Category: News

Grazed from Alibaba.  Author: PR Announcement.

China’s e-commerce conglomerate Alibaba is planning extending its cloud-computing services to overseas markets in March.   According to China Daily, Aliyun, Alibaba’s spinoff cloud-computing division, is scheduled to set up data centers outside China to provide cloud-computing services to local enterprises and Chinese companies’ overseas operations.

By building platforms for companies to manage and store data in the cloud, Aliyun will become the first Chinese company to reach out to the foreign public cloud segment.  The move from Aliyun comes days after its US counterpart Amazon announced the launch of a similar services in China…

Grazed from Fool.  Author: Tim Brugger.

We all knew cloud computing was a fast-growing market. But based on new data from IDC, cloud revenues in 2014 will exceed already sky-high expectations, jumping to more than $100 billion in spending next year. That’s a 25% increase from this year and opens a huge door of opportunity for investors.  Of course, not all IT companies are ready to take advantage of the shift to cloud computing. But for a couple of late adopters and one underdog, 2014 could prove to be a pleasant year in the cloud.

The favorites

Cloud infrastructure, services — particularly platform-as-a-service (PaaS) — and related software, will lead the jump in cloud revenues next year, according to IDC. And both IBM (NYSE: IBM  ) and German-based SAP (NYSE: SAP  ) are positioned to take full advantage of all things cloud…

Grazed from Midsize Insider.  Author: Marissa Tejada.

Cloud computing is gaining acceptance among firms today, and infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) is one segment that is gaining significant traction in the market. According to a new study featured in Gigaom Research, IaaS is pushing growth in the worldwide cloud market, beating out software-as-a-service (SaaS).

Ahead of the Pack

According to Gigaom’s research report, cloud services are on the upswing and are expected to grow throughout the world at a rate of 126 percent. The findings revealed a 119 percent growth in SaaS and a 122 percent growth in IaaS. Also referred to as "hardware-as-a-service," IaaS is a main cloud service through which a firm can outsource storage and hardware to support IT operations. Service providers house, run and maintain everything, charging the firm on a per-use basis…

Grazed from TomsITPro.  Author: Scott M. Fulton.

"Database management involves the sharing of large quantities of data by many users — who, for the most part, conceive their actions on the data independently from one another," wrote Dr. E. F. Codd, the creator of the relational model for data. "The opportunities for users to damage data shared in this way are enormous, unless all users, whether knowledgeable about programming or not, abide by a discipline."

In Dr. Codd’s world, data was a fluid substance that needed to be kindled and cultivated in the storehouses of his time, the "data banks." His argument was that the only way to ensure the accuracy of data in its ability to reflect some sort of truth, and its efficiency in being able to point the way toward a possible course of action by a business, was through the universal enactment of a set of standards and practices, and the implementation of a common language — his discipline, which led to SQL. In a modern context, one could say Codd advised a networking of the people who administer data, coupled with a centralization of data around an economy of principles…

Grazed from VentureBeat.  Author: Kent Christensen.

The race to cloud computing is exposing private customer information and sensitive corporate data on an unprecedented scale. The demand for quicker and cheaper application development is driving this trend.  Companies are moving at breakneck speed to produce applications that offer a competitive edge and business results.

As CMOs crack the whip behind developers, app teams choose to buy cloud services without the knowledge or input of IT, the traditional guardians of data security.  As a result, the public cloud has become the sandbox for development. And as customer information and sensitive corporate data is poured into this sandbox, IT is beginning to lose control of its company’s data assets…

Grazed from Sungard.  Author: Janel Ryan.

The cloud is like the shiny “new” toy of IT – everyone’s talking about it. But there are still a lot of unknowns regarding cloud-based computing, making it a veritable minefield for those looking to get involved. Fortunately, it’s completely possible to march onward through the minefield without blowing up your infrastructure. Knowledge is power, after all.

Studies have shown that more and more companies are embracing cloud computing. In fact, according to a study by TheInfoPro published in September, the worldwide cloud computing market is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 36% through 2016. Organizations are recognizing the many benefits of cloud-based computing, as evidenced by a study that showed IT executives are embracing it for its decreased costs (45%), scalability (57%), and business agility (54%)…

Grazed from ComputerWeekly.  Author: Jim Mortleman.

The debate over the risks and benefits of cloud computing has never been as writ large as it was in 2013. On one hand, this summer’s NSA Prism scandal brought home to organisations the danger of using US-based cloud services – namely, that any unencrypted data could be trawled at will without their knowledge by security agencies. On the other, the year was a tipping point for the use of the cloud, with an increasing body of research showing that even large organisations are now firmly embracing cloud-based services as an essential part of their IT infrastructure.

Despite concerns over Prism, including a broadside from European Commision (EC) vice-president Neelie Kroes, few organisations were deterred from their cloud ambitions. However, businesses increasingly recognised they would need to take additional precautions to protect any sensitive customer or commercial data, with some reportedly looking towards cloud providers in Switzerland, where privacy is enshrined in law…

Grazed from Sys Con Media.  Author: Cloud Ventures.

It’s hard to read or listen to the news without hearing concerns about protecting sensitive data. Whether it is providing security for payment card/banking information or maintaining privacy from cyber surveillance – governmental and otherwise.

Edward Snowden was back in the news last week when The Guardian revealed that the GCHQ and NSA targeted charities, Germany, the Israeli PM and EU chief on their surveillance list. These ongoing revelations have many organizations concerned about the privacy of customer data and other sensitive business information being put in the cloud…

Grazed from Forbes.  Author: Louis Columbus.

Alan Kay’s saying that the best way to predict the future is to create it resonates through the best cloud computing and enterprise software predictions for 2014.  Constraints that held start-ups back from delivering sophisticated new apps and services are disappearing fast.  The dynamics of one of my favorite books, The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen, are in full force across the cloud and enterprise landscape.

There are many predictions being generated right now and instead of writing yet another set,  I’m providing a listing of those that are the most interesting and thought-provoking. They are listed below:…

Grazed from Midsize Insider.  Author: Marissa Tejada.

Private cloud computing is showing impressive growth among today’s firms. According to a recent report by InformationWeek, the percentage of organizations using functional private clouds has more than doubled.

Going Private

InformationWeek’s Private Cloud Survey found that within a period of about 20 months, private cloud adoption has increased from 21 to 47 percent. The findings revealed that just a year and a half ago, 30 percent of respondents had just begun a cloud project. The study concluded that firms are adopting the cloud at an extremely fast rate because they expect a significant increase in operational productivity and cost savings…