Small business risks getting lost in the cloud
A survey released this week paints an interesting picture of small businesses working in the cloud, and that picture is one of uncertainty.
"The cloud", essentially outsourcing computing tasks of any number of varieties, has been the hot button topic of the technology industry over the last couple of years, and it’s often suggested that the cloud is a natural fit for SMB organisations, which have greater agility and less existing legacy architecture than their enterprise peers.
Global Cloud Computing Adoption: Transformation is in the Air
HP, Sir Paul ‘All Together Now’ on Cloud Archive
Eight months after it began an ambitious project to digitize a lifetime worth of music, artwork, photos and various other property of one of the world’s most renowned musicians, Hewlett-Packard revealed May 26 that Sir Paul McCartney’s new cloud storage/access system has launched and is open for business.
McCartney’s publishing company, MPL Communications, is handling the day-to-day business of using the cloud-stored content for publishing, licensing, sales–and even giveaways, if McCartney so chooses.
World’s largest hybrid cloud powers popular games
Game provider Zynga has more than 250 million users, and signs up five new players every second. Company officials claim 10% of the world’s Internet population plays a Zynga game once a month.
With six of the top 10 Facebook games, Zynga has a serious business. But have you ever wondered where the games actually run?
Apache provides cloud console with Libcloud project
Recognising the growing need for vendor neutral standards in the cloud computing field, the Apache Software Foundation has prioritised development of its Libcloud unified cloud interface as a top level project, the organisation announced.
Apache Libcloud provides a single interface to more than 20 cloud services, including Amazon EC2 (Elastic Cloud Compute), Rackspace Cloud, Terremark’s cloud service, IBM Cloud, GoGrid’s infrastructure service and the Xen-based Linode service.
Most businesses shun public cloud but consider private cloud
UK businesses are considering the introduction of private cloud platforms while waiting for the public cloud market to mature, according to research from analyst firm Quocirca.
The survey of almost 1,000 organisations, including 101 UK companies, shows that almost half are positive about using the cloud as part of their IT platform, compared with 10% which consider cloud as a "passing fad".
Welcome to the Cloud’s New Edge
Cloud computing relies heavily on robust network connections in order to facilitate a fluid data environment. This is having a dramatic effect on the edge in particular as it adapts to its new role as a bridge between disparate resource pools.
One of the ways this is playing out is increased WAN functionality on routers and gateway devices. Coupled with outside WAN optimization and other technologies, the goal is to provide seamless transition between on-premise infrastructure and the cloud.
Sorting Out the Clouds
One of the lessons that the history of technology tries to teach us – and that most of us resolutely refuse to learn – is that revolutionary new technologies never stay monolithic for long. Instead, they fracture into distinct niche businesses at lightning speed.
For example, it’s only been about three years, but there is no such thing as “the” smartphone industry. Rather, there are a bunch of new sub-industries based on the original smartphone technology, but which now rarely compete with one another: iPhones, Android phones, Blackberries, as well as distinct premium, mid-priced and budget products within them.
Q&A: VMWare CTO Steve Herrod on cloud competition and the future of apps
Steve Herrod, chief technology officer for VMWare, made a swing through Seattle today, amid news that the company is planning a major expansion in its hometown of Palo Alto, Calif.
No similar announcement here, but VMWare is on the hunt for talent in general and has a modest presence in the Seattle region already, through its own offices and those brought on through its recent acquisition of Seattle-based online backup service Mozy from EMC (which owns 80 percent of VMWare).
Let’s Get Real About the Cloud
By now, if your disposition is like mine, you’re trying to avoid stomach cramps as you read all the latest articles, columns, and blogs extolling the virtues and inevitability of cloud computing as the technology to save the human species from self-inflicted destruction. After more than 25 years of experience in the netherworld between technology and business, let’s say I’m more than a bit skeptical about many of the claims people are making about the cloud.