Growing confidence in cloud security
Grazed from CSO. Author: Ellen Messmer.
Cloud computing is blowing into 2013 on the winds of confidence, with IT professionals increasingly convinced that the security controls are adequate, but still very, very leery. Take Len Peters, CIO at Yale University, who has undertaken a cost-benefit analysis of cloud-based services in comparison to on-premises software purchases, finding that not only are unit costs less for the kind of software-as-a-service (SaaS) he’s most interested in, but that SaaS can also further the compliance and security goals the IT department has long espoused.
Last spring, Yale elected to migrate from an on-premises IT management application to the cloud-based ServiceNow. The economic analysis indicated a positive cost advantage within 13 months. But security and compliance considerations were and always are going to be critical factors in cloud-computing decisions, Peters says. Like many IT pros, he found himself asking the questions, "Is the cloud safe? What are the potential risks?"…
The largest retailers and the smallest online merchants bemoan the power Amazon wields in retail, but the company also has tech firms racing to keep up. Over the years, Amazon developed expertise building its own retail site, and in 2006, Amazon Web Services (AWS) began offering IT infrastructure services to other businesses in the form of web services – now commonly known as cloud computing.
Hewlett-Packard, which is desperately seeking ways to get its boat off the sandbar, told the SEC last week in its annual 10-K that "we continue to evaluate the potential disposition of assets and businesses that may no longer help us meet our objectives."
RiverMeadow Software Inc., developer of the RiverMeadow cloud migration SaaS, the world’s only automated server migration solution developed specifically for Carrier and Service Provider Clouds, today announced it will offer its cloud migration SaaS to VMware Service Provider Program (VSPP) partners.
LabTech Software, the remote monitoring and management (RMM) software company, is working on two specific cloud computing strategies to empower MSPs over the long haul. The first involves integrated, end-to-end cloud solutions that MSPs can offer their customers. The second involves integrated capabilities that allow MSPs to provision, monitor and bill for those services. CEO Matt Nachtrab offered MSPmentor some deeper thoughts about the strategy during a recent email exchange. I’m starting to wonder: Will LabTech and/or sister company ConnectWise emerge as a cloud aggregator — allowing MSPs to source and manage a range of third-party cloud services for customers? Here’s the update.
Cloud builders that use VCE Vblock as the central piece to their cloud puzzle have a new tool available in their kits. VMTurbo, which makes intelligent workload management software for cloud and virtualized environments, has managed to receive VCE Vblock Ready certification for its VMTurbo Operations Manager.
Research In Motion (RIM) has let go of its cloud services company, NewBay, selling it to Synchronoss Technologies for $55.5 million in cash. The acquisition closed just after Santa’s visit to all the good, little boys and girls. The acquisition of the Dublin, Ireland-based cloud services company will give Bridgewater, New Jersey-based Synchronoss the ability to expand its global mobility platform enablement strategy considerably. The acquisition followed shortly on the heels of two C-level executive appointments at NewBay. The cloud services company appointed Tom Goguen as CEO in September and Mark Payne as CFO in October. Both were former RIM executives who now find themselves with brand new bosses. Still, this deal must have been in the works for some time.
Ubuntu founder Mark Shuttleworth is focused on JuJu, a solution for deploying cloud services. JuJu is already mature and useful, but Ubuntu developers envision expanding on it in major ways in 2013, as evidence from mailing archives and Canonical announcements.