There are multiple trends putting pressure on IT today to radically change the way they operate. From SDN to cloud, market pressure on organizations to adopt new technological models or utterly fail is immense.

That’s not to say that new technological models aren’t valuable or won’t fulfill promises to add value, but it is to say that the market often overestimates the urgency with which organizations must view emerging technology.

Too, mired in its own importance and benefits, markets often overlook that not every organization has the same needs or goals or business drivers. After all, everyone wants to reduce their costs and simplify provisioning processes!

And yet goals can often be met through application of other technologies that carry less risk, which is another factor in the overall enterprise adoption formula – and one that’s often overlooked.

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SYS-CON Events announced today that the Japan External Trade Organization, a government-related organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world, has been named “Bronze 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.
JETRO, or the Japan External Trade Organization, is a government-related organization that works to promote mutual trade and investment between Japan and the rest of the world. Originally established in 1958 to promote Japanese exports abroad, JETRO’s core focus in the 21st century has shifted toward promoting foreign direct investment into Japan and helping small to medium-size Japanese firms maximize their global export potential.

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You dear readers are some of the most informed technologists on the planent. I think few things surprise you about Big Data. But many of us studying this concept are in a continual search for ways to explain key issues to non technologists, and that can be hard to do at times.
Masters at expression at Wikibon have done us all a favor by producing a terrific infographic that captures some of the important aspects of Big Data in clear and easy to understand ways.

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By Dr Steve Hodgkinson, Research Director IT, Asia-Pacific

The New Zealand government recently announced an all-of-government cloud computing approach, which features a positive “cloud-first” statement of intent for ICT procurement.

This policy is at odds with the more conservative policy position of the Australian federal government, which, while also aiming to promote cloud adoption, is actually more focused on the supposedly new risks and issues of cloud services.

Australia’s stance is formally “cloud neutral” but, in practice, is “cloud last,” because it lacks a clear vision of the benefits of the cloud model but is very clear about its risks. The contrast between the two country’s positions is subtle but important, because significant barriers to cloud adoption are deeply embedded in the twentieth-century ICT procurement policies and practices of agencies.

While caution is prudent, some degree of positive “cloud-first” leadership and a practical approach to confronting the benefit …

With the government promising delivery of the long-awaited Digital Economy strategy by the year end, this prompts a review of what role the Cloud industry can play in this strategy. This then further encourages us to identify what particular segments of the Cloud Computing industry we might specialize in, with a view to concentrating in […]

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Lenovo, which was just saying something about looking for strategic growth acquisitions, said Wednesday that it has struck a deal to buy Brazil’s largest consumer electronics maker, a group of three companies called CCE, for $148 million in cash and stock.
The acquisition will make it Brazil’s third-largest PC vendor.
CCE, with revenues of $783 million last year, makes PCs, phones and TVs at seven factories in Brazil, one of the emerging BRIC countries and still a top PC market.
By IDC’s tally, nearly four million units shipped there in Q2 out of a global total of 85 million.
CCE includes Digibrás Indústria do Brasil SA, Digiboard Eletrônica da Amazônia LTDA and Dual Mix Comércio de Eletrônicos LTDA.

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  The Department of Defense’s Defense Information Systems Agency recently released their strategic plan for the next 5 years.  DISA is a Combat Support Agency that “provides, operates, and assures command and control, information sharing capabilities, and a globally accessible enterprise information infrastructure in direct support to joint Warfighters, National level leaders, and other mission and coalition partners across the full spectrum […]

This post by AlexOlesker was first published at CTOvision.com.

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In a highly anticipated event in Los Angeles Thursday that pushed its stock to a record high while it was happening, Amazon unveiled three next-generation Kindle Fire tablets and priced the mid-range 8.9-inch model with a 1,920 x 1,200 HD screen at $299, undercutting the 9.75-inch Apple iPad by $200.
A seven-inch 1,280 x 800 Kindle Fire HD will run $199, a buck less than Google’s seven-inch Nexus 7 and probably less than the iPad mini Apple is believed to be getting ready to put on the market.
The first will be available on November 20. The smaller one goes out the door on September 14. Both come standard with 16GB of memory.

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