Category: News

Grazed from eWeek.  Author:  Jason Brooks.

The corner of cloud computing known as platform as a service has been heating up over the past year, with new products and projects coming online that are aimed at abstracting away application deployment details and enabling developers to focus primarily on their code.

Early on, most platform as a service (PaaS) options have favored languages such as Java and Python, paired with largely open-source application stacks. With the exception of Microsoft’s own Azure service, most of the PaaS focus has been aimed away from Microsoft’s .NET framework and its corresponding stack.

Recently, however, this situation has been changing, with the emergence of .NET-targeted options such as Apprenda Inc.’s Apprenda 3.0, which enables organizations to deploy their own .NET PaaS atop the Microsoft Web application stack…

Grazed from GovWin.  Author: Ronald Sherwin.

I have to admit that I am basically an idealist and naively believe that government agencies progress through data center consolidation to the eventual cloud computing service delivery model should be based upon a carefully developed business case analysis developed by the agency CIO and sold through the budget justification process.

But I live in the Washington metropolitan area and have watched the 12,000+ registered lobbyists continue to wield their literary prose upon the budgetary process.So it was no surprise when the trade press announced that the 2012 National Defense Appropriations Act (NDAA) contained language that forces the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) to curtail their focus on becoming the government-owned private cloud provider for the Department of Defense (DoD)…

Grazed from Zacks.  Author:   Eric Dutram.

Technology investing has been quite rocky as of late thanks to troubling setbacks form some of the major players in the industry. Giants such as Oracle (ORCL), Amazon (AMZN), and HP (HPQ) have all seen some level of weakness over the past month, casting a shadow over the sector heading into 2012. Yet, despite these recent concerns, the tech SPDR (XLK) has still outperformed broad markets over the past few months and could continue to do so if some of the high growth corners of the market can carry the weight of the industry in the new year. One such segment that has great promise from both a practical and investment standpoint undoubtedly has to be the cloud computing industry, an increasingly important part of the tech world (also read Intel Report Crushes Semiconductor ETFs)…

Grazed from Cloud Tweaks.  Author:  Rick Blaisdell.

Perhaps to recap some of the things that I have written about during the year, I would now like to propose a set of best practices for a cloud computing implementation, the ones that I believe are crucial. Here are the 4 most important aspects to determining the success of such an IT project:

– Security: I will start with this, since it still seems to be the most debated about topic when it comes to cloud computing implementation. Keep in mind that the managed enterprise provider you choose has specialists dedicated to the security of your servers which are available 24/7. They are responsible for both the setup and the ongoing maintenance of your cloud – regardless whether it is public or not. Think how much trouble, time and money it would cost you to hire these specialists, to setup, monitor and maintain your own system– it does seem simpler and more efficient to have security in place when paying for your cloud services, doesn’t it?…

Grazed from Signal Scape.  Author: Rachel Eisenhower.

Grazed from MarketWatch.  Author: PR Announcement.

Appirio announced today it has selected NetApp, Inc. as its Cloud Pioneer of the Year, an annual award given by Appirio to companies and individuals that demonstrate leadership in cloud computing initiatives. The award honors the team for the cloud-first approach they took to dramatically improve the Field Operation team’s ability to move fast and respond to the business’ evolving needs.

The NetApp team, led by its VP of worldwide sales ops, was selected from nearly a dozen other Appirio Cloud Pioneers representing companies such as BP, Brown-Forman, Glocap, Enterasys, Medtronic, Suntech and Yahoo!…

Grazed from InfoWorld.  Author: David Linthicum.

Cloud computing is going strong, and I suspect it’ll peak this year or next. I know this because the hype is almost out of control and misinformation is plentiful — the classic signs of an impending peak. It’s a new technology, but the same old hype cycle.

Although much good is going on in the cloud, as both the technology and the underlying architectures mature, the hype means we’ll also see cloud providers pull some real blunders. Here are three you can expect this year…

Grazed from Sys Con Media.  Author: Paul Miller.

Microsoft announced last month that its Software as a Service (SaaS) offering, Office 365, will better comply with European guidelines to ensure that customer data is adequately protected. This move is certainly welcome, but the long-armed spectre of the USA PATRIOT Act continues to hang over Microsoft and other US companies, regardless of customers’ nationality or the country within which Microsoft might physically host a particular customer’s data.

The PATRIOT Act’s acronymic name may evoke harmless images of bunting, parades, and national anthems, but the reality is rather different. A product of America’s post-9/11 entrenchment, the Uniting (and) Strengthening America (by) Providing Appropriate Tools Required (to) Intercept (and) Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001 affords the Federal Government wide-ranging and far-reaching powers that show little — if any — respect for geographic boundaries or inconveniently contradictory local legislation. A US company (like Microsoft or Amazon) is subject to the Act’s powers all around the world. A US citizen’s data, stored in a US company’s data centre that is physically situated in the United States is subject to the Act, and everyone might be reasonably comfortable with that. But so is a German citizen’s data, stored in an Amazon data centre in Ireland; and German, Irish and European lawmakers appear almost powerless to intercede…

Grazed from CRN.  Author: Andrew R. Hickey.

The demand for cloud computing skills has exploded, with hiring for cloud computing expertise growing 61 percent year over year, according to a recent report from Wanted Analytics, a talent research firm.

According to the report, over the past 90 days employers and staffing firms have placed more than 10,000 job ads that included cloud computing skills and experience as requirements. Those ads came from more than 2,400 companies in that 90-day period, which ultimately pushed cloud hiring demand 61 percent year-over-year.

The need for cloud computing skills has been pushing the market for months. Solution providers are seeking cloud-ready employees to bring their businesses to the next level. Additionally, a host of major IT companies, including HP and others, have launched cloud-specific certifications to arm the market with cloud skills and competence. And solution providers like Bluewolf have begun offering training programs, which in some cases are free, to deepen the cloud computing talent pool…