Author: David

Grazed from Channelnomics. Author: Larry Walsh.

In another sign cloud computing and conventional managed services are converging, Cisco Systems Inc. today announced the consolidation of much of its channel program to encompass solution providers that sit on both sides of the services divide. The new Cisco Cloud and Managed Services Program places solution providers that deliver cloud computing services – mostly application and software-as-a-service – and MSPs that remotely monitor and manage infrastructure under the same channel umbrella.

The logic behind the move is to eliminate redundancy and confusion in the marketplace created by increasingly arbitrary monikers assigned to both types of partners, explains Arjun Lahiri, senior manager of worldwide channels at Cisco. Customers told Cisco that the differing services categories and certifications were creating more confusion. The consolidation under CMSP provides greater insights into which partners can deliver “Cisco powered” services…

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) today announced that its CloudBand™ ‘carrier cloud’ management solution now supports an expanded array of popular open source cloud computing software as well as networking equipment from leading technology vendors.

Carrier cloud represents a new class of cloud services that enable communications service providers to bring the benefits of the cloud to their own networks and business operations while offering cloud services with the security, reliability and quality enterprises and consumers expect from telecommunications networks…

Grazed from GovHealthIT. Author: David Linthicum.

The default response for those charged with HIPAA security is to say ‘no’ to cloud computing. Why? Clouds are not under direct control, they are not typically up on existing and emerging healthcare regulations, and, most importantly, they are new and scary. There is a clear need, however, to rethink the role of cloud computing by those charged with HIPAA security. The efficiencies that can be gained by leveraging public, private, and hybrid clouds are just too compelling.

The trick is to understand the existing requirements, and then understand how the emerging use of cloud computing could provide compliant and secure HIPAA solutions. In many cases, leveraging cloud computing will improve upon the best practices and technology that exist today. Here are three steps to using HIPAA in the cloud:…

Grazed from DataCentrix. Author: PR Announcement.

Datacentrix Holdings, a provider of ICT solutions, has introduced its cloud computing offering, aimed at assisting enterprise-level customers in meeting its off-premise outsourcing needs.

The tangible and measurable benefits of Datacentrix’s cloud service offering include a structured costing model, which allows different service types to be billed out on a ‘pay as you use’ type basis; the stringent monitoring of all cloud services to allow for reporting on utilization, availability, performance, capacity and demand; Simpler strategic planning through detailed analyses of current and future requirements; customized service level agreements (SLAs), which are managed in accordance with service catalogues, service levels and performance indicators; and an advanced service delivery framework that provides for end-to-end support, including a contact center, mature service desk, advanced IT service management system, monitoring tools, certified and experienced skills and proven processes…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: David Linthicum.

Amazon Web Services’ Reinvent conference this week is sold out — not surprising, given AWS’s strong adoption by small and medium-sized businesses for infrastructure cloud services (IaaS) and its growth in platform services (PaaS).

But as successful as AWS has become, many Global 2000 enterprises still refuse to put their processes and data on the AWS public IaaS cloud. I call them the Folded-Arm Gang: IT staffers in larger companies who quickly point out that AWS, or any public cloud, is not ready for enterprise-cloud computing. The Folded-Arm Gang doesn’t consider any public cloud to be reliable, secure, or safe…

Grazed from eWeek. Author: Darryl K. Taft.

Eucalyptus Systems, a provider of private and hybrid cloud computing software, has announced several new capabilities within its open-source cloud software including new management and storage features.

Eucalyptus 3.2 introduces several new features that increase control and management of cloud resources including a new graphical user interface that enables self-service capabilities, simplified cloud administration and enhanced cloud usage reporting. Eucalyptus Systems officials maintain that Eucalyptus 3.2 furthers the company’s position in open-source cloud computing software for private and hybrid clouds…

Grazed from ZDNet. Author: Jack Clark.

Google has added 36 new types of server to its rentable cloud infrastructure. The additions to Google Compute Engine, the company’s infrastructure-as-a-service technology, were announced by Google on Monday. "At launch we offered four basic [instance types]," Barak Regev, head of Google’s Cloud Platform in EMEA, told ZDNet. "If you aggregate [the 36 new instances] into brackets, you’ll see they are touching the high-memory and high-CPU instances [but] the one that is most notable is the diskless file configuration."

The diskless configuration’s instances let developers rent lower-cost instances for applications that do not need a dedicated disk attached to their server – an ‘ephemeral’ disk – but can handle a separate ‘persistent’ disk. Ephemeral disks are faster but do not retain data across instances. Google is also cutting the prices of its main four instances by around five percent…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Joe Panetierri.

Intel (NASDAQ: INTC) is at a crossroads. CEO Paul Otellini is preparing to retire; the tablet and smartphone markets remain difficult to crack; and new platforms like ultrabooks running Windows 8 or Windows 7 have yet to ignite major PC upgrade cycles. But there could be a silver lining in all this. It’s call Intel Hybrid Cloud. The big question: Will Intel put serius marketing muscle behind this potential channel partner opportunity, especially as partners seek alternatives to Microsoft’s discontinued Windows Small Business Server (SBS).

Intel Hybrid Cloud essentially is an on-premises small business server that can link to a range of managed and cloud services. Special offers include a BDR (backup and disaster recovery) appliance running StorageCraft, and Level Platforms software that allows MSPs (managed services providers) to remotely manage and troubleshoot customer systems…

Grazed from ComputerWorld. Author: Radhika Nallayam.

Years from today, when historians tell our children the story of IT circa 2012, the shift to opex models is going to be an important milestone and they will point to cloud computing as the incendiary that lit the first flame.

Like many historians, they will be wrong; opex models have existed before cloud computing. But it’s hard to blame them for thinking that. While the cloud isn’t the first opex model, it’s definitely served as a tipping point for the opex-IT movement. It’s what fired CFO imaginations as they dreamed of a world where sunk IT costs were a thing of the past…

Grazed from UCStrategies.com. Author: Editorial Staff.

The latest CIO Tech Priorities research reveals that head IT-decision makers intend to heighten spending over the next year. It is anticipated that the biggest amount of this spending will go towards cloud computing services, mobile technology, and finally, business intelligence and analytics (BI&A). According to the most recent CIO Magazine Tech Poll/Tech Priorities survey, IT budgets are expected to increase in the next year and mobile technology investments are likely to take the biggest portion. The other realms that are expected to use a significant share of the increased budget include cloud computing services and BI&A.

The CIO survey results discovered that 48 percent of the respondents believe that the next year will bring a surge in IT spending. Thirty-nine percent reported that budgets will remain the same, and the additional 13 percent expect budget cuts for IT…