Category: News

Grazed from BusinessNewsDaily. Author: Sara Angeles.

In 2013, the cloud industry hit a milestone. As indicated by the massive surge in users and the slew of cloud vendors and service providers now available, cloud computing went from being just another buzzword to a viable infrastructure widely adopted by small businesses and large enterprises alike. It also revealed how vulnerable cloud users are to the dangers of cloud computing. In 2014, the cloud industry will aim to change that.

From public clouds to private clouds to hybrid clouds, businesses now have a wide range of services from which to choose that best fit their needs and budgets. Whether they implement Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), or Everything-as-a-Service (EaaS), the cloud can be used for storage and anytime, anywhere access of files, applications, networks and entire computing systems…

Grazed from V3.co.uk. Author: Daniel Robinson.

Cloud computing continued its inexorable spread during 2013. Momentum continued to gather behind the open source OpenStack platform, while private cloud provider VMware looked to extend its reach to public cloud services. Meanwhile Microsoft moved to compete against Amazon with infrastructure as a service support on Azure.

With many organisations seemingly more confident about adopting cloud services for some IT services this year, the focus has been less on whether private cloud or public cloud would win out and growing acceptance that hybrid cloud – a combination of both – is the way that most customers will consume cloud services…

Grazed from Midsize Insider. Author: Robert Lawson.

Predictions and trends point to a specialized market of IT professionals in the new cloud computing environment that is already changing the overall economy at scale. The computing method that virtualizes data is becoming the top preference around the world, and study after study shows the same trend of exponential growth and adoption.

A Global Information Marketplace

The market is rapidly changing in the digital age. The Internet of Things (IoT) is emerging to disrupt the larger economy as more product and service delivery moves to cyberspace, consumers are increasingly connected to this space. The Daily Star noted that there is a "cloud economy ecosystem," which refers to the relationships between technology and business, government and innovation, production and consumption…

Grazed from Midsize Insider. Author: Marissa Tejada.

Cloud computing is growing in use at federal agencies, according to a new survey that found that military, intelligence and civilian groups are rapidly adopting the cloud. Their reasons for adoption mirror those of midsize firms that are also increasingly choosing to transform their IT infrastructures with cloud services.

The Benefits

A new survey by Tripwire recently featured in Help Net Security found that U.S. federal agencies are experiencing important benefits as a result of cloud adoption. For example, 58 percent of agencies say that the cloud has improved their data security. Demonstrating an increase in trust, more than 50 percent are moving more sensitive data to the cloud, compared to just over 30 percent last year. In addition, more agencies are utilizing cloud vendors to help them optimize their IT…

Grazed from CRN. Author: Kevin McLaughlin.

Oracle CEO Larry Ellison says his company intends to be price competitive with established cloud infrastructure-as-a-service players like Amazon, Microsoft and Rackspace. While Oracle’s cloud portfolio to date is focused on its own products, it’s planning to roll out a cloud IaaS service in the first half of next year that’s aimed at Amazon Web Services, IBM and other cloud providers. "We intend to compete aggressively in the commodity infrastructure as a service marketplace," Ellison said during Oracle’s second-quarter earnings call.

The Oracle empire was built on high-margin products, which is why this was a surprising comment. It’s hard to imagine Oracle engaging in a price war in the cloud IaaS trenches with Amazon Web Services, which is constantly slashing pricing for its cloud services, and Microsoft, which has vowed match Amazon’s price cuts with Windows Azure IaaS…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Tom Nolle.

Revolution is a big word, and one that’s overused much of the time. In the case of cloud computing, the revolutionary potential seems bogged down in pedestrian early applications. Many enterprises report that the majority of their cloud applications have been simple extensions to Web hosting or server consolidation. But for the cloud to reach its potential, it has to be more than that. Fortunately, a few trends are driving the cloud to the right place at last. These trends — which represent the future of cloud apps — include platform services, cloud-centric operations and support, and cloud-ready software and data models.

Platform services: An ‘in-between model’

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) alone is simply hosted virtualization. It will be valuable to users with low utilization and high cost of labor for hardware support, but it doesn’t offer enterprises enough economy-of-scale benefits relative to their own data centers to spawn a real revolution. Platform as a Service (PaaS), which locks users into a specific operating system and middleware set, displaces more current cost but has a narrow target of opportunity. Led by Amazon, the cloud industry is creating an in-between model: platform services…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

Cisco Systems’ (CSCO) network of cloud-certified partners is growing again. IT and communications provider EarthLink has achieved the Cloud and Managed Services (CMSP) Advanced Partner designation, putting it in a position to further build and solidify its Cisco-based cloud offerings. According to the announcement from EarthLink, the IT solutions firm will be focusing on providing cloud disaster recovery, private cloud hosting and FlexCloud hosting services as a CMSP-certified partner.

"EarthLink is very proud of our IT services team that worked through months of detailed certification and process requirements to earn Cisco’s CMSP Advanced Partner certification," said Thomas Hobika, EarthLink’s senior vice president of Cloud IT services, in a prepared statement. "We will utilize our CMSP certification as a tremendous opportunity to expand revenue, build customer loyalty and differentiate EarthLink’s sales force as we team with Cisco to sell our unique cloud services."…

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Jonathan Feldman.

When I first read about Western Digital’s "personal cloud" for consumer storage, I didn’t think much of it. It was just a NAS with some clever apps that provided remote access features. But I’m now predicting that a more pervasive distribution of personally owned compute and storage assets will change the face of IT as we know it. Here’s why:

The Snowden effect

The revelations by former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden about the extent of NSA spying on, well, everyone have led to public distrust of the government, the major providers of public cloud services, and even the basic security protocols of the Internet. If privacy-minded folks have an easy alternative to "protocols invented with the help of government agencies" or "software created by those we now distrust" — in the form of private clouds — they’ll take them…

Grazed from TheStreet. Author: Dana Blankenhorn.

The big cloud computing headline is that we may soon stop using the term. Cloud has become the mainstream of computing, just as e-commerce has become the mainstream of commerce. Cloud is not an option. Virtual operating systems and infinite scaling, a "barbell" in which the high-end hosts and hand-held device makers crush the computing middle class — that’s the reality for businesses and investors.

The question for 2014 is how many public clouds will survive the coming shakeout. Amazon.com’s (AMZN_) vicious price war has given it most of the market, so Google (GOOG_) and Microsoft (MSFT_) have matched prices and features. IBM (IBM_) is promising "big things" for early next year, but it’s unclear whether any new features it offers can make a difference…

Grazed from TechImpact.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Cloud computing use grew exponentially in 2013, and is expected to grow at a rapid pace for the next 5-10 years. This is because many businesses are still using cloud computing for niche applications, and have not fully adopted the system.

The technology has moved from its infancy stage, and instead of thinking how much the technology ‘could’ benefit their business, many CEOs are instead thinking how the technology IS benefiting their business.  But when implementing any new technology, there are speed bumps and road blocks that must be overcome. Here are a few strategies to help you deal with them according to Paul Cooper of ITProPortal…