This time last year I took the rather brazen step of optimistically suggesting that IT spend would recover from its annus horribilis in the new year. But even with a record number of costly tech disasters around data loss and security, lessons still are not being turned into budget realities. It is apparent to me that, for a great number of organisations, recession may have technically left the building but in the world of IT […]
Cloud computing is a transformative delivery model that is changing the way technology vendors, distributors, resellers, and consumers think about, approach, and implement IT systems. What exactly “the cloud” is remains a matter of debate, because there are more than two dozen definitions for cloud computing. Further, how the cloud is applied to the conventional IT channel is relatively uncharted and may ultimately prove difficult to pin down. Escaping the cloud is almost impossible. Cloud […]
Perhaps the most prominent trend this year in outsourced backup was the explosion in the number of managed service providers (MSPs) promoting cloud backup solutions or online backup services. Lauren Whitehouse, a senior analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group, recalled tracking approximately 250 MSPs two years ago. Today, cloud backup MSPs number in the thousands, from major vendors to regional providers, she noted. “There’s a lot more evangelism going on,” Whitehouse said. “People are demonstrating cost […]
One would think that for something with so much activity around it and so talked about that there would be a concrete definition of what cloud computing is. Instead, depending on who you ask, everyone seems to have their own definition of what cloud computing means. CA Technologies (NASDAQ: CA ) vice-president and country manager for Canada, Jimmy Fulton, summed it up best by saying “there hasn’t been a more ambiguous term in the IT […]
The industry reached a “virtual” tipping point in 2009 when, according to IDC, the number of newly installed virtual machines surpassed the number of newly installed physical servers. This inflection point is having a profound impact on how we manage, secure and provision IT resources. No doubt the network will look completely different in just a few years too, but here are five predictions for how virtualisation will change networking in 2011. 1. VLAN technology […]
Many companies may have e-mail, virus scanning or CRM running as a service over the internet, but most organizations are only just starting out when it comes to cloud computing, according to Microsoft. The software giant’s lists ways the nascent cloud market will change in the next few years. Cloud-centric hardware Servers, microprocessors and client devices will evolve as purpose-built systems to address the new paradigm of cloud computing. For example, diskless laptops that store […]
Cloud computing is coming of age in large enterprises, according to a new study of North American and European IT professionals conducted by Management Insight on behalf of CA Technologies. The group surveyed IT professionals in organizations with 1,000 to 10,000-plus employees, revealing that enterprises are active in the cloud, and their virtualization efforts are contributing to broader interest in cloud computing. The results also indicate a shift toward approaching IT using “cloud thinking,” accelerating […]
Technological advances enabling companies to significantly cut costs have led to strong global growth in start-up activity, an American venture capital pioneer told Reuters. “In 40 years in the business, I’ve never seen such a vibrant start-up environment,” Alan Patricof, founder and managing director of Greycroft, told Reuters on a visit to Israel. He added that, in spite of the global financial crisis of the last two years, “there’s a lot of money around and […]
It’s pretty commonly understood that corporate computing has gone through three principal phases: centralized computing first, then the PC Era, then the age of the network. We could easily fit Enterprise 2.0, cloud computing, and lots of other recent developments into the network phase, but I think we’d be missing something if we did so. It became clear to me as I watched the digital economy in 2010 that we had passed a tipping point […]
Cloud computing is all the rage. “It’s become the phrase du jour,” says Gartner senior analyst Ben Pring, echoing many of his peers. The problem is that (as with Web 2.0) everyone seems to have a different definition. As a metaphor for the Internet, “the cloud” is a familiar cliché, but when combined with “computing,” the meaning gets bigger and fuzzier. Some analysts and vendors define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of utility […]
CSC, the American technology firm announced the results of a study that reveals a willingness within the government and IT community to be flexible around security governance to benefit from cloud computing and shared services. Results show that users are open to sharing sensitive activities in the cloud, as long as the parties involved share similar characteristics and have the same cultural approach to security. The report, titled ‘Shared Services: A perfect storm of opportunity,’ […]
Gartner forecasts double-digit strong growth in revenue for the enterprise SAAS applications market in 2010 and 2011. Software-as-a-service worldwide revenues for enterprise applications will reach $10.7 billion in 2011, said Gartner on Dec. 14. The market generated worldwide revenues of $7.9 billion in 2009, and is forecast to reach $9.2 billion for 2010, according to the analyst firm. While growth was strong for 2010, with a 15.7 percent jump over 2009 revenues, “the market is […]
Contact centers that want to easily interoperate with other vendors, partners, and worksites must standardize with Session Initial Protocol (SIP) over their Voice-over-IP (VoIP) communications systems. Once an organization’s VoIP is SIP-enabled, they open themselves up to virtualizing multiple operations, increasing flexibility, reducing costs, and improving overall efficiency across an endless array of communications options. Here’s how organizations are improving customer service with SIP-enabled VoIP communications: Virtualize. An all IP-based solution doesn’t require PBX hardware […]
In its December 2009 cloud computing security guidance paper, the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) focused on adding clarity to what it described as a “complicated landscape, which is often filled with incomplete and oversimplified information.” Indeed, in talking to providers of cloud security services and products it would seem there is an unimaginable range of security concerns, each requiring its own unique solution from yet another solution provider. But beyond the concerns there appears to […]
The “cloud” is a convenient name for a new paradigm in computing that entails changes in policies and processes that can seem as amorphous and shifting as actual clouds. How can you ensure that your data is protected and secure while sitting in the cloud? Start by asking a few questions: Where is the data physically stored? How is it protected? Who can access it? How can you get it back? When the economic crisis […]
Cloud computing could be over hyped today, but more than half of large enterprises will rely on public clouds by 2015. According to Gartner, the industry analysts, cloud computing is currently still at the “peak of inflated expectations”, with users’ belief in the technology outstripping its ability to deliver. But within the next five years, half of the world’s 1000 largest enterprises will be using external cloud services for their “top 10 revenue generating processes,” […]
The tremendous growth of the cloud computing market, despite shortcomings in some areas, is a testament to the level of pent-up frustration that exists within organizations of all sizes across nearly every industry with legacy on-premise software and systems, and the tangible benefits today’s leading cloud vendors are quickly delivering to their early adopter customers. As the year winds to an end, it is incumbent on all industry pundits to make predictions about what they […]
Most companies now talk of adding cloud capabilities to their product and service offerings, and a number of companies, such as Google, now claim to be cloud-based. Such trend leads to network operators, as well as test equipment vendors, to decide if cloud computing presents them with any opportunities particularly in the enterprise and consumer areas. What is cloud computing anyway? According to Wikipedia, cloud computing is an Internet-based computing, where shared resources, software and […]
Even Bill Clinton is a fan of the cloud! From the New York Times: Back in the 1990s, when Bill Clinton was president, cell phones weighed five pounds and no one dreamed of using them to do anything besides make phone calls. Now, they’re used to connect us for more powerful causes — like raising a billion dollars for Haiti, President Clinton said at the Dreamforce 2010 conference in San Francisco Wednesday. And that’s largely […]
Small to medium businesses (SMBs) are increasingly turning to VoIP solutions as a way of saving money, according to research from IT analyst firm AMI-Partners. More than 30 percent of small businesses (SBs, 1 – 99 employees) and 50 percent of medium businesses (MBs, 100-999 employees) said that Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology would become critical to their business operations. SMB decision-makers said they see benefit from VoIP in improved staff productivity, streamlined dispersed […]
CIO Magiazine has four predictions for cloud computing in 2011 here: It’s been an incredibly interesting, exciting, and tumultuous year for cloud computing. But, as the saying goes, “you ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” Next year will be one in which the pedal hits the metal, resulting in enormous acceleration for cloud computing. One way to look at it is that next year will see the coming to fruition of a number of trends and initiatives […]
Cisco announced today the final installment of the Cisco® Connected World Report, an international study about the behavioral trends of workers in accessing information anywhere, with any device, and the ability of information technology (IT) professionals to address their needs. The latest results focus on data center, virtualization, and cloud computing trends, and evolving IT roles, in the context of increasingly mobile and distributed workforces. The study found that global IT professionals are creating new […]
Accenture has an in-depth report with advice on how banks should view and implement cloud computing services. Here is an excerpt on the process banks should follow to make the move. I think these steps apply to any business considering the move to the cloud: As they plan their migration to cloud computing, bank executives should consider the following actions. Ask hard questions and demand data-based analyses regarding cost savings. Don’t assume automatic and substantive […]
A short summary of the benefits of the cloud for organizations from here. A key point is to pick a professional and fully redundant supplier. meshIP has redundant systems, data centers and fully backs up your data each day. ‘Cloud computing’ sounds like a complicated idea, but if you use Flickr to store your photos, or Hotmail to keep in touch with friends and family, or stream music over Spotify, then you are, in effect, […]
Businesses are rapidly switching on to the benefits a hosted private branch exchange (PBX) – or switchboard – environment. That’s according to Graeme Victor, CEO of telecommunications solutions company Du Pont Telecom, who says several organizations have already adopted the new technology that aims to expand voice-over-Internet protocol (VOIP). Victor says with the growth and maturation of the data networks and the changes in the interconnect agreements, it is now possible to run a company’s […]
One of the key points of this article from here is, “A lot of agencies have lost their way and they are becoming IT departments instead of focusing on their mission”. Is this true of your business and IT? meshIP can get your business out of the IT business. The General Services Administration’s decision to hire Unisys to move its e-mail to the cloud in many ways is the proof of concept for the rest […]
Excellent article on the way forward in cloud computing from here. Probably the biggest inhibitor to adoption is the human factor. Cloud will displace skill sets within the IT organization and force a fusion of functions. We have seen this evolution happen with the adoption of virtualization, and IT organizations will continue to evolve with increased cloud adoption. Cloud computing will eventually just be considered a part of the IT department’s general plans for technological […]
Great article on the difference between manages services and cloud computing: I have posted previously that there is a lot of confusion and debate about terminology and definitions of cloud. The problem of using such a broad term like “cloud computing” is that there are so many variations with the possible deployment models and when you say “cloud” it means different things to different people. Using the phrase “we are going to the cloud” can […]
More cloud stats, this time from here: By 2011 Merrill Lynch says the cloud computing market will reach $160 billion. The number of physical servers in the World today: 50 million. By 2013, approximately 60 percent of server workloads will be virtualized By 2013 10 percent of the total number of physical servers sold will be virtualized with an average of 10 VM’s per physical server sold. At 10 VM’s per physical host that means […]
The New York Times has an interesting article about hybrid clouds: If you’re tackling your company’s computing needs, you’re going to have to get your head in the clouds. But which ones? You’ve likely heard of cloud computing – shared computing resources available over the “cloud,” or the Internet. But it turns out there’s more than one way to cloud. When most people talk about the cloud, they mean a public cloud — big server […]