Category: News

Grazed from Network World. Author: David Grimes.

As companies embrace cloud computing, many are finding it advantageous to use external clouds to host non-critical IT services and data while keeping business-critical applications on internal-cloud infrastructure. However, this hybrid approach can create significant management challenges. The clouds must tightly integrate with each other, and legacy systems and data and workflows must be managed across the clouds and systems. Since hybrid clouds typically involve a mix of technologies and vendors, and there is the constant need for new capabilities, the level of complexity and amount of attention required to properly manage these platforms is increasing at a rapid rate. That means the management platform for hybrid cloud solutions is a critical, if often overlooked, piece of the proverbial puzzle.

Managing the hybrid cloud involves much more than tools. After all, vendors for each separate component of cloud infrastructure provide their own "stovepipe" of managerial tools. But since there isn’t a true "single-pane-of-glass" tool, you will need a more strategic perspective and framework to succeed with hybrid cloud computing. The following principles and practices can shape this meta-cloud management initiative…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Stephanie Mann.

IT services firms may shift some of their traditional efforts as customers seek to move business functions to cloud computing platforms. Such IT services firms, which provide outsourcing of data center functions, and often consulting services as well, could bring better understanding to cloud transformation projects, according to an industry viewer.

While migrating an application to the cloud might not be difficult in itself, challenges may await you, said Forrester Vice President and Principal Analyst James Staten. Cloud services are often difficult to square with current business requirements, environments and legacy applications. Moreover, establishing a solid cloud transformation strategy requires knowledge that evades many new cloud adopters. A lack of understanding about how the cloud works is a main source of problems for many organizations, according to Staten…

Grazed from NEurope.eu. Author: Nerea Rial.

The European Data Protection Supervisor (EDPS) adopted on 16 November its opinion on the Commission Communication on "Unleashing the potential of Cloud Computing in Europe”, which establishes key actions and policy steps to promote and accelerate the use of cloud computing services across Europe.

Besides, because the relationship between cloud computing and data protection is currently being discussed, the supervisory authority also highlights the challenges generated by this new communication system and how the proposed Data Protection Regulation will tackle them. Likewise, the EDPS identifies areas that require further action at EU level…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: David Linthicum.

The cloud architect is much like Bigfoot: There are sightings, even some blurry video, but we really don’t have solid proof that this creature exists. The problem is cloud computing is so new that it’s tough to find people who understand how all of it fits together for enterprises. Indeed, this is one of the biggest limitations around cloud adoption.

I call myself a cloud architect, and a few people like me are running around out there. But there aren’t many, and even fewer who use the label correctly. How can you find one of your own? How can you become one? I believe the first step is defining the knowledge required for the job, so you know what to look for or what to learn. Here is my short list:…

Grazed from ZDNet. Author: Jack Clark.

Cloud computing is converting from a market defined by different technologies into one defined by quality of service. Existing utility markets include ones for water, electricity, gas and, to a degree, basic internet connectivity. A utility market occurs when an item has been commoditised to the point that it becomes very hard to differentiate on a technology basis, and instead companies distinguish themselves through different levels of service, availability and support.

In the same way that in the early days of electricity there were arguments over whether AC or DC delivered the ‘best type of electricity’, the technology industry continues to debate the merits of certain technologies over others for delivering cloud computing. However, these arguments are growing less fervent as datacentre infrastructure is commoditised and homogenised by large cloud providers…

Grazed from VoiceAndData.ciol. Author: Editorial Staff.

The world we live in is in a rapid state of change in terms of the way we communicate and are connected with each other. We are constantly greeted by new advances in communications technology, be it the smartphone, tablet computers, internet gaming, social networks, or e-services like e-money or e-education. The advent of cloud computing is a natural progression as we advance towards a super-connected world where data centers and local area networks are at the heart of making it all happen. Cloud computing and superconnectivity are placing ever-increasing pressures on these networks.

Networks are now required to increase their capacity and deliver higher data rates and also be energy-efficient. This pressure means that virtualization, next-generation speeds, and the green data center have become key global trends. In striving to cope with these trends, data center managers are destined to encounter certain specific challenges. Data center dynamics (in collaboration with Corning Inc) recently conducted a survey of 160 data centers in the 6 key markets of the UK, Germany, Netherlands, France, Middle East, and the US, including the top 100 data center owners and operators in those regions…

Grazed from Computing.co.uk. Author: Editorial Staff.

At a recent Dell roundtable event on the future of cloud computing, the discussion centred around how cloud was not being adopted wholesale by many organisations yet. Various reasons were put forward, such as fear of change, fear of losing control, security issues and so on. A little while later on, several people were pushing the case for cloud around its capability to enable innovation.

Sure, cloud computing can provide a different way of doing things and can encourage a completely different way of facilitating business process – but if this is pushed as the main way that cloud works, then surely all that is happening is that users will be put off more? If fear of change is a factor to scare organisations off from using cloud, then moving critical business workloads to a relatively unproven emerging platform AND changing the way the application runs has to be enough not only to put the techies off the change, but also the business?…

Grazed from ITWorld. Author: John Moore.

When Republic Services sought to retool the systems supporting its national account team, the environmental services company selected Salesforce.com as part of the overhaul-and soon after making that decision, Republic Services hired Bluewolf, a New York-based consulting firm and Salesforce.com partner, for some deployment help.

Bill Halnon, CIO of Republic Services, says his company wanted to work with an experienced hand in the Salesforce.com space. "After selecting the tool, we looked at how we [were] going to implement this," Halnon says. "Even though it is a cloud application, it required some customization and configuration to fit our needs. Just like we would go out and look for an SAP partner, we took the same route with Salesforce.com."…

Grazed from The Next Web. Author: Alex Wilhelm.

The deal’s terms were not made available, however the purchase price could have veered into the low nine-figure range, as StorSimple had raised some $31.5 million prior to its purchase. In Microsoft’s eyes, the company was right in the middle of big data and cloud computing, areas that it itself is investing into quite heavily, with its work on Azure and work with Hadoop. StorSimple, Microsoft told TNW, brings “together on-premises and cloud storage [and] data management.”

It was our perspective then, and remains, that this purchase is essentially a talent and customer acquisition pickup for Azure, a product that is technically capable, but lacks mindshare in the public market, as it competes with rival offerings from Rackspace, and sits in Amazon’s shade…