Category: News

Grazed from Forbes.  Author: Jacqueline Vanacek.

The cloud computing benefit most often cited is IT’s reduced cost of ownership, because a company can convert fixed IT costs into variable spend for 60-80% of the budget that is used to “keep the lights on.”  The total cost of IT as a percent of revenue is reduced, and that savings can be re-invested to grow the business.

While the IT savings is compelling, the strongest benefit of cloud computing is how it enhances business agility – especially how the cloud can help launch entirely new businesses with little to no up-front capital.

And when cloud computing helps launch businesses focused on improving the greater social good—cloud computing can help change the world…

Grazed from InformationWeek.  Author:  Elizabeth Montalbano.

The federal CIO Council has released security controls for the new agency-wide program that standardizes security requirements for cloud-computing products and services, a key move in setting standards for cloud security across the federal government.

More than 150 security controls in 16 categories have now been defined for the Federal Risk Assessment Program (FedRAMP), which provides common security requirements for cloud implementation on specific types of systems…

Grazed from Channel Pro.  Author: Christine Horton.

Dell is putting the finishing touches on its first partner certifications around cloud computing.

Bob Skelley, Dell’s executive director, Global Certified Partner Programme, confirmed at the vendor’s Storage Forum in London: “We’re very close to launching the first phase of our cloud certification.”

The new certification will be divided into three categories, depending on the type of partner: Cloud Builder, Cloud Provider and Service Enabler – as well as a fourth specialisation based on Dell’s acquired technologies, Boomi and SecureWorks…

Grazed from PR NewsWire.  Author: PR Announcement.

Kurt Johnson, CEO of Horizon Technology and Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year 2005, announced Monday the official launch of Horizon Private Cloud.

“We are very pleased to announce a bold step forward in cloud computing for the small to medium business market,” said Johnson. “In 2009, Horizon Technology embraced information technology as a competitive advantage and implemented a total desktop virtualization strategy which dramatically changed the way we conduct business. I attribute much of Horizon Technology’s success to this virtual desktop strategy, so much so, we decided to add our name to it – Horizon Private Cloud.”…

Grazed from IT Business Edge.  Author: Michael Vizard.

Enterprise IT continues to get more complex. It’s already difficult to manage distributed computing environments that now have as many, if not more, virtual servers than physical ones. And now IT organizations are wrestling with the prospect of having to manage all those servers across hybrid cloud computing environments.

IT vendors such as IBM in the case of the zEnterprise mainframe or Cisco in the form of the Unified Computing System (UCS) X86 server are responding to these concerns with homogenous platforms that allow IT organizations to consolidate the management of servers, storage and networking under a common management platform…

Grazed from EON.  Author:  PR Announcement.

Lorton Data, a leader in data driven marketing services, today announced the release of A-Qua Command™, a fully automated, cloud-based, enterprise mailing software alternative that integrates directly into mailers’ workflows. Just two years after launching the first complete cloud-based pre-mail processing service, A-Qua Mailer™, Lorton Data adds another powerful solution with A-Qua Command.

“Now, they can seamlessly incorporate this solution into their current workflow at a much lower cost, and also take advantage of everything that cloud computing has to offer.”

In comparison to A-Qua Mailer, where a browser is used to access services, A-Qua Command provides a Windows command line interface for users to configure templates and scripts that automate repetitive or similar address quality and mail list processing jobs. No mailing software is needed…

Grazed from Insurance Journal.  Author: Editorial Staff.

Grazed from EON.  Author: PR Announcement.
 
UnboundID, a leading provider of identity data solutions for cloud, telco, and enterprise computing, today released the industry’s first commercially available products based on the Simple Cloud Identity Management (SCIM) standard. By supporting SCIM, UnboundID can provide a standardized and simpler solution for organizations provisioning and managing user identities across multiple cloud-based services, including IaaS, PaaS and SaaS offerings.

UnboundID’s SCIM-enabled directory server enables developers to build scalable and secure directory applications using simple, REST-based interfaces. In addition, UnboundID announced that it will release an extension to its Synchronization Server that makes it possible to synchronize identity data from existing data stores—such as Active Directory, LDAP and relational databases—to SCIM-enabled cloud applications, like SalesForce.com. By supporting SCIM-enabled data stores as a destination for its Synchronization Server, UnboundID has delivered a complete solution for integrating identity data from on-premise data stores with SCIM-enabled cloud-based services…

Grazed from PR NewsWire.  Author: PR Announcement.

StrikeIron has won the Cloud Infrastructure and Cloud Computing Company of the Year awards in the inaugural 2012 Cloud Awards Program.

The annual cloud computing awards program, open internationally across the US and EMEA regions, recognizes and celebrates industry leaders and pioneers in the field of cloud computing. Categories include Best Cloud Infrastructure and Cloud Computing Company of the Year.

Cloud Awards organizer Larry Johnson said, “Almost 200 organizations entered the program, which is among the first of its kind. We were swamped by entries, and the standard was remarkably high. Judging the submissions was a challenging task. But we’re happy to endorse StrikeIron as among the best of the best in their field…