Grazed from NetworkWorld. Author: Frederic Paul.

Last month, I wrote about what Red Hat CEO Jim Whitehurst had to say about applications finally overshadowing infrastructure. But the rise of apps is only one of the big changes roiling the IT landscape. Cloud computing has had an equally dramatic effect. Has the cloud already won? Yes… and no

So I asked Whitehurst if the cloud had already won the war for IT infrastructure, but he gave me a more nuanced response than I expected: “I think there’s a new architecture combining computing and storage in an easily managed centralized data center,” he said. “Scaling out that architecture… That’s clearly winning.”…

Grazed from CloudTech. Author: James Bourne.

The International Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) has released two new standards for cloud computing, in an attempt to “put some order in the chaos” for users. The generally accepted definition of cloud computing was put together by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), with the final version hitting the stands in September 2011. In it, cloud computing is defined as “a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources…that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”

Yet the new standards from the ISO give a largely similar definition, choosing to call cloud computing an “evolving paradigm.” The document’s assessment of cloud’s key concepts – including broad network access, measured service, multi-tenancy, on-demand self-service, rapid elasticity and scalability, and resource pooling – ring very true with the NIST ruling…

Grazed from Microsoft. Author: PR Announcement.

Microsoft on Monday announced it will provide free cloud-computing and research applications to medical researchers working on the Ebola virus. "One of the things tomorrow morning we’re going to do is make available Azure computer power to the research community," CEO Satya Nadella said at a presentation in San Francisco.

Azure is the name of Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform, essentially a group of data centers that allow users to access large amounts of information and computing power remotely over the Internet. "In addition we have some tools that Microsoft researchers built to be able to do vaccine discovery, so we want to take all of that and make it available for the research community," said Nadella. Microsoft’s research division is soliciting cloud computing proposals for projects that are working toward “developing a better understanding of the spread and cure of the Ebola virus,” according to the company announcement. “Qualifying proposals will be awarded allocations of Microsoft Azure compute and storage resources.” Ebola has killed more than 4,500 people in West Africa.

Grazed from CSOOnline. Author: Pierluigi Paganini.

The rapid diffusion for the cloud computing paradigm and promised benefits for the adoption of cloud infrastructure are attracting a growing number of businesses and organizations. Of course, it is essential for organizations to maximize the benefits of migration to cloud architecture by reducing costs and minimizing risks.

Cloud computing represents a fundamental change in how companies use and provide their services. For many small and midsize businesses, it represents a choice to compete in a business environment with powerful competitors. IT managers are today inundated with countless business proposals. For this reason, I will give you some useful insights for moving workloads to the cloud…

Grazed from RedHat. Author: PR Announcement.

Red Hat, Inc. (NYSE:RHT), the world’s leading provider of open source solutions, today announced new results of its collaboration with SAP to drive the next generation of mobile database development and synchronization. With today’s news, developers now have access to new components of the SAP(R) Data Management portfolio in OpenShift, Red Hat’s award-winning Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering. The mobile data management cartridge for the SAP SQL Anywhere suite makes it easier for developers creating MySQL-based database applications to extend their data to remote and mobile applications, and keep it synchronized.

Today’s announcement builds on Red Hat’s existing collaboration with SAP to bring SAP components to OpenShift. In April 2014, Red Hat announced plans to offer free development cartridges for the SAP Data Management portfolio, including SAP Adaptive Server(R) Enterprise (SAP ASE), SAP IQ software and SAP SQL Anywhere for use with the OpenShift portfolio, aimed at enabling developers around the world to build next-generation applications…

Grazed from PR NewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

iCIMS, Inc., a leading provider of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) talent acquisition software solutions for growing businesses, announced today that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has named the iCIMS Talent Platform a 2014 Cloud Computing Excellence Award winner.

The Cloud Computing Excellence Award, presented by Cloud Computing Magazine, recognizes companies that have most effectively leveraged cloud computing in their efforts to bring new, differentiated offerings to market. "It is an honor to be recognized for the third consecutive year by TMC’s Cloud Computing Awards, especially since we take so much pride in our software architecture," said iCIMS President and Chief Executive Officer, Colin Day…

Grazed from SmartDataCollective. Author: Jason Bowden.

As an IT provider, I am overwhelmed with all the options for Business Intelligence in the cloud and very confused by how to compare service offerings in order to effective provide the best solutions. In the article we will discuss some of the different offerings on the market and why all business are racing toward the cloud for Business Intelligence Solutions. I like to think of BI in generally two layers the visualization tools and the back end process tools. So let’s start there for WHY BI in the Cloud makes sense.

Presentation and Data Visualization

Data visualization in the cloud offers an intelligent solution for businesses to access data with better convenience and enhanced productivity. Business Intelligence (BI) cloud computing offers a more plug and play method to try new tools sets with an ease of implementation for a stand-up perspective. The tools are evolving quickly and as a solution you may want to not get tied to closely to a single solution…

Grazed from DailyPress. Author: Editorial Staff.

German software maker SAP cut its 2014 operating profit forecast on Monday as customers shifted faster than expected to products delivered over the Internet, delaying when those orders can be booked as sales. Company executives said the accelerating switch from packaged software to so-called "cloud" software would shave about 200 million euros off a previous profit forecast, but that cloud contracts would bolster sales and profit in the future.

The corporate software industry is undergoing a rapid shift from packaged software which customers run on their computer systems to software run over the Internet in remote datacenters, making data easier to manage, analyze and use on mobile phones. SAP said it now expects 2014 operating profit, excluding some special items, of 5.6 billion to 5.8 billion euros ($7.1-$7.4 billion), down from 5.8-6.0 billion euros previously…

Grazed from Bloomberg.  Author: Alex Barinka and Ian King.

International Business Machines Corp. (IBM:US) agreed to pay Globalfoundries Inc. $1.5 billion to take an unprofitable chip-manufacturing unit off its hands, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

IBM will also receive $200 million worth of assets, making the net value of the deal $1.3 billion, said the people who asked not to be identified because the agreement is private. The companies plan to announce the deal tomorrow morning, the people said. IBM put out a statement today saying it planned to make a “major business announcement” tomorrow…

Grazed from ZDNet.  Author: Chris Duckett.

There used to be a time when an IT leader could sign one purchasing and support contract with a single vendor, and have all the computing hardware and software needed to conduct enterprise computing for the foreseeable future.

"Nobody ever got fired for buying IBM" was regarded as an axiom, and IT purchasers could get everything from mainframes, rack servers, thinkpads, and thinkcentres for corporate desktop needs, and everything in between…