Category: News

Grazed from CCI.  Author: Lawrence James.

Grazed from V3.co.uk. Author: Roland Moore-Colyer.

Software is changing the role of chief information officers (CIOs), requiring them to use IT to drive, rather than simply support, a business, according to the CIO of Virgin Active. Andy Caddy explained at Interop 2015 in London that the ability of modern software to replace the functions and capabilities of physical hardware means that CIOs no longer need to focus on maintaining systems or replacing legacy IT.

“Software has solved the problem,” he said. “The idea that, once things are software they solve the problems and you don’t have to look back, is really what’s driving [change].” Caddy added that software can be used to replace specialist hardware with virtual equivalents, and that cloud computing is nearing the stage when shifting traditional disk storage into the cloud is an easy process…

Grazed from CloudTech. Author: James Bourne.

Research from Zenium Technology Partners has found that one in two organisations are not operating a data centre that could continue to function after a natural disaster. The report, entitled ‘Managing Growth, Risk and the Cloud’, found that half of companies polled has experienced disruption with their data centre due to Mother Nature, with respondents experiencing five incidents in total on average. Despite this, 45% of those polled insisted their data centre was flood resistant, 43% stated their data centre was officially earthquake resistant, and 60% said it was located in an area away from physical or environmental hazards.

For companies who had experienced disruptions with the running of their data centre, more than nine in 10 (91%) confirmed it had come at a loss to their business. A third of C-suite respondents said they didn’t know what the exact cost was, with the highest figure cited as £500,000…

Grazed from TalkinCloud. Author: Mike Vizard.

One of the biggest limitations of most software-as-a-service (SaaS) and mobile applications is that they generally don’t come with much in the way of business intelligence (BI) functionality built into the application. This usually results in end users having to fire up yet another application to analyze data inside any given application.

Now TIBCO Software is making it simpler to embed business intelligence inside a multi-tenant cloud application environment with the release of version 6.1 of TIBCO Jaspersoft BI software. Mike Boyarski, director of product marketing for TIBCO Analytics at TIBCO Software, said enhanced for support for multi-tenant clouds, coupled with support for JavaScript, application programming interfaces (APIs) and HTML5, will make it a lot easier to embed BI functionality directly into an array of mobile and SaaS application services…

Read more from the source @ http://talkincloud.com/cloud-computing/06172015/embedding-bi-cloud

Grazed from GeekWire. Author: Editorial Staff.

Microsoft has struck partnerships with startup accelerators around the world in a new bid to make inroads against Amazon Web Services, Google and other rivals in cloud computing. The initiative, announced this week, will allow startups to apply for free credits for Microsoft Azure cloud services through accelerators and incubators including Techstars, ERA, MassChallenge, Seedcamp, and 1871, leveraging Microsoft’s BizSpark Plus program. Qualifying startups will get up to $10,000 in credits each month for up to a year, and can use the credits to relieve stress around cloud services.

“We have spent a tremendous amount of time listening to better understand what startups need to be successful,” said Microsoft’s president of developer platform and evangelism Steve Guggenheimer in a blog post. “From deeper support for open source technologies and tools on Azure to running and managing seven accelerators in seven countries, via our Microsoft Ventures programs, we’re taking the feedback to heart.”…

Read more from the source @ http://www.geekwire.com/2015/microsoft-partners-with-techstars-and-others-to-give-startups-free-cloud-computing-credits/

Grazed from GeekWire. Author: Editorial Staff.

Microsoft has struck partnerships with startup accelerators around the world in a new bid to make inroads against Amazon Web Services, Google and other rivals in cloud computing. The initiative, announced this week, will allow startups to apply for free credits for Microsoft Azure cloud services through accelerators and incubators including Techstars, ERA, MassChallenge, Seedcamp, and 1871, leveraging Microsoft’s BizSpark Plus program. Qualifying startups will get up to $10,000 in credits each month for up to a year, and can use the credits to relieve stress around cloud services.

“We have spent a tremendous amount of time listening to better understand what startups need to be successful,” said Microsoft’s president of developer platform and evangelism Steve Guggenheimer in a blog post. “From deeper support for open source technologies and tools on Azure to running and managing seven accelerators in seven countries, via our Microsoft Ventures programs, we’re taking the feedback to heart.”…

Read more from the source @ http://www.geekwire.com/2015/microsoft-partners-with-techstars-and-others-to-give-startups-free-cloud-computing-credits/

Grazed from Fortune. Author: Barb Darrow.

If Microsoft is not weighing a bid to buy hotshot container startup Docker, perhaps it should be. The idea, talk of which cropped up late last week, is intriguing and a purchase would be a bold move by Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, who is trying to position the company’s Azure cloud as the cloud-of-choice for businesses, but as part of that effort also a first-class home for containers and for open-source software.

Docker is an open-source container technology that lets companies package up applications in a lightweight way so that they can run on different sets of infrastructure with minimal tweaking. To confuse matters, Docker is also a venture-capital-backed startup, once known as DotCloud, that is commercializing this technology and is reportedly valued at over $1 billion…

Grazed from ITBusiness. Author: Robert Cordray.

Cloud computing has created a range of opportunities for businesses seeking to improve their working process. The technologies, services and options that are currently available can allow workers to enjoy greater flexibility while providing employers with enhanced security as well as reduced operational costs. Cloud computing services make it easy to update a conventional working process and ensure that workers and employers are able to benefit from the unique opportunities this technology is able to provide.

Enhanced flexibility

Limiting workers and staff to dedicated terminals and systems can reduce their effectiveness. Businesses that are seeking to make the most of their existing computer systems and equipment will find that cloud computing can provide an ideal solution. Ensuring that workers can more easily make use of a wider range of systems, devices and options is often much simpler than many employers may realize…

Read more from the source @ http://www.itbusiness.ca/blog/cloud-computing-offers-many-benefits-businesses-cannot-afford-to-ignore/56267

Grazed from CSO. Author: Editorial Staff.

Cloud computing is now a well-established business practice in NZ. In 2013, 88% of NZ organisations already accessed emails via the cloud. Many businesses understand the financial advantages of using the cloud. Large, irregular, forecasted Capex can be replaced by smooth, predictable Opex spending.

Using cloud-based services to host your desktop, CRM, analytics and business intelligence is increasingly common. Senior executives have been quick to grasp the cost advantages. The next step is leveraging the cloud to build organisation-wide competitive advantages. What other aspects of your organisation should migrate (and when), to serve your customers better, faster, cheaper? How can the cloud help differentiate your products and services?…

Grazed from CIO. Author: Charles Cooper.

The desire to reduce costs clearly contributed to the first wave of cloud computing. To be sure, the cloud has helped companies get a better handle on IT costs. And that’s understandable given that many IT organizations remain stuck in a mindset of proving the business case for IT investment through cost savings.

But as we reach the midpoint of 2015, it’s increasingly clear that the promise of the cloud has more to do with the role it is fated to play in accelerating the enterprise’s rate of innovation. IT managers describe the cloud as the most important technology initiative they have on their agendas for this year. They also say the cloud is causing fundamental changes in their businesses by helping them to improve service and generate new revenue streams…