Grazed from ComputerWeekly.  Author: Archana Venkatraman.

Cloud computing can help enterprises cut costs, innovate and make their businesses more agile – but only when implemented correctly. Many organisations are not thinking their cloud strategies through, warns Gary Barnett, chief analyst at Ovum.

“I am a huge fan of cloud but cloud is not magic,” Barnett told delegates attending the Westminster eForum seminar on cloud computing on 4 September.  “I know of instances where cloud can be more complicated, more costly and less secure,” he said…

Grazed from InfoWorld.  Author: David Linthicum.

Once again, I’m made aware of new cloud security issues by the ringing of my cellphone, as reporters look for a quote on a story. This time, the story had a few elements that made the new breach more exciting, including Apple and female celebrities.

It seems that hackers targeted celebrities using research and brute force to figure out how to access information in Apple’s iCloud. According to reports circulating on the Web, the hackers managed to access backups on Apple’s iCloud servers that occur each night to make sure that your lost or stolen phone does not lead to lost and stolen information…

Grazed from DentistryIQ. Author: Trevor James.

Traditional dental practice management software is a thing of the past. The future now lies with cloud-based practice management software, which means it’s time for your practice to let go of the old dental technology and move forward with the new and improved technology. So what exactly is the “cloud,” and what does cloud computing involve?

The term “cloud” tends to confuse and scare people, but it shouldn’t because it’s just a fancy metaphor for the Internet. Cloud computing involves using remote servers hosted on the Internet – instead of a local server or your personal computer – for storing, managing, and processing data. While you may not realize it, you do cloud computing all the time in your personal life…

Grazed from V3.co.uk. Author: Roland Moore-Colyer.

Improved governance and training will be core to the future of cloud adoption, helping overcome security and inefficiency problems inherent in many cloud migrations, according to a panel of cloud experts. At a Westminster eForum event cloud specialists from Microsoft, Oracle and Symantec joined an Ovum analyst, and several lawyers and academics to discuss the next steps for cloud computing.

The participants explored key cloud issues such as security, compliance and the efficiency of cloud computing. The panel presented a consensus of opinion that would-be cloud adopters need to work out the best way to migrate their IT infrastructure to the cloud and establish a level of governance over data security rather than wholly rely on cloud providers…

Grazed from MediaPost. Author: Laurie Sullivan.

The Google Quantum Artificial Intelligence Lab has announced that John Martinis and his team at UC Santa Barbara will partner with Google to build new quantum information processors based on superconducting electronics. The hardware project, led by Martinis, aims to make quantum computers a reality. Think of the Web as the world’s largest catalog to better understand why Google would want to bring quantum speeds to humanity.

Quantum speeds would increase the ability to index and process information not only across the Internet, but on servers supporting cloud computing and business intranets. It would make finding and serving information that much faster, which is especially critical as the amount of content continues to grow…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Dan Kobialka.

AT&T has launched a cloud-based storage solution that is designed to meet the security requirements of federal government agencies. The new release, AT&T Synaptic Storage-as-a-Service (STaaS) for Government, enables federal government agencies to store information in the cloud.

"Federal agencies want the mobility, collaboration, information sharing and efficiency that the cloud offers, but they can’t afford to adopt cloud solutions that sacrifice performance, reliability and above all, security," AT&T Government Solutions President Kay Kapoor said in a prepared statement. "Our new STaaS for Government [offering] delivers the key attributes federal buyers require and allows them to move to the cloud with ease and confidence."…

Read more from the source @ http://talkincloud.com/cloud-computing-vertical-markets/090314/att-unveils-cloud-storage-solution-federal-government-agencies

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Mike Vizard.

The U.S. Open is one of the premier global sporting events and generates a lot of revenue for everyone involved. But even in the U.S. Tennis Association (USTA) has to deal with budget limitations. To help overcome those limitations, the USTA has enlisted IBM (IBM) not only to provide cloud computing services but also to design and build the analytics applications available on the Web and via mobile computing devices.

John Kent, IBM Worldwide Sponsorship Marketing executive, said IBM is powering those applications via three data centers integrated using IBM Cloud Orchestrator software and IBM software-defined storage technologies to maximize performance and guarantee availability. In addition, IBM is employing IBM Watson Foundations technologies to forecast Internet traffic as part of an effort to dynamically allocate additional capacity and bandwidth as required…

Grazed from CNBC. Author: Ari Levy.

The winners in the cloud-computing revolution so far have been vendors catering to big business. Salesforce.com, NetSuite, Workday and ServiceNow built multibillion-dollar companies by shifting massive enterprise applications to the Web, uprooting traditional software suppliers in the process.

A new crop of emerging cloud players is creating software for the millions of mom-and-pop shops, pulling some into the digital world for the first time. Goodbye paper spreadsheets and time punch machines. Tough Pups in Corning, New York, is the quintessential new buyer. Founded a decade ago by Leo Sanders, Tough Pups is a pet day care and training facility with six employees and less than $1 million in revenue…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: CJ Arlotta.

August is over, but consolidation in the backup and disaster recovery (BDR) is spilling over into September. Acronis this week said it has acquired BackupAgent, a cloud-based backup platform provider headquartered in Holland. The financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. As a result of the acquisition, Acronis will acquire all of BackupAgent’s employees and customers.

Once everything is settled, BackupAgent’s solution will be powered by Acronis AnyData Engine, data protection technologies provided via cloud backup solutions. The acquisition follows the Woborn, Massachusetts-based storage management company’s announcement of Acronis True Image for Mac, an image-based backup product that provides Mac users with several ways to back up data…

Grazed from BriggsLawGroup. Author: Editorial Staff.

Cloud computing and legal ethics are an important piece of knowledge every business owner should possess. For businesses and individuals, storing and accessing information on Internet-based systems, also known as the “cloud,” is a powerful tool that boosts productivity and convenience. However, ethics rules require lawyers to keep client information confidential, which can be problematic when using the cloud to store client information and work product. State bar associations nationwide are struggling to weigh the benefits and risks of cloud computing.

On the plus side, cloud-based systems free up attorneys from their desks, allowing them to access information from anywhere they can get an internet connection. I know several lawyers who use iPads and mobile phones for most of their client work. For solo and small firm practitioners who do not have the resources to acquire and maintain robust in-house computing systems, the cloud has been a game changer…