Author: David

Grazed from DataCenterKnowledge. Author: Bill Kleyman.

he dynamic nature of cloud computing has pushed data center workload, server, and even hardware automation to whole new levels. Now, any data center provider looking to get into cloud computing must look at some form of automation to help them be as agile as possible in the cloud world.

New technologies are forcing data center providers to adopt new methods to increase efficiency, scalability and redundancy. Let’s face facts; there are numerous big trends which have emphasized the increased use of data center facilities. These trends include:..

Grazed from Yahoo. Author: Lindsey LaManna.

The cloud, cloud computing, SaaS…like it or not, we hear these terms mentioned incessantly in the technology and business world. And for a good reason – the benefits of cloud computing are vast. The fact is that the role of the CIO has shifted in a way that makes cloud very difficult to ignore. The CIOs of today’s organizations are no longer solely responsible for the management of IT, but now for supporting business growth by reducing costs and driving innovation in effort to build a strategic advantage.

Driving innovation AND lowering costs? That’s a lot of pressure. The solution is the cloud. By adopting cloud solutions, businesses can lower total costs and transition from a fixed cost structure to a variable one while freeing up critical IT resources for strategic initiatives and innovation…

Grazed from MidsizeInsider. Author: Paul Williams.

IBM’s SmartCloud infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) product is ramping up its speed to allow the capability for real-time business analytics. Some time during the second half of 2013, SmartCloud will implement the latest version of IBM’s DB2 as its database layer. This version of DB2 includes a new technology called BLU Acceleration, which speeds up data analysis routines by a factor of 25, according to IBM.

SmartCloud now offering faster business analytics makes the IaaS offering more attractive to midsize business, allowing them to gain a competitive advantage by working more smartly and efficiently. News about this new speed enhancement to SmartCloud appeared in late May at Computerworld…

Grazed from ITWorld. Author: Mikael Ricknäs.

After three and a half years in operation, Amazon Web Services’ RDS is finally generally available, and users can also get a service-level agreement if they choose to run the database in multiple places. The combination of customer adoption, numerous new features and a lot of operational experience has taken RDS (Relational Database Service) to a level where Amazon thinks its mature enough to be made generally available. Until now, users could gain access to it under a beta testing program.

Just like Amazon’s other services, the hosted database service includes set-up, operations and scaling. For example, the service automatically patches the database software and backs up data. Code, applications, and tools that IT staff already use with their existing on-premise databases can also be used with RDS, according to Amazon…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Sourya Biswas.

Over the past few years, there has been an explosive growth in cloud computing, mainly due to the cost efficiencies of its pay-as-you-go model as compared to legacy IT. However, many companies that have migrated to the cloud have done so for more than cost savings; for them, performance has been the deciding factor. Whatever be the reason, these companies want to know what they are getting for their money.

This is where the specialized field of cloud analytics comes in to deliver answers. From utilization and cost analytics that are more important in the pay-as-you-go model, to performance and security analytics that are the focus of different cloud architectures, cloud analytics is a field that has attracted a number of players…

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Andy Maier.

Many businesses have not transitioned to cloud computing due to fears about the “openness” of the public cloud. Businesses and IT departments worry about losing control of their data, cloud security and sharing data space with other companies. An alternative to the public cloud platform model is private cloud.

Difference between Private Cloud and Hybrid Cloud

Many business professionals and IT admins are still confused about the difference between hybrid cloud and private cloud. A hybrid cloud solution involves both the public and private cloud. Basically, these deployments use a combination of public cloud with private or dedicated infrastructure…

Grazed from eWeek. Author: Eric Lundquist.

The major innovation Microsoft has brought to the technology business is the ability to play a good game of catch-up ball. From graphic interfaces to email to Web browsers to the entire Internet, the company too often sits out the first innings of big technology shifts, sputters about in the middle innings and finally, finally gets its act together before game’s end.

While late-innings closers are much valued in baseball and sales, being known as the catch-up king has never won plaudits in the tech space, where being first is valued more than being right. The TechEd event here showed Microsoft at its best in finally aligning the big trends in cloud computing with the needs of its existing customers and coming up with a package of products and services for the cloud computing era. I’ll run through some of the main product introductions, but first to the big vision…

Grazed from CloudPro. Author: Jane McCallion.

SAP has confirmed it is to bolster its cloud offering by acquiring Swiss e-commerce software provider hybris software, with completion expected in the third quarter of 2013. hybris, which was founded in 1997, offers an enterprise commerce suite for both business and consumer facing sales that incorporates web, mobile, call centre and in-store functionality.

Its products, which are delivered either in a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model or on premise, help businesses of all sizes increase sales across all vectors irrespective of location, the company claims. According to Forbes, the deal follows years of speculation that SAP would buy hybris, although there had been recent anticipation of a hybris IPO in 2014…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Salam Ul Haq.

Ever since cloud computing has seen mainstream adoption, the ability to migrate data between public or private clouds is becoming a key concern, especially due to the large size and the cost involved in the switch. The first question that comes to mind when discussing cloud migration is if there are any cloud standards that will ensure interoperability? This is because in the absence of such frameworks, the effort of translation or manual data transfer operations might exceed budgets, especially for large public clouds.

Hence it is essential to understand if there are any interoperability standards that may help in the migration. Another key point is to understand the reasons behind a cloud migration whose assessment will justify such a shift.We can say that cloud interoperability is still a topic under discussion by various cloud providers including HP, Red Hat, Rackspace, Citrix etc. The forum known as ‘OpenStack’ is promoting to build an open platform with open standards that various cloud providers can integrate in their systems making them more interoperable…

Grazed from ITWorld. Author: Andy Patrizio.

After two months of rumor, SoftLayer Technologies found a suitor in the form of IBM. The two firms announced Big Blue would purchase the privately-held cloud services provider, ending months of speculation over what suitor might win the hand of the firm.

Not only was IBM interested, EMC and AT&T had previously checked out the company at one point, according to a Reuters report from earlier this year but bowed out, clearing the way for IBM. It shows how hot the cloud services market is because with SoftLayer comes a very large infrastructure that would take years to build. Terms of the deal were not disclosed since SoftLayer is privately-held, but the company has disclosed that 2011 revenues in the range of $335 million and was very profitable, so IBM probably paid a significant multiple on the firm…