With every passing day, more and more IT managers are taking the plunge and opting for the world of cloud. This comes as no surprise when you consider the benefits it brings: adopting cloud gives employees the freedom to work where they want, whilst still cutting costs for businesses.

But with any new technology as soon as the honeymoon period is over, the real work begins. Cloud traffic is growing at an alarming rate, but this the pressure is on the network operators carrying the cloud, not the enterprises using the cloud, to deliver.

More cloud computing means more data centres, especially as cloud providers look to distribute them globally to reduce latency for regional customers.

As we well know, data centres can’t just be set up and left to their own devices, a much more intricate cloud ecosystem to connect each of these datacentres together. The resulting large …

The Information Technology Acquisition Advisory Council (ITAAC) and Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA) are honored to team with NGA in hosting the first “Agile Sourcing Environment for Commercial Cloud” brainstorming session, April 23, 2014 at TIA headquarters. This not for profit and free industry event is designed to improve cloud computing standardization and interoperability.

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I believe the trends away from mainframes to the Cloud will have a large impact on enterprise mobility architecture. If we believe that going forward, enterprise mobility architectures will be closely tied to the Cloud, then we need to take a serious look at architectural design. I have written about MBaaS (Mobile Back End as a Service) which is a new form of Cloud offering, but today I want share my opinions on best practices.

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Transformation, or more specifically ‘technology transformation,’ has become something of a de facto accepted term within the technology industry today.
But how did the transformation to transformation happen?
Is it down to the vendors trying to champion their business and application transformation wares? Or is it really down to the real concerns and actions of users, practitioners and customers (call them what you like) who need to execute these types of procedures upon their installed base of IT?

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The investment comes from Nexus Venture Partners and Intel Capital, and joins previous investors Andreessen Horowitz and Sierra Ventures.
“The cloud has fundamentally improved how people access and use infrastructure. But developing cloud based applications is still a lengthy, expensive and broken process that is stuck in the dark ages, like way back in the days of bare metal,” said CEO and co-founder of ElasticBox, Ravi Srivatsav. “ElasticBox empowers the developer with preconfigured Boxes that they can mix and match to create applications – similar to the way a DJ blends beats and samples to create new music. It brings Dr. Dre-like creativity to enterprise application development.”

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The market is full of buzz about cloud computing, and with it come sweeping claims about simplicity and savings. Deciding to migrate some or all database management to a cloud hosting provider, however, is a more complex undertaking than conventional wisdom may suggest.
This white paper from Peak 10 addresses five primary questions posed by technology leaders as they assess their data management options. We address the true cost of a hosted data storage strategy; safety and security issues; access to peak period resources; data latency concerns; and the value of quality consultative and technical support.

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Understanding the future of Big Data is crucial in the early stages of decision making around Big Data architectures. In the enterprise, what stands out is the need to integrate Hadoop smoothly into your existing data warehouse architecture, while taking advantage of existing skills and investments.
In his General Session at 14th Cloud Expo, Marty Gubar, Director of Product Management at Oracle, will present a strategy for enabling integrated data management using both Hadoop and relational technologies. In particular, he’ll look at how SQL, long the standard for the data warehouse, is increasingly being used on Hadoop. The real prize, though, is Smart SQL processing, seamlessly integrating the data warehouse and Hadoop into a single, Big Data Management System.

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m thrilled to see that old friend Winston Damarillo, the man who, among other things, sold Gluecode to IBM in 2005, is Summit Chair of an exciting new event called OCEAN (Open Collaboration with East Asia New Champions), to be held May 23-25 in Cebu, Philippines.
The event is being launched by The New Champions of the World Economic Forum, a community that includes the Young Global Leaders, Global Shapers, Schwab Social Entrepreneurs, and Global Growth Companies in the Philippines. It is receiving support from the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI).
Cebu is not only the “second city” of the Philippines, but a major technology region and smaller, less crowded alternative to the vast reaches of Greater Manila, which counts more than 20 million people in its environs.
OCEAN attendees will discuss “where the Philippine economy is now, and what the future holds,” according to Winston. “More than 200 leaders from the government, business, academia, and arts and culture will share strategies and solutions for promoting social and economic progress.” The larger picture is continuing integration of the Philippines into ASEAN – the Association of Southeast Asian Nations – a regional, 10-country group that works for peaceful solutions and economic integration throughout Southeast Asia.
Winston also noted, in announcing the event, that “to further fuel the momentum, OCEAN aims to develop a framework for creating Innovation Zones that promote a new class of businesses.” The Philippines, as I’ve written previously, has a vibrant startup culture and several designated “New Wave Cities” that foster innovation. As a developing country, it faces challenges of underdeveloped infrastructure and poverty, of course.
But I lived there for three years, have family there, and will be returning soon, so am happy to see the continued enthusiasm of innovators in the Philippines working to improve the economy of their nation and lives of their people.
Details of the OCEAN event can be found at www.ocean14.asia

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TELEHOUSE has announced that Masaaki Nakanishi, President and Chief Executive Officer of TELEHOUSE America and KDDI America will retire as of April 1, 2014. Satoru Manabe will become the new President and CEO of TELEHOUSE America and KDDI America. In his new role as President and CEO, Mr. Manabe will oversee activities and strategies for TELEHOUSE America and KDDI America, as well as the companies’ US subsidiaries, Locus and Total Call.
Mr. Nakanishi first joined TELEHOUSE America and KDDI America in October of 2011, moving from his prior position as Vice President and Chief Executive Officer of Global Business for KDDI Corporation in Japan.

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Connectloud Inc. on Wednesday emerged from stealth with the launch of its first product, uCloud™.
uCloud™ enterprises with quickly scalable, secure, multi-tenant automation across clouds of any type, for clients from any segment, and across geographically dispersed data centers, all delivered as a service.
“uCloud™ was designed and built ground-up to tackle today’s toughest IT challenges,” said Zeeshan Naseh, CEO of Connectloud. “It is a new breed of intelligent software that delivers an all-in-one, self-service cloud orchestration solution together with a Layer2 and Layer3 capable encrypted virtual network to help businesses launch a private or public cloud in a fraction of the time and cost compared to other solutions.”

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