Verizon on Thursday announced Verizon Cloud – its new cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) platform and cloud-based object storage service. With this service, Verizon is fundamentally changing how public clouds are built. Large enterprises, mid-size companies and small development shops will get the agility and economic benefit of a generic public cloud along with the reliability and scale of an enterprise-level service with unprecedented control of performance. The public beta for Verizon Cloud will launch in the fourth quarter of this year.
«Verizon created the enterprise cloud, now we’re recreating it,» said John Stratton, president of Verizon Enterprise Solutions. «This is the revolution in cloud services that enterprises have been calling for. We took feedback from our enterprise clients across the globe and built a new cloud platform from the bottom up to deliver the attributes they require.»
Verizon Cloud has two main components: Verizon Cloud Compute and Verizon Cloud Storage. Verizon Cloud Compute is the IaaS platform. Verizon Cloud Storage is an object-based storage service.

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Nothing levels the playing field like cloud computing, at least in terms of smaller businesses being able to gain a foothold in a particular market.
Small and midsize businesses have much to gain from embracing business cloud solutions. Cloud platforms allow SMEs to compete in the cloud giant-controlled environment and creates a level playing field required to succeed in business.
Some small and medium companies have yet to fully realize the advantages that cloud solutions can provide. In the meantime, hundreds of cloud vendors are preparing for the expected major upswing in popularity among cloud services for SMEs and for private consumers as well.
Business Development Director Paul Bryce of Node4 stated that one of the most important benefits of cloud computing is the extensive environment that gives enough leverage for SMEs to compete with the giants in the industry. With VMware, EMC and Cisco as one among the many cloud partners, SMEs can have the most cost-effective, yet very efficient IT infrastructure.

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The conversation of “Why Cloud?” has long since passed for many businesses and the question has transitioned into “How Cloud?”, or more importantly, “Is it safe?” Much is at stake protecting your business and your customers, and naturally, you should be cautious. Managing security in the cloud is about adapting to an agile world where development is rapid and compute resources are variable. Traditional security controls and best practices have not gone to the wayside, but in an agile world we must leverage additional tools and adapt our assessment methodologies to offset risks associated with rapid development in a multi-tenant cloud to protect sensitive data.
In his session at the 13th International Cloud Expo®, Jaret Chiles, Cloud Solutions Architect at Rackspace, to discuss Cloud Security in an Agile World and cover several topics on protecting your business while still reaping the many benefits of partnering with a cloud service provider.

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Cloud computing has become the latest technological innovation for users wanting the economical regulation of resources. Cloud basically makes use of a broad infrastructure which shares its resources and services. However, it is equally important for users to know the right kind of cloud to use. Not all offer the same facilities and users must learn to recognize the facets which point to the right cloud. This is where users must be aware of Open Hybrid Cloud (Red Hat).
The Open Hybrid Cloud (Red Hat) is taking the world by storm with its innovative technology and is the way cloud will work in the future. The main idea behind Red Hat is the way it standardizes software and frees resources in the process. The hybrid makes the cloud more fluid to use with an interoperable infrastructure that is totally within your control.

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Now make the right tactical decisions to navigate FedRAMP successfully.
FedRAMP – or the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program – is a Cloud Service Provider’s gateway to the lucrative world of federal contracting. However there are tactical engineering decisions that must be made to ensure a smooth journey through the FedRAMP accreditation process.
In his session at the 13th International Cloud Expo®, Lunarline’s Director of FedRAMP Services Alan Yuriditsky will share his experience guiding CSPs through FedRAMP. His discussion will focus on key tactical moves CSPs can make that streamline compliance, reduce cost and make FedRAMP easier.

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In my opinion, Object Storage officially broke through this month. It went from being the “next” big thing to being “the” big thing. Why? Because Larry said so. Well, technically he didn’t: someone else had to do it for him as he skipped the Oracle Open World Keynote to see Team USA win the America’s Cup in the most exciting regatta of all times. So I’ve been told. I wasn’t there and I’m not a sailor. I kite surf, like Richard Branson.

What has Larry Ellison to do with Object storage and how is he an authority on the topic? Isn’t object storage about unstructured data, rather than databases? Well, correct: I don’t expect a whole lot from Oracle’s object storage technology. They are a database company and they are pretty damn good at that. But they haven’t been exceptionally successful with the Sun storage legacy other than the tape part of that business. Oracle’s object storage technology could have been good if they had recycled some of Sun’s honeycomb technology, but it doesn’t look like that is going to be the case. The little information that is out there points to OpenStack Swift, and we all know how well Oracle and open source blend! Also, Swift isn’t exactly storage-efficient: the technology was designed to run on cheap, commodity hardware – not really Oracle’s game.

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Gartner has been gazing into its crystal ball once again, and now the smoke signals have cleared the message is simple: get going with a hybrid cloud solution, because half of big enterprises are going to be deployed by 2017.

The analyst house puts hybrid cloud where the private cloud was in 2010; plenty of companies wanting to get on board, but the actual uptake remains low.

But it’s not going to be available instantly: Gartner recommends chief execs should consider the cloud because of its agility rather than lower costs, a complete change of priority for cloud adoption.

“Virtualisation reduces capital expenses, and standards and automation reduce operational expenses,” noted Thomas Bittman, Gartner VP and distinguished analyst. “However, taking the next step of adding usage metrics, self-service offerings and automated provisioning requires investment in technologies without a significant reduction in operational cost.

“With this in mind, the driving …

Businesses today have a distinct desire to develop recurring revenue streams to improve customer lifetime value and as a result they have been focusing on delivering new digital services via a subscription based model. This focus is creating a radical shift in the market, driving new relationships, and requiring the development of new billing capabilities.
In his session at the 13th International Cloud Expo®, Brian Kracik, Director, Product Marketing SDP and Cloud Solutions at Oracle, will share use cases, trends, and the impact of the shift from physical to digital goods and how cloud billing is at the heart of a successful evolution.

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