Category: News

Grazed from eWeek.  Author: Robert J. Mullins.

As Microsoft moves forward with its acquisition of enterprise social networking company Yammer, industry analysts are starting to identify opportunities for the upstart Yammer to help the software giant to make a faster transition to cloud computing.

Microsoft’s $1.2 billion deal to acquire enterprise social media company Yammer still has some people scratching their heads about the synergy the two companies will generate, but Yammer could actually teach Microsoft a thing or two, an industry analyst says.

Microsoft built its fortune by selling software licenses to computer makers, businesses and consumers. Yammer built its business into something worth paying $1.2 billion for by what’s called the “freemium” model…

Grazed from Forbes.  Author: Anthony Wing Kosner.

What a Cloud-a-palooza! I am neither a climate scientist or cloud computing expert, but I know that many of our readers are those things and more. To me, as a commentator on how the distribution and format of content effects user experience, the Amazon cloud outage raise some really pressing questions for the technology industry. Since I have more questions than answers, I will limit myself to asking some (perhaps leading) questions and hope that our own expert cloud of readers and contributors can fill in the (perhaps contentious) details:…

Grazed from GigaOM.  Author: Derrick Harris.

Cloud-based servers simple enough to be at the beck and call of every Joe Schmo off the street are a compelling vision, but presently not a realistic one. At this point, in fact, one could argue that the holy grail of the consumer cloud has already been realized. In the business world, it’s called software as a service, but the rest of the world just knows it as “the cloud.”

In a blog post on Thursday, Anil Dash laid out a vision that pretty much boils down to this quote: “[W]e need a consumer cloud offering. An app store for EC2 or a marketplace for Rackspace. The same one-click stores that offer us easy apps on our own local devices should let us purchase consumer-friendly apps that run on our own individual cloud servers.” It reads well, but until cloud computing prices drop far enough that individual servers cost next to nothing, the vision seems infeasible. That’s why multitenant cloud services, what Dash calls “centralized services,” are proving so popular….

Grazed from Tech2.  Author:  Editorial Staff.

Cisco has introduced new Linksys Smart Wi-Fi Routers (EA4500, EA3500 and EA2700) that deliver the latest in home Wi-Fi technology and offer a range of prices and performance. Cisco also unveiled Cisco Connect Cloud, a software platform that redefines and dramatically simplifies how consumers connect, control and interact with their connected devices, including personal entertainment and home appliances. The pricing details are as follows; the EA4500 will cost you Rs.14,999, the EA3500 will cost you 12,499 while the EA2700 will cost you 9,499.

The new routers are ideal for active online homes, easily handling everything from streaming HD video and multiplayer gaming to downloading large files, adding storage or printers and connecting multiple devices. After creating a password protected Cisco Connect Cloud account, consumers can enjoy anytime, anywhere access to multiple home networks from their mobile, tablet app or web browser and give guests Internet access, set parental controls or add new devices to their network…

Grazed from StorageReview.  Author: Josh Linden.

In June, TwinStrata conducted a survey at the 2012 Cloud Computing Expo in New York to gauge the state of cloud storage among the represented organizations. The area of greatest cloud computing growth reported in the survey is cloud storage, with 46% of respondents indicating future plans to use cloud storage. Five out of six respondents indicated that they were either already using or plan to use cloud storage in some capacity.

The report is based on 101 responses from attendees, a sample which TwinStrata notes is biased towards organizations favorably disposed toward cloud computing. 73% of respondents have implemented some form of cloud computing already, with more than a quarter (28%) having done so for three or more years. The greatest adoption of cloud computing is coming from small organizations (between 51-250 employees) and large enterprises (more than 5000 employees). TwinStrata is itself an enterprise-class data storage vendor…

Grazed from Forbes.  Author: Joe McKendrick.