Author: David

Grazed from Forbes.  Author: Joe McKendrick.

Attempting to rein in and and squeeze more efficiency out of its $80 billion annual information technology budget, the federal government appears to be pulling out all stops when it comes to cloud computing. A year ago, under the tutelage of then-CIO Vivek Kundra, federal agencies were required to adhere to a “Cloud-First” option when making new technology purchases. It was estimated that up to one-fourth of the government’s IT budget could be moved into the cloud.

Now, there are concerted efforts to bring even more existing systems into cloud formations as well, as exhibited by the newly hatched “Shared-First” initiative — which promotes the government’s own private clouds (as well as commercial resources) as a way for agencies to tap into online resources…

Grazed from Information Week.  Author: Charles Babcock.

At this month’s Cloud Connect event, David Linthicum, CTO of Blue Mountain Labs, gave an informative one-hour talk on cloud architecture and design. It concluded with a list of 17 steps to getting it right.

"Most of this is just common sense," he told the crowd. To a practiced architect it may be common sense, but to some first-time implementers, it’s clearly a challenge. The fact that 17 steps are involved may indicate that when it comes to cloud computing, common sense may be less common than some imagine.

From that point on, I started listening to speakers for one particular thing: the moment when they hit the point of pain, where common sense didn’t seem to be enough. Here are a few examples…

Grazed from RIGC.  Author: Editorial Staff.

There is significant chatter about the power of Big Data and cloud computing and what it could mean for ad agencies trying to create more targeted digital marketing based on consumers’ online behavior. Researchers and brands alike are discussing the possibility of tailoring display ads, social media messaging and other advertising materials by gathering information on transactional data and internet browsing.

However, a study from LogLogic and Echelon One found that many companies’ desires to make Big Data and cloud computing work for them are much more ambitious than their current capabilities to utilize the technology…

Grazed from Virtual Strategy Magazine.  Author: Editorial Staff.

In one of the largest interoperability demonstrations at OFC/NFOEC 2012, the Ethernet Alliance (Booth 724) is showcasing cost-effective, high-speed connectivity to the cloud via interoperable 10-, 40-, and 100 Gigabit Ethernet (GbE) optical connections. Because Ethernet equipment suppliers and service providers are the largest consumers of optics, the Ethernet Alliance demonstration focuses on how the Ethernet ecosystem uses optics and how businesses are implementing 10-, 40-, and 100GbE optics in their networks.

The Ethernet Alliance and 10 member companies are demonstrating a variety of high-speed Ethernet technologies illustrating how 10GbE servers are driving the need for 40GbE and 100GbE uplinks within the data center environment and to cloud service providers. The demonstration creates a simulated cloud computing environment between two “data centers.” One data center is connecting a 100GbE lambda across an Optical Transport Network (OTN), while the second data center is connecting via four 10GbE links…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

TITUS, a leading provider of enterprise information security and compliance solutions, today introduced their enterprise cloud data security solutions at RSA Conference 2012 in San Francisco.

Enterprises and government organizations are shifting their IT infrastructures to a cloud computing model in an effort to lower costs and drive operational efficiencies. However, security considerations have made many organizations reluctant to leverage this potential. TITUS has been working closely with a number of our enterprise and government customers — listening to their requirements to ensure that their cloud security mandates are being met. Information classification is the first line of defense for securing valuable information in the cloud, because you can’t protect something if you don’t first know its value…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

IBM today rolled out a set of offerings geared towards helping its Business Partners more tightly integrate with the IBM SmartCloud by helping to connect them with customers, create new applications and improve their cloud computing skills. Expected to grow to more than $214 billion by 2020,* cloud computing has become a catalyst for capturing new business value through innovation, stronger customer relationships, and faster time to market while reducing cost and complexity.

IBM unveiled new resources for its 121,000 Business Partners, including:…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

Webair, the leader in hosting solutions, today unveiled their Carrier Neutral Cloud Service, offering clients the flexibility and freedom of a cloud hosting environment while providing total control over all network infrastructure and carrier choices. This groundbreaking new service allows transparent access from cloud environments to thousands of transit and transport providers. Clients can now choose any carrier, multiple carriers, or build custom network configurations and tie it all into their own cloud topology.

In the late 1990s, physical data center infrastructure became disassociated from particular carriers. The result was increased competition among carriers, greater consumer choice among business owners, lower bandwidth costs and more reliable services. Then cloud computing came along and businesses were choosing between the computing scalability of the cloud or the network freedom of physical infrastructure. Now, by offering scalable cloud computing services with complete carrier neutrality, Webair gives clients the best of both worlds…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

InfoReliance launched today its innovative, turnkey cloud solution, called Capitol Cloud(TM), for the federal government. The company has developed Capitol Cloud to enable secure and reliable business productivity for the federal workforce anytime, anywhere, and on any device.

Currently, the Office of Management and Budget requires government organizations to use cloud-based solutions "whenever a secure, reliable, cost-effective cloud option exists." To help federal customers meet this initiative, InfoReliance created its new offering to address cloud computing concerns about security, reliability and cost.

Capitol Cloud is designed with multiple levels of security to provide end-to-end protection of information assets, regardless of the consumption device. InfoReliance also ensured it follows National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) guidelines, is compliant with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA), and meets many other government standards…

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

Redpine Signals, Inc., a leading developer of ultra-low-power, high-performance multi-standard wireless chipsets and modules, and Exosite, a provider of cloud-connectivity solutions for embedded applications, today announced a cloud-connected solution enabled on Renesas RX62N and RX63N microcontrollers. Showcased exclusively at the Arrow Electronics M2M Seminar Series, the partnership solution demonstrates Wi-Fi enabled, cloud-based M2M applications on several Renesas development kits.

The Exosite platform provides remote device monitoring and management, data storage and interaction with remote devices while maintaining open-source device software product developers may re-use to accelerate time-to-market when designing their own cloud-connected products. "Redpine’s 802.11n wireless technology drives the power of cloud-connectivity for low-power systems across multiple vertical segments," said Erik Rorvick, business development manager for Exosite. "Redpine’s offerings make it easy to integrate 802.11 technology to drive the next generation of M2M cloud-connected devices."…