Although sometimes portrayed as a big computer in the sky, the reality of cloud computing is far more mundane. Clouds run on physical hardware, located in data centres, connected to one another and to their customers via high speed networks. All of that hardware must be powered and cooled, and all of those offices must be lit. Whilst many data centre operators continue to make welcome strides toward increasing the efficiency of their buildings, machines and processes, these advances remain a drop in the ocean next to the environmental implications of choices made about power source. With access to good information, might it be possible for users of the cloud to make choices that save themselves money, whilst at the same time saving (a bit of) the planet? Greenpeace has consistently drawn attention to the importance of energy choices in evaluating the environmental credentials of data centres, with 2011′s How Dirty Is Your Data? report continuing to polarise arguments after more than a year. The most efficient modern data centres deploy an impressive arsenal of tricks to save energy (and therefore money), and to burnish their green credentials. They use the most efficient modern processors, heat offices with waste server […]

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Egnyte, the leading provider of cloud and hybrid cloud file sharing solutions for businesses, today announced it has closed a $16 million round of Series C financing led by Google Ventures with additional support from existing investors, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers (KPCB) and Polaris. The funds will be used to expand sales and marketing efforts as well as further the development of hybrid cloud and next generation cloud technologies. As a part of today’s funding, Karim Faris, Partner at Google Ventures, will join the board of Egnyte.

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With Cloud Expo 2012 Silicon Valley (11th Cloud Expo) due to open in just four months ‘time at the Santa Clara Convention Center, CA, let’s introduce you in greater detail to the distinguished individuals in our incredible Speaker Faculty for the technical program at the conference…
We have technical and strategy sessions for you dealing with every nook and cranny of Cloud Computing, but what of those who are presenting? Who are they, where do they work, what else have they written and/or said about the Cloud that is transforming the world of Enterprise IT?

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The detractors of cloud computing benefits will state that the typical adoption is still limited at most enterprises — they’re deploying cloud services to a few early-adopters. That being said, some leading markets are confidently moving ahead with mainstream deployments, regardless of the caution. While others, such as western Europe, are apparently in transition.

The western European private cloud market will grow at a CAGR of 23.2 percent for the next five years to reach $7.9 billion in 2016, according to the latest market study by International Data Corporation (IDC).

IDC has been looking in-depth at the private cloud marketplace — from a hardware, software, services and networking points of view.

«The growth of private cloud is even more impressive in the context of the current economic situation,» said Mette Ahorlu, research director, IDC European Services.

According to IDC’s assessment, demand in the region is being driven by the need for cost savings and efficiency and with a longer perspective of creating increased flexibility, and is across the board — from hardware, to software, to management, networking and services.

Creating a private cloud has an impact on all aspects of IT infrastructure.

Key findings from the market study include:

• Most enterprises are still in early phases of cloud adoption, typically testing out cloud and perhaps rolling out one or a few cloud services to the full range of relevant users, but not deploying cloud on a really large scale.
• There is growing interest in pre-packaged private clouds, pre-configured with servers, storage, network and management that speed up implementation and reduce need for services.
• The cloud computing approach is to become a critical part of the IT strategy for the majority of EMEA organizations in the next two to three years.
• While security, compliance and data location are barriers to public cloud they become drivers for the adoption of the private cloud.
• Partnering between technology companies and service companies is important to help create transparency in a complex market where clients think there are too many moving parts.
• Hosted private cloud is not nearly as popular as clouds on customers’ premises, but hosted private cloud will grow even faster and revenue will exceed on-premises clouds by 2016.
• While the market is serviced by traditional IT providers and outsourcing companies, telecom service providers have also seen it as a great opportunity to expand their businesses.

IDC believes that managed cloud services is fundamentally a network-based offering. It’s becoming an established commodity, scales to a mass market customer base, and builds on the kind of support or billing relationships that telecom service providers are capable of offering.

More…

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The hottest IT trends of 2012 are shaping up to be Cloud, mobile and “big data”. The links between API management, Cloud and mobile are clear. The links between API management and big data – a concept that creates capabilities for capturing and analyzing previously unimaginable amounts of unstructured data – are less obvious but no less significant. I see two key areas of synergy…
First of all, in the three-tier architecture of the Web, the line was typically blurry between the presentation and logic tiers and concrete between logic and data. Big data now blurs the line between logic and data. Combine this with the fact that the mobile app development paradigm fragments the presentation platform and it is evident that the API will become the concrete and consistent border in application processing flows. In this context, API management will prove vital in enforcing security, collecting business metrics and normalizing protocols.

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Many analysts are observing that by the end of 2012 most organizations will be using at least ten types of cloud computing products and services either directly or indirectly. Email, mobile apps, collaboration, social networking, storage, converged video conferencing, business apps, commercial transactions, marketplace presence, to name a few of the range of cloud sourcing and delivery solutions available in public, private and hybrid cloud combinations as well as the hosting options. In short we are already in the multi-cloud world.
In his session at the 11th International Cloud Expo, Mark Skilton, Global Director, Strategy Office, Capgemini Infrastructure Services, will look at best practices strategy, design and engineering principles for successful cloud-enabled solutions and services from a variety of different business scenarios.

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Which cloud model is right for your business? What are the factors that should influence your decision?
In his session at the 11th International Cloud Expo, Josh Butikofer, Chief Solutions Architect at Adaptive Computing, will discuss how to evaluate public, private, and hybrid clouds along several dimensions.
He will use real-world case studies to show Cloud Expo delegates the pros and cons of each of these cloud models. Armed with this information, you can then decide what is best for your organization.
Josh Butikofer, Chief Solutions Architect at Adaptive Computing, is a seasoned speaker capturing both the technical and business audience with his humor and backs it up with his technical, industry and business expertise in developing high-profile, bleeding-edge customer solutions for over a decade.

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NIST released a new publication entitled Cloud Computing Synopsis & Recommendations (Special Publication 800-146) that describes in detail the current cloud computing environment, explains the economic opportunities and risks associated with cloud adoption, and openly addresses the security and data privacy challenges. NIST makes numerous recommendations for companies or agencies considering the move to the cloud (including delivering a strong case for uniform management practices in the data security and governance arenas).
The report highlights several reasons why cloud-based SaaS applications present heightened security risks. As a means to offset the threats, NIST’s recommendation on cloud encryption is clear-cut: organizations should require FIPS 140-2 compliant encryption to protect their sensitive data assets. This should apply to stored data as well as application data, and for Federal agencies, it’s a firm requirement, not simply a best practice or recommended guideline.

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The DoD recently released the department’s formal cloud computing strategy.

In the forward, DoD CIO Teresa Takai said that:

«The DoD Cloud Computing Strategy has been expanded to address use of commercial cloud services in the Department’s multi-provider enterprise cloud environment. Adoption and implementation of commercially provided cloud services are being rapidly accelerated with the maturing of the Federal Cloud Computing initiative, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRAMP), and release of the 2012 National Defense Authorization Act.»

Specific cloud computing transition steps include:

• Foster adoption of Cloud Computing
• Optimize Data Center Consolidation
• Establish the DoD Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure; and
• Deliver Cloud Services

A subsequent memo identified the Defense Information Systems Agency as the department cloud services broker.

A copy of the strategy is available for download at http://www.slideshare.net/kvjacksn/findod-cloud-computing-strategy

( Thank you. If you enjoyed this article, get free updates by email or RSS – © Copyright Kevin L. Jackson 2012)

Follow me at http://Twitter.com/Kevin_Jackson

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At the WPC, Microsoft has announced that it is now bringing a subset of Windows Azure features to Windows Server to enable hosters offer Cloud capabilities to their customers. With Cloud competing with hosting business, is there a scope for the traditional hosters to sustain their business? Businesses are now overwhelmed with the hosting options […]

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