Store tactical military data on distributed servers, accessible through networked computers or mobile devices? Ask most officers about cloud computing and they’ll look at you patronizingly and say: Yes, Google Docs is nice, but it’s not secure enough for our secrets. (I write from experience.) But Darpa’s new budget shows that it wants the military all the way up into the cloud, and plans to set up mobile wireless hotspots so troops can reach the […]
Cloud
144 posts
Traditional telephony may be replaced by newer technology due to an increase in the use of voice over IP (VoIP) in businesses. Sales of VoIP phones are mainly to businesses, according to In-Stat. Norm Bogen, vice-president of digital entertainment research at the firm, says the technology allows telephone systems to be used for “more advanced communications.” However consumers IP phones have yet to reach the consumer market. Apart from technology roll-outs from service providers and […]
Like many disruptive, evolving technologies, cloud computing is going through a phase characterized by opposites: hype and exaggeration on one side, and fear and skepticism on the other. How do you determine what’s really going to work for your organization? Separating the myths from the facts of cloud computing is a good place to start. Let’s take a look at the top 10 cloud computing myths as we see them, and the realities behind those […]
Cloud computing (Infrastructure-as-a-Service) has already proved its value to some businesses and specific applications. It provides a way to deploy and access massive amounts of IT resources, on demand, in real time. It drives better utilization of data center resources, reducing capital expenditures and operating expenses. Most important, it provides the scalability and agility to adapt to changing business needs. However, challenges remain with the Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud computing deployment model. For enterprises that have […]
Search engine giant Google has gone into overdrive in promoting its Google Apps cloud based enterprise suite with adverts in various prominent magazines including The Economist. Google’s recent Google Apps ad in The Economist reflects the company’s determination to push its productivity suite ahead of Microsoft Office, The Register reports. The four page ad claims that every day 3000 businesses are shifting to Google’s platform with over 3 million businesses adopting Google Apps since its […]
The growing adoption of cloud computing, social media and mobile devices is putting security professionals under intense pressure. This is according to a study by industry analysts Frost & Sullivan. Based on the responses of 2,400 security professionals working in Europe, the study warns that skilled workers are being stretched too thinly across organisations. A significant number of respondents also reported that cloud, social and mobile technologies are being deployed without security in mind. “In […]
For years we’ve heard cloud computing vendors pushing the message that cloud computing will reduce IT expenditure. It’s not a surprising tactic, as vendors often aim their pitches at the area most important to organizations: expenditure. But, as Knowledge Center analyst Ben Kepes discusses here, by focusing only on the cost side of the equation, we miss so much of what cloud computing can truly offer. I recently wrote a paper looking at the economics […]
When it comes to enterprise computing environments, the skies are getting increasingly cloudy–and dealing with that will mean covering up with flexible, dynamic security. This was the message of Art Coviello, executive chairman of EMC’s RSA security division, during his keynote at the RSA Conference today, in San Francisco. Last year, he told the audience, his speech was about the promise of the cloud–the assertion that it’s possible to achieve security and do it better. […]
Key factors that organisations must consider before moving across to a cloud computing model. The hype surrounding cloud computing is expected to reach unprecedented levels over the next few years. According to recent research by analyst Gartner, CIOs view the cloud as their top technology priority for 2011 and it expects the number of organisations using on-demand computing to rise to 43% within four years. Despite being lured by the prospect of achieving significant cost […]
The benefits of cloud services are often cited. They’re low-cost. They’re scalable. They’re permanently state-of-the-art. However, at least with traditional IT outsourcing, the customer can negotiate a balanced, even a customer-friendly contract. Cloud customers usually have little option but to accept standard T&Cs. It is a utility model, where multiple users each buy a slice of the same pre-existing service. Providers tend to have the “take it or leave it” mentality of a gas or […]