WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, Mar 09, 2012

The National Institute of Standards and Technology published its 16th and final definition of cloud in September. A great resource for government agencies, but businesses may need something more strategic and less tactical. What is cloud computing again? Dave Linthicum revisited this question, observing that many people are referencing the cloud definition established at the US federal government level, by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST). NIST admits that it has published no less than 16 updates to the definition, with its final definition published in September 2011. In short, NIST defines cloud this way:

“Cloud computing is a model for enabling ubiquitous, convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g., networks, servers, storage, applications and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or service provider interaction.”



Read more to find out what Dave goes on saying…

Cloud computing market ‘is maturing’

Businesses that are trying to save money are increasingly switching to cloud computing, analysts have noted. According to international research group Gartner, the cloud market is maturing because the technology appeals to "budget-minded executives" in particular. Indeed, the organisation said that by offloading some IT functions to cloud providers, businesses have been able to reduce their operational costs.

Cloud computing could help public health agencies connect with providers

Public health agencies should consider using cloud-based platforms to connect with healthcare providers both directly and through health information exchanges, Noam H. Arzt, president of HLN Consulting in San Diego, said in a Government Health IT article. Cloud computing offers flexibility, scalability, technical support and enhanced security, Arzt noted. Moreover, he said, the total cost of ownership can be quite competitive with that of traditional onsite solutions.

Cloud computing trends, cloud strategy begins to emerge

“People talk a lot about the cloud. It's kind of become the buzz word in the industry. People will talk about one flavor of cloud; they'll talk about another flavor of cloud. The word cloud has become really, really annoying because then some other marketing person has another spin on cloud,” says James Gosling, the father of Java, poking fun of the fact that the term itself seems to have taken on all sorts of different meanings, in different contexts, from different people.

Cloud computing and why educational sectors need to modernize

Cloud computing has been one of the hottest trends today. Basically, in the world of business, cloud computing has been seen as something that is highly beneficial. In fact, to say that it is beneficial is largely an underestimation. After all, modern day businesses will not be able to compete and they will not be able to keep up with the dynamism of the world if they do not make use of the latest in digital and internet technology which includes cloud computing.


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

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

Santanu Das
Marketing Evangelist, WOLF Frameworks

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