Tag: cloud computing

IBM, Intel gang up on cloud

Posted on September 8, 2014 by - News

Clouds in Oxford: pic Mike MageeIntel and IBM said they will work together to improve security for cloud computing.

IBM said “SoftLayer” will be the first cloud venture giving bare metal servers using Intel cloud technology that will give security and monitoring down to the microprocessor level. Intel TXT is built for larger enterprises including governmental agencies, financial services companies and healthcare organisations.

The premise is that as large corporations move to a cloud and data centre model, they want to be sure that the computers are as secure as those managed on their own sites.

SoftLayer is an IBM company that provides a global cloud platform built to scale.  100,000 devices are under management, while 18 data centres in Europe, Asia and the USA are in that web too.

IBM customers will buy SoftLayer servers that have a trusted platform module installed.  Intel TXT will let such customers build trusted computing pools of IT resources in the cloud.

SoftLayer belongs to the Intel Cloud Technology programme and uses Xeon E5-2600 V2, Xeon E3-1200 V3 and Xeon E5-4600 microprocessors.

Russia insists that data is kept at home

Posted on July 7, 2014 by - News

Clouds in Oxford: pic Mike MageeThe Russian government has enacted a law which means that all cloud data must be kept within the confines of the country.

The move will mean that if US cloud operators want to work in Mother Russia they cannot send the data to their main warehouses in the US or EU.

Bill number 553424-6  specifies that “when collecting personal data, including information and telecommunications network, the Internet, the operator must ensure that record, systematisation, accumulation, storage, updated, modified, removing the personal data of citizens of the Russian Federation, in databases, of information located in the territory of the Russian Federation.”

On the face of it, it looks like the Russians are protecting their citizens from being spied on by the evil US spooks, but it also makes it easier for the government to spy on its own citizens.

Russia Today said the law could provide businesses with some major headaches.  Airlines, for example, rely on hosted software and software-as-a-service providers are not going to be keen to have to build new data centres.

The law comes into force on September 1st, 2016, giving Russian companies plenty of time to set something up.  It could be a boom time for local hosting companies.

Crucial launches upgrade push

Posted on March 3, 2014 by - News

Fond Memories by Raimundo de Madrazo y GarretaMemory company Crucial is making a bid to get people to upgrade their PCs via a survey it conducted.

Crucial polled 1,300 people in the UK, aged between 18 and 70. The survey was aimed at people working from home.

According to Crucial, the biggest barriers to working from home were difficulty accessing work files (36%); too many general distractions (33%); loneliness (28%); slow running computers (23%); poor broadband connections (17%); lack of space (13%); slow computer start up (13%) and poor access to email (10%).

The implication is that if people upgraded their memory on the PCs, their computers would run more efficiently.  Extra memory, however, doesn’t cure loneliness and lack of space. And as 36 percent complained about inability to access work files, it just goes to show that cloud computing has a way to go.
homeworking

Big Brother is worth more money

Posted on January 20, 2014 by - News

orwellplaqueCCTV equipment is set to grow by over 12 percent during 2014.

That’s according to report from IHS, which said that revenues in 2014 for video surveillance equipment will be worth $15.9 billion, compared to $14.1 billion in 2013.

Niall Jenkins, a research manager at IHS said 2014 will show strong demand for fixed dome and 180/360  degree network camera products.

There are other trends afoot –including police forces need to manage crowdsourced video surveillance data.  2014 will be an important year for thermal camera technology, while there will also be more emphasis on audio capabilities.

Governments need to go cloud busting

Posted on December 17, 2013 by - News

cloudbustA report from Gartner said that by 2017 public cloud offerings will account for over 25 percent of government business services, not counting defence and security.

But CIOs need to get themselves into the debate on public cloud sourcing, and kick of sourcing strategies with politicos.

By 2017, predicted Gartner, 35 percent of government shared service organisations will be managed by private sector companies. Public private partnerships are already embracing infrastructure as a service but governments will move to integration and software as a service.

And, Gartner predicts, by 2017 as many as 60 percent plus of government open data programmes that do not use open data internally will be discontinued.

And if you’ve a job in government software development, mind your back, because at least 25 percent of such jobs will be axed while governments hire data analysts from outside.  Data analysis is now a high priority.

Capita signs on the Microsoft dotted line

Posted on December 12, 2013 by - News

datacentrebatteriesMicrosoft has signed up Capita to its global Cloud OS Network.

And Capita, as a result, has introduced a private cloud product called Capita Productivity Hub – yu can get it using the existing Capita Private Cloud infrastructure.

It lets UK customers using Outlook, Lync, Sharepoint, Word, Excel and Powerpoint to increase productivity, Capita claims.

The apps are used in a secure setting with data held in Capita’s UK data centres.

Microsoft man Maurice Martin said his firm is offering people the ability to use hybrid stuff working with local service providers like Capita.

Rackspace peers into its crystal ball

Posted on December 9, 2013 by - News

crystalballA VP at Rackspace has spread out his tarot cards and given his prediction on how the market will shift in 2014.

According to Nigel Beighton, VP of technology, the division of cloud computing into public and private clouds will be disrupted by the emergence of specialist cloud providers. They’ll target specific markets including finance, telecoms and retail – there will also be more application specific cloud based stuff – including cloud computing for CPU monitoring.

Platform as a Service is over hyped, thinks Beighton, but DevOps will be a better way of helping software development.

Mr Big Data will receive close care and attention from big tech vendors who will “take the time and complexity” out of operations and there will be consolidation of NOSQL technologies.

The NSA revelations will mean that we’ll see investments in better encryption – and that should allay some peoples’ concerns about cloud based platforms and systems.

Finally, Beighton believes that in 2014 everyone will go nuts about DevOps and that means developers and IT departments will have to work closer than ever before.

ChannelEye predicts that before 2013 comes to a close, we will see more predictions about what is going to happen next year.

5i introduces cloud channel programme

Posted on December 4, 2013 by - News

Clouds in Oxford: pic Mike MageeResellers are aware of the potential of the cloud but need help implementing complex systems.

That’s according to channel services company 5i – which said today it is launching a Partner Enablement Programme.

Richard Brown, 5i channel sales director, said: “Cloud technology offers many benefits but is also the biggest threat to businesses. And resellers are quick to recognise the complexities of deployment.

“It is the most disruptive technology to dominate the market for a long time. Many businesses see the huge benefits that cloud can bring – but embracing it can be incredibly challenging.,” he continued.

Brown said that resellers’ customers rarely introduce full cloud deployments but are looking for blended cloud and on premise environments.

The 5i programme, he said includes marketing, sales, pre-sales and technical engagement to support partners. If resellers use its services, resellers always keep their customers.  Brown said his firm is 100 percent channel focused.

Cloud faces fresh security risks

Posted on November 22, 2013 by - News

netthingsA report from Zscaler examines security threats ahead and said the diversity of devices used to access data make it difficult for organisations to stay ahead.

The Zscaler 2014 Security Cloud Forecast says that attacks on DNS servers are increasing and one of the problems is that “tens of thousands” of Internet DNS are not secured. And attackers use DNS techniques mimicking load balancing, with malware using DNS to conceal command and control networks. Companies, in 2014 should monitor DNS traffic, particularly on new domains.

Cloud services rely on HTPPS and SSL for encryption but by the end of this year, the industry standard will become 2048-bit keys rather than 1024 bit.  Visibility becomes as much as five times more difficult with this move.   SSL will be enabled by default for many web services next year.

The move to BYOD – bring your own device – is “the weakest link”, said Zscaler.  When businesses move corporate data to the cloud and people use mobile devices there is no real security appliance between data and device. Zscaler warns to expect mobile attacks using email, web and malicious third party apps.

And the “internet of things” also brings its own problems, Zscaler warns.  Accessing these multiple devices using smartphones is insecure but there is no minimum base level security in place. “In 2014, attackers will make attempts on the internet of things in homes, businesses and in critical pieces of infrastructure,” the report concludes.

ICT survey reveals huge reseller opportunity

Posted on November 19, 2013 by - News

Clouds in Oxford: pic Mike MageeA comprehensive survey conducted by market research company Ovum has revealed that IT vendors are failing to address their customers’ needs.

The survey, conducted in 60 countries worldwide of CIOs and IT decision makers is the largest ever ventured.

CRM, it appears, has been widely adopted by higher education with only 10 percent of institutions not using the software.

But there are opportunities aplenty because over 50 percent of these institutions will replace their LMSes in 24 months.  Incumbents, Ovum suggests, will be switched to new providers.

“To secure their position in the market, LMS providers must be quick to expand their platforms to seamlessly incorporate compelling features such as social media, video, analytics, and other learning objects, keeping customer satisfaction high and prices low,” said analyst Navneet Johal.

But less than 20 percent are using cloud computing for their enterprises,

“A myriad of factors is holding institutions back from moving core applications to the cloud, the absence of viable solutions in some cases, the questionable return on investment from switching out existing solutions, the difficulty of supporting highly customized solutions in a hosted environment, and even lingering (albeit somewhat irrational) doubts about security,” said Johal.

Cloud puts pressure on datacentre sector

Posted on November 18, 2013 by - Events, News

Demand for cloud based services is so great that data centres will find it hard to cope in the future.aircloiuds

That’s according to Christian Belady, Microsoft’s general manager of datacentres, who will highlight several problems at the Data Centre Dynamics Converged conference in London that kicks off on the 20th of November at the Excel conference centre.

He said that demand for cloud services, computing capacity is the “most crucial challenge”.  He called on the datacentre industry to take a unified stand to pre-empt problems before they arose.

He said: “There are tremendous complexities involved in delivering that demand globally on a market-by-market basis, such as varying tax and data requirements and working with multiple governments across disparate regions of the world. To meet the increasing demand for these sorts of services, the industry needs to come together to tackle these complexities as an urgent priority.”

He continued: “Datacenters are getting larger, and the industry needs to determine the best ways to deliver power more economically and sustainably in different parts of the world. The past rules for enterprise datacenters no longer hold when we talk about the cloud.  Our biggest opportunity is in how we as an industry can pull all the traditionally disparate pieces together in a seamless way. To meet the growth demands, the industry will need to integrate at every level – from the infrastructure and software to utilities and governments. It’s not any one thing. We’ll succeed when all of these industries work together to push the sector forward as one holistically optimised ecosystem.”

Sharp readies cloud push

Posted on November 11, 2013 by - News, Products

Clouds in Oxford: pic Mike MageeSMEs are not taking sufficient advantage of the opportunities and cost advantages of the cloud, according to a survey by Sharp.

It has launched its Cloud Portal Office today, a subscription based model aimed at SMEs with data held at Amazon Cloud Services in Dublin.

Chris Hale, product manager of software at Sharp UK told ChannelEye that people running small to medium enterprises often didn’t realise the savings that could be made by having their data in the cloud, rather than in their offices. There were advantages from the security aspect too, with backups held remotely in case of fires or other catastrophes.

Hale said companies often had little idea how much it cost to maintain their own IT equipment costs.  The Cloud Portal offering, while launched today, will go live on the 2nd of December next giving it time to train its own direct and its channels’ indirect sales force.

SMEs, Sharp said, are “not only failing to realise the business benefits the cloud can bring, but also can lose control of networks and introducing vulnerabilities”.  Of the 1,500 plus employees surveyed across Europe, 83 percent didn’t think that they had an official cloud network in the workplace.

Clouds clear for most businesses

Posted on October 17, 2013 by - News

cloud 1A survey of 300 plus UK IT decision makers found that over two thirds of those surveyed thought cloud computing is as secure as having kit on the premises.

The annual survey, conducted by Claranet, shows that figure is up from the 54 percent figure it polled last year.

Over 73 percent of those surveyed aare now using some form of cloud service. It’s the middle market which shows the most growth with a significant 81 percent of companies using cloud services. The figure for that segment last year was 65 percent.

Claranet UK MD, Michel Robert, said that security still worries end users but businesses are not frightened.

The survey showed that 81 percent of firms managed to reduce capital expenditure while 75 percent of companies “reduced pressure” on IT department.

The survey was managed by market research company Vanson Bourne in September 2013.  Twenty six per cent of the respondents came from the professional services sector; 21 percent from financial services; 20 percent from retail, distribution and transport; and 14 percent from media, leisure and entertainment. The rest operated in other commercial markets.

Hitachi improves its cloud services

Posted on October 15, 2013 by - News, Products

cloud 1Hitachi Data Services (HDS) said that it has introduced private cloud services and other improvements.

The private cloud services include consulting and transition services to companies and a cloud automation suite to its Unified Compute Platform, reference architectures with Cisco and data security capabilities for its Unified Storage.

The company said that the private cloud services use an open architecture with storage, compute and network layers; APIs; open interfaces; portals and global services.

It claims that using its private cloud services will bring customers savings, and is up 70 percent faster to deploy than traditional approaches.

HDS costs the materials by a pay-per-use model driven by service levels and including all hardware, software and services.

Salesforce integrates multiple IDs

Posted on October 15, 2013 by - News, Products

Salesforce_Logo_2009Giant CRM company Salesforce said it has released a service connecting employees, customers and partners to any app on any device.

Called Salesforce Identity, the service is intended to make accessing data universally, wherever it is stored.

The company said that the service lets firms create a connected app and strategy, which can then be managed from a central location.

The service includes a single sign on, authorisation identities for mobile devices for Salesforce CRM and custom applications built using its Platform Mobile Services.

It also lets social collaboration be built into a system, including Facebook and Google. Pricing starts at $5 per user a month, including single sign on, mobile identity, cloud directory, multi-factor authentication and other services.