Grazed from eWeek. Author: Pedro Hernandez.

In October, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella proclaimed that "Microsoft Loves Linux," during a press event. Today, the company is backing up that once-inconceivable statement with a new offering that enables organizations to migrate their Linux servers and virtual machines (VMs) to Microsoft’s massive Azure cloud computing service.

"Today, we are excited to add support for the migration of Linux physical and virtual machines to Azure, this functionality will further bolster the support for heterogeneity in MA [Migration Accelerator]," announced Srinath Vasireddy, principal lead program manager for Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise, in a Jan. 13 blog post. Migration Accelerator, based on technology acquired from last summer’s InMage buy, enables organizations to transfer physical and virtual server workloads to the cloud…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Serdar Yegulalp.

If uptime and availability are what matter most in a cloud provider — for many, they are — Amazon and Google currently lead the pack. Azure, on the other hand, has a ways to go. Cloud-service analytics firm CloudHarmony, which harvests statistics about the uptimes and reliability behaviors of dozens of cloud hosts, recently released statistics detailing total availability across 2014 for all the hosts it tracks.

The list includes major names like Amazon and Azure, up-and-comers like SoftLayer, midtier players like Rackspace, and other, smaller providers like Vault Networks and DigitalOcean. Tracked services don’t include only cloud VM services like Amazon’s EC2, but also CDN, DNS, object storage, and application engines…

Grazed from Zacks. Author: Editorial Staff.

Akamai Technologies, Inc. (AKAM – Analyst Report) recently announced its collaboration with the largest commercial bank in Thailand — Bangkok Bank — to offer a host of cloud services. Reportedly, Bangkok Bank has been using Akamai’s Web Performance Solutions that increased users’ satisfaction and resulted in customer growth.

The deal will primarily focus on cyber security for customers given the critical financial information stored on the bank’s database. Akamai’s security solutions such as the Kona Site Defender and Web Application Firewall, Prolexic, Site Shield and Fast DNS which protect against the largest Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks would provide Bangkok Bank with the utmost cloud security, thereby translating into significant growth opportunities over the long term forthe company….

Grazed from BusinessInsider. Author: Matt Rosoff.

The tech industry is red hot. Salaries for computer programmers hit an all-time high last year. Tech workers are asking for more money than ever before — and can often pick and choose between multiple job offers. The top six best-performing cities in the US are all tech hubs. Rents in San Francisco and Silicon Valley are absurd.

So can you guess which industry had more layoffs in 2014 than any other? The computer industry. That’s right: According to job placement firm Challenger, Gray and Christmas, the computer industry cut 59,528 jobs last year. That’s up 69% from 32,136 job cuts in 2013, and it’s way ahead of the No. 2 worst-performing sector, retail, where 43,783 jobs were cut in 2014…

Grazed from NYTimes. Author: Quentin Hardy.

Are software makers writing themselves out of a good living? Recent trends in the computer business indicate we are about to see a phenomenal growth in computing power and the relative ease with which software can be created to utilize it. In one case, powerful cloud computing companies that are accessible to the public — and often to developers of new software — appear to be quickly expanding.

Intel says that in the last five years it has seen a tenfold increase, to 200, in the number of public clouds. There is no sign of that slowing down, with big companies like Google and Amazon offering even more services for software developers to put more things online, including connected household devices, millions of hours of video, and fast-growing start-ups like Airbnb or Khan Academy…

Read more from the source @ http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/01/13/why-software-containers-wont-be-bad-news-for-programmers/?_r=0

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Mikael Ricknas.

More price cuts are expected this year because of fierce competition between cloud and on-site software providers, and enterprises will be the beneficiaries. In particular, in the customer relationship management market, a key cloud battleground, seat prices for segments such as sales force automation are expected to decline in the next twelve months and by 25 percent through 2018, according to market research company Gartner.

This will be caused by incumbent vendors heavily discounting their cloud offerings to try and prevent their existing on-site customers from defecting to companies such as Salesforce.com and SugarCRM. Enterprises will also benefit from increased price competition in other areas, such as database management system application infrastructure and middleware. However, the price competition in these sectors isn’t quite as ferocious…

Grazed from Wired. Author: Robert McMillan.

Microsoft has made Verizon Communications the centerpiece of its effort to build out a worldwide network to speed up video delivery for users of its Azure cloud computing service. To some, the move comes a bit of a surprise. Microsoft had been building out this network itself, according to observers, but now appears to have reversed course.

When it comes to internet infrastructure, giant Web players like Microsoft typically build out their own offerings, rather than relying on service providers such as Verizon. And in recent years, these content delivery networks, or CDNs, have seen some big build-outs. When you’re Netflix and Google, it helps to have full control of your CDN, so that you can more efficiently deliver a significant slice of the internet’s Sunday evening data…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Nicholas Rando.

When it comes to cloud computing, there are three main options: public cloud, private cloud and hybrid cloud. Public cloud offers scalability, elasticity and a pay-per-use model on shared infrastructure. Hybrid cloud is a mixture of private cloud and public cloud services with orchestration between the two. But what about private cloud?

While private cloud and public cloud offer similar benefits, enterprises choose private cloud for its on-premises nature and control. In a private cloud environment, a firewall limits user access and eliminates many companies’ concerns regarding data security and compliance. However, companies must plan carefully for a private cloud project…

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Ginna Raahauge.

By now you’re probably tired of hearing about how cloud computing is changing the nature of business. We are familiar with the benefits: having access to data when and where we want, the ability to sync our mobile devices and the ability to collaborate in real time. Despite the cloud bringing us many great things; it has also brought business leaders many challenges since most people expect cloud-like experiences when not all enterprises can or will offer every application or business function in the cloud.

Whether it be budgetary constraints, technical limitations, security concerns or performance issues, not every application will make it to the cloud. This brings us to the hybrid enterprise, which is a mix of data center and cloud-hosted apps and data, and networks comprised of private (hosted), public (Internet) and cloud infrastructure…