Author: David

Cloud computing is still in the testing and experimental space for many organizations, but its benefits are becoming clear to many. Cloud is rapidly shifting from a world of hype and possibilities to one of practical application, and CIOs that haven’t already considered what cloud means for their business need to step up the pace.

That was the consensus of six panelists brought together by information exchange solutions specialist IntraLinks in a roundtable discussion Thursday morning at the Gabarron Foundation in New York City.

The Promise of Cloud Computing

"You think about technology waves, and every once in a while you get one that you know is meaningful, that actually changes the way companies spend their money and invest in solutions; it actually changes the way the tech industry itself is shaped, and cloud computing is one of those things clearly," said Ted Schadler, vice president and principal analyst with Forrester Research, who moderated the panel…

Cloud computing has opened a new world of discovery for data storage and sharing. Its ability to share both data and computing resources has caused the world to look upon it as the first major information technology of the 21st century…

Tourism used to be a business that relied heavily on advertising and word of mouth. Hearing stories about your friends’ recent trip to Mexico or seeing the beautiful lights of France on the cover of a magazine used to get potential travelers excited about visiting the world’s most luxurious places. However, the world has changed, and traditional methods of promotion are not considered as effective as they once were. How can the world of vacation planning adapt to the changing business landscape? According to Microsoft, the answer may be cloud computing…

The Science Cloud will be tested by three organizations during a two-year pilot phase before it opens up to more groups.  A new cloud-computing project called the "Science Cloud" has just been launched by some of Europe’s biggest research powerhouses along with European IT companies.

The CIA is embracing big data to dramatically speed up the time it takes to analyze and act on the sea of data its sensors and agents collect, a top agency official said.

There have been profound changes caused by technology in recent years, much of it driven by social, mobile and cloud applications, said Ira “Gus” Hunt, the CIA’s chief technology officer, speaking at the recent AFCEA Emerging Technologies Symposium in Washington DC. One example of this is the Arab Spring uprising, which would not have been possible without those technologies, he said, adding that cheap, ubiquitous and networked devices change how the public and private sectors do business…

Wayin, the 18-month-old Scott McNealy start-up, has topped up its funding with a $14 million B round lead by US Venture Partners with the participation of TIBCO, the big Silicon Valley law firm Wilson Sonsini and a very locker room crowd of private investors including TV producer Burt Sugarman, real estate developer Michael Meldman, Gunthy-Renker co-CEO Ben Van de Bundt, former Great Plains CEO and ex-Microsoft SVP Doug Burgum, sportscaster Jim Gray and others.

Financing so far totals $20 million…

Carrier cloud providers are moving as quickly as possible to offer new services in order to build new channels and acquire new customers. They have solved technical challenges and have an impressive array of composite services. But now cloud providers need to monetize their investment, and it’s at this point that many carriers are challenged, having overlooked the creation of effective processes that enable the sale, consumption and ongoing performance of their services. Monitoring and management of cloud computing services require a customer-retention strategy…

Companies issuing requests for proposals for cloud services can now tap into information on Carbon Footprint, IO Controls, Provider Assurance, Security Monitoring and VM Interoperability. 

These are the five usage models that feature in reports from the Open Data Center Alliance, a body set up to develop a standards based approach to cloud computing service provision.

Within the guidance offered on Carbon Footprint, the ODCA says ‘This Usage Model establishes an open standard approach for measuring the carbon footprint of services provided from the cloud.’…

Information Delivery Needs in Academics
Analyzing massive amounts of unstructured content and extracting information out of them is necessary for many industry verticals and particularly important for academics. The following points highlight the growing needs for information delivery in the field of education and research:

• (Higher) Education Going Virtual: With the increased costs of higher education and other federal-related restrictions on travel from other countries, higher education is turning more toward the virtual class room and this trend will increase in the future. This means that there are an increasing number of students who will look for information over the virtual classrooms and by other means such as social media, access through smart devices, etc. The more unstructured the data, the greater the need to process them toward meaningful content for students…