Articles about Cloud

Cloud computing is growing at such a pace that it is becoming the "new normal" with businesses and enterprises turning to it without giving a second thought to on-premise offerings.

Amazon Web Services [AWS], one of the world’s largest cloud providers, used its re:invent conference in Las Vegas to push the cloud’s popularity that has meant upwards of a million customers are using its cloud services -- a number that continues to increase by the day.

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With more businesses adopting cloud and hybrid environments, protecting data is more important than ever but it’s also more complex.

Microsoft is looking to improve protection for its enterprise customers with today's announcement that it has acquired Aorato, an innovator in enterprise security.

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Enterprises can be reluctant to move some functions into the cloud because of security and other concerns. So services that can allay these fears have big potential in the market.

Data flow specialist Axway already hosts secure private cloud portfolio solutions with AWS and has now announced that it’s making a Cloud B2B service available.

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Moving business applications to the cloud doesn't remove the need for securing them, in fact it potentially makes them more vulnerable.

Cloud application delivery service Instart Logic has announced a new Security Suite offering customers multi-layered protection against DDoS attacks and other cybersecurity threats.

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New research commissioned by technology services firm Reconnix has found that 82 percent of UK IT leaders do not believe they are fully ready to make the move to Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) providers, due to a shortage of in-house skills.

Only 10 percent of the 100 IT decision makers involved believed they were ready, whilst a further 8 percent had already migrated or were in the process of migration.

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Google Cloud’s long-awaited price cuts have finally been announced with various new features coming as part of the decreases that follow earlier cuts by its two main competitors in the space in Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure.

The search giant cut some products by almost 80 percent and added direct peering, container scheduling and a new container engine built on Google’s Kubernetes technology.

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I so requested to buy Amazon Echo, which promises to bring Star Trek-like responsive computing to the home. The cylindrical device, announced today, is a Bluetooth- and WiFi-enabled speaker that responds to users' questions. Just say "Alexa" and ask something. "What's the weather?" "What is the largest dinosaur?" This is how search information should be, assuming Echo resounds as strongly as Amazon's product information and demo video claim.

Touchless interaction is by no means new. Apple got the jump with personal assistant Siri, which responds to requests and commands on iOS devices. Google Now, available on multiple platforms, is far superior, and Windows Phone now has Cortana. All three cloud-based touchless-response systems make your voice the primary user interface. But Echo, like the Moto X smartphone, is always listening, such that the interaction is almost completely hands-free. That's the difference.

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Public and private clouds have been rapidly adopted by businesses around the world over the past few years. However, the debate over the pros and cons of each model has led to the emergence of a new type of cloud that allows businesses to avoid making compromises. The hybrid model enables organizations to enjoy a combination of the scalability and flexibility of public offerings with the manageability and security of their private counterparts, so it's unsurprising to see them becoming so popular. Indeed, Gartner predicts that by 2017, half of large enterprises will use hybrid cloud.

So what makes this model so attractive for businesses, and what does the future hold for the hybrid cloud?

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I recently read a LinkedIn discussion about SaaS vs. locally installed software. There were many myths presented, mostly to suit the agendas of the vendors and their respective technologies (I know, I know -- shocking that such things would happen on LinkedIn).

The discussion spiraled towards the (incorrect) conclusion that treasurers are paranoid about cloud software's security issues. However, I've not personally encountered such paranoia. What I've instead found is that treasurers are inquisitive about any pitfalls a cloud delivery model presents -- as they should be. Most often they will engage their IT colleagues to evaluate the security, infrastructure, and technology of any proposed third party solution. Treasury is not often equipped to make this assessment, and would otherwise risk falling prey to the agenda (and technology choices) of the vendors. Security assessments typically focus on three areas:

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Cloud adoption is booming amongst business users, but there's a big variation in what developers and IT managers want from their cloud deployments.

Developers want instant access to cloud services and true self-service capabilities, while IT managers require greater control, visibility and integration across the whole cloud spectrum.

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Cloud backups are all the rage at the moment, but they do raise security concerns, particularly for businesses that deal with sensitive information.

Cloud to cloud backup specialist Backupify has added some new features to its service to make it more secure. These include HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) compliance as well as new features for admins.

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Many businesses are put off moving their systems to the cloud by the complexity and time involved to complete the transfer process.

To help overcome this problem management tools specialist Metalogix is launching a Cloud Acceleration Suite along with a Partner Program to help businesses deploy collaboration abilities on their chosen cloud platform.

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In an unexpected announcement today Microsoft and Dropbox have revealed that they're joining forces to integrate Dropbox more closely into Office.

The link up will allow Office files to be edited directly from the Dropbox mobile app and the changes synced across devices. It works the other way too with access to Dropbox from within Office.

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With Azure and Office 365, Microsoft already has a strong position in the business cloud market. But the company isn't resting on its laurels, it used this week's Convergence 2014 conference in Barcelona to announce a number of innovations to help enterprises gain greater benefit from the cloud.

The main announcement is that the latest Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2015 release will be generally available in December this year. The new release is designed to address the growing need for businesses to deliver seamless experiences to their customers by helping them break down the barriers between divisions.

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Despite the news that enterprise cloud adoption is up 61.5 percent since 2010, many businesses are still skeptical of moving critical communications applications such as email and corporate data over to a single cloud vendor. Even admitted cloud enthusiasts and members of the Open Data Center Alliance, a consortium of global IT companies such as Infosys, Deutsche Telekom and SAP, have admitted that two-thirds of its members are delaying their move to the cloud due to a number of concerns around security and downtime.

Security has long been one of the primary barriers to cloud adoption, but while vendors are working hard to assuage fears on that score, the issue of unplanned downtime is another major hurdle that must also be overcome.

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