Author: David

I recently sat through a presentation by the owner of a small software firm who was busy pitching a new cloud-based computing offering to sporting clubs.

The sales patter highlighted some key benefits: smoother administration, reduced book work, easier tracking of membership details and faster collection of fees. The presentation was warmly received by a number of club leaders who were obviously tired of dealing with exactly these kinds of issues.

While many were not sure exactly what cloud computing might be, the benefits it seemed to offer had them queuing for more information at the end of the session…

Many companies, which are turning to cloud computing, will find the need to manage their cloud space becoming more important. Most of these companies rely on both public and private clouds. The impact in India could be higher than in developed countries, if one goes by a research study conducted by IDC in November 2011. According to the study, less than half of end-users across Asia Pacific (excluding Japan) will complete their private cloud projects by 2014.

The respondents of the IDC survey felt this was because of lack of experience in building these systems and because of higher-than-expected upfront investment requirements. IDC says that consequently an increased number of enterprises will make a detour to public cloud services. This, in turn, will result in the management of the hybrid cloud being more pronounced in countries like India…

One year after announcing her intention to develop a European Cloud Computing Strategy, Europe’s Digital Agenda Commissioner Neelie Kroes this week made a first cash commitment to the initiative.

Goldman Sachs assigned a “neutral” rating to Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) this week after previewing the fourth-quarter report due for release on January 31. Analyst concerns include European sales potential and the investments that Amazon will need to make into its services, notably including cloud storage. Amazon has released two new cloud storage products in as many weeks that expand the data backup and recovery options available to businesses.

Cloud storage – which has been prominent in the news lately as the industry assesses potential fallout from the shutdown of storage site Megaupload, whose operators have been accused of digital piracy — provides users with a third-party-facilitated online storage network that charges customers only for the space they use. This setup is designed to take potentially costly backup and storage responsibilities out of the hands of business owners, allowing them to focus more on data production than its upkeep…

Cloud computing creates unprecedented opportunities for CPA firms to do more chargeable work faster and with better client communications. But transitioning to the cloud and having confidential information accessible over the Internet raises implementation and security concerns that CPA firms must address.

To help CPAs better understand the benefits and challenges of the cloud, the JofA invited five CPAs to share their cloud experiences in a round-table discussion…