Category: News

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Abdul Salam.

Technology is not without its pitfalls even if it has so many benefits, especially if it is not used properly. Cloud computing is no exception; in fact a lot of people think that cloud computing has more pitfalls than the current solutions that they are already employing in their business. Some of these are actually real but can be prevented, while others are just rationalizations out of laziness to plan and execute or even simply an undeniable resistance to change. A lot of people are afraid of change, to step out of the comfort zone. True enough, stepping out of your comfort zone half-heartedly and without a real plan will quickly help you realize these fears. But we shall only tackle the biggest one here.

The most glaring of these pitfalls that people are buzzing on about is security. In a data-driven world, security is paramount. And why shouldn’t it be, it’s the most powerful weapon anyone could possess; whole empires have come crashing down because of a few key pieces information. Granted it would take years to tear down an empire with mere information or disinformation, but it would only require a few minutes for a big company, no, a whole economy to fall because of lost information. Imagine if the worldwide stock exchange entity suddenly lost all of its valuable data including all the backups at the same time, that would be billions in every currency lost, causing an entire worldwide economy collapse…

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Matthew Ramsey.

Internal telephone networks, switches, wires, and other equipment used to make up a significant part of the enterprise infrastructure. The rise of cloud computing has changed this and nowadays you have a cloud computing alternative to consider, as with most everything else. Cloud PBX is now a widespread phenomenon. If your organization hasn’t considered such a system instead of implementing or upgrading a traditional phone system, it probably will soon.

Chances are, your business has some form of Voice-over-Internet protocol, or VoIP, in place. Many hosted and cloud PBX systems are based on this concept. The transition is being guided by the much more expansive transfer of public switched telephone networks to VoIP. Internet based telecommunications services have been used in homes for several years. The technology has advanced to the point that businesses find it reliable enough for their telecom needs, at a much lower cost of ownership…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Arthor Nichols.

In the cloud conversation, Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) appear much less than the famed Software as a Service (SaaS). This is not surprising when you consider that a world already populated with built platforms and infrastructure has but to operate on them. However, offering Platforms and Infrastructure through the cloud has been a boon to the software development field, especially with the recently growing push toward increased collaboration between developers and admins, commonly referred to as Development Operations (DevOps).

Distinctions and Utilization

Though somewhat easy to confuse the two, it may be best to view PaaS as a subset of IaaS with fewer responsibilities in terms of provision of infrastructure. Specifically, choosing PaaS over IaaS moves the responsibility of managing the database, runtime, and middleware from an organization to the vendor of the service. PaaS and, to a lesser degree, IaaS are a direct route via the cloud to facilitating the work of software developers, though IaaS may be more desirable in cases where an organization has a suitable existing infrastructure and prefers more control over those elements…

Grazed from Forbes. Author: Louis Columbus.

When the CEO of a rust-belt manufacturer speaks of cloud computing as critical to his company’s business strategies for competing globally, it’s clear a fundamental shift is underway. Nearly every manufacturing company I’ve spoken with in the last ninety days has a mobility roadmap and is also challenged to integrate existing ERP, pricing and fulfillment systems into next-generation selling platforms.

One of the most driven CEOs I’ve met in manufacturing implemented a cloud-based channel management, pricing, quoting and CRM system to manage direct sales and a large distributor network across several countries. Manufacturers are bringing an entirely new level of pragmatism to cloud computing, quickly deflating its hype by pushing for results on the shop floor…

Grazed from PRNewsWired. Author: PR Announcement.

The World’s Top Cloud Computing Event, Cloud Connect (http://www.cloudconnectevent.cn/) will first launch at the Shanghai International Convention Center from September 15 to 17, 2013 (Sunday to Tuesday). Supported by the Shanghai Municipal Commission of Economy & Information and Shanghai Promotion Center of Software Industry, Cloud Connect will engage with nearly 50 top companies and more than 3,000 professional visitors at one time.

The rapid development of the cloud computing business model has had a significant impact on China’s IT industry and created new prospects for it. In 2013, China’s cloud computing service market will develop even further. Cloud computing will become one of the mainstream business models, constantly fused with big data, mobile, socialization, and more. At the time of enterprises’ transitions to the cloud computing model, organizers are introducing Cloud Connect into China, with a goal to provide the latest top cloud technology for Chinese clients and business partners, which will lead an innovation wave for the cloud industry.

Grazed from InformationWeek. Author: Charles Babcock.

For about an hour starting around 11:30 a.m. Pacific, the Amazon.com retail site was inaccessible to customers. Attempts to access the site were met with a http://1.1 message on an otherwise white and unadorned screen. The site appeared to be operating normally again about 12:45 p.m. Pacific. Several customers noted the outage on Facebook and Twitter. At 12:24 p.m. Pacific, The San Francisco technology reporting site, GigaOm, noted: "Amazon is down; Yes, you read that right."

Security blogger George V. Hulme noted about 12:30 p.m. on Facebook: "Http/1.1 Service Unavailable." Queries submitted to Amazon Web Services and Amazon.com public relations personnel did not result in any immediate response. Amazon Web Services appeared to be up and running during that time. The AWS home page appeared on cue and key services, such as the Heroku cloud running on AWS, were still up during the period Amazon.com was inaccessible.

Grazed from NextGov. Author: Editorial Staff

The Labor Department will pay a vendor up to $50 million to move its employees and contractors to a cloud-based Microsoft email system, according to an award notice. The contract also appears to include systems for Web-based e-discovery, records management and software-as-a-service tools, according to recent solicitation documents.

The Department first sought a vendor for cloud email services in August. The plan at that point was to combine legacy systems from the department’s nine major divisions into a unified email system with three separate domains, one for the Bureau of Labor Statistics, another for the Office of Inspector General and a third for the remainder of the agency, according to the request for proposal…

Grazed from WashingtonPost. Author: Editorial Staff.

Art Liscano knows he’s an endangered species in the job market: He’s a meter reader in Fresno, Calif. For 26 years, he’s driven from house to house, checking how much electricity Pacific Gas & Electric customers have used. But PG&E doesn’t need many people like Liscano making rounds anymore. Every day, the utility replaces 1,200 old-fashioned meters with digital versions that can collect information without human help, generate more accurate power bills, even send an alert if the power goes out.

“I can see why technology is taking over,” says Liscano, 66, who earns $67,000 a year. “We can see the writing on the wall.” His department employed 50 full-time meter readers just six years ago. Now, it has six…

Grazed from IOL. Author: Rob Hastings.

All personal information stored by British internet users on major “cloud” computing services including Google Drive can be spied upon routinely without their knowledge by US authorities under newly-approved legislation, it can be disclosed. Cloud computing has exploded in recent years as a flexible, cheap way for individuals, companies and government bodies to remotely store documents and data. According to some estimates, 35 per cent of UK firms use some sort of cloud system – with Google Drive, Apple iCloud and Amazon Cloud Drive the major players.

But it has now emerged that all documents uploaded on to cloud systems based in the US or falling under Washington’s jurisdiction can be accessed and analysed without a warrant by American security agencies…

Grazed from GovTech. Author: Editorial Staff.

Government agencies are often slowed down by the bureaucracy, creating challenges for pushing forward new ideas that could improve IT operations. In a keynote speech presented at Defining the Cloud for Government, a conference held Wednesday, Jan. 30, in Sacramento, Calif., Brian David Johnson (pictured above), Intel’s futurist and director of future casting and experience research, said it’s crucial for government agencies to think well into the future when planning technology implementations. According to Johnson, cloud computing and big data will figure prominently into that future.

During opening remarks, Carlos Ramos, secretary of the California Technology Agency, said the agency plans to move some applications into a private cloud because he believes cloud computing is the future. He added that government is so reliant on technology that policies and programs “don’t have a prayer” without the use of the cloud. But how can governments look a decade or more into the future?…