WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, April 29, 2011

Is SaaS going to dominate your cloud strategy? The answer is ‘Yes’. Forrester had projected in their cloud report that a massive 80% of spending on public cloud IT next year will be spent on SaaS. There are several reasons why SaaS spending is on the higher side and is still going to continue to grow:

• SaaS is ready-to-run with easy and low cost of implementation.
• SaaS has the deepest traction in functional elements of an enterprise’s core operations such as customer relationship management, collaboration, people management and content management. Adoption of SaaS is easier in these peripheries.
• SaaS is a low risk choice in cloud adoption and becomes the first encounter with public cloud.
• SaaS vendors are better able to deliver business value because their applications encompass a complete set of functionality that the vendor continues to evolve and enhance. This keeps SaaS less exposed to the commoditization that lower levels of the cloud stack will experience — in particular IaaS. Read More

Some of the other highlights of this week’s cloud sum-up are:

How to Integrate With the Cloud

Data Integration is a crucial component of the cloud. Unlike many businesses, it is not suitable to have multiple applications operating on different versions of the same data. The beauty of SaaS is that business people do not need IT to get up and running with a SaaS application. There are broad ranges of integration solutions readily available and with some basic understanding of semantic mediation, connectivity, validation and routing it is very easy to set up integration. But using a SaaS integration service you get to integrate SaaS applications effectively with minimum effort.

Cloud service sourcing is immature

Cloud service sourcing is immature and loaded with potential hazards. The hype around cloud computing services has increased interest as well as caution for CIOs trying to determine where, when and if cloud services can provide valuable outcomes for their businesses. Gartner believes that solutions and their commercial terms are maturing quickly. To avoid the potential pitfalls and hidden costs of cloud sourcing, organizations need to ensure they understand the short- and long-term implications of cloud services, on the demand and supply side, as well as on the sourcing life cycle itself.

Cloud Computing Providers: Clueless About Security?

Ponemon Institute's "Security of Cloud Computing Providers Study" quizzed 103 cloud service providers in the U.S. and 24 in Europe on their views and practices in securing the data entrusted to them by customers. The candid responses from managers, director and technical staff for the cloud providers indicates well over half of them do not consider cloud computing security as one of their most important responsibilities and do not believe their products or services substantially protect and secure confidential or sensitive information.

Who's to Secure Cloud: Vendor or User?

A year ago, Ponemon and CA teamed up to survey cloud computing services' users, and when compared with the new study, a stark difference of perception is revealed between provider and customer. Nearly 70 percent of users said vendors were most responsible for ensuring the security of cloud resources; only 32 percent of vendors cited themselves. Sixteen percent of providers but one-third of users said security was a shared responsibility. These different perceptions about who is responsible for securing the cloud means organizations may be over relying on their cloud vendors to ensure safe cloud computing.


We hope these short sum-ups on cloud computing are helping you to take a more knowledgeable approach towards moving to the cloud. Stay tuned for more sum-ups on in the forthcoming weeks.

Appreciate if you can add more to this list and help our readers to keep in touch with the Cloud...

Santanu Das
Marketing Evangelist, WOLF Frameworks

NOTE: The views expressed above are purely personal and for informational purposes only. WOLF FRAMEWORKS INDIA PVT. LTD. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, April 22, 2011

The most incredible news for this week in cloud computing is a huge research report by Forrester Research, a premium research firm, called ‘Sizing The Cloud’. This report applies Forrester’s sizing methodology for emerging markets to the cloud computing market for the first time. With some of the cloud computing definitions still posing a challenge, Forrester has decided to focus on the business models of the cloud under which IT operates. According to the report, Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), which has been slowly emerging now, is going to be the leading cloud market by 2020 with ISVs finding a highly attractive option for delivering Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Forrester Research says that the global cloud computing market will grow from a $ 40.7 billion in 2011 to $ 241 billion in 2020.

Click here to read more about this report.

Some of the other highlights of this week’s cloud sum-up are:

What is Cloud Communications?

Cloud communications is Internet-based computing whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices on demand, similar to the electricity grid. Cloud communications encompasses several variations of service models including Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS) and Software as a Service (SaaS ), and includes deployment models like private, public, hybrid, and community clouds. The term means more than just VoIP, CaaS or Unified Communications. Cloud communications is also becoming an attractive option because the cloud can now become a platform for voice, data and video.

Why Should I Be a SaaS Affiliate? And What the Heck is SaaS, Anyway?

With the rapid rise of Internet and software companies around the world, there’s naturally a growing need for affiliates to help sell their products, and there is nothing to look beyond the SaaS market which is just booming. Understanding the technicalities of SaaS is not enough, it very important to understand the marketing aspects of it. One should remember that marketing a service is very different from marketing a product.

Cloud computing security considerations

Cloud computing offers a number of potential benefits including cost savings and improved business outcomes. However, there are a variety of information security risks that need to be carefully considered. Risks will vary depending on the sensitivity of the data to be stored or processed, and how the chosen cloud vendor (also referred to as a cloud service provider) has implemented their specific cloud services.

Clusters in the Private Cloud

When you think about private cloud computing there are clusters which are probably the most advanced form of shared infrastructure we have in the enterprise today. Right now, most of those clusters are in place because of the unique performance and availability attributes of a particular application. But as the march towards private cloud computing continues, it seems that a convergence between clustering technologies and cloud computing is almost inevitable.

We hope these short sum-ups on cloud computing are helping you to take a more knowledgeable approach towards moving to the cloud. Stay tuned for more sum-ups on in the forthcoming weeks.

Appreciate if you can add more to this list and help our readers to keep in touch with the Cloud...


Santanu Das
Marketing Evangelist, WOLF Frameworks

NOTE: The views expressed above are purely personal and for informational purposes only. WOLF FRAMEWORKS INDIA PVT. LTD. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Gartner names WOLF a "Cool Vendor” in Platform as a Service for 2011

Leading Analyst firm Gartner has named WOLF one of its Cool Vendors in Platform as a Service for 2011.

Gartner's announcement of the "Cool Vendors" comes on the heels of its press release predicting 2011 to be the year of Platform-as-a-Service.

The report is written by Yefim V. Natis, Eric Knipp, Teresa Jones, Paolo Malinverno, Thomas Skybakmoen, Thomas E. Murphy, David Mitchell Smith, Benoit J. Lheureux and analyzes vendors who offer "Platform as a service (PaaS). According to the report, "Platform as a Service (PaaS) is a common reference to a collection of middleware (application infrastructure) functions offered as a cloud service. These include such strategic technology categories as application servers, DBMS, integration brokers, business process management platform, user experience platforms and others."

Gartner predicts that by 2015, most enterprises will have part of their run-the-business software functionally executing in the cloud, using PaaS services or technologies directly or indirectly.

WOLF online cloud database platform with robust business rules offers huge time & cost savings with ease-of-use for Enterprises, ISV’s and SaaS startups developing or migrating to cloud based application development environment. The framework recently introduced attractive usage centric pricing, support for custom UX, ability to write custom code, staging/production environment, complete API’s and private cloud deployment license option.

The complete report is available at www.Gartner.com

About Gartner's Cool Vendors Selection Process

Gartner's listing does not constitute an exhaustive list of vendors in any given technology area, but rather is designed to highlight interesting, new and innovative vendors, products and services. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness of a particular purpose.

Gartner defines a cool vendor as a company that offers technologies or solutions that are: Innovative, enable users to do things they couldn't do before; Impactful, have, or will have, business impact (not just technology for the sake of technology); Intriguing, have caught Gartner's interest or curiosity in approximately the past six months.

References:
- Gartner, “Cool Vendors in Platforms as a Service, 2011” by Teresa Jones et al. 7 April 2011
- Gartner Press Release “Gartner Says 2011 Will Be the Year of Platform as a Service” 14 March 2011

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, April 15, 2011

Software-as-a-Service is one of the oldest and the most mature of all Cloud Computing options and is still booming with its continuous adoption by many businesses. This week’s WOLF Cloud Sum-up talks about the four questions one needs to ask before moving to SaaS and about the Total Cost of Ownership in this business. 

According to analyst firm Gartner, the global SaaS sector grew by 14.1 per cent last year to $8.5bn. This higher than average growth rate in an otherwise difficult market meant penetration levels rose to a total of 10 per cent across all enterprise application sectors, with the figure expected to increase to 16 per cent by 2014. Nonetheless, awareness of the potential benefits of SaaS among C-level executives continues to mount as the industry's marketing machine cranks up beyond its more traditional IT audience. This awareness means questions are starting to be raised about promised cost savings, ease of implementation and the ability to wind capacity up and down in line with business needs.

But rather than cave into executive pressure and rush in to cloud computing, it is essential that IT directors plan carefully for any change just as they would for more traditional software implementations. As a result, silicon.com has come up with four key questions that IT leaders should ask themselves before jumping in feet first.

1. How can I manage the expectations of the business? 
2. How do I ensure the business is not exposed to undue risk? 
3. What about hidden costs? 
4. What key licensing and upgrade considerations do I have to bear in mind? 

Click here to read more on the analysis of these questions and find your answer before moving to SaaS.

Total cost of ownership is only part of the SaaS picture

According to Andy Pattinson, former CIO of Carnival Australia; using only Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) as a measuring unit for deciding between SaaS and On-Premise software may lead to a sub-optimal decision as TCO is just a part of the SaaS picture. On the other hand Return on Investment (ROI) is a more useful criterion for comparison as it is more understandable by business people.

Cloud Computing ABCs

Given the evolving nature of cloud computing and the market confusion that still exists around the “ABCs” of cloud computing, there is still a high number of businesses already using cloud computing. The ABCs of cloud computing are:

A – Architecture
B – Business benefits (and risks)
C – Costs (and new financial models, as well as any effects on related corporate accounting)

Cloud is good for IT pros

The original goal of cloud computing is to make computing more affordable, convenient and efficient. It does not mean an end of the IT professionals though it may just bring about a shift in skill set. With the pace of cloud innovation IT researchers and developers will have more time and resources to dedicate to creative tasks and work towards automation of complex task.

Cloud Computing: Business Benefits and Legal Hurdles

Cloud Computing may be a revolution in IT today, but the concept dates back to 1960 when there were predictions that “computation may someday be organized as a public utility”. Amazon modernized its data centers and introduced Amazon Web Service on a utility computing basis in 2006 from where it started gathering pace. Reduced Costs and Capital, Flexibility, Security Risks and Liability are some of the benefits and hurdles that businesses have to consider when riding on the waves of innovation created by Oracle, IBM, Amazon, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Rackspace and other IT giants.


With cloud helping businesses to do more for less, stay tuned for more sum-ups on in the forthcoming weeks.

Appreciate if you can add more to this list and help our readers to keep in touch with the Cloud...


Santanu Das
Marketing Evangelist, WOLF Frameworks

NOTE: The views expressed above are purely personal and for informational purposes only. WOLF FRAMEWORKS INDIA PVT. LTD. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, April 08, 2011

In India, we have just entered a new financial year and the cloud computing party seems to be getting bigger & better. Today we bring to you another set of exciting weekly sum up of happenings around the cloud.

Infonetics Research, a major research firm has revealed that Cloud and SaaS based security offerings are bringing big bucks for the MSPs. The revenue has jumped 12 percent and is expected to grow multiple times over the next five years which may be close to 62 percent as analyzed by Jeff Wilson, a research analyst in Infonetics. Also the security spending in virtualized environments is on the rise. According to the firm, companies expect to spend an average of 51 percent more on security for virtualized environments in 2012 than they did in 2010. More

Here are some of the top picks of the Cloud week:

Cloud Computing, Like Open Source, Is Not Just Puff

Similar to open source software, there has been a hype, hope and trepidation around cloud computing in the enterprise. But it is quite hard to believe that cloud computing is headed towards a crash. Owing to a close relationship between open source software and cloud computing both may benefit from each other.

Cloud Computing Standards: Too Many, Doing Too Little

Cloud computing from its inception had been fighting to get a proper definition and now there are multiple competing standards available for users to choose from, but there is not much chance of moving around them. James Stalen, vice president and principal analyst at Forrester Research said, "It's not that there aren't any standards [for cloud computing], it's that everyone has one and there are already some in place that cover the same ground".

Top 5 Cloud security questions for CIOs

Not all applications are necessarily appropriate for moving to the cloud, especially when it comes to security. CIOs should carefully consider the following five security questions:

1. How big is your organization?
2. What cloud environment are you looking to adopt?
3. What are the security regulations and requirements you must work within?
4. What are the risks and threats of your cloud strategy?
5. Are you using best practice?

On the Same Day as Dell, IBM Also Announces a Big Cloud Computing Push

On the same day that Dell announced plans to spend $1 billion to build 10 new data centers, IBM is announcing a brand new cloud service called “Smartcloud” that it hopes will help bring in $5 billion in new revenue by 2015. Now that is a cloud computing party!

With more enterprises venturing into the cloud stay tuned for more sum-ups on in the forthcoming weeks.

Appreciate if you can add more to this list and help our readers to keep in touch with the Cloud...


Santanu Das
Marketing Evangelist, WOLF Frameworks

NOTE: The views expressed above are purely personal and for informational purposes only. WOLF FRAMEWORKS INDIA PVT. LTD. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, April 01, 2011

 U634VC3CTWSNThe beginning of the FY 2011-2012 has shown various colors of the Cloud. Following the previous week’s big discussion around standardization, today WOLF brings to you the regulations in the cloud and how cloud can be encrypted for users to trust it.

The Cloud is not one thing. Though there are numerous clouds and users, looking at it from 30,000 feet shows – massively complex systems driven by a positive feedback process. Cloud is the next new Internet thing — is too important to be regulated and too important to be left alone. Being economically efficient and convenient cloud is a major source of economic growth. Gartner’s predictions about cloud are coming true but there are certain small areas users are still concerned about. Though there are multiple organizations making an attempt to regulate the concerns, it is still very risky and in an over-connected environment we tend to reach our destination faster even before we leave. More

Here are some of the top picks of the week:

The Many Colors of Cloud Encryption

The most effective approach protects information as close as possible to the source while minimizing any re-architecting or recoding that might delay cloud application deployment. Data can be encrypted in a few different ways in private clouds and IaaS including the following:

• Volume-based technologies – Data is scrambled at the mounted storage volume layer. 
• Application-focused technologies – Mostly used by PaaS environments where the encryption is built into the application 
• File-based technologies – Encrypting data at the point of access, enforcing encryption and enabling access control and key management policies at the server, process and usage layers. 

The IT force that can't be stopped

Cloud Computing has become an IT force that cannot be stopped, even if there is a major change in the government. The cloud is here to stay and will be supported by the government, more or less.

School-as-a-Service

School-as-a-Service is an emerging vision for education. Today you can open your browser and you will have multiple learning options, multiple providers, and multiple devices and customized engaging learning anywhere anytime.

Cloud Computing: Advice for App Control Freaks

Control freak who were used to having control over the applications they used now suffer a challenge with cloud based services they use. Even though Private Clouds provide some sort of control, Public cloud is leveraging best-of-breed reliability, scalability, and operations infrastructure that you could not afford to replicate. Thus there has to be a tradeoff for that full self-sufficiency and control and the cost of running your own cloud.

There has been major development in the Cloud and it is ever evolving. Stay tuned for more sum-ups on Cloud Computing in the forthcoming weeks.

Appreciate if you can add more to this list and help our readers to keep in touch with the Cloud...


Santanu Das
Marketing Evangelist, WOLF Frameworks

NOTE: The views expressed above are purely personal and for informational purposes only. WOLF FRAMEWORKS INDIA PVT. LTD. MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY. The names of actual companies and products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners. U634VC3CTWSN