Avnet Technology Services bags Big Blue cloud status
VAD outfit Avnet Technology Solutions (ATS) has picked up IBM cloud builder certification status. ATS reckons that this further illustrates its commitment to the cloud computing market. This latest certification strengthens ATS’ cloud proposition, cloudready, and showcases its ability to provide cloud solutions incorporating IBM software and hardware across Europe.
Silvia Massetti, business partner organisation cloud leader at IBM Europe, said: “In addition to revenue and client reference criteria, Avnet was required to meet skill and certification requirements for cloud computing, IBM hardware and software in terms of sales and technical abilities in at least two IBM brands.”…
NTT America and Integralis Partner to Ease Global Enterprise Cloud Deployments
NTT America, a global infrastructure services provider and wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation, and Integralis, a global provider of IT security and information risk management solutions, today announced an ongoing partnership to provide global enterprises with secure, high performance, streamlined and cost-effective use of cloud computing. NTT America brings virtualized global data centers and high speed networks to enterprise cloud computing, while Integralis offers comprehensive Managed Security Solutions (MSS) to form a complete cloud computing solution for enterprises. Integralis will be available to discuss its security approach at the RSA Conference 2012 in San Francisco, February 27 – March 1, in booth #657…
Cloud Computing and SaaS: Information Technology Evolving
Information technology is very important in higher education. There are just many advantages of the IT that we cannot just ignore. For example, IT allows learners to actually explore the world in the safety of their classrooms. With IT facilities, the teacher can bring the world to the classroom and bring the classroom to the world.
IT, as a matter of fact, is also supposed to mean less consumption on the part of the education institutions (Hignite et al., 2010). How is IT supposed to do this? Well, IT is largely capable of making sure that learners and teachers can access applications through the internet. With this, it is thought that educational institutions can reduce or cut their educational spending. However, we now know that they are wrong…
ISACA’s 6 Principles for Effective Cloud Computing
Only through proper governance and management can cloud computing achieve its potential for organisations, according to representatives of ISACA–the global provider of advocacy and education on information systems (IS) assurance and security, enterprise governance and management of IT, and IT-related risk and compliance–in a statement to the press issued Tuesday (February 28, 2012).
"Cloud computing presents a unique opportunity for enterprises–and is particularly a game-changer for small and medium enterprises because its availability means that technology infrastructure is not the market differentiator it has been in the past," said Ramsés Gallego, CISM, CGEIT, member of ISACA’s Guidance and Practices Committee and security strategist and evangelist for Quest Software…
USA Ranks 4th In World Cloud Computing Report
Are countries ready for computing in the cloud? The answer is not simple, says a recent Reuters report. According to the results of the Global Cloud Computing Scorecard, recently released by the Business Software Alliance, there are wide variations in countries’ readiness for a global network of cloud services, and this has serious implications for midsized businesses.
The Reuters report says the survey, released for the first time this year, rates 24 countries (which make up 80% of the world’s information and communications technology market) on their readiness for cloud business. The report does this by looking at applicable laws and regulations in seven national policy categories: data privacy, security, cyber crime, intellectual property, standards, promotion of free trade, and information and communication technology (ICT) readiness…
Cloud bouncing tackles latency
Akamai has around 95,000 servers in 71 countries which essentially optimise the performance of the internet. Its intelligent internet platform effectively acts as a network traffic cop, monitoring flows and congestion, and routing data by the most sensible route across the internet.
Riverbed Technology meanwhile is a software company which makes tools to optimise computing performance, especially over wide area computer networks.
The Steelhead Cloud Accelerator combines the smarts of both companies to allow what Riverbed describes as “cloud bouncing”. Companies which have a Steelhead appliance, which optimises wide area network performance, can subscribe to the Cloud Accelerator service and have their data “bounced” across the internet using the Akamai network to reduce latency and speed performance…
From CIA to OMB, Federal Government Gets Serious About Cloud
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…
4 Cloud Computing Pain Points That Still Hurt
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…
Mind the Gap In Big Data Needs and Capabilities
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…
Ethernet Alliance Interoperability Demo Showcases High-Speed Cloud Connections
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…