Grazed from ITProPortal. Author: David Richards.

The cloud gives you access to enormous computing power immediately Ordering servers to operate behind a firewall can take months. For a business that needs to react to change and get products out of the door quickly, you do not have time to wait for the IT department to order and configure a new server when a virtual one can be delivered instantly.

There is no set up time to operate in the cloud

Technology such as WANdisco’s Fusion active replication make it easy to move large volumes of data to the cloud whilst continuing with transactions, enabling companies to move critical applications and processes seamlessly. Setting up servers can take three to six months…

Grazed from NextPlatform. Author: Timothy Prickett.

The IT industry likes drama perhaps a bit more than is warranted by what actually goes on in the datacenters of the world. We are always spoiling for a good fight between rival technologies because the clash results in competition, which drives technologies forward and prices down.

Ultimately, organizations have to pick some kind of foundation for their modern infrastructure, and OpenStack, the cloud controller spawned from NASA and Rackspace Hosting nearly six years ago, is a growing and vibrant community that, despite the advent of Docker containers and the rise of Mesos and Kubernetes as an alternative substrate for virtualized infrastructure, continues to see market uptake and companies moving from proofs of concept to production…

Grazed from ARC. Author: Craig Resnick.

In its media briefing held at the Hannover Messe, ODVA announced a significant new area of technical work to develop standards for the gateway and interface technology needed to transport data between the cloud and CIP-enabled industrial control systems (ICS) populated with EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet devices. Ultimately, this work will result in The Common Industrial Cloud Interface Specification, a major new addition to ODVA’s technology portfolio.

ODVA’s scope of work for developing the Common Industrial Cloud Interface will encompass two elements in the ecosystem for the industrial cloud: a cloud gateway appliance (Gateway) and an application program interface (API) for the transport of data from the Gateway to the cloud and from the cloud back to the ICS and its devices. Based on open and interoperable standards supported by multiple vendors, ODVA’s new Common Industrial Cloud Interface will help accelerate an architectural transformation inclusive of cloud computing to support device management, process analytics, notifications, remote access, virtualization, visualization and, in the future, control…

Grazed from Farraguter.  Author: Editorial Staff.

 Cloud computing is seen by many investors as Microsoft’s salvation, a growing business that has convinced many there is a bright future for the company beyond the troubled personal computer (PC) market.  Microsoft Corp. said its earnings declined 25% in the third quarter, as the company reported lower operating profits across several of its business lines.

Data collection is becoming a dirty phrase in the 21st century. As soon as it’s spoken, people’s hackles go up, they tense, and it makes them uncomfortable. When it comes to a business’s HR department, whether they’ve got cabinets full of folders or have implemented software like that offered by xcdhr.com, they are collecting data on staff, past and present. It’s unavoidable, but must be kept legal, and this is where some troubles have cropped up.

At the moment it’s not too big an issue, but as data crimes become more and more prevalent, you can bet your bottom dollar that companies and their HR departments are going to come under serious scrutiny…

Grazed from FinancialTimes. Author: Richard Waters.

When Satya Nadella takes to the stage in Germany on Sunday for his first appearance at Hannover Messe, one of the main events in the manufacturing industry’s annual calendar, it will signal a significant change for Microsoft. The chief executive of the technology company admits that in past years, “I wouldn’t have had much to talk about — whereas now I think I have something to say”.

He will not be pitching Microsoft’s traditional money-earners like Office, Windows and server software, or even its newer cloud computing services. Instead, says Mr Nadella: “We are now talking about the core.” This means the data being thrown off by cars, aeroplane engines, elevators and other industrial products, supplying the raw material to turn dumb manufactured goods into what he calls “systems of intelligence”…

Read more from the source @ http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/c8e2e1d0-0861-11e6-a623-b84d06a39ec2.html#axzz46Zg5vdHu

Grazed from ComputerWorld. Author: Sharon Gaudin.

With Intel looking to lock in on the next big thing and cloud continuing to grow in importance, it makes sense for the chip maker to seize on cloud computing as a way to transform itself. That’s the word coming from industry analysts after Intel this week announced it will lay off 12,000 employees — or 11% of its global workforce — as it shifts focus from its traditional PC business to the Internet of Things (IoT) and the cloud.

With PCs seen as yesterday’s tech trend, Intel is betting its future on the growth of the cloud, which stores everything from music to corporate records and powers enterprise apps and billions of smart, connected devices. The cloud, Intel wagers, will be the company’s primary growth engine…

Read more from the source @ http://www.computerworld.com/article/3060206/cloud-computing/intel-refocusing-itself-and-its-revenue-stream-on-cloud.html

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: David Linthicum.

It’s an attractive story: Public cloud services that can allocate applications and services to users through a cloud broker. These brokerage systems sit between the consumers of cloud services and the services themselves. Brokers can gather data about the cloud service — including cost, efficiency, and functionality — to help you make better decisions about which cloud service best meets the needs of the cloud service consumer.

You can place many public and private cloud services behind the broker, then have it broker to the best service for your application. Though attractive, the sales pitch is a bit different from the reality. Most cloud-based applications have to be localized for the cloud platform they use. If you’ve allocated EC2 and S3 instances from AWS and you use the cloud-native features of that platform, then you’re pretty much locked onto that platform…

Grazed from CSO. Author: Carric Dooley.

When you moved your applications to the cloud, your attack surface changed while the vulnerabilities at the application, database, and network level persisted. To address these issues, securing your cloud perimeter, preventing unauthorized access, and protecting your data is crucial.

The first step to reduce the attack surface is to run a port scan specific to an instance IP and lock down all the unnecessary open ports. In addition, be sure to lock down your meta and user data. Detailed instructions on how to perform these security measures in AWS are available from our team…