Category: News

Grazed from TelecomReseller. Author: Ali Din.

2012 was the year cloud computing took off and went mainstream. Some startups recorded exceptional growth, and won numerous awards and recognition. But for some service providers, 2012 was a pretty tough year with a number of outages, affecting millions of users and some even causing permanent data loss to its customers. Still, this didn’t put a damper on the acquisition spree we saw during 2012 as cloud computing’s value continued to shine. Let’s look at what were the key developments and challenges for enterprise cloud computing in 2012.

The evolution of the cloud was much greater than what was expected. Cloud computing helped IT in many organizations become more dynamic – spending grew to over $109 billion, up 20% over the previous year. And that’s not all. Gartner predicts that the total outlay for cloud computing services could nearly double, to $207 billion, by 2016. , It appears that installing-and-upgrading software and infrastructure is becoming less popular by the day…

Logicalis, an international IT solutions and managed services provider, is warning CIOs about an emerging – and alarming – new trend in IT: Cloud Sprawl. Lured by easy-to-purchase and quick-to-install cloud applications, individual departments are finding and deploying their own cloud solutions.

CIOs don’t have to look too far today to see the effects of this bring-your-own-cloud (BYOC) movement -employees are tapping into free Google Drive space, free Dropbox space, and free Box.com space -giving themselves more than enough online room to store confidential customer sales and other mission-critical data outside the company firewall and outside of IT’s control. Inexpensive cloud applications that don’t require corporate approval are walking through the door unchecked as well -from CRM to email to marketing automation. Along the way, BYOC has given way to a new, repackaged phenomenon dubbed "cloud sprawl" as poorly managed end-user cloud purchases and deployments make for fragmented, redundant, unmanaged and inefficient cloud-based outsourcing decisions with little or no input from IT.

Grazed from Microsoft.  Author: PR Announcement

Microsoft Corp. today announced the availability of new solutions to help enterprise customers manage hybrid cloud services and connected devices with greater agility and cost-efficiency. System Center 2012 Service Pack 1 (SP1), the enhanced Windows Intune, Windows Azure services for Windows Server and other new offerings deliver against the Microsoft Cloud OS vision to provide customers and partners with the platform to address their top IT challenges.

“With Windows Server and Windows Azure at its core, the Cloud OS provides a consistent platform across customer datacenters, service provider datacenters and the Microsoft public cloud,” said Michael Park, corporate vice president of marketing for Server and Tools, Microsoft. “Powerful management and automation capabilities are key elements of the Cloud OS, taking the heavy lifting out of administration and freeing IT organizations to be more innovative as they embrace hybrid cloud computing and the consumerization of IT.”

Grazed from TechWorld. Author: Joab Jackson.

Oracle has launched a set of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) systems that companies can run in-house and pay for on a monthly basis, a project the company announced at OpenWorld in September. Oracle is not pitching the IaaS offers as an alternative to commodity cloud services, such as the Amazon Web Services (AWS), but rather as an alternative to purchasing Oracle systems for on premise deployment.

Using Oracle IaaS, the company claims, eliminates the upfront capital costs of buying new equipment, and could quickly provide additional capacity, at a price, when needed. With Oracle IaaS, customers can lease versions of many of Oracle’s integrated systems, including versions of the Oracle Exadata Database Machine, the Oracle Exalogic Elastic Cloud, the Oracle SPARC SuperCluster, the Oracle Exalytics In-Memory Machine and the Oracle Sun ZFS Storage Appliance…

Grazed from Sys Con Media. Author: Sunil Pathak.

…The famous four in action and how they complement, and disrupt each other…..

1. Cloud and Mobility – A Match Made in Heaven….
Cloud computing is providing organizations with low-cost applications and storage, making it easier to manage the growing amount of information. Increased adoption of cloud-based systems (IaaS, SaaS, PaaS and everything else) in the enterprise will pave a way for a faster pace of adoption and acceptance of the cloud-based back end for mobile devices. With increased use of smartphones, tablets in enterprise (BlackBerry, Nexus, Surface, etc.), increased acceptance of BYOD, more and more business information and data will be moved outside the firewall. The trend will fuel the use of cloud infrastructure for mobile applications, and platform and infrastructure including storage. It’s a no-brainer. Private mobile cloud, private mobile app stores, standalone enterprise class mobile app stores, etc., will start taking shape. The mobile app and platform ecosystem will evolve.The growth will, however, also depend on the ability of SaaS and PaaS vendors to facelift their applications and platforms for the mobile devices…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Chris Kanakarus.

Cloud Sherpas is continuing its string of acquisitions of boutique consulting firms for cloud services, with the purchase of Innoveer Solutions and Navigis. Terms of the deals, which were announced Tuesday, were not disclosed.

Innoveer is focused on CRM (customer relationship management) software, with a particular emphasis on Salesforce.com. It has more than 750 customers and 2,000 successful implementations, according to Cloud Sherpas. The company also has European operations, giving Cloud Sherpas a physical presence in that region for the first time, Cloud Sherpas said…

Grazed from eNewsWire. Author: JBaker.

Computacenter offers end-to-end cloud computing solutions based on specific circumstances, needs, and objectives – this can help identify the right options for securing data. Computacenter can help maintain IT security and improve IT processes to deliver better ways of working on the move and collaborating which match the attributes of commercial consumer cloud services.  New research shows that 84% of employees are accessing and sharing company data using consumer cloud solutions like Dropbox and SkyDrive.

Computacenter conducted research amongst 150 IT decision makers and the findings highlight the risks and the need for action, offers insight into what can be done, and shows how important the issue of the consumer cloud really is. The research was led by Cloud Practice Leader, Paul Casey, who said, “It’s imperative that businesses address this problem now. It’s clear that everyone knows the risks of consumer cloud products, but until the correct solutions are put in place… Employees will continue to use them whatever the consequences.”…

Grazed from CBROnline. Author: Editorial Staff.

The new platform will allow retailers to manage inventory systems in the cloud. Dell has released Cloud Client Computing for retail, the firm’s first end-to-end cloud application to help retailers move to an in-store cloud environment. According to the firm, the new platform will allow retailers to simplify store system hardware by centrally hosting and managing complex point-of-sale (POS) and inventory systems within the store or in the cloud.

Dell retail industry practice lead, Mike Adams, said that currently most retailers have had to bring together products and services from multiple vendors in order to address cloud solutions and virtualisation in their store environment. "As a result of our recent acquisitions that include Wyse, SonicWALL and Quest, Dell is able to provide an end-to-end solution that has been tested and optimized for retail’s unique environment," Adams said…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Chris Talbot.

Google Apps developer BetterCloud, which launched into the Google Apps Marketplace about six months ago, has received $5 million in financing to develop better cloud management and security tools for Google (NASDAQ: GOOG) Apps users.

The round of financing was led by Flybridge Capital Partners, but also included Greycroft Partners and TriBeCa Venture Partners, as well as continued support from existing investors Bear Creek Capital and BLH Venture Partners. BetterCloud plans to use the cash to develop stronger cloud management and security tools while also accelerating the adoption of cloud services. That’s according to the company, which so far has raised a total of $7.2 million in financing…

Grazed from CIO. Author: John Moore.

Software-defined networking (SDN) is an emerging field, subject to some confusion and very much an early-adopter exercise at the moment. Channel partners-resellers, systems integrators and consultancies-often carve niches in such immature fields, providing advice and deployment help to customers who lack sufficient in-house knowledge. That tendency is beginning to play out in SDN. Technology vendors have already started recruiting integrators and other channel allies. The companies that seek to populate the SDN channel say they are studying the technology so they can be in a position to assist customers.

IT managers, however, suggest SDN adopters may or may not need channel support. Cloud service providers and academic institutions-who are considered the first wave of SDN deployment-typically possess deep technical skills and prefer to accumulate their own expertise rather than hire outsiders…