As part of our presence at Cloud Expo in New York two weeks ago, we conducted a survey at our booth (in return from some quite popular storage hogs). More than 100 attendees participated and the results were rather enlightening.
Three Ways That Cloud Computing Benefits Business Process and Structure
Most small business owners understand cloud computing as a tool. A pay-as-you-go, web based tool. Not more, not less. And they’re pretty much right. Thing is, tools matter. They carry distinct advantages and disadvantages, which are sometimes subtle, long term, and structural. Cloud computing is no exception: besides the usual advantages, cloud based tools help […]
Public or private cloud, that is the question…or is it?
You realise the overarching benefits of the cloud, but you are a bit wary regarding the security of any data stored and transacted in these virtualised environments.
But the cost-saving benefits, user preference and resource delegation of the cloud are such that not integrating some processes, applications and data is counter-productive to your overall IT strategy.
So you decide that a private cloud is a more secure route that its public counterpart. But are you really any more secure?
The quick answer is no. But not for the reason you might think.
A private cloud is infrastructure operated solely for a single organisation. The only difference is that your data is segregated from any other organisation. And if that brings you any semblance of peace, then it’s a good investment.
It all depends on your business need. It offers greater control, but means you shoulder all the overhead, updating …
CloudTimes Named “Media Sponsor” of Cloud Expo Silicon Valley
SYS-CON Events announced today that CloudTimes has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 11th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 5–8, 2012, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
CloudTimes is a leading technology media property, dedicated to providing in-depth research and breaking news on Cloud Computing and related topics. Apart from its well-known news section, CloudTimes hosts the largest research database on the web, featuring free whitepapers, webinars and articles from leading IT companies.
Cloud Expo 2012 Silicon Valley, November 5–8, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading Cloud industry players in the world.
Google Copies Amazon
Google has copied Amazon and wheeled out an EC2 Infrastructure-as-a-Service imitator at the Google I/O developer conference in San Francisco Thursday proving the scuttlebutt on the money.
It’s called Compute Engine and Google will rent out the spare stripped-down servers (Linux virtual machines) in its data centers to run third-party apps, putting its skills and gargantuan scale up for sale.
It claims it’s “50% more power per dollar” than Amazon, which recently trimmed its prices.
Google already has the platform-as-a-service App Engine and the S3-like Google Cloud Storage but the money is in IaaS. It’s said Amazon Web Services may do $2 billion this year.
Tips on Evaluating Security in the Cloud
I’ve received a lot of questions lately about security in the Cloud and what CTOs should be considering when they are evaluating it. Here’s my advice, treat the Cloud like an extension of your corporate or production network, don’t treat it or hold it to a lower standard assuming that your cloud provider knows more than you.
If you have requirements that you can’t get in your Cloud solution make sure that not getting those requirements constitutes an acceptable risk or tradeoff. In evaluating a Cloud provider here are some critical questions to ask.
Mitigating the Data Management in the Cloud Conundrum
As more and more companies rely on data as the foundation for accurate strategic decision making and use it to underpin the development and evolution of their core products and service offerings, the value of data to most companies is understandably on the rise. Yet, despite an awareness that a deterioration in data quality will almost certainly result in a degradation of business processes, many organizations still do not put enough time and effort into ensuring that all data is as timely, accurate and consistent as possible.
The growing use of the cloud is now threatening to add further complexity to the management of data quality – and even fewer organizations are taking this into proper account. According to a recent report by Ventana Research, only 15 percent of organizations have completed a quality initiative for their cloud data, and that number drops to five percent for master data management. So, it comes as no surprise that less than a quarter of organizations trust their cloud data, while just under 50% trust data from on-premise applications.
Layershift Offers Free month of Managed Hosting with Plesk Panel 11
This guest post and promotion comes from Andrew Cranson, Director and founder of Layershift, a Managed Hosting provider and long-term Parallels Platinum Partner based in the United Kingdom with services in the UK, New York and Singapore.
We have been working exclusively with Parallels Plesk Panel for over 11 years now; initially providing shared hosting and now focusing on Managed VPS Hosting, Dedicated Servers and Complex Hosting catering to a wide range of customers around the world. Plesk helps our customers to get the best performance and flexibility from our hosting service. We’re seeing a huge sense of anticipation from customers and staff over the launch of Parallels Plesk Panel 11 as this adds further new powerful features to our portfolio which are in strong demand.
Each new Plesk release continues to add highly requested functionality directly from our customers – the engineering team do a great job constantly enhancing the product and rapidly fixing bugs with weekly updates to make sure it always delivers the best results for the user.
To celebrate the launch of Parallels Plesk Panel 11 we are pleased to announce a special offer across our range of Cloud VPS and Cloud VPS Extreme products! Until July 31st 2012 we are offering two months half price on all plans with 1GB RAM or more.
All our Managed Cloud Hosting services come as standard with:
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To take advantage of this promotion, simply enter the following coupon code in our store while signing up for a new UK, USA or Singapore hosting solution:
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I invite you to find out more about how Layershift with Plesk 11 compare to other providers and view Layershift reviews and customer testimonials at our website where you can chat with one of our friendly sales engineers.
Damien Ransome, Sales Director, Layershift Limited
Cloud Spectator Named “Media Sponsor” of Cloud Expo 2012 Silicon Valley
SYS-CON Events announced today that Cloud Spectator has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 11th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 5–8, 2012, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Cloud Spectator offers cloud computing education to an enterprise audience; constantly analyzing this dynamic industry to keep information up-to-date, as well as providing custom reports to cloud providers.Cloud Expo 2012 Silicon Valley, November 5–8, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading Cloud industry players in the world.
The ‘Curse of Knowledge’: An IT Consultant’s Tips to Avoid Stifling Innovation
Guest Post by Bob Deasy, CIO, Lead I.T. Consulting
Bob Deasy is CIO of Lead I.T. Consulting, which provides focused IT solutions and business strategy consulting in the Portland area.
The phrase “curse of knowledge” first appeared a 1989 paper titled “The Curse of Knowledge in Economic Settings: An Experimental Analysis,” which introduced the concept that “better informed agents are unable to ignore private information even when it is in their best interests to do so; more information is not always better.” While most of us assume that experts are the best people to turn to for new ideas, the truth is that experts are often less able to innovate than greenhorns. For instance, if your IT consultant thinks along the exact same lines as you, it’s difficult to find new ways of doing things.
Although this concept is counterintuitive at first, it makes sense upon consideration of the knowledge-building process. Every field has its own lingo and agreed-upon principles. These guidelines help organize and canonize information that would otherwise be difficult to remember. To gain entry into upper academic echelons and posh corner offices, a person must learn how to follow the appropriate industry rules. IT consultants, for instance, often have a set of IT management rules, such as the ITIL guidelines, practically engrained on their brains, so they may not see areas that are best served by alternative approaches.
The more you know, the harder it is to get out of the box of agreed-upon industry rules that you’ve built around yourself. The mind of an expert can easily settle into a certain pattern or rut, simply because “that’s the way we’ve always done it.” When entire technology consulting firms are operating from the same handbook, it’s difficult to achieve true innovation. Intel co-founder Andrew S. Grove put it this way: “When everybody knows that something is so, it means that nobody knows nothin’.” As we get to know a topic better, it is harder for us to see it in creative, new ways. Understanding the “rules” of knowledge limits our ability to bend or break them.
Sophisticated but ultimately useless software is one example of how the curse of knowledge thwarts IT innovation. Engineers, in their insulated community, can’t help but design software for other engineers. Too often, the product of their efforts is packaged well and marketed widely but ultimately impractical or downright useless for the average company.
Brothers Chip and Dan Heath explore how to evade the curse of knowledge in their book Made to Stick: Why Some Ideas Stick and Others Come Unstuck. Below, we explore a few of these suggestions through an IT management perspective. IT consultants and mangers can cultivate innovation by following these tips:
1. Build a team with a variety of skills.
Steve Jobs took this approach to heart when he created the Pixar building, which was designed to force accountants, animators and all other niche experts to interact in the building’s sole set of bathrooms. As Jobs said, “Technology alone is not enough – it’s technology married with liberal arts, married with the humanities, that yields us the results that make our hearts sing.” When an IT consultant, CFIO or other IT management guru is forced to work with complete novices, new ways of thinking naturally open up. Total beginners will likely have unique knowledge in other areas that can be applied to IT management in unique, groundbreaking ways.
2. Avoid jargon; seek teaching opportunities.
Explaining the basics can help experts think about their understanding in a new light, fostering innovation. In her book Innovation Killer, Cynthia Barton Rabe tells of a colleague at Eveready who came to the flashlight business with no preconceived notions of what did and did not work. At that time, all Eveready flashlights were red and utilitarian. Drawing from her years of experience in marketing and packaging at Ralston Purina, this flashlight newbie overhauled the Eveready line to include pink, green and baby blue torches – colors that would be more likely to attract female shoppers. Thus, the floundering flashlight business was revived.
Rabe concludes that such “zero gravity thinkers,” as she calls them, fuel innovation by asking very basic questions that force experts to step back into a beginner’s mindset. Because going back to the basics can seem like backtracking to those who are very familiar with specialized knowledge, it’s not unusual for frustration to run high when zero gravity thinkers are on the scene. However, if a team can work through this irritation, innovation soon follows.
3. Hire “Renaissance thinker” consultants.
Ms. Rabe concedes that outside parties, such as IT consultants, can serve as zero gravity thinkers, assuming they have a broad range of knowledge. If your IT consultant’s only employment has been through technology consulting firms, he or she will not be as likely to innovate. In contrast, an IT consultant who came to the field as a second career will be able to see wholly new approaches.
