Author: David

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Jessica Scarpati.

In a market practically defined by do-it-yourself provisioning, the notion of cloud professional services seems almost like an oxymoron. Professional services come at a premium price, and cloud computing is, in many ways, a commodity. Yet for that exact reason, cloud providers are acutely aware that improving the profitability of the cloud model hinges on finding a way to boost revenue through complementary services.

IBM, recently named a leader in IDC’s MarketScape for cloud professional services, is finding ways to articulate the value of these services to customers across several markets. Ric Telford, the company’s vice president of cloud services, recently spoke with SearchCloudProvider about how IBM has gained that edge…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Harvey Koeppel.

"Imagine if every Thursday your shoes exploded if you tied them the usual way. This happens to us all the time with computers, and nobody thinks of complaining." — Jef Raskin, creator of the initial concepts that became the Apple Macintosh computer, as quoted in Dr. Dobb’s Journal.

I must admit that I have heard many descriptions of computing but, when I came across this exploding-shoe metaphor, it was (a) different, and (b) caught my attention. Then again, I have always been fascinated by what people have to say about technology, especially new technology, and especially new technology that is disruptive by its nature. Here are a few of my favorites:…

Grazed from LiquidM. Author: PR Announcement.

LiquidM today announced the public availability of its white-labeled Mobile Advertising Management Platform (MAMP), which allows mobile media buyers to optimize their management processes across the full range of premium to performance advertising. To customers who care about returns, quality, and efficiency, LiquidM provides a business model-agnostic full stack to manage and optimize their mobile advertising campaigns.

LiquidM’s modular, cloud-based SaaS replaces Build-Your-Own (BYO) or inadequate point solutions of ad tech infrastructure with a standardized, open platform that is customizable to individual needs. Additionally, the company is also announcing a $5M series A funding from Blumberg Capital, Earlybird, and Asset Management to fuel the growth and marketing of the product…

Grazed from Adaptive Computing. Author: PR Announcement.

Adaptive Computing, the company that powers many of world’s largest private/hybrid cloud and technical computing environments with its optimization and scheduling software, today announced it has been awarded five patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office related to technologies that make cloud computing more energy efficient. This raises the company’s total number of patent grants to 31 and bolsters its private cloud portfolio as one of the richest in existence.

The patents apply to Adaptive Computing’s Moab software and cover multiple significant aspects in intelligent power management, including patented concepts of:

• Calendar-based power capping – Helps navigate power quotas by identifying optimal times to operate data-intensive simulations
• On-demand power management – Optimizes workload by properly allocating resources and powering off servers as needed
• Predictive placement – Employs power-aware policies to manage energy consumption within data centers more evenly and save on cooling costs…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

Capgemini, the global consulting, technology and outsourcing services provider, is expanding its cloud portfolio by becoming a Virtustream partner. By partnering with the IaaS vendor, Capgemini is expecting to expand its hybrid and private cloud solutions for its customers.

This announcement follows less than two months after Capgemini’s rollout of a Big Data analytics offering on Amazon (AMZN) Web Services. In the last couple of years or so, Capgemini has also partnered with Microsoft (MSFT) Windows Azure. Although those announcements focused on the public cloud sector, the Virtustream partnership is intended to build out the consulting firm’s hybrid—and to a lesser extent, private—cloud solutions…

Grazed from ImprovedDataRecovery. Author: Gene De Libero.

According to an article in CIOinsight.com, a new report from 451 Research, in conjunction with the Uptime Institute and the Yankee Group, indicates that while cloud computing adoption is becoming more common, a number of barriers to entry still exist. 83% of the respondents participating in the study said they faced significant roadblocks when deploying projects. But what surprised me most about the results of the research was that, according to the article, IT roadblocks have declined while non-IT roadblocks have increased by 68%.

Some of the more prevalent non-IT issues cited by respondents centered on people, processes, budgets, time, politics, security challenges, contractual agreements and change management issues. Each one of the challenges cited here is significant when taken individually; when taken together, they can absolutely crush an initiative…

Grazed from IT Business Edge. Author: Michael Vizard.

Three months after IBM acquired SoftLayer for $2 billion, the company is aggressively transitioning all of its cloud computing services to the SoftLayer platform. IBM announced that it is moving the IBM Social Learning Platform and the recently acquired Xtify mobile messaging software to the Softlayer cloud platform. The company also reported that it has signed up 1,100 additional customers since acquiring SoftLayer.

Dennis Quan, IBM vice president of cloud infrastructure services, says the total base of customers using the SoftLayer platform is more than 22,000, and IBM now has over 100 software as a service (SaaS) applications…

Grazed from ChicagoTribune. Author: Neha Alawadhi and Aditya Kondalamahanty.

Cloud computing software maker Citrix Systems Inc estimated quarterly results below analysts’ expectations as businesses delayed contracts, sending its shares down as much as 14 percent in extended trading. Cloud computing companies such as Citrix and VMware Inc have been facing delays in closing large deals as customers review IT budgets to prune discretionary spending.

Citrix’s warning could set the tone for other software companies as it comes just ahead of the third-quarter reporting season. VMware shares fell 3.3 percent after the bell. Cloud computing software allows customers to access applications remotely from a central server, and reduces costs by eliminating the need to upgrade and install software on each individual computer on site…