With more smartphones being utilized everywhere, should we be redefining cloud computing? If not redefining it, at least recalibrating it to encompass and fit new edge technology that is becoming the device of choice.
Many organizations that are looking at implementing cloud computing should also be looking at BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) concepts that focus on smartphones and tablets.
Why? More people are using smartphones and tablets than PCs today. They don’t want to be burdened with “computing,” that sounds too technical. All they want to do is make a call and get things done.
Archivo mensual: enero 2013
If Physical World Shopping was like Online Shopping (Video)
The point of this Google vid is to convince shopping site owners they need Google Analytics to discover why shoppers give up, but it’s also, funny and true and it illuminates hassles we come to expect for the “convenience” of online shopping.
Is Your Cloud Truly ‘Cloud Nine’ or Just a Lot of Hot Air?
Massive data growth. An aging and inefficient data center infrastructure. A proliferation of new software and a host of costly legacy applications. These are the challenges that business and IT organizations face every day – and cloud computing is often touted as the “magic bullet” that can help businesses cuts costs, generate revenue and create new value. But if cloud is the path to business utopia, what’s stopping more organizations from making the move?
At Dell, we see the tremendous potential of the cloud – but we also know that it doesn’t mean anything if you can’t get there easily and with the least disruption to your organization. We start from one simple question: What is the business problem you’re trying to solve? From there, we help you create simple path to cloud that’s based on your strategy and goals – and that leverages your existing technology investments.
Data Security Concerns With Cloud Technology
Cloud computing in the 21st century promises to be what electricity was in the 20th century; cheap, plentiful and always available to compute resources to fulfill your every need. With any new technological advance however, there are always risks which could be exploited by those with malicious intent.
If you’re fortunate enough to have the resources within your organization to build and operate your internal private cloud, most of these risks would have been mitigated already as you still retain an element of control. Many other businesses are not in this position however, especially those in the small and medium sized sector, who are shredding documents to move to the cloud.
All of the security concerns we’ll be discussing below are not deal-breakers as such; the benefits of the cloud far outweigh any data security risks entailed in the transition to utility computing. As a decision maker, however, it is important to think about these issues before securely shredding everything and embarking on cloud migration, and finding out from prospective cloud providers how they will safeguard your data operations should be a key deciding factor on choosing your public cloud provider.
Data storage
Data should be securely encrypted when on your cloud provider’s servers, and also when in use and being processed by the cloud service. Forrester, a leading technology market research company, warns that few providers are currently able to guarantee data security and protection whilst it is being used within the application, and also what they do with the data after processing is complete.
Data transfer
Communications over the internet must be secured in any cloud transaction. On a browser, look for the “https” URL header when you connect to your cloud provider. In addition, always ensure traffic is authenticated and encrypted using industry standard protocols, developed specifically to secure internetworking, such as the Internet Security Protocol (IPSec).
Secure APIs
Also be aware of the software interfaces or application programming interfaces (APIs) that are employed in cloud services. The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), an industry trade group, recommends learning about how your cloud provider integrates security throughout its offering, spanning activities such as monitoring and alerting services, data authentication and access control techniques.
Access control and data separation
You no longer have any personnel controls over people that have access to your data stored on the cloud provider’s servers. Make sure you consider the sensitivity of such data first to make sure that it is appropriate for release into the cloud. Gartner, a leading technology research and advisory company, also suggests asking for profiles of people who manage your data and the level of access they have.
Dear Mr CIO, How Is 2013 Strategy Going So Far?
Dear Mr CIO, how is the year ahead planning program going so far? I know, sorry, it’s a tough one. The deployment and integration of devices, mobile connectivity points, virtual cloud-based desktop services, security, Big Data, tablets, mini-tablets and micro-mini-tablets (don’t worry, we made that last one up) all present a multiplicity of challenges.
The hyper-efficient CIO should look back on 2012 first and take stock of recent developments as the most prudent means of planning for 2013. Commonly agreed wisdom suggests that migration plans from XP to Windows 7 have now been put in place and (by and large) also been put into motion in most reasonably sized firms.
Skytap Offers Ready-to-Go Cloudera Hadoop
Skytap, the cloud platform that offers virtual lab automation as a service, now has pre-configured Cloudera Hadoop (CDH4) templates in its library that can be used to spin up and manage physical or virtual clusters of up to 50 Hadoop nodes.
With complexity removed, the company claims a 10-node system should take no more than 10 minutes to deploy. In Cloudera system one node is always dedicated to Cloudera Manager.
The templates eliminate the time required to manually download, install, configure and network all of the required software and hardware components together.
Making Sense of CES’s “Internet of Things” Trend
This year’s Consumer Electronics Show (CES) was all about connected living with concrete examples of how an “Internet of Things” can transform our homes.
Despite promises of a “smarter home” as far back as the 1933 World’s Fair, we’re finally seeing an inflection point in its evolution, thanks to cloud and mobile computing. Many of the demonstrations at CES illustrate that with cloud, we have a platform we didn’t have in the past – and it’s a breakthrough.
Cloud is the platform to host the applications and the mobile platform connects the devices. With a cloud, televisions, computers and mobile devices can better connect to smart meters, lights, appliances, plugs and sensors within the home as well as with outside services.
Dell Could Reportedly Go for $13.50-$14 a Share
Depending on who you listen to, Dell, once the world’s largest PC vendor
fallen on hard times, could have a deal to go private through a leveraged
management buy-out in place in the next six weeks (The Wall Street
Journal) or in the next week or two (CNBC).
On the other hand, Toni Sacconaghi, the ace Sanford Bernstein analyst,
thinks the whole exercise will come to naught because of the sheer size of
the ~$22 billion-$25 billion deal, one of the biggest LBOs of all time.
Besides the size of the deal, he says, “you have a pretty risky environment
in the sense that the PC marketplace is going through a lot of change right
now.”
The last word out of CNBC Tuesday was that Dell could be taken out for
$13.50-$14 a share, not the premium that most of the Street seems to be
anticipating. The Wall Street Journal waded in later agreeing.
Silver Lake Partners is apparently the key private equity house Dell has been
negotiating with for the last two or three months. The other name that has
come up is TPG Capital.
The two might team to buy $2 billion in equity in Dell. Sacconaghi think it
would take $4 billion.
There’s reportedly no formalized bidding group yet. A sovereign wealth or
pension fund could get involved. The Wall Street Journal says JP Morgan
Chase is managing “the deal process” apparently as an advisor.
According to CNBC the $15 billion debt financing is oversubscribed.
Reuters says at least four major banks have been lined up by Silver Lake:
Credit Suisse, Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays and the Royal Bank
of Canada.
Because of Michael Dell’s nearly 16% ownership position in the firm,
worth maybe $3.6 billion, he’s assumed to be in. Because of that conflict of
interest stockholders have no guarantee of getting the best price. He may be
kicking in additional financing perhaps from his multibillion-dollar personal
investment fund.
Is Cloud Storage Ready for Liftoff?
by Lorita Ba Every now and then, we at TwinStrata like to take a pulse of the industry. While we have conversations every day with prospective and current customers, partners and industry analysts, it’s good to pop up from those conversations to see what the
Symform Closes Strategic Investment
Symform, the distributed cloud backup and storage service, has topped up its
$11 million B round with the $3 million strategic investment it was waiting
for.
The money is coming from Second Century Ventures (SCV), the venture
capital fund of the National Association of Realtors (NAR), the largest trade
association in America.