Cloud Computing: IBM Buying Varicent Software
IBM has gotten as predictable in its acquisitions as it used to be in its suits.
It’s buying another analytics house. This time it’s Varicent Software from up Toronto way. And again IBM isn’t saying what it’s paying.
Nine-year-old Varicent does analytics software for compensation and sales performance management. More specifically, it automates and analyzes the collection and reporting of sales data across finance, sales, HR and IT. Blue figures it can be used horizontally, and combined with other stuff in its grab bag delivered through on-premise or cloud models…
InnoVergent’s Paul Cammisa to Speak on Cloud Computing at Information Technology Alliance Spring Conference
InnoVergent ( www.innovergent.com ), a technology consultancy firm and reseller and system integrator of cloud computing accounting software, announced today that InnoVergent founder Paul Cammisa will speak at the Information Technology Alliance (ITA) Spring Conference in a session titled "Adopting a Cloud Solution for Your Practice."
"When you look at the benefits cloud computing can offer a growing business, it’s not overstating the case to say that this is the most exciting development in financial accounting technology since mainframe applications were traded for desktop applications," said Cammisa. "Cloud computing gives businesses the opportunity to take advantage of great applications; anywhere/any time access to information; freedom from budget-draining investments in hardware and infrastructure; and better compete in an ever-changing economic landscape."…
Q&A with Certes Networks about vCEP (virtual Certes Enforcement Point) – Cloud Security Appliance
Today, Certes Networks released a new virtual security appliance called the vCEP (virtual Certes Enforcement Point). The point is to make the cloud safe for sensitive workloads by protecting the network traffic inside IaaS clouds and between locations. To find out more about this, we spoke with Jim Doherty, the SVP of Marketing & CMO at Certes Networks. Here is that conversation:
Q: What do you see as the main issue keeping enterprises and government organizations from moving to off-premise cloud environments?
Jim Doherty: Today’s enterprises and government organizations want to take advantage of the benefits moving to an off-premise cloud environment can provide. However they view the lack of security as a roadblock. In order for these companies and organizations to reap the benefits that the cloud has to offer, there needs to be a solution that filled the gap, and this is where vCEP comes in.
Netelligent Introduces Desktop as a Service (DaaS) Powered by Desktone, Cisco and NetApp
Netelligent, a leading provider of cloud and managed services, today announced a partnership with Desktone, Inc., the pioneer of Desktops as a Service (DaaS), to offer cloud-hosted virtual desktops. Netelligent will leverage Desktone’s DaaS Platform, along with Cisco’s® Unified Computing System (UCS) and NetApp storage systems, to deliver full-featured virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) as a service on demand to any device.
Netelligent is a unified communications leader, providing cloud, virtualization, networking and telephony services to large enterprises and private organizations. Through its partnership with Desktone, Netelligent will expand its services to offer cost-effective cloud-hosted full Windows 7 virtual desktops that can easily scale to meet customer needs. By leveraging Desktone’s DaaS technology, Netelligent can provide end users with secure, convenient access to virtual desktops delivered from the cloud, without the need for costly on-site infrastructure…
Cloud, PaaS and the Rise of the Visual Developers
Cloud Computing , more specifically Platform as a Service (PaaS) is changing the business app developer demographic forever. Or should I say that, PaaS is reviving or giving a new lease of life for productivity focused business developers. The kind that existed during the Client-Server paradigm empowered by Power Builder, Developer 2000, Visual Basic and the likes. Pardon me for using a poor – Jurasic metaphor! A great meteor in the name of "web development" hit software industry and nearly wiped out those folks. That changed the cost of developing software within the enterprises multi-fold.
Rewind, 15 years ago. Visual Developers were a boon for CIOs, VP and IT Managers in large enterprises. They understood the business and produced software quickly meeting the needs of the enterprise. Loosing them was a big handicap for the IT department. My hunch says that is one of the large contributors for the IT department gradually loosing its innovation and eventually gave into outsourcing….
Quality of Service: Have Confidence in Your Cloud
Cloud computing is a term that has become part of our everyday conversations. More and more businesses want to be in the cloud and are taking steps to move to more virtual environments. According to the Open Data Center Alliance, more than 40 percent of its members expect to run more than 40 percent of internal IT systems in cloud environments within two years.
Recent discussions have also focused on the types of cloud services available. Whether businesses are using services such as Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) or Software as a Service (SaaS), the end goal is the same: to reduce the costs of business operations. The challenge is to make sure businesses understand what each service offers and to determine which option makes the most sense for their specific cloud needs…
The Rising Value of Cloud Computing
A recent study from IDG Enterprise conducted a study among 1,600 IT and business leaders. It revealed that majority of these companies have spent more than a third of their IT budget to Cloud Computing. Further, almost two thirds of the respondents said they will continue to increase their spending in Cloud Computing in the next couple of years.
They believe their investments now will eventually pay off either by providing the company a more efficient work system or by replacing other hardware and software recurring costs.
There is an onslaught of literature on the potential of Cloud Computing. It is also this very rich literature that makes it confusing for people to determine which is reliable and which is a baseless claim. I am just as confused as everyone…
How do you measure the cloud’s environmental impact?
How green is the cloud? Reading GreenBiz.com these days, you’d think it was the next big green thing. In recent weeks, for example, we’ve covered companies bringing products to the cloud, research findings on how the cloud is a “game changer” for energy managers, cloud-based tools for designers, even ethical concerns related to cloud computing.
As my colleague Matthew Wheeland noted recently: “Everyone is talking about cloud computing as the future of IT, or the future of business, or the future of commerce, or all of the above.”
How green is it? Conventional wisdom is that cloud computing — the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, in which computers access shared resources, software, and information, instead of each computer having its own — is a highly eco-efficient medium. In addition to dramatically reducing hardware and software, the cloud maximizes the utilization of all computing resources, at least in theory…
Rackspace Launches New Version Of OpenStack Cloud
Rackspace (RAX), a leading provider of cloud computing services, plans on Monday to release a new version of its OpenStack, the open-source cloud platform it and others are promoting as a tech standard.
While many companies support OpenStack, this group does not include two of Rackspace’s biggest cloud rivals, Amazon.com (AMZN) and Citrix Systems (CTXS).
Rackspace has emerged as a fast-growing player in cloud computing services, which let companies store and access their data via the Internet, or the "cloud," reducing their hardware and overall IT spending. Rackspace’s year-over-year sales have jumped 32% in each of the past three quarters. Per-share profit has risen at least 56% in that span. And company shares are up 31% this year…
2nd Watch Joins SMB Cloud Champions Club and Cloud Accelerate Program
2nd Watch, Inc., a software and cloud-computing consulting company, has been recognized by Microsoft for its commitment and expertise providing cloud solutions with an invitation to join the SMB Cloud Champions Club. 2nd Watch is the only company in the Inland Northwest, and one among only three hundred in the nation, awarded the Cloud Champions Club designation. The company has also been recognized as a Microsoft Cloud Accelerate partner.
In addition to its Microsoft Partnerships, the SMB Cloud Champions Club and the Cloud Accelerate Program further extend 2nd Watch’s resources to assist and manage client migrations to Microsoft’s Office 365 online products. The Cloud Champions Club connects partner businesses with tools they can use to grow their cloud-based services with resources ranging from technical professionals to business and marketing funds. The Cloud Accelerate Program provides additional software and marketing benefits as well as Core Silver Competency benefits. "The Cloud Champion Club and the Cloud Accelerate partner designations are testaments to our team’s experience and drive toward saving companies money and providing a more mobile and agile product," stated 2nd Watch’s President Jeff Aden. "Gone are the days of managing exchange on premises, and along with that are lower costs that require less maintenance."…