New survey data reveal that some of the initial concerns about cloud and on-premises data and app integration, and unifying the user experience, continue to be significant challenges. Yet IT governance and the maturing of managing technology have led to a surprising agreement between the data center jockeys and their business customers. A Harvard Business Review Analytic Services poll in the fall of 2015, about cloud implementation experiences, yielded 341 respondents from around the world […]
security
Cloud storage is a solution that users are driving IT organizations to use whether we want to or not. Just ask a sales person what they use. They will tell you how great it is and how they use it. As IT organizations, we need to take notice and understand the impact to our process and the effect to the data stored outside of our organization. Here are five things commonly misunderstood about cloud storage: […]
As bank executives continue to debate, hesitate and worry over the security issues related to using applications that connect to the cloud, their employees are using cloud-based apps by the hundreds — often without banks’ knowledge. The average bank had 844 cloud services in use throughout its network in the third quarter of this year, according to an analysis conducted by Skyhigh Networks, far higher than bank IT departments estimated. “If you did a survey […]
NO DOUBT ABOUT IT – there is a sea change happening as individuals and companies slowly grasp the upside of cloud computing. But I still get challenged at conferences: “What about the security risk? I have to know that my bits are safe. How do I know these service providers are not going to mine my data and exploit all my information?” The short answer is that you don’t – no one does. But then […]
Security exists to protect the tangible things in life. If something is deemed special enough to be protected, we do so with highly visible declarations of security. Deadbolts on doors are large and comforting; alarm systems used to protect buildings are there for all to see; seatbelts in cars tell the world that we are taking our safety seriously. While protecting homes and possessions is simple human behaviour, there are important aspects of day-to-day life […]
Cloud computing has become mainstream in 2012 for providing IT facilities, but the public sector is slower to move into the cloud than private companies. Cisco commissioned independent research amongst IT decision makers, in enterprises with more than 1,000 employees across a broad range of vertical sectors including government. The results clearly show that cloud has moved from hype to reality, with cloud now seen as a mainstream element of IT strategy. Cloud computing, which […]
Small and medium businesses have a lot to gain through adopting cloud computing, a recent research from comScore – sponsored by Microsoft – shows. Not only would these companies benefit from important time and money savings when adopting the cloud, but they also see increased security levels, the aforementioned research shows. According to the survey, which was conducted among both cloud and non-cloud SMBs in the U.S., India, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Singapore, most businesses […]
Is desktop virtualization ready for prime time? The data illustrated in this infographic, based on data from the Citrix Global Security Index and Forrester Research, indicates that, indeed, desktop virtualization’s time may well have arrived.
It seems that every networking event this year, every tech magazine issue, and every vendor worth its salt is talking about “the cloud.” The cloud, in one of its many forms – public, private, or mixed – has become ubiquitous! I’ll confess: I started off my cloud gazing with little interest and several doubts, but I’ve learned a lot over the past year about the potential benefits of obtaining software, platform, and infrastructure as cloud […]
The farthest-reaching changes in the IT industry often occur when a single new development simultaneously responds to the needs of both consumers and business users. Perhaps the best-known example of this kind of wave was the original PC: office workers used PCs during the day for their business tasks and then used the machine when they got home to play games (and often vice versa). The Web was also adopted in equal measure by consumers […]
US Director of National Intelligence James Clapper said cloud computing will play a major role as the nation’s spy agencies work to integrate computer and information systems to share more data securely. Cloud computing has “huge potential for achieving savings and promoting integration,” Clapper told an audience last week at the Centre for Strategic and International Studies, a policy group in Washington. Cloud computing lets users run programmes and store data over the internet. Along […]
The term “cloud” has been turned into a marketing platform by many suppliers and this has obscured what it really is – a way to procure and deliver IT services. The cloud covers a wide spectrum of services and delivery models. The common security concerns are ensuring the confidentiality, integrity and availability of the services and data delivered through a cloud environment. Cloud computing makes people uneasy. The perceived lack of ownership and control has […]
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 […]
After a decade of enormous budget increases the American intelligence community’s budget will probably decline by billions of dollars, Director of National Intelligence Jim Clapper said here. Clapper told more than 3,000 people at the annual Geoint conference that the intelligence community’s budget had been handed in to the White House’s Office of Management and Budget. “We are all going to have to give at the office,” Clapper said. The bulk of the cuts will […]
Researchers from North Carolina State University and IBM have developed a new, experimental technique to better protect sensitive information in cloud computing – without significantly affecting the system’s overall performance. Under the cloud-computing paradigm, the computational power and storage of multiple computers is pooled, and can be shared by multiple users. Hypervisors are programs that create the virtual workspace that allows different operating systems to run in isolation from one another – even though each […]
Today’s Cloud Computing marketplace exhibits a surprising bifurcation. Public Cloud providers like Amazon.com are all the rage among small companies, startups, and individual developers. Enterprises, however, are largely investing in Private Clouds. Public Clouds are too risky, so the story goes, or perhaps enterprise decision makers are only willing to dip their toe in the Public Cloud water. We find this trend surprising, because in many ways the Public Cloud value proposition is stronger than […]
Nearly one in 10 organizations in the U.S. estimated they store more than $10 million worth of data in the cloud. Semiconductor manufacturer AMD announced the results of a global research study on adoption, attitudes and approaches to cloud computing, surveying IT decision makers in public and private sector organizations across the United States, Europe and Asia-Pacific. The findings revealed global and regional trends in cloud computing adoption and usage, highlighting the importance of both […]
Cloud computing will become the dominate architecture for IT, according to a Colt study. The survey of 500 CIOs across UK, France, Germany, Spain and Benelux highlights that, while few businesses in Europe have company-wide implementations of cloud computing to date (16%), many believe the cloud will be their most significant IT operating method by 2014 (60%). The biggest challenge adopting cloud computing is ease of transition (58%). Quality assurance (55%), cost justification (55%) and […]
Businesses that implement VoIP (voice over IP) telephony systems on their local or wide area networks must ensure that they have effective protection against the growing incidence of VoIP hacking. That’s according to Graeme Victor, CEO of telecommunications solutions company Du Pont Telecom who says a small Johannesburg company was left with a telephone bill of more than R100 000 recently after criminals hacked into its VoIP telephony system over a weekend. VoIP is steadily […]
Many small businesses are still uncertain about cloud computing and wonder if it can help boost profitability without being extremely risky. To figure it out, it’s best to start by defining cloud computing in small business terms. There are two commonly agreed upon types of cloud computing: 1) software-as-a-service and 2) infrastructure-as-a-service. Software-as-a-service (SaaS) refers to cloud computing where the software you would normally install on your office computers is instead delivered over the Internet. […]
In a troubled economy, cloud computing seems like a great cost saving alternative and it is. Whether in good times or bad, any pragmatic cost saving measure is a ‘good’ measure. Google, Microsoft, IBM and all other known and unknown cloud providers offer today’s CIO an array of major cost saving alternatives to the traditional data center and IT department. The temptation to put things on/in the cloud and sit back can be extremely compelling. […]
I don’t typically read the Army Times, but a few days ago I ended up there while searching for info on the U.S. federal government’s adoption of cloud computing. The page I landed on was all but astonishing. Army General Keith Alexander, commander of U.S. Cyber Command and director of the National Security Agency, was explaining why cloud computing is secure enough for the Department of Defense (DOD). Alexander was answering questions before a House […]
About 40 percent of Fortune 500 companies surveyed recently said they expect 15 percent or more of their applications to move to the cloud in the near future, Sarah Friar, managing director at Goldman Sachs, said Wednesday at ITSEF. That shift has even affected Goldman Sachs, “where we’re probably the most paranoid about letting go of these things,” she said. Cloud computing, mobile computing and social networking are reshaping the face of the information security […]
Researchers propose using hacker tactics to secure cloud computing systems. Handing sensitive data over to a cloud computing provider makes many companies skittish. But new software, called HomeAlone, could help them come to terms with using such services. Cloud computing can save companies money by providing inexpensive, flexible storage and processing resources that are managed for them. All the same, many companies remain hesitant to turn their data over to a third party. Cloud computing […]
In more than a decade of talking about cloud computing, I have found the principle of ownership has been a recurring theme. People feel comfortable owning their computing. They know where they stand. Since cloud computing means giving up ownership, it makes people uncomfortable, uncertain of their ground. But while there’s comfort in ownership, it’s not of itself a guarantee of security or certainty. People often talk of the risks of trusting computing that lies […]
IT professionals looking to place data in the Cloud should be aware of three major risks, including data leakage, the loss of visibility or control of the data, and unauthorised access to data, according to global services firm Ernst and Young. The firm’s senior manager, Pieter Danhieux, told attendees of IDC’s Cloud for Business Conference 2011 that while Cloud service providers are often talking about scalability, availability, cost reductions, efficiency and effectiveness, they had not […]
It’s hard to imagine, but roughly 10 years ago as VoIP was being rolled out corporate networkers were quite concerned about the security of VoIP. As we faced a move from voice going over a traditional (and, by the way, unencrypted) network, there was concern that VoIP would be much too easy to eavesdrop on – especially if it traversed the Internet. We’ll leave the question of whether “legal intercepts” as a political and civil […]
Cloud computing is a boon, but its vectors need to be kept on a short leash, says Mushegh Hakhinian, security architect at IntraLinks. The pace of business today requires that critical information be accessible anywhere, anytime, often among both internal and external parties. Hosted services are an important tool to enable this, but while the tools facilitate communication, they bring additional risk and challenges to the firms that use them. Technology is rapidly evolving to […]
Tablet computing use has been proliferating faster than rabbits in springtime. Tablets bring with them increased mobility and ease of use coupled with a more interactive and immersive experience. Whether you fancy the Apple iPad or one of its rivals, there’s likely a tablet in your future. Executives and other persuasive users are demanding that tablets be allowed access to their work resources. And these users don’t understand why IT departments see the trend as […]