Category: News

Grazed from MSPMentor. Author: Michael Brown.

In 2013, public IT cloud service spending was estimated at $47.4 billion. Research firm IDC predicts that by 2017, spending will more than double to $107 billion. And within the next four years, the growth rate of the IT industry as a whole will be 5 times what is today. Certainly some of that spending will go to cloud-based file sharing.

Companies are beginning to view cloud computing in a different light and IT departments are feeling the pressure to roll out the new technology quickly, securely, and cost efficiently. The cloud is not just being seen as an alternative IT solution. It’s a way to foster innovation, gain a competitive advantage, and create more personalized connections with customers inexpensively, if it’s deployed correctly, that is…

Grazed from TechTarget. Author: Hannah Pullen-Blasnik.

In a presentation at the 2014 TDWI Executive Summit in Boston, consultant and author David Linthicum discussed the impact of cloud computing on business intelligence and data analytics — and the opportunities it presents to organizations. Describing big data analytics in particular as "the killer app for cloud computing," Linthicum offered tips and advice on designing tiered data architecture for cloud analytics uses.

According to Linthicum, who is a senior vice president at Boston-based consultancy Cloud Technology Partners Inc., a solid architecture is the key to unlocking the potential benefits of cloud platforms. Linthicum said many cloud-based BI and analytics systems lack a well-grounded architecture, which he argued isn’t the fault of IT architects, but rather a result of the corporate focus on short-term — and often shortsighted — plans…

Grazed from CloudTweaks. Author: Editorial Staff.

For many, the cloud removes processing power constraints from the equation, allowing to think freely and creatively. The costs don’t increase much, or at all: using a single computer for 1000 hours costs the same as using 1000 for an hour. So cloud computing allows tackling big ideas and data, even for those without the proper infrastructure.

Pharmaceutical companies, large enterprises and even the layman benefit from the availability of the cloud, already pushing the available technology to its limits. But there is, you’d probably agree, the difference between a company that merely stores data in the cloud and a company that utilizes the bleeding-edge benefits that cloud computing can provide. The latter is what we’ll be concentrating on in this article…

Grazed from NetworkComputing. Author: Scott S. Lowe.

Managing virtual machines in the cloud doesn’t mean interpreting the pets vs. cattle meme literally. It requires automating systems and processes to care for the herd. In the cloud world, the "pets vs. cattle" meme is everywhere. It’s almost universally used as the means to differentiate cloud implementations from so-called traditional virtualization environments. For those who aren’t familiar with this analogy, here’s the short version:

In traditional virtualization, VMs are like pets. Administrators give them unique names and care for them if they get "sick." In other words, administrators or application owners get attached to their VMs. In cloud environments, instances are like cattle. They are given generic names like instance-048, and they are a dime a dozen. If an instance gets "sick," then you just shoot it in the head (destroy the instance and spin up a new one). In other words, instances are disposable and replaceable, so don’t get attached…

Grazed from CloudComputing. Author: Lori MacVittie.

It’s not the first time we’ve heard the statement that cloud can be too expensive and I doubt it will be the last. This latest episode comes from Alexei Rodriguez, Head of Ops at Evernote by way of Structure 2014: https://twitter.com/joeweinman/status/479769276027379712. It is important to note that this admission – like those in the past – have come from what we call "web monsters."

Web monsters are, as the name implies, web-first (and usually only) organizations who have millions (or billions) of users. Modern web monsters generally have only one application for which they are responsible, a la Evernote, Netflix, Facebook, etc…
It is unlikely that most enterprises will encounter this same conundrum – that of the cloud actually costing more than a DIY approach – for short-lived projects…

Grazed from CloudTech. Author: David H Deans.

What if you could deploy a new IT service shortly after you defined the requirements? And, just imagine the bliss, if your IT spend could directly translate into a competitive advantage. Predicting the ROI would be relatively easy. You would be the envy of your peer group. Unfortunately, as most senior executives already know, it’s never that simple.

Typically, you perform the technology assessment due diligence up-front, you place your bets based upon the most compelling guidance, and then you closely monitor the results. It’s an iterative process, where confidence builds over time. Maybe that’s why new business technology spending tends to be aligned with a past success. But this procurement model doesn’t adapt very well in response to unanticipated significant market events or the rapid acceleration of unplanned technology migrations. Moreover, tight budgets and other resource constraints can severely limit an organisation’s ability to react quickly to changing environments…

Grazed from SmartDataCollective. Author: Paul Barsch.

Look around at global economic conditions. More than skirmishes—near flat out war—in Ukraine, Gaza, Iraq and Syria. China pushing up GDP numbers by loading local provinces with more debt. European economies are on the mend, but not yet turning the corner. Fickle western consumers more pre-occupied with the latest smartphone app than the new product you’re selling. It’s in stressful economic conditions that you need to make sure your business has the ability to cycle capacity up or down when needed. You need cloud computing.

According to an article in the Financial Times, during the World Cup, Ghana’s authorities had to “import 50 megawatts of energy from neighboring Ivory Coast” just to keep televisions on during Ghana’s National Soccer team’s games. Fortunately, Ivory Coast had enough spare electricity to sell to Ghana, because there might have been riots in the streets had Ghanaian authorities not figured out a way to meet the demands of thousands of televisions…

Grazed from TheRegister. Author: Trevor Pott.

Public cloud computing has finally started to make sense to me now. A recent conversation with a fellow sysadmin had me rocking back and forth in a corner muttering "that’s illogical". When I emerged from my nervous breakdown I realised that capitalising on the irrationality of the decision-making process within most companies is what makes public cloud computing financially viable.

For certain niche applications, cloud computing makes perfect sense. "You can spin up your workloads and then spin them down when you don’t need them" is the traditional line of tripe trotted out by the faithful. The problem is that you can’t actually do this in the real world: the overwhelming majority of companies have quite a few workloads that aren’t particularly dynamic. We have these lovely legacy static workloads that sit there and make the meter tick by…

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Matt Asay.

Amazon Web Services (AWS) may be the cloud leader, but Microsoft Azure is gaining fast and should surpass AWS revenues by the end of 2014 — at least, according to Nomura analyst Rick Sherlund. Still, as well as Microsoft may be doing, Sherlund’s $5.7 billion revenue target for Azure doesn’t stand up to serious scrutiny.

Azure on fire

Let’s be clear: Microsoft Azure is doing well — really, really well. Though neither Microsoft nor Amazon break out their cloud services revenues, Microsoft noted in its last earnings call that cloud revenue grew 147 percent year-over-year. This led Nomura analyst Sherlund to predict Microsoft will hold the crown as top cloud by revenue by the end of 2014…

Grazed from Midsize Insider. Author: Sue Poremba.

For many small and midsize businesses (SMB), cloud-based services like software-as-a-service (SaaS) have been budget-friendly time-savers, meaning that IT staff can focus on computing concerns beyond updating software and managing servers. However, there is still the issue of managing all of those desktop computers and making sure they are kept up-to-date with the most recent operating systems and security platforms.

Enter Desktop-as-a-Service

A virtual desktop may be the solution for SMBs. According to Drew Robb in Small Business Computing, desktop-as-a-service (DaaS) addresses budget-related problems. It eliminates the need for a traditional IT infrastructure, "because a DaaS provider already has it set up using economies of scale that small businesses can never achieve." It also allows IT departments to purchase only the services they need, when they need them, because DaaS adapts to changes in the SMB’s growth…