The cloud computing industry rolls along at a staggering pace. So much so that one of the biggest issues currently affecting adoptees is the speed at which it expands. It may sound like a badly made ’90s sci-fi flick, but ‘Cloud Sprawl’ is causing many a headache for IT directors across the globe. And while the term may have been first coined over two years ago, it appears it’s only now that we’re coming to […]
cloud computing
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Before spacecraft are blasted off into space, the astronauts that travel in them, mission-control personnel, and other key staff undergo specialised education and training, launch procedures are verified and rehearsed, and policies are drawn up so that everyone is clear about their roles. Organisations wanting to move into the cloud computing space need to employ similar rigour. Although cloud service technology is easily available and is a potential business game-changer, it is best for enterprises […]
Combining mobile technology and cloud computing holds promise for the CAD/CAM community, writes Peter Thorne, managing director of Cambashi. Considering what mobile technologies have to offer the CAD/CAM community, the case for them appears to be fairly straightforward. Connected tablets, laptops and smartphones allow users to access CAD designs, engineering applications and data, as well as interact with the project team. These devices can be used in the field, where actions and decisions can be […]
Interphase Corp., a small Plano telecommunications company, is taking a gamble on breaking into a new market, selling cloud computing hardware to recession-beaten schools, governments and businesses. Interphase has launched a product portfolio of six desktop virtualization thin clients, small devices that do not store information but can create a desktop environment for users by relying on a remote host server. Companies are increasingly using cloud computing services to deliver their software from remote servers, […]
State sales tax systems created to generate revenue from face-to-face exchanges of tangible goods are struggling to keep up with the rapid shift of business transactions into the so-called cloud of the Internet. As more companies use cloud-based servers and software, which are remote networks of computing resources often shared by multiple customers, the 20th-century rules of taxation no longer apply. Instead, accountants, lawyers, state tax officials and companies such as Google Inc. (GOOG), Apple […]
As cloud computing continues to take the IT industry by storm, it’s getting harder and harder to tell the difference between a good cloud partner and a “me, too” provider. Reminiscent of the dot com days, companies are popping up everywhere claiming to be cloud computing experts. In this environment, it is more important than ever to do your homework and sort out good, reliable companies from those that just want to cash in on […]
While some concerns remain about data security and application uptime, there’s significant movement within the retail industry toward cloud-based solutions that can be delivered on an on-demand basis, and it’s easy to see why. Unlike many other technologies that retailers have had to adapt to meet their business needs, it’s as if cloud computing was designed specifically with the cost-conscious, data-deluged retail enterprise in mind. For retail CIOs seeking a quick ROI payback from any […]
Next month – all being well – the UK Cabinet Office will lift the lid on what form the UK public sector Cloud Computing strategy will take. Notably absent from the national ICT strategy announced back in April, Cloud has not been forgotten, but the grandiose plans for an over-arching G-Cloud that were being formulated under the New Labour administration have been scaled down. Exactly what form the revised Cloud thinking will take remains to […]
The world’s largest DNA-sequencing outfit is looking to the clouds. The BGI (formerly the Beijing Genomics Institute) this month announced plans to roll out its cloud computing capabilities, which it hopes will help it to dominate bioinformatics in the same way it does the world of sequencing. Research labs often lack the storage, computing power and technical know-how to cope with the current deluge of genomic data. Services such as the BGI’s offer a solution, […]
One of the topics most associated with cloud computing is its cost advantages, or lack thereof. One way the topic gets discussed is “capex vs. opex,” a simple formulation, but one fraught with meaning. At its simplest, capex vs. opex is how compute resource is paid for by the consumer of those resources. For example, if one uses Amazon Web Services, payment is made on a highly granular level for the use of the resources […]