For a rapidly growing network of companies with critical data, migrating to the cloud has moved from an idea to reality.

But while cloud services promise rich economic benefits, scalability and flexibility, they also can trigger significant perceived risks for companies that are highly concerned about security, data protection, reliability and availability.

Primarily, breaches of one’s data can  prove both devastating and costly, with any breaches sparking downtime that could lead to potential loss of business, credibility or integrity. Still, for increased security, you may actually want to consider the cloud. While this goes against conventional wisdom, there are reasons it makes sense…

One, partnering with a vendor with a network of dedicated data centers and one that follows a holistic approach to serving customers can alleviate security concerns. Why? Because of the single-minded obsessiveness that these vendors must bring to bear.

Indeed, a third-party data center with SSAE16 …

We know we want it, so Cloud must be a thing, right? If we’re carrying our enterprise IT shopping basket around, we know we want to stop at the Cloud shelf. Once there, we might select a nice fresh IaaS or perhaps some of this SaaS or that.

And whatever our selection, we’ll pay the bill at the register. Good thing we brought our shopping list, and with it, our budget for Cloud, right?

Such is what the Cloud marketing machines at the various vendors and service providers want you to believe. Need Cloud, budget for Cloud, pay for Cloud. Cloud is a thing, after all, and we all want that thing.

Not so fast. Cloud isn’t a thing at all. It’s in reality dozens of different things: compute, storage, network, database, development platform, business applications, and more. The value these offerings provide is similarly varied …

Amazon Web Services (AWS) leads the way in terms of developers using cloud compute and storage services, with AWS on an equal footing with Microsoft as the product of choice for devs’ relational database management system (RDBMS) services.

That’s the big takeaway from the latest developer survey by Forrester Research, which certainly sheds light on preferences between the big three providers in the infrastructure as a service (IaaS) market.

Regarding compute services, AWS has a clear advantage on the competition. 62% of respondents have implemented AWS, with 46% saying their usage will expand in the coming year. 39% of developers are using Microsoft Azure with 25% looking to expand, with 29% on the Google Cloud Platform.

With RDBMS, the battleground is more closely defined with Microsoft holding the slight edge – 48% of overall respondents (33% expanding) for Redmond compared with 45% (35% expanding) for Amazon.

AWS also has daylight …

One of the most difficult and damaging events that can occur for any business’ infrastructure is a breach. However, breaches occur when proper planning hasn’t gone into an infrastructure contingency plan.

There are several areas of consideration that need to be fully planned for before any IT strategy and data objectives can be balanced in the face of a potential breach: whether technical, HR, or compliance, have a response plan for each area is necessary before any problem ever arises.

In this post we will explore the technical considerations that go into breach planning. So where do you start in planning your cloud breach response?

Know where the data lives

Understanding what your data is, where it resides in your systems, and how the data flows is of the utmost importance when beginning your technical planning for breach protection. It’s surprising to considering that given the importance of …

In the week that Pope Francis decreed that atheists could still go to heaven if they followed their consciences, a new report has come to light showing how churches are taking up the cloud.

Four out of five large churches – comprising 1000 weekly attendees or more – are using cloud technology, with 55% of small churches currently in the cloud.

And the advantages are clear to see. Churches who are using the cloud to support online giving were almost two times more likely to see an upturn in donations. 72% of cloud-based large churches affirmed this, as opposed to just 41% of smaller churches.

Not surprisingly, the report also revealed a spike in engagement for churches in the cloud. Just over half (53%) of large cloudy churches stream their events, compared to just over 32% of those not utilising cloud.

The biggest growth however is in smartphone apps for engagement. Just …

It’s been a very good first half of the year for Java-based platform as a service (PaaS) provider CloudBees. The Belgium-based cloud company reported a revenue increase of 148% in the first two quarters of 2013, as well as a 135% increase in its customer base.

The news, which CEO Sacha Labourey describes as “definitely a great step for us”, could also be seen as more affirmation of the sharp rise in the PaaS market.

Almost every recent research paper you come across will mention it.

Market Monitor, a service of 451 Research, recently forecast that PaaS would be the fastest growing area of cloud computing, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 41% through 2016. Cloud overall would have a CAGR of 36%.

TechNavio, in May, put the CAGR at near 50%, with their beancounters expecting the global PaaS market to hit $6.45bn by 2016 and …

Cloud adoption is not a straight line proposition. It is increasingly the main push for many organizations looking to upgrade their IT strategy. A major reason for the shift includes the cloud’s obvious benefits; another reasoning stems from the fact that older IT models simply cannot deliver the speed and agility necessary to compete in today’s marketplace.

However, just because cloud is new and popular doesn’t mean it doesn’t require as much or more work than existing systems. With an emphasis on management or even relying on an outsourcing partner, many IT organizations can successfully implement cloud for their organization.

Yet, all businesses could run the risk of falling short of maximizing efficiencies within the cloud and running upadded costs that weren’t estimated for at the outset of a project.

So what are some hidden costs you need to know to look out for to …

69% of enterprises who have separate budgets for cloud computing are predicting spending increases this year and into 2014.

This is one of several key take-aways from a research study published today by TheInfoPro, a service of 451 Research.  TheInfoPro Wave 5 Cloud Computing Study is based on research completed in the first six months of 2013, and relies on live interviews with IT management and primary decision-makers in midsize and large enterprises in Europe and North America. You can view details of TheInfoPro Cloud Computing Overview Program and methodology here.

Additional key take-aways from the study include the following:

• The worldwide cloud computing market will grow at a 36% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2016, reaching a market size of $19.5B by 2016.

• 38% of enterprises surveyed break out cloud computing budgets, while 60% include cloud-related spending as part of their enterprise-wide IT budgets.  TheInfoPro asserts that …

Every business is different, and their infrastructure is sure to follow suit. However, just as there are standards within best practices for cloud, so too are there consistencies where cloud platforms are concerned.

When we say cloud platforms, however, we don’t mean open or closed clouds, like Rackspace versus AWS. Instead we are referring to public, private and hybrid clouds.

A recent Business Technology Roundtable blog post delved into an IDC study, finding that companies are increasingly leveraging hosted private clouds. IDC points to the hosted private cloud as the new backbone to the infrastructure services,

“…transforming existing provider models for IT outsourcing, hosting infrastructure services, and other key IT industries.”

But what accounts for private cloud’s ascendance? While public cloud will always have a larger audience private clouds get to the heart of what businesses need: dedicated infrastructure that supports the compliance requirements of data.

The truth …

We have all heard of cloud computing and we all know what it does. It’s undeniable, the cloud has revolutionised IT and will ultimately replace a significant portion of today’s IT services. Yes, it’s here to stay.

With such a saturated and competitive market, vendors are offering an array of cloud models and services, which are relatively easy to acquire. Whether it is public, private or hybrid, enterprises’ choices in the cloud are endless.

Nowadays, they can even choose to adopt a private or hosted cloud today and a public cloud model tomorrow. Gone are the days when different “clouds” couldn’t be combined. While this may provide enterprises with more flexibility and the freedom of choice, it can also hinder their governance, control and oversight of their IT infrastructure.

Take NASA for example. NASA recently released a report, auditing its progress of cloud adoption between June …