All posts by Erin M

Imperva Inc.’s New Senior Vice President of Cloud Services

Imperva Inc., a company dedicated to protecting critical data and applications throughout the cloud, has recently announced that Meg Bear will become the company’s Senior Vice President of Cloud Services. Bear is responsible for increasing the company’s range of cloud services on an international level. In general, Bear is very qualified for this position. She has over twenty years of experience in a multitude of aspects within the software business. She also holds eleven patents for innovations in data management, social business, recruitment and talent management. Bear is a pivotal figure in the transition to cloud based business models. Bear was previously the Group Vice President for Social Cloud at Oracle responsible for delivering an integrated global social suite and held many other leadership roles at Oracle, including Vice President of Human Capital Management (HCM) Development and Senior Director of Development for Oracle PeopleSoft.

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“Hiring Meg is one more example of our continued investment in our rapidly growing cloud business, and we are thrilled to bring her on board,” said Anthony Bettencourt. “With the 98% year-over-year increase in subscription revenue reported in our Q2 earnings, we are well positioned with Meg’s experience and leadership to maintain momentum and take advantage of mounting cloud opportunities, adoption rates, and technological innovations.”

“Customers today need more than traditional endpoint and network security solutions that clearly don’t go far enough, given recent high-profile data breaches,” said Bear. “The cloud is an engine of innovation for many companies, and that requires new views on security. I look forward to working with the world class Imperva cloud teams to address those challenges, all with the aim of helping customers protect their business critical data and apps.”

In addition to all previously mentioned qualifications, she also is an Advisory Board Member at Unitive and Brand Amper, and previously served as Advisory Board Member at Storyvite. She has held a plethora of advisory roles with many different organizations, such as Watermark.  Bear graduated with a Degree in Economics and Entrepreneurship from the University of Arizona. Clearly, Bear has a lot to offer to Imperva, the leading provider of cyber security solutions in a business setting.

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Internap and Akami Pair Up

Recently, Internap Corporation, which provides high performance Internet infrastructure services, and Akamai Technologies, Inc., the current global leader in Content Delivery Network services, have announced that they are teaming to provide their customers with Internap’s cloud, data center, and network services in conjunction with Akamai’s cloud security and data protection services. Underneath this alliance, Internap shall offer the Akami Cloud Security solutions to industries that require infrastructure availability, reliability, and scalability, such as the healthcare industry. The combination of these two companies will result in optimal performance for customers.

“Organizations that demand optimal web and application performance simply can’t afford the potentially business-impacting outages and downtime associated with DDoS attacks,” said Michael Ruffolo, Internap’s president and CEO. “We believe this alliance is a logical and powerful combination that uniquely addresses this problem for our joint customers. Akamai will be our sole DDoS mitigation provider, bringing market-leading security capabilities to Internap’s state-of-the-art data center facilities and to our expertise in delivering high-performance cloud, colocation and networking services.”

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Akamai works to protect websites and other internet based applications from threats such as data theft. The Akamai Cloud Security solutions, constructed on the Akamai Intelligent Platform, are designed to protect against the threat of web application attacks while still providing maximum performance. In addition, the capability of adapting to shifting tactics and attack vectors is offered.

“We view the combination of Internap’s high-performance Internet infrastructure services and Akamai’s cloud security solutions as a natural extension to what has been a very synergistic alliance between our two companies,” said Brad Rinklin, Chief Marketing Officer and SVP – Global Alliances, Akamai. “Faced with an ever-changing threat landscape, organizations require comprehensive security solutions that address many different protection scenarios. These include securing mission?critical Web properties and applications from attack, as well as protecting enterprise IP applications across a data center. With this expanded alliance, Internap and Akamai are providing joint customers with both high-performing cloud and security capabilities.”

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Salesforce’s New Cloud Services

Recently, Salesforce has hosted its 13th annual user conference, Dreamforce, in San Francisco. In congruence with the more than 160,000 individuals in attendance, there were also a series of special guests including musician Stevie Wonder, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella, and Lightning Man. Salesforce announced that in 2016, it will become the world’s fourth largest software company, behind only Microsoft, Oracle, and SAP.

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This news joins the announcement of the plethora of new cloud based services. Lightning Man, also known as Salesforce co-founder Parker Harris, announced the new Internet of Things, or IoT, Cloud that is powered by thunder. The IoT will connect events from devices on the IoT platform to Salesforce and Thunder will be the real time event processing engine that powers the platform. Through the IoT Cloud, businesses may use the point and click tools that are available to outline, alter, and set rules for events that may trigger a reaction throughout the Salesforce platform. Events may be triggered by things such as clickstreams, log entries, sensors, and other devices. Device support will be determined through customer feedback during the pilot tests, a method that is part of the idea of allowing third parties to construct appropriate support.  IoT Cloud will be piloted in the beginning of 2016. In addition, Microsoft was announced as the launch partner.

“IoT deployments only bring value when organizations are able to act on the information that their IoT networks generate,” said Gary Barnett, chief analyst at Ovum. “The ability to make sense of that data by connecting it with existing customer information will be a key factor in turning data into action.”

SalesforceIQ, the result of the attainment last year of RelateIQ, was also announced. The product is available in two different versions in order to best fit the needs of customers. The product is being offered for Small Business and for Sales Cloud. Each of these products is specialized for their different settings, but both monitor the user’s email, calendar, and other information in addition to recommending actions that catalyze the sales process. Relevant information is automatically sent to Salesforce. The SalesforceIQ for Sales Cloud consists of iOS, Android, and Chrome apps while Salesforce IQ for Small business is available now in a 14 day free trial.

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Intel Capital Investment

According to recent reports, Intel Capital, Intel Corporation’s global investment and M&A organization, has invested roughly $67 million throughout eight Chinese technology companies. These companies represent a number of industries, including robotics, Internet of Things (IoT), big data analytics and cloud technology.

The companies sharing the $67million dollar investment are Bluebank, Hampoo, Ninebot, Nuovo Film, PraFly, 99cloud Inc., and AWcloud Technology CO.Ltd, and Telink. 99cloud is based in Shanghai and provides OpenStack based solution as well as operational support. Some of these solutions include front-end optimization, core framework optimization, backend optimization and hyper-converged all-in-one solutions. AWcloud is based in Beijing and offers large scale OpenStack Cloud solutions for a multitude of industries such as oil, power, healthcare, and education. AWcloud has aided in he ransition from traditional IT services to contemporary cloud solutions through a hyper-converged “Cloud-in-a-Box” solution based on OpenStack and Intel technology. In addition, the company provides a private cloud that may be scaled out by adding more systems.

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There are many obstacles for international cloud companies, such as Microsoft and IBM, which make it difficult for them to enter the cloud sector in China. For example, such companies are required to pursue partnerships with local Chinese cloud companies. Because Chinese based companies benefit from the expanding market and methods that safeguard them from international competition, they are made to be an attractive investment.

“Intel has a well-established track record working with China on the development of its technology industry over the past 30 years, during which time the country has transformed itself into a leader of global technology innovation,” Intel China president Ian Yang said in a statement. “Our investments, new products and collaborations in China support the government’s national initiative to uplift its innovation economy and continue Intel’s long-term commitment to accelerating CTE development in China and driving global innovation and entrepreneurship.”s

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Telecoms New Opportunity

A study commissioned by cloud services marketplaces provider BCSG has implied that telecoms operators could benefit greatly from differentiating into cloud provisioning for both small and medium-sized enterprises; the size of such opportunity is quantified at about $22 billion for operators in the United Kingdom and the United States. The SME sector is generally underserved and therefore has much room for expansion under telecom.

While BT Global Services have already carved out a lucrative cloud business among enterprise customers, and many other telecoms also offer assistance in the areas of hosting and business applications for SMEs, the potential for telecoms operators to become the suppliers of cloud computing services to small businesses has generally not been taken advantage of, according to BCSG.

These comments originate from a study conducted by BCSG of SME’s in both the United Kingdom and the United States. During the study, it was discovered that there were high levels of confusion pertaining to cloud services and technologies that were appropriate for the businesses.  Just under half of those surveyed claimed they would be willing to purchase cloud services from their telecoms supplier, while only 40% said they were willing to buy software and other tools from operators to help grow their business.

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With only 31% of SMEs surveyed saying they had a cloud migration strategy in place, BCSG predicted that the firm intent from SMEs  could be worth upwards of $22 billion .

“Not only is the SME market a potential goldmine for operators looking to add greater value to customers through service diversification, they also present a captive and willing audience,” said BCSG commercial director Tom Platt. “It is vital that operators seize the initiative by helping their SME customers realize the value of cloud services and business applications.”

More than half claimed they would contemplate switching operators in two years, and 58% said that they would switch operators if a broader range of technology and services was offered. “Long tenure from SME customers does not imply loyalty – and operators can’t afford to be complacent. These results demonstrate the value of operators broadening their service offering to SMEs,” said Platt.

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Microsoft Purchases Adallom

While Microsoft did not specifically relay how much it had paid for the purchase of Israeli based Adallom, website TechCrunch has estimated that the purchase was around $250 million dollars. This purchase serves as Microsoft’s response to the trend of increased cloud based computing. While Microsoft originally sold packaged programs such as its Office software, the company has begun to shift to software offerings through cloud based applications.

Adallom helps customers “protect critical assets across cloud applications,” according toMicrosoft vice president Takeshi Numoto’s blog post. “With more frequent and advanced cybersecurity attacks continuing to make headlines, customer concerns around security remain top of mind. These concerns pose real challenges for IT, who are charged with protecting company data in this rapidly evolving mobile-first, cloud-first world.” Adallom works with cloud based applications such as Salesforce and Dropbox. The three-year-old startup’s technology will be used in other Microsoft offerings as well, such as its Enterprise Mobility Suite and Advanced Threat Analytics.

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The announcement of the acquisition was released the same day that Microsoft relayed its expanding partnership with Dell which will help diversify the amount of Windows 10 powered devices and services for a multitude of businesses. The center of this push is Microsoft Surface Pro tablets and accessories, which Dell will begin to sell in Canada and the United States through online shops, with more markets being added the next year.

“Our global enterprise customers have asked us to match the Surface Pro 3 and Windows 10 experience with enterprise-grade support and services -– and our partnerships like this one with Dell will do just that,” Microsoft chief Satya Nadella said in a release. Dell partnership has kicked off a “Surface Enterprise Initiative.” Microsoft has plans to release a new tablet for businesses.

This comes a day before an event hosted by Apple, which was anticipated to unveil a new tablet which could insert Apple into the market for Surface.

Microsoft is set to increase the business capabilities of its Windows 10 operating system.

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SalesForce Internet of Things

Salesforce has announced the development of the Salesforce Internet of Things Cloud. This was announced at its large customer conference, Dreamforce, in San Francisco. To accommodate this new IoT cloud, an all-new thunder platform was developed. This platform joins the ranks of Lightning, Salesforce 1, and Wave.

Salesforce has seen a connection between its customers and the data that is generated from various sources. As a result, the company wishes to help edify customers of the many functions of this increasing amount of information that is accumulating. Dylan Steele, senior director of product marketing for the App Cloud at Salesforce, has told tech website TechCrunch, “We are watching the increasing volume of data coming off of connected devices, and we are thinking about how we can help customers deal with those massive amounts of data.” However, salesforce wishes to utilize this tool to help companies further their customers understanding of this massive amount of data that is coming from a multitude of sources: apps, web data, etc.

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“When you look behind all of this, there is a customer generating all of this data,” he said. In theory, the more data you have about a customer, the more you can pinpoint their requirements and react to their needs. In practice, however processing all of this data is massively complex and many companies struggle with it today. Essentially, the latest Salesforce product provides what Salesforce has always done from its earliest days when it put CRM in the cloud. It’s doing the heavy lifting and saving customer from setting up and maintaining their own hardware, while giving them a set of tools to do the job in the cloud. Processing big data, however, is a bit more complex than dealing with customer and marketing data. Salesforce has its work cut out for it, but it believes it can help simplify a complex set of big data processing tasks related to the Internet of Things. You can buy this as a service, and you don’t have to worry about the different types of technology to manage the complex processes.”

In addition, the IoT cloud also brings a more industrial purpose; the IoT cloud will absorb more data from the Industrial IoT, which is being sent information sources such as factories, warehouses, and wind turbines.

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IBM and Finnair Deal

IBM has announced a five year agreement with Finland’s largest airline, Finnair, which will channel both IBM Cloud as well as Watson services that will provide certain services such as mobile on flight services to its users. This agreement will also change Finnair’s technology infrastructure into a contemporary hybrid cloud platform. Financial aspects of the agreement were not disclosed. Under terms of this agreement, IBM will serve as Finnair’s IT service integrator by providing support that can enable multiple technology vendors serving the airline in order to operate in a more consistent manner. IBM will oversee vendor performance, drive service-quality improvements and promote airline industry best practices.

Kari Saarikoski, CIO at Finnair, has said in a statement, “”For a network airline, operational excellence is a key success factor, and efficient IT services are a key enabler in this. IBM understands us, and has the airline industry expertise to help us achieve our goals. This services agreement and powerful new cloud infrastructure are at the heart of our plans to improve our operational efficiency and provide the foundation for new digital services to deliver a better experience to our customers.”
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In order to grow in a sophisticated and efficient manner, Finnair has turned to the cloud to both reduce IT complexity and gain more flexibility to support dynamic business changes. The company also aims to lower its costs by consolidating applications. IBM will establish the Finnair Cloud Platform to provide a foundation for the growth that the airline aspires to achieve. Digitalization is the core of Finnair’s growth strategy.

The Finnair Cloud Platform aims to integrate both a multitude of operational and commercial services in a hybrid cloud environment in order to support Finnair’s business aspirations. In addition, Finnair will also have access to the capabilities to improve employee productivity by enabling agents to quickly find responses to customer needs and intelligent, online self-help tools for employees to locate information.

Tuomo Haukkovaara, managing executive of IBM Finland, has said in a statement, “This partnership represents a significant opportunity for Finnair to restructure its IT capabilities and reduce the complexities associated with operating a large airline. IBM Cloud serves as the foundation for compelling new services for customers and will help Finnair accelerate revenue growth while lowering IT costs.”

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Censornets Newest Round of Funding

Censornet, a cloud security company, has recently announced a channel drive. It hopes to increase its partner base within the United Kingdom by upwards of 250 percent over the upcoming months. Censornet plans to work with distributor Blue Solutions to acquire 50 partners. Censornet has been an active participant in the email security sector since 2007 and was acquired by a group of experience industry member led by Ed Macnair.

The company has raised £2m in Series A funding to power the next phase of its growth, funding expansion of its channel teams and R&D. This round of funding comes in conjunction with growing risks of increased utilization of cloud application as mobile devices. Censornet has recently added three heads to both channel sales and management teams with plans of adding at least 5 more.

The round was led by London based Talis Capital; existing investors and management participated. Vasile Foca, Talis Capital founder, has plans to become an investor director on the Censornet . Ed Macnair has commented, “The entire CensorNet team are pleased to be working with Talis Capital and we welcome Vasile to the board. We are confident their experience in SaaS and cyber security will prove invaluable as we continue to grow an exciting business”

Vasile Foca, co-founder and director of Talis Capital, explained, “CensorNet has developed a market-leading product suite which caters to the needs of SMEs struggling to respond to ever more sophisticated cyber security threats.Their experienced team have a track record of building successful software businesses, so we are delighted to be working with them through the next stage of the company’s development.”

 

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CensorNet specializes in cloud application control and analysis, allowing IT departments to monitor and control information flowing to and from cloud applications like Salesforce and Dropbox. Because more companies are utilizing SaaS applications, confidential information is out free in the cloud, outside of an administrator’s control. Alex Kurz, director of sales engineering at CensorNet, has stated, “From our perspective, that’s the logical place we the cloud application controller should sit, because the web gateway already has all the data – it just needs to be analyzed.”

 

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BAE Systems rings Cloud Security Solutions to New Zealand and Australia

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence is going to bring its Cloud Security solutions to the area of New Zealand and Australia for the first time. It is introducing security products that will hopefully defend users against email based threats such as targeted and ‘Zero Day’ attacks. The solutions are supposedly very effective; they will reduce integration time and complexity while simultaneously offers an alternative to on premise cloud software and hardware.

BAE Systems Applied Intelligence director cyber security products a proclaimed that many nosiness are naïve when it comes to email based threats, as many cyber attacks begin with an email. Blount stated, “Whether this is a targeted spear-phishing campaign or a shotgun-approach distribution of ransomware, the likelihood of success is unfortunately very high in the absence of the necessary protection.”

 cloud security One of the first services being offered in the New Zealand and Australia region is its Email Protection Service, which provides extensive protection against some of the most advanced threats. “With 70 to 90 per cent of malware being unique to any single organization, the most difficult attacks to defend against are Zero Day attacks,” Blount said. ”These are attacks that are unknown or have not previously been seen and that, as a consequence, require advanced defense.” The main element of the Email Protection Service is the Zero Day Prevention, which analyzes emails within the cloud for malicious content before it may reach the recipient.

One of the largest risks to businesses is the accidental or intentional leak of data. Because many companies are quite unprepared for this type of issue, BAE systems provides Insider Threat Prevention service, which will make it considerably easier to find as well as investigate such issues.

Blount also added “Our Cloud-based cyber security solutions leverage BAE Systems’ expertise as a leader in risk analytics and cyber defense. With this launch, we are introducing A/NZ businesses to a new kind of protection against sophisticated cyber-attacks. Because the solutions are cloud-based, they are easy to buy, consume and manage with a short delivery time frame. And they have the inherent flexibility to scale up or down as required, so companies assess what they need and have a service which can grow with their organization,”

 

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