little context on what it offers that established systems don’t. It is easy to dismiss cloud or online services as nothing more than just buzz. After all, if it isn’t broke, why fix it? The reality is that computer systems are changing, along with the way we engage with them. Today’s workers are mobile and regularly work outside of traditional business hours. Cloud computing makes it easy for us to adapt to our new behaviours and enable us to be more efficient than we ever could with traditional software packages.

The freedom to let you work wherever, whenever

Our jobs and the way we engage with the workplace have drastically changed over the past decade. Today, many of us are using smartphones and tablets to handle day-to-day work tasks away from our office desks. With so many people working from multiple locations at different times, it is integral that users are able to access the software they need to get the job done…

However, there is far more to the story that many marketed financial indicators might suggest. Register for this Webinar and you will be exposed to the fundamental financial facts that surround flash storage and learn how modern storage systems help IT focus more on the business than ever before.

WHEN?  January 28, 2015 @ 2:00PM Eastern (11:00AM Pacific)

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As an attendee you will:

• Learn about the two primary metrics used to determine the overall cost of modern storage
• Discover how these metrics play a role in changing how IT does business
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Grazed from SysConMedia. Author: Pat Rominski.

CommVault has launched Simpana for Endpoint Data Protection, a new solution set designed to help protect and enable the mobile workforce by efficiently backing-up laptops, desktops and mobile devices and providing secure access and self-service capabilities.  With today’s mobile workforce increasing their reliance on information saved on local endpoints and outside IT’s traditional domain, the need to protect sensitive data residing on desktops, laptops, and mobile devices has become more critical than ever before.

As global data breaches reach an average cost of $3.5 million in US dollars according to a study by the Ponemon Institute due to lost or unrecoverable data on employee devices, including desktops, laptops, and mobile devices, organizations are beginning to embrace centrally managed platforms that can be used to simultaneously address data protection, collaboration, regulatory, and eDiscovery requirements in a secure manner…