The use of public cloud platforms as a deployment option for applications is often talked about in black and white terms such as ‘do we deploy to the cloud or keep the application on-premise?’ This is misleading, as many businesses assess the suitability of public cloud only for the most appropriate use cases and often this will be for supplementary resources. The cloud journey will take them to a pragmatic balance between the use of […]
Cloud computing services are becoming the norm in business and the total size of the industry has more than tripled in the last five years. In 2008, it was estimated at a value of about $46 Billion, and by 2014 it is estimated to be worth more than $150 Billion. The following Cloud Computing Infographic illustrates the growth of cloud services:
The use of cloud computing is growing, and by 2016 this growth will increase to become the bulk of new IT spend, according to Gartner. 2016 will be a defining year for cloud as private cloud begins to give way to hybrid cloud, and nearly half of large enterprises will have hybrid cloud deployments by the end of 2017. “Overall, there are very real trends toward cloud platforms, and also toward massively scalable processing. Virtualization, […]
Rule 1: The cloud rides on the network, so the network must be able to keep up Companies that move applications and data to cloud, or perhaps build new systems on cloud-based platforms, often don’t consider the network infrastructure. When relying on systems that are connected via the network, the network is everything. Slow networks mean slow systems and poor performance. Rule 2: Applications not optimized for cloud-based platforms rarely perform well Many enterprise IT […]
Businesses will have to redesign their networks from the ground up if they hope to protect their data from next-generation hackers, according to McAfee president Michael DeCesare. DeCesare said business and high-tech companies will have to use a by-design strategy if they wish to remain ahead of the threats they face. He was speaking during a keynote at the McAfee Focus conference. “We have to figure out how to integrate security into [networks] from the […]
Cloud computing is the use of computing resources that are delivered as a service over a network such as the internet, removing the need for physical storage and applications. From my experience working with academies, shared cloud services are the new de facto standard for federations or groups of schools working together, and this is being mirrored more widely across the UK education sector. Future-proof IT For schools wondering what level of cloud computing would […]
Cloud computing offers businesses the opportunity to outsource their IT services, reducing both time and cost efficiently. This is highly attractive, as businesses do not need to understand the devices they are using, but do companies really understand the implications of outsourcing their business services to a cloud computing service? Cloud computing is the next stage in the Internet’s evolution, providing the means through which everything can be delivered as a service, wherever and whenever […]
In my last post, I talked about the IT side of the “shadow IT” problem that cloud computing has created for companies all over the world. Cloud computing has enabled end-users to remove IT departments from the decision process when hiring solutions, especially software solutions, and also to keep these same IT departments out of the loop by using cloud-based applications that can be accessed through the browser, without any kind of installation or IT […]
Virtualization has become the key technology underpinning ‘cloud-era’ IT infrastructure because the ability to deploy virtual instances of servers, desktop PCs, storage devices and network resources allows existing hardware to be utilised efficiently, and makes for much better manageability, flexibility and scalability. The graphs below highlight adoption trends across various implementations and applications:
The hidden costs were explored in a new survey of 468 CIOs, conducted by Research In Action and underwritten by Compuware Corporation. There’s no question a lot of money is going into cloud projects — two-thirds of the respondents say that cloud is their top investment area for 2013. Many have crunched the numbers for the up-front costs of cloud computing, which typically include subscription fees, combined with some level of staff time required for set-up, user […]
The World Wide Web has come a long way since 400 Arpanet users received the first spam message in May 1978. Journey back to 1969, when the U.S. military-funded research network Arpanet connected four computers, to take a look at the Internet, then and now. Renamed “the Internet” in 1984, the service reached a milestone moment when it linked 1,000 hosts at university and corporate labs. Almost 15 years later, the Web began making commercial […]
Just as virtualisation has transformed data centre operations, the emergence of cloud computing represents a significant shift in the way IT operates applications today. Up until now, IT ops teams have been driven by a server-centric operations model, where the application itself played a secondary role. Cloud computing, on the other hand, is an application-centric operations model. As applications get more distributed, virtualised and pushed into the cloud, application developers and architects are faced with […]
Cloud, mobility, and advanced analytics are transforming the way insurance companies offer value to their customers. As competitive pressures within the industry increase, insurance companies will turn to technology for assistance in this changed environment. To prosper in this new environment insurance companies can look to the cloud, in conjunction with other technologies, to help drive reinvention of their business model to offer new services and create direct, multi-channel relationships with customers. Real-time data collection […]
In May 2011, the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants issued a new set of guidelines known as Service Organisation Controls-2 (SOC-2) report, which outlines criteria for the security, availability, processing integrity, privacy and confidentiality of a service organisation’s systems and processes. Organisations that outsource functions, not relevant to financial statements, can request an SOC-2 report to assure themselves that they have requisite controls in place. The report is similar to the older SAS 70 […]
Cloud technology is the future for the business-world. According to KPMG, it’s now used by most organisations. However, with this new technology come new risks for company information security, and it is important for HR teams to ensure that they update company IT policies to adequately protect business interests. What’s different about cloud computing? Cloud systems are often different from the traditional IT infrastructure set up by a company itself because they are normally provided […]
The many benefits of cloud computing include helping enterprises become more efficient, agile, innovative and flexible, but achieving those benefits depends on a number of factors, including the involvement of the board of directors. ISACA, a nonprofit, independent association of more than 100,000 governance, risk, security and assurance professionals worldwide, has issued new guidance outlining key questions for boards of directors to ask to ensure their enterprise’s cloud initiative is in line with business objectives […]
SMBs that embrace Cloud computing and business websites are much more likely to enjoy rising revenue than others, according to accounting software provider, MYOB. The company’s March 2013 MYOB Business Monitor study, which was conducted by research firm Colmar Brunton and surveyed more than 1000 SMBs, found that the businesses that adopted Cloud technologies were twice as likely to see an earnings uplift in the past year. However, only 16 per cent indicated to use […]
The word ‘cloud’ has been literally hanging over executives’ heads for the past two years — in the form of massive banners hanging from the ceilings of almost every hub airport they travel through. To date, the focus of cloud has been on the delivery of IT-related capabilities from IT-related providers, largely for things that the IT department is responsible for managing. Cloud computing is expected to grow to 20% or more of the total […]
Today, most large enterprises, no matter what industry they serve, are software developers. The reason? The various ways through which employees and customers can, and want, to engage with businesses has grown exponentially; time, platform and frequency are no longer considerable barriers to achieving what you want to achieve. Applications that are used by either staff or customers are developed internally by the development team and/or with their development partners. For many organisations, their applications, […]
Only 28 percent of small-business owners completely understand the concept of cloud computing, while 42 percent of respondents said they are not using cloud computing at all and 35 percent said they were using it only for data storage, according to the latest “Brother Small-Business Survey,” from Brother International, which examined the role of technology in small business. Small-business owners also noted using the cloud for document management (21 percent) as well as business applications […]
Cloud computing represents enormous opportunities for domestic transport and logistics businesses around the world, according to Ralf Moller, general manager marketing for CargoWise and WiseTech Global. While cloud technology sounds complex, it is easy to find analogies that make this evolving mainstream technology easy to understand and adopt. “Around the world there are tens of millions of trucks in circulation, and still more drivers who hit the roads to keep supermarkets, stores, factories, hospitals, schools […]
Businesses speak up about how they’re flying thanks to cloud computing Imagine if Frank Sinatra was an entrepreneur. If he was in business, besides being effortlessly cool, he’d be totally nuts about cloud computing. Why? Because he’s the man who once sung: “Come fly with me”. And not just that, he also sung in “I saw your face in a cloud”. Jokes apart though, there are many good things that could happen if you take […]
The biggest challenges facing companies moving to cloud lie in the implementation of cloud technology. A survey by KPMG of 650 senior executives in 16 countries found that over a third said they had found costs related to implementation were higher than expected, while 31 percent indicated that the process of integrating existing IT architecture with new cloud services was creating challenges.
After a long wait, Windows 8 is finally here. The new operating system from Microsoft, features a number of business-friendly features that would be compelling for enterprise users and administrators. According to industry estimates, nearly half of the Indian organisations use Windows XP platform today, and as the OS reaches end of life in a year-and-a-half, analysts believe it will result in a demand uptick for newer platforms such as Windows 7 and 8. Hence, […]
Organizations are widely migrating to the cloud to gain competitive advantages around speed, agility and flexibility according to Symantec Corp’s recent Avoiding the Hidden Costs of Cloud 2013 Survey. In fact, more than 90 percent of all organizations are at least discussing cloud, up from 75 percent a year ago. Other key survey findings showed enterprises and SMBs are experiencing escalating costs tied to rogue cloud use, complex backup and recovery, and inefficient cloud storage. […]
Cloud computing has nothing to do with the weather and the technology is creating IT jobs and millions of people are using the cloud. So says an infographic designed to clear up misconceptions around cloud computing. The infographic published by DeVry University begins with a brief definition of cloud computing and lays out what people believe when it comes to the cloud before separating fact from fiction. The infographic also illustrates how people are using […]
Infrastructure is expensive. So it’s no wonder that many businesses traditionally would often spend the bare minimum to get up and running without considering their long term needs. Fast forward to today, and virtualization infrastructure is not only cheap to set up, it doesn’t require any major specialized knowledge to get started. Even the smallest businesses (start-ups especially) generally have at least one or two servers that they use to host their services, but they’re […]
Jonathan Edwards, managing director of Harrogate-based YorkshireCloud.co.uk, a cloud computing service tailored for SMEs, gives his tips on harnessing the power of the cloud. 1. Cloud computing is 100 per cent reliant on an internet connection, so you should always have a plan of what to do when your main connection fails. A cost effective method for smaller companies is to buy a 3G capable router and pay around £10 per month for a broadband […]
In this video presentation you will learn how the consumerization of technology has made it possible to run an entire organization from a simple internet connection. It is no longer required to load applications locally, or to own anything other than simple workstations or netbooks to operate in most circumstances. The value of on-demand services is in the elimination of capital budgets, budget surprises, and cost unpredictability. Constant advancements in our technology world are leveraged […]
Forecasts from the global analyst firm Ovum reveal that OTT VoIP will cost the global telecoms industry $479bn in lost cumulative revenues by 2020, which represents 6.9% of cumulative total voice revenues. However, new research Future of Voice provides some reassurance to operators that are fearful of the demise of traditional telephony. It suggests that although revenues continue to fall, voice traffic is simply shifting rather than collapsing. Carefully targeted price increases are expected to […]