Business Owners Shouldn’t Be Scared Of The Cloud
Grazed from HostReview. Author: Tim Maliyil.
Small business owners and startup founders generally pride themselves on being up-to-date on the latest tech trends. However, many are still unwilling to embrace cloud technology for basic business functions such as email and file storage. They often write cloud computing off as too complicated or not secure, but that simply isn’t the case. I’d like to debunk a few of the myths surrounding cloud-based computing so more businesses feel comfortable leveraging the power of the cloud.
What Is the Cloud?
First, let’s talk about what cloud computing is. Storing things in “the cloud” is a nebulous concept, but really, cloud-based operations encompass any computing application that is completely Internet-based. If you’ve ever used Gmail, for instance, you’ve taken advantage of the cloud…
Microsoft is “in the midst of a comprehensive engineering effort” to strengthen encryption across its portfolio of cloud services, and increase transparency for customers and governments by allowing more access to the code at the foundation of its services, the company said. According to Matt Thomlinson, vice president of trustworthy computing security at Microsoft the company has successfully taken large strides towards making its services more secure.
Cloud analysts are buzzing about the possibility of Oracle buying up smaller ventures in efforts to extend its own cloud computing endeavours. Reports indicate that Oracle intends to sell $10 billion in bonds which will raise cash for what many analysts are dubbing a cloud startup shopping spree. The database giant has not been shy about acquiring smaller outfits. It seems as if this strategy seems to benefit Oracle’s cloud ambitions.
It was recently mentioned this week on OpenStack’s blog that OpenStack, the free and much-loved open source cloud computing platform, will turn 4 years old on July 19th, and they’re declaring it a cause for celebration. OpenStack celebrates its 4th birthday July 19, and we’re celebrating with the entire OpenStack community during July! User maturity, software maturity and a focus on cloud software operations are rapidly emerging for OpenStack and none of it would be possible without the quickly growing OpenStack community. There are now more than 70 global user groups and 17,000 community members across 139 countries, spanning more than 370 organizations. This calls for a big toast to the OpenStack community members and our users.
While they are often used as interchangeable concepts by non-IT staff, the concepts of cloud computing are related but quite different. They share the common characteristic of making computing more affordable and flexible. However, these two elements of modern IT infrastructure serve different purposes.
Porticor®, a leading cloud data security company delivering the only cloud-based data encryption and key management solution that infuses trust into the cloud and keeps cloud data confidential, today announced that TMC, a global, integrated media company, has named its Porticor Virtual Private Data (VPD) system as a 2014 Cloud Computing Excellence Award winner. The Cloud Computing Excellence Award, presented by Cloud Computing magazine, recognizes companies that have most effectively leveraged cloud computing in their efforts to bring new, differentiated offerings to market.
Amazon today launched its most affordable instances for its EC2 cloud computing service yet. Starting at just $0.013 per hour ($9.50 per month) for on-demand access (reserved instances are even cheaper), these new so-called T2 instances come with a caveat, however.
Technology giant, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ), has been restructuring its business to boost profitability and focus on new verticals that offer better growth opportunity. As part of this strategy, the company is continuously expanding its portfolio of cloud services. In a recent move, the company has struck a partnership with German enterprise software developer, SAP AG (SAP), to deploy SAP’s in-memory database platform HANA as a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model.