Friday, August 12, 2011

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, Aug 12, 2011

As businesses seek to move their IT systems from traditional in-house arrangements to services which are hosted in the cloud to access from a web browser, reduced costs and increased productivity makes cloud computing an attractive option. However, outsourcing such a critical function requires a legal agreement which will protect a business' interests. A business should ensure the contract clearly states that it retains ownership of all data hosted by the service provider and that it has the right to access this data at any time it wishes to do so. Warranties and indemnities should be procured in relation to performance, accessibility and security of the data, in addition to setting out the precise security measures in place. The contract may need to include an obligation on the service provider to procure insurance for this purpose and not to do or omit to do anything which might vitiate the same. We here at WOLF really take our license agreements seriously.

Read more to find what else you need to include in your cloud computing agreements

The legal traps of cloud computing

"Ignorance is bliss". A lot of small business owners think they'll enter the cloud and all will be fine, but they do so without fully comprehending the risks and regulatory requirements. Some of the things business owners should clarify before entering the cloud are:
  • Where is the data hosted? 
  • Can you get your data back? 
  • What about Data Encryption? 
  • Are you still backing up anyway? 
  • Finally always ask for legal advice 
Tips for regulatory compliance

Cloud computing makes it harder for enterprises to be sure they're complying with industry and government regulations. Here's how to stay in compliance:
  1. Be aware of new challenges the cloud may add to your IT workload 
  2. Track the fast-changing standards landscape 
  3. Take care with the SLA 
  4. Make security a priority 
Future of cloud computing … more clouds. Seriously.

Forrester believes that today we have a simple cloud broker model where companies can buy access to infrastructure as a service on demand; things such as Enomaly’s SpotCloud fit this mold. However, in the future, it expects a “full broker” to emerge that automatically spans all clouds and acts as a “fixer” for companies seeking to deploy new apps or handle busy times of year. The fixers don’t just do this for compute resources, but also will one day do it for people, making the idea of hiring seasonal workers something the full cloud broker could do — providing both the IT resources to support those people but also the people themselves.

Cloud 101: Are You a PC, Mac or Cloud?

When we talk about a computer’s local operating system (OS) today, we’re usually talking about Mac OSX or Microsoft Windows (or increasingly, Linux). Every computer has either of the above or some other OS. Today cloud computing gives you another option: the cloud OS. A cloud OS is designed to run within your Web browser, which means that it and all your programs and data live on the Internet rather than locally on your computer’s hard drive. In fact, everything comes from the cloud: your user interface, your applications and the files you create and save. Because all your data lives on the Internet, you can log onto your “computer” from any online device - a tablet, laptop, PC or even a Smartphone - using just a Web browser. Isn’t cloud making lives easier?


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

Don’t forget to add your comments and suggestions. I will have more around the cloud a week later.

Tadaaa…


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.

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