The move to the cloud brings a number of new security challenges, but the application remains your last line of defense.
In his session at 15th Cloud Expo, Arthur Hicken, Evangelist at Parasoft, to discuss how developers are extremely well-poised to perform tasks critical for securing the application – provided that certain key obstacles are overcome.
Three in four CFOs and CIOs fear business will lag if they’re not clued up on cloud
Picture credit: Doug88888/Flickr
Research published today by Canopy and Vanson Bourne shows that three quarters of chief financial officers think their organisations are not ready for digital business transformation, with a similar number worried they’ll become uncompetitive by the end of 2015.
This translates as CFOs missing out, on average, €67m of revenue last year due to not having the right cloud solutions in place, according to the research, of 950 CIOs, CFOs and business decision makers in mid-market and enterprise firms in Europe.
Here’s what else the survey found:
- Two in five (41%) of respondents admitted frustration with onboarding customers due to the poor responsiveness of IT tools
- Improving customer service (67%) is most important to fast-track digital transformation, ahead of improving mobility (45%) and using digital channels for selling (42%)
- Two thirds (64%) admitted that a lack of cloud investment was “holding back vital digital projects”
The future should be rosy for financial execs, according to the research. CFOs estimated that if enhanced cloud capabilities were in place in their company, double digit growth could be achieved in 2015 – a €123m revenue boost on average. The vast majority (90%) of respondents said they needed to embrace cloud based applications and infrastructure to deliver digital transformation.
“One of the keys to unlocking digital transformation is cloud computing,” said Jacques Pommeraud, Canopy CEO, in a statement. “From the work we’re doing with clients, we’re seeing that it has the power to create revenue by making the customer journey effortless across any device, enables faster customer sign-ups so they’ll spend sooner and support real-time analytics to make more accurate targeting decisions.
“The most innovative clients use the power of cloud and large scale analytics to generate new sources of revenue, for example in manufacturing for the area of preventative maintenance,” he added.
These results are particularly interesting, given Salesforce announced Wave, its new analytics cloud, at Dreamforce earlier this week. Meanwhile, research from the NCC Group found that three quarters (72%) of CIOs at financial services firms feared the cloud because of data concerns.
You can read more on the Canopy results here.
IBM and SAP team up to run HANA Enterprise Cloud in major deal
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SAP and IBM have announced a major partnership with SAP HANA Enterprise Cloud being delivered through IBM’s cloud.
The two firms, who have had a fruitful partner relationship for over 40 years, gives users the choice to run SAP’s HANA in-memory database across either SoftLayer, the IaaS firm acquired by IBM last year, or IBM’s cloud managed services.
Doug Clark, UK & I cloud leader at IBM, notes the previous collaborations the two companies have, with IBM already hosting SAP architecture for a lot of its clients. “To term SAP in ISVs is probably doing them a huge disservice,” Clark tells CloudTech.
“We are trusted by a lot of clients who live or die by that SAP system being up and running,” he adds. “And I think [it’s] what this is a really nice reflection of. You get to steady state when you’re working with a partner like SAP, and I think what’s really nice about this is [it’s] both of us moving to a new place.”
Even though the two companies have partnered up in the past and are happy to do so again, they’ve both got their separate agendas in enterprise cloud. IBM chief exec Ginni Rometty is driven to become the leader in enterprise cloud, and SAP famously went on record for its ambitions to become “THE cloud company.”
“We do a lot of great stuff together, we do stuff in parallel without bumping into each other, we’ve got our own strategies, but this actually is another convergence point on those strategies,” says Clark.
The two companies aim to bring different elements to the table; SAP will bring “the power of real-time”, as the press material puts it, while IBM brings the open architecture of IBM Cloud Managed Services and SoftLayer. HANA running off IBM will also enable organisations to integrate existing technology investments with new workloads.
For Clark, who has spoken at length in the past about the merging of cloud, mobile and social, as well as the interesting plays IBM is making with Watson, it’s about “balancing the two sides of the scales.”
“This is us maintaining a phenomenal future position with SAP, as well as working in the new exciting space with mobile, and social, and all of that analytics piece, and being able to grab the really strong benefits of both,” he says.
“This is SAP’s biggest news sitting on one of IBM’s biggest investments.”
EMC snaps up Cloudscaling, looks to expand in OpenStack markets
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Tech giant EMC has bought open cloud provider Cloudscaling, according to reports, bolstering the firm’s push towards OpenStack.
The reports, which first surfaced in Bloomberg, gave little information regarding further details, but suggested that the deal was worth less than $50m.
Cloudscaling delivers on-premise elastic cloud solutions and is a key provider of OpenStack-powered IaaS for private and hybrid cloud, through its OS, Open Cloud System. EMC’s acquisition evidently plays into that space, yet there are other factors at play.
Here are both sides of the coin as to why EMC has moved in for Cloudscaling:
EMC needs to keep itself cloud-relevant as a legacy vendor
It’s a trend which is impossible to miss. Long standing technology vendors are reinventing themselves as agile and innovative. A lot of that is by moving operations to the cloud. Take the IBM and SAP partnership announced yesterday. These are two companies that have been partnering decades before cloud computing as we know it today existed.
For other companies, OpenStack is another route in trying to maintain relevance. Scott Kupor, in an Andressen Horowitz blog post, summed it up best: the established firms, once beneficiaries of free-flowing venture capital, are rapidly becoming victims of the cloud push. He cited SAP specifically as a company which was doing it right.
“SAP is not standing idly by,” he wrote. “Why? Because the financial consequences of being on the wrong side of technology platform shifts can be monumental.”
It’s a difficult process, hence why a lot of players are getting in early. Legacy firms can rely on fat government contracts, and other major clients who aren’t going to about turn any time soon, but that money will dry up eventually. With a push towards open source computing and trying to avoid vendor lock-in at all costs, there are OpenStack businesses available – and that’s the route EMC appears to have gone down.
EMC needs to beef up its non-VMware operation
As has been de rigeur of late, larger tech firms are spinning off into two. HP did it, as has Symantec, while eBay is separating PayPal from its other business.
EMC owns VMware, which it had bought back in 2003. Earlier this week hedge-fund manager Elliott Management said it had sent a letter to the board of EMC advising them to cast off its VMware unit.
Nothing concrete has come back from the company saying whether this will happen, yet as Ron Miller noted in TechCrunch: “If EMC joined the parade of companies breaking in two, and it spun off VMware, it would be left a modest sized company.”
But what’s next? As reported earlier this week, long standing merger rumours between EMC and HP have ground to a halt. Yet now HP has siloed its cloud and enterprise operation into a separate service, could the two firms come together if EMC spins off VMware?
What do you make of this move? How would you define their strategy? We’d love to hear your comments.
Success in the tech world: different approaches
The tech industry is exciting, dynamic and competitive, and forging a good career in tech is the goal of almost all computing and engineering graduates. Success in the tech world is a real challenge, but with some good advice and planning, it is possible to make an impact.
There are various approaches that can be adopted to succeed in the tech world. However, what is most important is that IT professionals and engineers specialize early on to become experts in their chosen field.
Be flexible
The most important factor in the tech world is flexibility. Technology is constantly advancing, and everything that a student learns in their first year or two of college will probably be considered out of date by the time they graduate. An education, whether it is engineering or computer science, should always be considered a foundation to a career; it will rarely teach the specific skills that are needed in an individual’s first job.
Individuals who want to succeed need to be willing to change their tactics and strategies according to the ever-changing industry. For example, the latest development is the growing reliance on cloud-based business support systems.
Adopt the cloud approach
There is a growing trend in businesses moving their operations to the cloud. The cloud provides businesses with many advantages such as data storage and disaster recovery. More recently, cloud-based enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions have been developed that seamlessly connect each business area and gather data to produce real-time management reports.
ERP was developed to help manufacturing businesses make production more efficient by analyzing the passage of resources from supply of raw materials through to the end product. It was used to highlight bottlenecks in production and identify where human resources were working sub-optimally.
ERP systems help all businesses, including technology businesses, to optimize workflows and become more efficient and more competitive. Today, ERP manages purchasing, sales, client services, finance and accounts, human resources, marketing and production.
By developing a system that can analyze the entire process, it is possible for managers to better identify problems before they cause a financial loss and to spot changes in customer demand. When implemented well, this can make a company very competitive.
Specialize
This may appear to be in contrast to the advice to be flexible, but in the tech industry specialization is vital for anybody, or any business, that wants to do well. To be noticed in the crowd it is important to be able to offer something that is unique.
A good case study of how specializing helps a tech company develop trust and respect in the tech market can be seen in Transducer Techniques. They construct load cells that are used in engineering to accurately measure weight and force. Precision engineering companies are able to out-compete much larger companies that are focusing on the mass consumer market.
To succeed in the tech world both individuals and businesses need to ensure that their skills are developed on a solid foundation and that they specialize in a niche area that is in high demand. Being flexible is important early on in the career path because new technologies can provide exciting opportunities; however, ultimately, specialism is the key to success.
How can technology help when working abroad?
Those who have chosen to spend time living and working abroad are actually very lucky these days. The rapid development of modern communications technologies means that it is so much easier to keep in touch with people, no matter where you are, than it used to be even ten years ago. When somebody moves abroad, the ability to keep in touch is essential for both the worker and those remaining at home.
How has technology changed?
Before the onset of smartphones, laptops and the Internet, the only real way of keeping in touch with family and friends while working abroad was the telephone and letters. This usually meant that contact was infrequent, and most people would go for weeks without hearing from loved ones.
The Internet has changed a great deal for those who are away from home. Email has made it so much easier to drop somebody a line and has become a popular way to communicate not only with family and friends but also with work colleagues – even those in the same building! This has been followed rapidly with additional technologies such as smartphones and Apps that mean workers do not have to be at their desk to keep in touch. Financial technologies developed by organizations such as Trans-Fast Remittance LLC mean that money can be transferred from one country to another in seconds – important for those who work abroad and want to send money home.
Cloud computing
Cloud technologies are becoming increasingly popular for businesses and private use. Cloud services mean that the location of the worker is far less of a factor than it used to be. Technology such as Skype means that people can keep in touch easily. Skype video chats are great for keeping in touch with family but are also ideal for the workplace. Meetings can be held via Skype and similar Apps. It is free to download and ensures easy communication.
Google Apps and Google Docs are a type of cloud computing. A worker can create a document using this software and it is held on Google’s cloud service. Another worker can easily access it from their own office, even if they are thousands of miles away. FaceTime is another option for communication while abroad. A way of making video calls, it has become very popular with younger people for keeping in touch while they are traveling.
Google and Apple are just two developers that have embraced the concept of cloud computing and are applying it to their new products all the time, continuously developing each one further. The development of cloud services and new ways to keep in touch is only going to continue as competition grows in this sector. Those who work abroad will see it become even easier to communicate in the years to come.
Communications technologies such as cloud computing have developed very rapidly, and their continual evolvement means that consumers should expect to see the Apps that they already know very well develop even further as well as the introduction of new software.
What skills do you need to succeed in IT contracting?
Making the move into IT contracting is a big step. Whether it is a making an initial move into the field either as a recent graduate, a career change or as the result of a move from permanent to self-employment drawn by the promise of greater financial reward and enhanced flexibility, there are a number of important issues that must be taken into consideration. Perhaps most importantly is ensuring that one has the skills required to be successful and continue to win new work in this increasingly competitive field.
Essential skills
In the current market, it is essential for any IT contractor to be able to demonstrate Cloud skills. These are some of the skills IT contractors will be expected to have.
- Technical skills – at the very core of any IT contractor’s skill-set should be a fundamental understanding of Cloud technology
- Project management – technical knowledge alone is not enough; contractors must be aware of how it can be applied in a practical way in order to help an organization streamline its IT resources.
- Data analysis – data is invariably one of the biggest assets of any organization and IT professionals must be able to provide advice on how that data can be most effectively managed through the application of Cloud technology.
Ongoing professional development
Continuing personal and professional development is essential in this field, perhaps more so than any other. IT is based on technology and the pace at which it is developing is truly dramatic. It is crucial therefore for IT professionals who wish to present themselves in the most impressive way to ensure they can talk with credibility about and demonstrate a sound knowledge of the latest innovations.
A dedication to, and passion for, ongoing training and education should therefore be a priority for anyone in this field. IT professionals should be aware of the most relevant qualifications according to their specialism and be able to demonstrate a dedication to achieving them. Professional institutions and trade bodies are among the best places to start researching this area, while enlisting specialist support with regard to IT contractor services can help free up the time required to undertake such training.
Typical roles
Some of the most common IT contracting roles are project based and involve being employed by organizations for set periods of time in order to help manage the implementation of new IT technology or the evolution of existing systems. IT contractors require the ability to quickly grasp a client’s values and priorities, as well as technical expertise.
Such roles have a number of key advantages. The most common being the potential for more competitive financial rewards and the flexibility to manage one’s time and devote attention to the projects of greatest interest. The opportunity to enjoy these benefits is within the reach of most people and IT professionals in particular whose skills lend themselves so well to working in this way.
With all this in mind, applying time and effort to ensuring the necessary skills are gained and continually honed is absolutely essential to ensuring success as an IT contractor.
Cloud computing for improved business efficiency
A continued drive for optimum efficiency should be at the very heart of the business strategy of any organization wishing to stay relevant, profitable and competitive in their chosen field. Only by ensuring that operations are being carried out in the most effective and efficient way possible, with regard to all factors of the company, such as staff time and overhead investments, can it be sure it is achieving the best possible outcomes and therefore laying the foundations for ongoing success and continued growth.
In recent years, through the rapid development of technology and the opportunities it provides businesses, IT has been at the heart of identifying such efficiencies and the most forward thinking companies in all fields are now looking towards cloud based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software to help them achieve exactly that and thereby guarantee ongoing and future success.
The advantages
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) is the term used to describe complex database systems introduced within organizations that enable employees, at all corporate levels, to access in a secure and appropriate way, real-time data. The advantages of doing so are all about efficiency, as access provides significantly greater scope for collaboration and streamlining. Everyone within the business is given a new kind of visibility of the relevant data and is therefore empowered and encouraged to identify ways of improving business operations to improve efficiency and reduce overheads as a result.
Cloud ERP is the term used to describe ERP software hosted on a platform maintained remotely, over the Internet, thus removing the necessity for individual companies to invest in expensive computer systems.
ERP software therefore has the potential to be a hugely helpful tool with regard to business support and planning and is perfect for creating an efficient, ordered and scalable backbone for any project within this area.
The right approach
ERP and cloud computing is employed across almost the entire range of industries, from heavy engineering to architecture. The most appropriate system depends very much on the business in question and its specific requirements.
Things to consider when deciding on the right approach include the following.
- The size of the business in question, including projections and ambitions for growth and development.
- The operational systems that are already in place, which could be replaced, streamlined or evolved through the introduction of cloud computing.
- The fundamental vision and values of the business, what it is trying to achieve and how the introduction of such software could potentially contribute to future growth and development.
Staying relevant
Very few organizations are able to operate today without the application of technology in at least its most basic form. Ensuring that a company has the right systems in place to support the delivery of its goals and aspirations is a fundamental consideration.
Most analysts and expert commentators agree that the role technology plays in business is only going to increase, so installing the most appropriate solutions in place is the best way to ensure that a company does not get left behind.
Meet @CloudianStorage November 4-6 at @CloudExpo Silicon Valley [#Cloud]
SYS-CON Events announced today that Cloudian, Inc., the leading provider of hybrid cloud storage solutions, has been named “Bronze Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 15th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on November 4–6, 2014, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA.
Cloudian is a Foster City, Calif.-based software company specializing in cloud storage. Cloudian HyperStore® is an S3-compatible cloud object storage platform that enables service providers and enterprises to build reliable, affordable and scalable hybrid cloud storage solutions. Cloudian actively partners with leading cloud computing environments including Amazon Web Services, Citrix Cloud Platform, Apache CloudStack, OpenStack and the vast ecosystem of S3 compatible tools and applications. Cloudian’s customers include Vodafone, Nextel, NTT, Nifty, and LunaCloud. The company has additional offices in China and Japan.
Your Open Source Cloud Cocktail By @MRHinkle | @CloudExpo [@CitrixCloud]
Here’s the presentation I gave at the Linux Foundation’s CloudOpen in Dusseldorf on October 13, 2014 titled Mixing Your Open Source Cloud Cocktail Add two parts virtualization, one part orchestration add a little networking shake and pour. Unfortunately cloud computing isn’t that easy but then again not all clouds are the same and tastes may vary. This…