Experts don't often agree, especially in IT, but when it comes to cloud security it appears some finally do. Is cloud computing secure? It depends, is the answer. It is also the reason why the Open Data Center Alliance (ODCA), an organisation that counts BMW, Deutsche Bank, Disney and National Australia Bank as members, is still attempting to end ambiguity and define cloud security stardards for businesses. An assurance model proposed by the ODCA a year ago, is still under revision, after a proof-of-concept threw up more questions than it answered. "The biggest problem with the cloud is that you cannot get a consistent definition of what is secure," said Matt Lowth, National Australia Bank's principal security architect. "And if I can't get the same answer from three different vendors, how do I know what secure is?"
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Cloud computing journey starts with the data centre
In a special series, Fairfax Business Media Asia will be previewing speakers from the CIO Summit 2012. The debate on cloud computing should not be about private or public clouds but on the data centre, according to Raju Chellam, cloud practice head, Dell South Asia & Korea. And the key questions are about merging legacy systems with new infrastructure and "migrating apps without migraine," said Chellam. He shares with CIO Asia why the answers lie within the data centre.
Who Ultimately Pays for Cloud Computing? It Depends
When the department or user group of a company decides it wants to use a cloud-borne service, who ponies up with the money for the service? In the case of outside services from a providers such as Amazon Web Services or Salesforce.com, there may be discretionary funds within a line of business that are transferred via credit-card transaction. If there’s an internal service within a private cloud, well, the question of who pays gets cloudy as well. How much should the owner of a service carry the costs of design, maintenance, server provisioning and upgrades if other departments are tapping into said service?
Cloud Computing: Deploying Open-Source Cloud Systems
Open-source cloud frameworks have made a major splash in recent months with big players such as Rackspace/NASA, Hewlett-Packard, VMware and Citrix backing major open-source cloud initiatives like OpenStack and CloudStack. As these major vendors continue to build out their public cloud infrastructure to battle with the incumbent services leader, Amazon Web Services, there are some underlying questions about whether the same technologies are ready for the enterprise. After all, open-source cloud system deployments are only a few years old, without a lot of use cases in production at this time. Although a number of first-mover-type enterprises—such as telecoms, financial services providers, scientific laboratories and media companies—are already comfortable with the alternative open-source cloud systems, not many smaller and midrange companies know much about them
Cloud computing improves business
A growing number of Marlborough businesses are adapting to use cloud-based services says Blenheim IT consultant Lee Harper. Harper is the managing director of Blenheim IT consulting firm pcMedia, who for the past two years has been working on cloud computing projects for businesses around the country and gaining a reputation as industry leaders, he said. He has been invited to speak at the Lawlink conference held in Wellington in September, to give businesses in the legal sector ideas of how cloud computing can improve business and cut costs.
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
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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Photo: Hector Casanova |
Read More
Cloud computing journey starts with the data centre
In a special series, Fairfax Business Media Asia will be previewing speakers from the CIO Summit 2012. The debate on cloud computing should not be about private or public clouds but on the data centre, according to Raju Chellam, cloud practice head, Dell South Asia & Korea. And the key questions are about merging legacy systems with new infrastructure and "migrating apps without migraine," said Chellam. He shares with CIO Asia why the answers lie within the data centre.
Who Ultimately Pays for Cloud Computing? It Depends
When the department or user group of a company decides it wants to use a cloud-borne service, who ponies up with the money for the service? In the case of outside services from a providers such as Amazon Web Services or Salesforce.com, there may be discretionary funds within a line of business that are transferred via credit-card transaction. If there’s an internal service within a private cloud, well, the question of who pays gets cloudy as well. How much should the owner of a service carry the costs of design, maintenance, server provisioning and upgrades if other departments are tapping into said service?
Cloud Computing: Deploying Open-Source Cloud Systems
Open-source cloud frameworks have made a major splash in recent months with big players such as Rackspace/NASA, Hewlett-Packard, VMware and Citrix backing major open-source cloud initiatives like OpenStack and CloudStack. As these major vendors continue to build out their public cloud infrastructure to battle with the incumbent services leader, Amazon Web Services, there are some underlying questions about whether the same technologies are ready for the enterprise. After all, open-source cloud system deployments are only a few years old, without a lot of use cases in production at this time. Although a number of first-mover-type enterprises—such as telecoms, financial services providers, scientific laboratories and media companies—are already comfortable with the alternative open-source cloud systems, not many smaller and midrange companies know much about them
Cloud computing improves business
A growing number of Marlborough businesses are adapting to use cloud-based services says Blenheim IT consultant Lee Harper. Harper is the managing director of Blenheim IT consulting firm pcMedia, who for the past two years has been working on cloud computing projects for businesses around the country and gaining a reputation as industry leaders, he said. He has been invited to speak at the Lawlink conference held in Wellington in September, to give businesses in the legal sector ideas of how cloud computing can improve business and cut costs.
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
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.