Virtualization has “virtually” changed the IT world in which we all work and play. Why is virtualization so attractive to IT administrators? The answer is easy — there are many uses and benefits that we gain through virtualization. For starters, the thought of being able to have a single server’s physical footprint represent many servers on the network has been a boon to administrators looking to consolidate space and reduce operation costs. Having the ability […]
disaster recovery
It’s no secret that many organizations have begun to look at public and private clouds as alternatives to traditional IT infrastructure. In January 2012, Enterprise Strategy Group published their 2012 IT Spending Intentions Survey revealing that 28% of organizations surveyed were using cloud computing services as a way to control IT costs, up substantially from 13% in 2009. Cloud storage is one of the many ways that organizations are leveraging cloud services today. With public […]
There’s been so much talk about it. And it seems everyone is doing it. “The cloud” has become many businesses’ preferred method of information management and storage. Cloud computing simply means that information is hosted and stored on the Web. But there one’s industry that’s not quite so sure about it, or the security of it. While 71 percent of healthcare organizations are either using or looking at the implementation of cloud computing or storage […]
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 […]
Software as a service (SaaS) is the oldest and most mature of all the cloud computing options and its adoption is continuing apace – in some areas of the business at least. According to analyst firm Gartner, the global SaaS sector grew by 14.1 per cent last year to $8.5bn. This higher than average growth rate in an otherwise difficult market meant penetration levels rose to a total of 10 per cent across all enterprise […]
Some businesses are looking at the global reach of the Internet and cloud computing as a way to extend a new form of disaster assistance — one business offering service to a company in an affected area as a way to help it keep its processes running. In cloud operations, it is expected that multiple copies of a data set will be created and kept in synch. Three is the magic number for Cassandra, MongoDB, […]
While both large and small companies are investing aggressively in cloud backup and recovery solutions, in the next two years the greatest growth in cloud-based managed services will come from SMBs. Today 5 percent of SMBs surveyed employ backup-as-a-service, remote backup or online backup services from a managed service provider and 38 percent plan to employ them in two years – a growth rate of 660 percent. Market Driven by Multiple Needs Three factors contribute […]
Where does a 500-million-dollar, mid-sized company go to implement cloud computing? Where should they begin? How should a company phase its deployment in order to reduce risks? First, let’s focus on a global law firm. Most law firms have similar business applications, so a public cloud provider could address this niche for law firms around the globe. What should they outsource first? I’ll outline five deployment phases related to risk and information security. The five […]