Category: News

September 15, 2012 Off

Five cloud computing tips for SMBs

By David
Grazed from Techgoondu.  Author: Aaron Tan.

You’ve read countless case studies of how small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) have turned to cloud computing to raise productivity, improve customer service and stay ahead of the competition. But is your company ready to jump onto the bandwagon? Here’s what you need to know before moving to the cloud:

1. Define your needs
While cloud computing may seem like hype, it has leveled the playing field for SMBs that would not have been able to afford sophisticated business applications. According to a Dell-sponsored study, 87 percent of SMBs surveyed said cloud applications have given them a competitive advantage, while 85 percent agreed that cloud applications have improved employee productivity. However, to realize the full benefits of the cloud, it is important to define what you want to achieve. Are you hoping to improve customer service by allowing your sales team to respond to customer requests quickly? Or, do you want improve collaboration among employees? Articulating those needs clearly will go a long way in choosing the right cloud service provider…

September 15, 2012 Off

Navigating the Politics of the Cloud

By David
Grazed from eCommerce Times.  Author:  Jeffrey M. Kaplan.

The only topic getting more attention in the tech industry than the Cloud is the debate over the future implications of the upcoming US presidential election. And, in many ways the two topics are intimately intertwined. Both are being propelled by plenty of fear, uncertainty and doubt (FUD).

Fear about the current state of affairs is driving many voters to consider changing presidents in the same way that fear about escalating competition and rising end-user and customer demands is driving many CXOs to consider Cloud alternatives…

September 15, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing: Terrible or Terribly Misunderstood?

By David
Grazed from GovExec.  Author: Mark Micheli.

The Government Business Council (GBC) recently asked federal managers to rank eight different areas of government spending, from most to least efficient. Spending on technology came in sixth, with only 56 percent of federal managers feeling tax dollars spent on technology were used wisely.

When GBC asked the managers to rate the quality of various technologies and how frequently they are used, the results revealed an interesting disparity.

For all the talk we hear about cloud computing, only 24 percent of the 548 respondents felt cloud computing was of high quality, and even fewer, just 15 percent, said they used it on a regular basis…

September 14, 2012 Off

Global Survey Reveals Why NGOs Are Moving IT to the Cloud

By David
Grazed from TechSoup Global.  Author: PR Announcement
 
TechSoup Global (www.techsoupglobal.org) announced today the results of its 2012 Global Cloud Computing Survey of 10,500 nonprofits, charities, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) from 88 countries — the most extensive technology survey ever conducted of NGOs worldwide.
 
TechSoup Global’s report on barriers and motivators in cloud computing reveals that a majority of NGOs are planning to move their information technology (IT) to the cloud. However, they need more ed ucation and support to take full advantage of the benefits cloud computing offers regarding costs, productivity, and collaboration. Many NGOs are not even aware that they are using cloud applications already, or they are not familiar with the full suite of cloud-based applications available to them.
 
September 14, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing: Acer Nukes Smartphone Launch Due to Google Threat

By David

Grazed from Reuters. Author: Kevin Parrish.

Google supposedly threatened to cut off Android support to Acer if the handset maker launches a phone with a rival mobile OS. Taiwan-based Acer was reportedly forced to cancel (or postpone) the launch of its new CloudMobile A800 smartphone on Thursday due to intense pressure from Google Inc.

According to Reuters, the phone was a joint venture between Acer and Alibaba Cloud Computing, deemed as the first to use the latter company’s new mobile operating system, Aliyun. Acer and Alibaba originally planned to launch the device in Shanghai on Thursday afternoon, and then go into full retail mode on Friday…

September 14, 2012 Off

ARM: The nature of servers has changed in the cloud

By David

Grazed from ZDNet. Author: Jack Clark.

Changes brought about by the rise in cloud computing have had a huge impact on servers and server design, and could be the key factor in bringing ARM’s low-power RISC chips into the datacentre. ARM believes that the rise of cloud companies like Facebook, Google and Amazon is bringing about a change in attitudes to processors that could make its chips relevant for these companies, posing a potential threat to Intel and AMD’s server businesses.

Over the past few years, "the nature of servers has changed," ARM’s general manager of its processor and physical IP divisions, Simon Segars told ZDNet this week. "It’s really the growth in cloud [and] growth in companies doing web hosting [and] social sites. As that has grown the nature of servers has changed."…

September 14, 2012 Off

AnyPresence Named a 2012 Emerging Cloud Computing Vendor by CRN

By David

Grazed from PR NewsWire. Author: PR Announcement.

AnyPresence, a leading enterprise mobile platform-as-a-service, today announced that it was named a CRN 2012 Emerging Vendor. The company was recognized as one of the key players that are significantly impacting the cloud computing industry.

"We are honored to receive this award from CRN," said AC Chakrabarti, CEO of AnyPresence. "The AnyPresence platform is already in use by large technology integrators, and we are excited about the potential to help our customers accelerate their mobile development projects without the typical concern of platform lock-in."…

September 14, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing: Amazon courts startups with $100000 challenge

By David

Grazed from GigaOM. Author: Barb Darrow.

Are you a startup working on big data/high performance computing; gaming; consumer or business applications? Do you want $50,000? If so, Amazon has a challenge for you.

Amazon Web Services and startups have always gone together like peanut butter and jelly, and Amazon wants it to stay that way. Toward that end the cloud services giant launched its sixth annual AWS Global Start-Up Challenge on Friday…

September 14, 2012 Off

Cloud Computing Drives Revenue, but Many Midsize Business Are Left Curbside

By David

Grazed from MidSize Insider. Author: Doug Bonderud.

It’s easy to talk about cloud computing, but often more difficult to realize this technology’s long-term benefits. Despite aggressive marketing by both tech giants and start-up companies, a recent market study found that small and midsize enterprises (SMEs) are by and large letting the cloud pass them by, even though it is finally starting to offer concrete return on investment (ROI). So what’s keeping companies away?

Lack of Knowledge

That’s the main reason midsize business IT have for avoiding the cloud, according to a recent survey by MYOB, as reported by the Herald Sun. The survey, which asked over 1000 midsize companies about their cloud use, discovered that 79 percent didn’t use cloud technology at all, with 27 percent citing lack of knowledge as the main reason…

September 14, 2012 Off

Can Cloud Computing Save Money?

By David

Grazed from Business2Community. Author: Jen Cohen.

A cloud computing strategy can absolutely save any company money, regardless of company size. In fact, one of the beautiful things about cloud computing is that it provides flexibility for small businesses and allows access to capabilities that were once only accessible for a large company with a large budget. For large businesses, it provides scalability and accessibility in many locations.

If you’re considering a cloud computing strategy and/or providing insights on the benefits of how it can save your company money, here are a few ideas to help support the money-saving concept…