Author: David

Grazed from Government Technology. Author: Editorial Staff.

There’s a problem with the cloud in federal government. According to a recent study by the Government Business Council (GBC), only 24 percent of federal managers felt cloud computing in government was of high quality and only 15 percent reported that they used cloud technology frequently, Government Executive reported. For context, 94 percent of the 548 respondents polled said they believed telephone conferencing was high quality and 85 percent reported that they used that technology frequently.

Either cloud technology in federal agencies really is terrible, or as GBC Research Manager Dana Grinshpan suggested, managers may not have a clear understanding of what cloud computing is. "With regard to the low quality and low frequency scores of cloud computing, it is likely one of a few things are at play: feds don’t know how to use cloud computing, don’t realize they are using it, or don’t actually know what cloud computing is," she said…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Joe Panettieri.

Tech Data is updating its TDCloud strategy for VARs and cloud partners today during a partner conference in Orlando, Fla. Stacy Nethercoat, VP, software and TDCloud, is describing how the distributor will empower partners for cloud computing.

“We want to help you monetize the cloud opportunities,” she said, asserting that Tech Data has the tools, the technologies, customer support and vendor partnerships to empower VARs for cloud solutions. “Our objective is to help you simplify the situation and add value.”…

Grazed from Computing. Author: Graeme Burton.

New trends in computing, including social media and cloud computing, are challenging traditional approaches to computer security that will force organisations to adapt – or to risk marginalisation and extinction, according to Gartner analyst Carston Casper.

Casper, speaking at the 13th Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit in London today, said that users – whether staff, partners or potential customers – were becoming increasingly demanding, and that organisations need to respond quickly to these demands or risk marginalisation…

Grazed from FierceTelecom. Author: Jim Barthold.

Japanese telecom giant NTT (NYSE: NTT) has expanded its strategic focus on cloud computing by acquiring Centerstance, a consulting company that specializes in cloud-enabled business transformation solutions, the two companies announced Tuesday. Centerstance will become a wholly owned NTT subsidiary.

No financial terms of the acquisition were announced. "NTT is focused on becoming the leading partner of choice to help clients transform their business as they move to the cloud," Hiroo Unoura, NTT’s president-CEO said in a news release…

Grazed from NonProfitQuarterly. Author: John Hoffman.

Today marks the kickoff of Salesforce.com’s annual Dreamforce conference, which the company bills as “the cloud computing industry event of the year.” Cloud computing, or the use of the Internet to run applications and store data, emerged in the early 2000’s. After the dot.com bubble burst, surviving and newer companies, like Salesforce, Google, Amazon and others, moved from using the Internet as a medium to place orders or communicate with customers and instead developed online platforms that leveraged Internet connectivity as a crucial part of their services. Today, cloud computing has become so ubiquitous that many people are unaware they are even using it.

TechSoup Global recently released a report that surveyed more than 10,000 NGO’s across 88 countries to measure their adoption of cloud computing. “People often don’t know whether or not the technology they are using is cloud computing” says Marnie Webb, Co-CEO of TechSoup Global. “It’s only when we asked respondents about specific technologies that we discovered that they were, in fact, using cloud computing.”…

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Joe McKendrick.

Security is often a showstopper for cloud computing proposals, but at least one survey suggests that applications and data may be somewhat more secure out in the cloud than within on-premises systems.

In fact, cloud-based applications are less likely to be attacked than on-premises environments, a new study of 70,000 security breaches for a 12-month period across 1,600 companies, released by by Alert Logic, a security vendor, concludes…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Charles Babcock.

The new OpenStack Foundation is taking shape as a potentially potent force in cloud computing. Its governing board has been elected, and working groups are accelerating development in eight technical areas. Perhaps more important, it has organized itself on a self-sustaining basis and now has $10 million in the bank to pursue its goals.

That could have made it a more formidable competitor to VMware, which has also been active in establishing the vSphere and vCloud product portfolio adopted by many of its customers. At VMworld, outgoing CEO Paul Maritz said VMware has 8,500 service providers offering a VMware-compatible virtualization environment, many of them small co-location and regional data center operators…

Grazed from PRNewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

Newtek Business Services, NASDAQ: NEWT, The Small Business Authority, with a portfolio of over 100,000 business accounts, announced today the findings of its SB Authority Market Sentiment Survey, a monthly window into the concerns of independent business owners.

Based on a poll of over 2,100 respondents, one of the key findings from the August survey is 67% of business owners do not currently run business applications on a smartphone or tablet. Additionally, only 14% think they will replace their PC with a smartphone or tablet in the future…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Gregory Msungu.

In the last decade, cloud computing has grown immensely. Private companies, individuals, and non-profit organizations have adopted various cloud solutions in equal measure. The most common among these have been the hosting-based applications. More and more companies host their applications in the cloud. Similarly, there has been an increasing demand coming in from mobile users. The relationship between mobile apps use and cloud computing is direct, but the reasons for this fantastic development may not be that obvious.

Immense growth in the mobile sector

The results of a recent survey show that, since 2009, there are more mobile phone users in the world than at any other time. This is especially true about powerful mobile phones that support app use and installation, such as smartphones and iPhones, which sell like hot cakes today. The number of people who are using the apps is huge. But how does this relate to increased cloud computing use?…

Grazed from PRWeb. Author: PR Announcement.

For enterprises, traditional desktop computing is nearly extinct. Most workers now carry laptop computers to and from their desks, and the 21st century trend towards a mobilised workforce means many workers no longer have desks at all. Traditional desktop computing consumes excessive time and resources.

Virtualised servers and desktops hold the key to more efficient IT management. Although virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) has historically been deemed too expensive, the recent surge of cloud computing offers a cost-effective, managed platform for VDI that stands to revolutionise the structure of enterprise IT. Visiongain has determined that the value of the global cloud-based VDI market will reach $11.2 billion in 2012…