Category Archives: Cloud Services

Amazon AWS, Cloud computing, Cloud Services

Google Discloses Cloud Information

Recently, google has been talking more about companies that utilize its cloud business as well as revealing information about its computing resources, which may be the largest on the planet, beating Amazon Web Services. This information includes Google’s ultra-fast fiber network, its big data resources, and the computers and software it has built for itself.

 

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The aim of these disclosures is to present Google as more fit to handle the biggest computational exercises as opposed to a company such as Amazon Web Services. This follows earlier moves by Google Cloud Platform to show off its data analysis capabilities.

Details like the ability to pass information between Europe and the United States in less than 100 milliseconds, and a practice of fully backing up user data in nine different locations, make google seem innovative and cutting-edge.

At an event on Tuesday, Google Cloud Platform will announce HTC as a customer. The company has utilized Google’s services to construct computing architecture that enables smartphone apps to update data fast and reliably to many devices at once, and appear efficient even when the phones are in areas of poor reception.

On Wednesday, it is expected that a Google executive will present a look at the overall network design. This includes key tools that enable large-scale management of computing devices around the globe. As the  senior director of engineering at HTC, John Song, claims, “We are managing two million to three million smartphones in this network. Google is the only player in cloud that owns lots of fiber-optic cable worldwide, and it replicates its users’ data in nine different places at all times.”

While Song did consider other companies lime Amazon and Microsoft, Google’s technical dedication made them stand out. Google crunches large amounts of data and has already begun to branch out specialties in areas such as genomics.  Google Cloud Platform currently has 90 points of presence, where a company’s computers get direct access to the Internet and a local telecommunications service provider, throughout the world compared to Amazons 53.
 

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Amazon AWS, Cloud Services, Collaboration, Microsoft

Microsoft Partnering With Accelerators To Give Startups Free Cloud Computing Credits

Microsoft has begun to partner with startup accelerators to gift startups that qualify for their BizSpark Plus program free cloud computing on their Azure platform. Beginning July 1, these startups will receive $10,000 a month in credits for one year. They will be able to apply through accelerators or incubators such as Techstars, ERA, MassChallenge, Seedcamp, and 1871.

Startups can use these credits to help alleviate stress related to cloud services. This includes Microsoft’s App Service (a set of tools designed to power mobile, Web and other applications) as well as infrastructure services like virtual machines and high-level services like Azure Machine Learning.

 

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In addition to the Azure credits, startups get access to free software like Office and Visual Studio, which is supported by Microsoft Ventures, a division of the company that works with startups. Startups that qualify for the BizSpark Plus program can also receive up to $750 in Azure credits from BizSpark’s own system.

Getting growing companies to use their products drives Microsoft’s core business growth. Many other cloud service providers, such as Amazon Web Services, also offer similar programs. In order to qualify for this program, startups must be less than 5 years old, be privately owned and have less then $1 million in annual revenue.

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Cloud computing, Cloud Services, Cloud Technology

Jaguar Land Rover Applies Cloud Computing to Vehicle Technology

Jaguar Land Rover is currently developing technology that will utilize cloud computing to push data from vehicles to not only other connected vehicles but municipal authorities. This technology takes its MagneRide platform a step forward. In-vehicle sensors record the location and severity of road hazards such as pot holes or manhole covers.  This data is then pushed from the vehicle from which it was obtained onto a cloud computing platform where it is then available to other connected cars within the system as well as municipal authorities.

This information will help other connected drivers avoid the same hazards as well as giving local repair authorities vital information as to which areas of roads need priority maintenance.

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Mike Bell, global connected car director for Jaguar Land Rover, said these developments will “allow the vehicle to profile the road surface under the wheels and identify potholes, raised manholes and broken drain covers. By monitoring the motion of the vehicle and changes in the height of the suspension, the car is able to continuously adjust the vehicle’s suspension characteristics, giving passengers a more comfortable ride over uneven and damaged road surfaces.”

While communication with street authorities is still being designed,  MagneRide technology is currently available in both the Range Rover Evoque and Discovery Sport vehicles.

This technology exemplifies a practical application of cloud technology, which is often viewed on a large scale perspective without practical use being considered.   This technology will not only help drivers as they drive through more hazardous roads, but will help repair the roads as well.

Bell also noted that this technology could also be another step toward driver-less cars, which Google has seen great success with.

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Amazon AWS, Cloud computing, Cloud Services, Cloud Technology, hybrid cloud

Cisco Systems Inc. Announces Plans for Intercloud

A year ago, Cisco Systems Inc. announced its plans to invest one billion dollars in a cloud computing company to compete with six billion dollar Amazon Web Services. This plan was christened with the name Intercloud.

At the Cisco Live annual conference, the company revealed its plans to take the Intercloud a step forward. The Intercloud will not offer this cloud itself from its own data centers but will instead unify smaller cloud service providers onto a large platform of products that will be compatible with each other.  The Intercloud will prevent the smaller providers from losing customers to Amazon while allowing Cisco to continue to sell these providers hardware as they grow and develop. So, the aim of Intercloud is to enable these smaller providers and Cisco to unify and compete with Amazon.

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In addition, Cisco is opening the Intercloud marketplace, an app store that gives customers the tools, software, and technology they need to quickly and efficiently use their cloud. Cisco is partnering up with many tech companies like Hortonworks and Docker for this marketplace, which will 35 apps.

Cisco also announced the development of the Intercloud Fabric, which will allow customers to manage and control their data centers and Intercloud at the same time. The Inter cloud Fabric makes it easier for customers to manage what can be a very tough technology. Cloud service providers like Datalink, Peak 10, and Sungard Availability Services have already backed Cisco’s plan to develop the Intercloud Fabric.

Cisco insists that while Amazon Web Services may have a head start in the cloud computing market, cloud computing still has much room to grow, making it anyone’s game.

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Big Data, Cloud computing, Cloud Services, Cloud Technology

Big Data and Cloud Computing Service Set to Improve Healthcare

Suvro Ghosh, founder and CEO of Texas-based ClinZen LLC, has developed a cloud application based upon Big Data that will help facilitate healthcare access for those living in the densely populated Indian City of Kolkata. The new platform, named 24by7.Care also aims to connect those living in rural areas to those in the metropolis.

Ghosh has reported to the media, “Given Kolkata’s dense population and the plethora of problems regarding accessibility to healthcare at any given time, we need to build a framework based on latest technologies such as cloud computing and Big Data. The 24by7.Care platform is a database dependent one and we are currently building a data base.”

Big data is extremely large data sets that may be analyzed computationally to reveal patterns, trends, and associations, especially relating to human behavior and interactions. This platform consisting of both big data and cloud computing would be able to aid Kolkata’s healthcare system by serving  needs such as booking a doctor or admitting a patient to the hospital.

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This new healthcare system is initially set to take place in Kolkata and will be available on every computing platform.  Cloud computing allows computing facilities to be accessed from anywhere over the network on a multitude of devices ranging from smartphones to laptops and desktop computers.  This system increases accessibility pertaining to information about healthcare and will therefore improve the current system that is in place in Kolkata.

This new service is set to be implemented in three months.

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Cloud Services, Cloud Technology

GoPro’s Plan to Connect Their Cameras to the Cloud

GoPro Inc. has had immense success with their series of cameras that can survive in almost any condition. However, now they want to branch away from this and become a lifestyle company. The first thing on their to-do list is to utilize cloud services to make it easier for customers to share their content. Right now, all of the content is saved onto SD cards that require many steps before it can be shared.

GoPro is planning to create an iTunes like management system which would allow the content to be uploaded to the cloud while the camera is plugged in to charge. This eliminates the need to manually upload the content to be edited, users can edit and share the content right from the cloud. GoPro is also looking into a service that will cut and edit the content into highlight reels.

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By moving to the cloud, GoPro believes more cameras will be sold based on the ease of editing and sharing the content. At the moment, you can register your camera but there isn’t really any incentive to do so. With the cloud service, registering your camera comes with the benefits of the new system.

Since this idea is in the very early stages, there are not many details available. One thing that needs to be figured out soon is the security issue associated with running a cloud. Moving to a cloud means there will be very large amounts of data being obtained and stored, and securing that will be a challenge. GoPro has not stated who they will be partnering for this.

GoPro recently released wireless add-ons to allow their cameras to stream content directly to broadcasters. Future high-end GoPro cameras will likely include this ability while the rest of the product line will have Bluetooth and WiFi capabilities.

If the move to the cloud is smooth and comes with high security measures, GoPro could see great success and growth.

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Cloud Services, Cloud Technology, Saas

IBM: New Cloud Service For Designing Sophisticated Electronic Systems For Mobile And Wearable Technology

IBM announced their new cloud service called High Performance Services for Electronic Design Automation (EDA), which is the industry’s first Software-as-a-Service that provides users the tools to build out electronic systems used for mobile and wearable devices. These tools have been made available through a partnership with SiCAD, a Silicon Design Platform provider with expertise in EDA, design flows, networking, security, platform development, and cloud technologies.

 

The service opens up the door for anyone interested in designing the next big tech innovation. IBM says that anyone with the SoftLayer subscription can begin designing electronic technology in the cloud using patented technology that IBM’s own internal product designers use. This service is delivered on their SoftLayer infrastructure and is on a pay as you go model.

 

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The first phase of the launch will deliver three key tools: 1) IBM Library Characterization, to create abstract electrical and timing models required by chip design tools and methodologies; 2) IBM Logic Verification, to simulate electronic systems described using the VHDL and Verilog design languages; and 3) IBM Spice, an electronic circuit simulator used to check design integrity and predict circuit behavior, all on an IBM Platform LSF cluster built on the IBM SoftLayer cloud.

 

The cluster will use physical and network isolations for enhanced security and the cloud services ingle-tenant servers, which means that clients don’t share servers and firewalls to enhance security as well. These tested tools are expected to set new benchmarks in price-performance. This means that verification work will get done quicker and utilize fewer resources or produce better quality through more verification in the same amount of time.

 

Cloud computing provides the scalability requirements for EDA, along with making it affordable. Clients can scale up or down based on demand, manage peak demands, increase design productivity, reduce capital expenditure and increase operational efficiency using IBM High Performance Services. Another positive of using this cloud service is that clients will not need to purchase any new hardware or technology.

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Cloud computing, Cloud Services

Cisco Acquires Piston Cloud Computing

Cisco announced their intent to acquire Piston Cloud Computing, a four-year old company offering OpenStack cloud distribution. The acquisition is intended to help improve product, delivery and operational capabilities of its Intercloud services. Cisco has also recently acquired Metacloud, a private cloud provider, for the same purpose as the Piston Cloud Computing acquisition.

 

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Intercloud was launched in 2014 in an effort to create a connected cloud network. It is made up of the Intercloud Fabric (this allows workloads to be migrated among various public clouds) and the Application Centric Infrastructure software (automatically provisions resources depending on the workload). Intercloud is part of Cisco’s Data Center division that has seen rapid growth in recent years. In the 2014 Fiscal Year, divisional sales grew by 27% due to expansion in the company’s Unified Computing System products and cloud offerings.. This year they have grown by 25% so far.

 

Cisco currently has over 350 data centers around the world, as well as partnerships with companies such as Microsoft, Telestra, Johnson Controls, Wipro and Red Hat. These partnerships are to expand their infrastructure-as-a-service offerings and speed up their Internet of Everything concept. Intercloud uses Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure to improve application performance and security.

 

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Cisco has stated that they plan to spend $1 billion over the next two years expanding their cloud business. They also estimate that their Internet of Everything market to be worth $19 trillion in the next 10 years.

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Cloud Services, Cloud Technology

Coupa Closes $80 Million Financing Round

Coupa Software is the leading provider of cloud-based financial software, with over 500 customers in over 40 countries. Coupa provides a suite of true cloud applications for finance, including accounts payable, sourcing, procurement and expense management that allows customers to see a return on their investment within a few months as well as reduce their costs.

 

Coupa Software announced the closing of an $80 million investment round led by funds and accounts advised by T. Rowe Price Associates, Inc. and Iconiq Capital, with participation from Premji Invest as well as existing investors. Their total capital raises have now reached more than $165 million in aggregate.

 

Coupa plans to use the raised capital to further expand their global operations, grow sales, support and marketing worldwide, and increase product development to meet the evolving needs of global enterprises. One of their investors commented that they believe Coupa is delivering a disruptive force in the market with cloud innovations that are helping to redefine the value enterprise software delivers to businesses through creating business value for their customers and respective suppliers with an Open Business Network approach and Savings-as-a-Service offering.

 

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The market opportunity for cloud spend management solutions, and therefore Coupa as well, is continuing to scale. Coupa paved the way for cloud-based spend management solutions and remains a leading pure play cloud provider offering an Open Business Network free of fees. They have taken the wheel of consumerizing B2 commerce for companies and suppliers.

 

Coupa was created based on the vision of delivering real, measurable customer success. This includes saving customers money and boosting profitability, earnings per share, and stock price. The software makes all of these things tangible and measurable.

 

Other benefits from the use of Coupa’s software include: seeing results sooner than with other software, consumerized user experience that leads to greater adoption, increased real-time visibility and control of spend across a global enterprise and purchase orders and invoices processed in days instead of weeks or months

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Android, Cloud Services, Google

Google I/O Cloud News

At Google I/O (developer conference) this week, many big developments were announced, some relating to the cloud and some not. One of the most intriguing developments relating to cloud technology had to do with their new messaging system. The cloud messaging technology is already being used by apps to use push notifications to Google users’ Android devices and Chrome browsers, and it is also now compatible with iOS devices. This basically means you will be able to see the notifications on any devices that are connected.

 

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This service also has allowed developers to set up specific topics to either receive or not receive notifications about. Along with this, Chrome has a new system where websites can send push notifications to logged-in Google users.

 

Another cloud related development is the Cloud Test Lab in which developers can send in their app and Google will test it on the top 20 Android devices around the world. This will allow the developers to look for any defects or crashes that need to be fixed. Google says the service will help catch layout issues and allow developers to spot bugs with low-RAM devices.

 

Android phones already come with a photo tool installed, but Google Photos is a new way of editing, sharing and storing your photos on your mobile device. The app allows unlimited online storage of photos and videos, organization based on themes, dates or locations and people. There is also a new interface for sharing photos, making them into a video and editing them.

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