Earlier this month, we discussed the effect of NSA Leaker, Edward Snowden and the Prism Scandal on the future of cloud security. We asked (and answered) the question: What level of paranoia is justified in the wake of PRISM? But it seems the scandal just grows and grows. We now hear that the Feds put heat on Web firms for master cloud encryption keys. It is unclear whether US authorities have the legal clout to obtain the master encryption keys that Cloud Providers use to shield customer data. However, it is crystal clear that the government wants this right. As the ripple effect of the scandal continues, we find ourselves being asked by customers: how do we make sure our keys are protected so that we can make sure our data is protected?
Cloud Security is special because Cloud Economics are special: if anyone (whether a commercial interest or the government) can get mast
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Riverbed Appoints New CIO
Riverbed Technology has appointed Ginna Raahauge Senior Vice President and CIO. Raahauge will report to Ernie Maddock, chief financial officer at Riverbed, and her responsibilities will include the company’s Information Technology (IT) strategy, applications, infrastructure, security, and support.
«Ginna joins Riverbed with over twenty years of experience both optimizing and transforming IT for an industry giant as well as building IT from the ground up,» said Jerry M. Kennelly, chairman and chief executive officer at Riverbed. «She will be a key driver of new technologies and process at Riverbed, and we look forward to the many contributions Ginna will bring to our team.»
Prior to Riverbed, Raahauge was Vice President, IT at Cisco, where she was responsible for directing the Customer Value Chain Management Information Technology organization including order/booking, demand planning, global supply chain, quality, and revenue recognition. In this role, she was responsible for the entire technology platform for Cisco’s global order through invoice process and revenue recognition. She led a team of 200 plus full-time employees and 800 contractor/staff-augmented personnel.
Cloud Computing 2013: What’s Next for Enterprises and ISVs
Having made it past the 2013 midpoint, it’s time for technology-driven and/or technology-enabled organizations to evaluate plans and review outcomes so far, look at what has changed in the industry or business landscape; and realign for what the rest of the year has to offer.
Here are some checkpoint trends, observations and tips to help you review and adjust plans for rest of the year. These observations and suggestions are based on field work, intelligence gathered working with customers, partners, prospects and industry leaders.
Hybrid Contact Centers – The New Normal
The prevalence of social media and the power of mobile have quickly turned the business world into a customer-centric one. Sure, there have always been companies devoted to excellent customer service. However, today’s engaged consumer expects all businesses to master customer experience management in addition to their core business.
It’s clear that cutting-edge technology enables companies to more easily deliver on this expectation. The evolution from on-premise contact center architectures to cloud-based technologies as the key customer communications vehicle is a key driver of advances in customer engagement today.
Mobile Cloud Computing Services
Mobile cloud computing refers to the combination of mobile networks and cloud computing with an aim of benefiting the network operators, mobile users, and cloud providers. Usually it’s a technology that leverages the elastic resources of network technologies and varied clouds toward unrestricted mobility and functionality. This enables mobile devices to be used anywhere without worrying about their location. Usually, cloud computing involve situations where data and tasks are kept on the Ethernet instead of on individual devices. On the other hand, mobile cloud computing involves other servers and mobile devices that are accessed via the Internet.
New Standards for Operational Dependability
From risks around cybersecurity to supply chain concerns to fast-changing trends around cloud computing, the pace of change and pressures on businesses to adjust well have never been higher. To gain a fuller grip on such risk and complexity, The Open Group is shepherding a series of standards and initiatives to provide better tools for understanding and managing true operational dependability.
BriefingsDirect sat down with the President and CEO of The Open Group, Allen Brown, at the July conference to gather an update on the efforts. The interview was conducted by Dana Gardner, Principal Analyst at Interarbor Solutions.
Getting Smart: The Case for Cloud in Education
Remember textbooks: those heavy, constantly out-of-date, more than slightly frayed tomes of knowledge? They are increasingly becoming a thing of the past, along with the many other innovations thanks in large part to cloud computing.
Taking a step back, the concept of a “cloudy” tech has been part of the education industry for a number of years. Blackboard, for example, was ahead of its time by enabling students to access material and collaboration tools. But as the cloud has matured, so has its value proposition for educational business application.
For many schools, the initial application begins with the mission-critical applications being supported. However, where education is concerned, there are many application possibilities for cloud enablement, with whole businesses starting up to appeal to the wide range of “tech-in-classroom” needs.
Will Oligopoly Give Rise to a Fertile Ecosystem?
Oligopoly: A market form in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of sellers.[1] Its parallel in political science, oligarchy, translates to power effectively resting with a small number of people.[2]
A recent Forbes article entitled – “Cloud Computing Market May Become An Oligopoly of High-Volume Vendors”[3] – quotes Owen Rogers, senior analyst at 451 Research, who argues that with a few large players – namely, Amazon, Microsoft, Google, and IBM – offering similar types of services, the market may be in for a “Cloud Oligopoly.”
The interesting thing about markets is that they follow patterns quite similar to geopolitical movements. In politics, major movements are constantly afoot, avoiding the emergence or expansion of oligarchies. For instance, Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa have formed the BRICS[4] alliance, a coalition that is aimed to “balance” their world with the ultimate goal of each member not being such an extreme underdog. This alliance could be in direct response to the financial power of traditional western allies, which by many standards forms an oligarchy.
Business Transformation and Systems Integrators
With customer expecting information technology to be delivered with new models, systems integrators have to quickly transform themselves to meet these needs.
Over the past few months, I have interacted with several organizations that are evaluating changes to their business model to adapt to the cloud-enabled IT ecosystem. Management is in a quandary over maintaining their profitable lines of business while growing revenue in new and emerging areas. The problem they face is that some emerging business lines are only possible with completely revamped business models requiring significant change.
iland Offers Hybrid Cloud with VMware vCloud Connector Advanced Edition
“We’ve embraced every version of VMware vCloud Connector released by VMware,” commented Dante Orsini, iland’s SVP of Business Development as Iland announced it’s leveraging VMware vCloud Connector Advanced Edition. Customers will be able to securely connect their VMware environments to iland’s vCloud Powered public cloud and scale up or down according to business requirements.
The recently released vCloud Connector Advanced Edition includes Content Synchronization and Datacenter Extension – two additional features that offer significant improvements for customers leveraging iland to attain their hybrid cloud goals. Orsini observed, “We’re seeing significantly more interest from customers wanting to operate in an enterprise-grade hybrid cloud environment and it’s our job to ensure a smooth transition.”