WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, March 29, 2013

It's no secret that the public cloud market has been growing like gangbusters. In fact, a recent  Gartner study found spending on public cloud services is growing at more than 28% per year and private cloud spending is three times that of public cloud. That projects total cloud spending in 2016 to hit $240 billion. Cloud computing (both public and private) will pave the way forward for how companies will deploy new IT services. Lower price points will help those organizations innovate faster, launch new services more quickly, be more responsive to market conditions and evolve their own business models.

Source: http://readwrite.com

Read More about DaaS, MaaS & DRaaS: The Next Phase Of Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing: Challenge for Financial Firms?

Cloud computing is not as disruptive as many organizations feared. Using a cloud provider has come as naturally to most organizations as using webmail. But for the financial sector, international laws make life—shall we say—challenging. Here’s why. Behind the scenes, there are heavyweight struggles taking place that center around the “sovereignty” of data. If data are stored across international borders, how can your customers be sure that their sensitive personal information is safe? More importantly—at least from the lawyers’ perspective—who can be sued if it isn’t safe?

How to regulate cloud computing?

Who can fail to have noticed the emergence of cloud as the current technology buzzword? Recent commentary has explained how the cloud can transform business and yet sceptics have been falling over themselves to highlight the barriers to its realisation. However, cloud computing entails many of the same considerations and controls as outsourcing to an offshore vendor and, as such, the issues can be addressed and the advantages of cloud computing realised.

What it means to be a cloud pioneer?

The true pioneers of cloud computing are those who both defined and promoted the concept before it became popular to do so. Back in 1999, cloud computing was considered so much Internet-driven voodoo. Indeed, many of those who argued with me at the time about the viability of the concept are now selling and promoting cloud computing technology. (I won't name names!) I guess the pioneers get the arrows, while settlers get the farm.

A guide to cloud computing for SMEs

Focus on what it is you are trying to accomplish in business terms, and let that be your guide. Technology only matters in business if it delivers a measurable benefit, and technology isn't necessarily beneficial just because it's new and popular. You have to determine what it will do for your particular business need. You should hold any IT consultants you work with to that standard as well. They should be able to articulate to you, in clearly understandable terms, what tangible benefit they will deliver. If they recommend a technical solution to you, cloud or otherwise, they should be able to provide the same kind of measurable and predictable benefits. Never buy into a technology just because everyone is talking about it.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, March 22, 2013

It’s that time of year again. You know what I mean, the weather is starting to get warmer, people are starting to venture out and most importantly, the spring conference circuit is in full bloom. Yet underneath this façade is an unspeakable truth. That of the annual PR migration, where flocks of unoriginal, formulaic press releases hit bloggers inboxes.

In my ever so brief review of this years crop, I’ve come to a stark realization. Most cloud computing startups are doomed. They are doomed for a number of reasons, but never the less, they are doomed.

Here’s why…

Cloud computing: what exactly is on offer?

It’s easy to be bamboozled by the chatter about the benefits of cloud solutions for business and what’s available. Deciding on the right mix of cloud versus having your own dedicated infrastructure is even more daunting. So what exactly is on offer? At one end of the scale you have software-as-a-service, which allows businesses to use a provider’s cloud-based applications, such as web-based email systems. At the other end there is infrastructure-as-a-service, where companies outsource their entire operations, including servers and networks to a provider on a pay-per-usage basis.

Cloud Computing: 4 Ways To Overcome IT Resistance

Business and IT leaders are bombarded with cloud computing hype and promotion. Yet very little is said about how the cloud affects the evolution of the IT organization itself. Enterprise cloud adoption is a transformative shift where the greatest implementation challenges are often more about people and process than technology integration. Agents of change, especially in large enterprises, must overcome various forms of resistance. This includes organizational fiefdoms and the IT silos that evolved with them.

Google Drive hit by three outages this week

Google Drive, the cloud storage and applications suite used by millions at home and at work, has suffered three service interruptions this week, making it impossible at times for affected users to access their files and applications. As logged in the official Google Apps Status site, the first incident happened on Monday, and was an outage that lasted about three hours and affected 33 percent of Google Drive user requests. Affected users got error messages, long load times and timeouts, according to an incident report posted on Wednesday.

Amazon Is Building the CIA’s New Cloud Computing System

The CIA has reportedly signed a massive cloud computing deal with Amazon, worth up to $600 million over the next 10 years. FCW reports that its sources have told it Amazon will build a private cloud infrastructure for the CIA, to help it "keep up with emerging technologies like big data in a cost-effective manner not possible under the CIA's previous cloud efforts". Both Amazon and the CIA have declined to comment ion the matter, according to FCW. However, the CIA's Central Intelligence Agency Chief Information Officer, Jeanne Tisinger, recently told an audience at the Northern Virginia Technology Council that the agency was hoping to leverage the commercial sector's innovation cycle.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, March 15, 2013

For many companies, moving their web-application servers to the cloud is an attractive option, since cloud-computing services can offer economies of scale, extensive technical support and easy accommodation of demand fluctuations.

But for applications that depend heavily on database queries, cloud hosting can pose as many problems as it solves. Cloud services often partition their servers into “virtual machines,” each of which gets so many operations per second on a server’s central processing unit, so much space in memory, and the like. That makes cloud servers easier to manage, but for database-intensive applications, it can result in the allocation of about 20 times as much hardware as should be necessary. And the cost of that overprovisioning gets passed on to customers.

Source: MIT.edu

Read More

Google Elbows into the Cloud

In a battle for dominance in cloud computing, Google is taking on Microsoft and Amazon in their own back yard. Google said Tuesday that it was doubling its office space near Seattle, just miles from the campuses of Amazon and Microsoft, and stepping up the hiring of engineers and others who work on cloud technology. It is part of Google’s dive into a business known as cloud services — renting to other businesses access to its enormous data storage and computing power, accessible by the Internet.

Cloud computing's security pitfalls

The word cloud evokes images of all things soft and gentle; the kiss of a kitten or the soft touch of a lambswool mitten. While that might be true of clouds in the real world, those in cyberspace are turning out to be very different entities indeed, especially when it comes to security. Some of them are downright dangerous.

Why Cloud Computing Is Slowly Winning The Trust War

Seeing skeptical CIOs agree to cloud-based pilots of Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) and other applications is evidence of how cloud computing is slowly winning the trust war. Further evidence can be seen from how skeptical many of these CIOs initially were, and how successful pilots led to their gradual trust. This trust hasn’t come cheap however.

Big Data Is the New Cloud Computing

Big data used to have a specific meaning. Meant to describe cast-offs such as log files, this information was "big" because of the amount of electronic refuse created when processing, say, an e-commerce transaction. Big data used to be an exercise in digital dumpster diving. Those days are gone. At the annual South by Southwest Interactive conference, "big data" became a proxy for social data compiled by the likes of Facebook and Twitter. A synonym for capturing sentiment, but on a grand scale. Every company had to become a "big data" company, panelists enthused.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, March 08, 2013

Google recently launched its high-end Chromebook Pixel, and like previous Chromebooks this notebook computer makes a distinctly 21st Century assumption: that users' data, work and play belong mostly online, not on their own computers. Google isn't alone in pushing this notion, but it's the most powerful evangelist for the shift to what tech people call the "cloud" and away from "local" storage.

Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk

The cloud evangelists have an alluring pitch. First, they say, we can now count on being connected as much of the time as necessary. Second, these computing and data services becoming a utility like electricity – easier and safer to run from remote servers than on our local systems.

Read More

The 10 Best Countries for Cloud Computing

1. Japan
2. Australia
3. United States
4. Germany
5. Singapore
6. France
7. United Kingdom
8. South Korea
9. Canada
10. Italy

Business Professors Take on a Key Technology: Cloud Computing

In their new book, Cloud Computing Service and Deployment Models: Layers and Management, two professors from the University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business present a cohesive, highly effective way for businesses large and small to find the answers. Co-authors Alberto M. Bento and Anil K. Aggarwal, both professors of information systems in the school's Department of Information Systems and Decision Science, have gathered experts from several disciplines to consider how business can best manage and take advantage of the opportunities stemming from this unprecedented growth in information resources. The relatively straightforward solution to the problem, they say, is cloud computing.

Cloud Computing: Maximizing the 80%

In the last MSP Mentor post, Does ‘cloud’ take the M out of MSP?, I outlined four strategies you could use as an MSP to counter the threat to your core business posed by global cloud providers like Amazon, Google and Microsoft. This time I’d like to take a closer look at the first of these – how to simplify the deployment of your cloud, and introduce the core features you and your customers will depend on, without unnecessary expenditure of time, energy and money. The foundation of your cloud isn’t necessarily where you add value. I think of it as an 80/20 rule. For the majority of cloud providers, about 80 percent of what you do is the same as everybody else – infrastructure as a service, based on pretty much the same hardware.

Cloud computing adopted by 57% of major councils

Published by web developers Eduserv, the poll of 139 unitary authorities revealed 57.5% have taken up cloud computing – which entrusts remote services with a user's data, software and computation.

The poll also revealed 37% of local authorities across the UK are currently using cloud applications. Cloud hosting was used by 17% of survey respondents and cloud storage by 12.5%.

Only 29% of councils have not deployed cloud computing, the survey found.

‘Councils are often written off as displaying a lack of innovation, but it is clear that many of them are leading the way with cloud,’ said Andrew Hawkins, business development director, Eduserv.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, March 01, 2013

Let’s take a look at how the cloud is affecting authors. Authors everywhere should be paying homage to Gutenberg, the man who created the printing press late in the mid 15th century. Without him and his invention, books would be non-existent and there would be no “authors” in the true sense of the word; no Stephen King, Ayn Rand or Isaac Aasimov churning out page upon page of stories.

Source: CloudTimes

Maybe this is putting a little bit too much emphasis on the author. While they do take care of the conception of the material, it is the publishers and the publishing companies that are tasked with manufacturing, reproducing and ultimately selling their works.

Read More

What's driving corporate cloud use? Home cloud use

A new study sponsored by CDW shows what may seem obvious: Home users of cloud-based services are more likely to promote work use of cloud computing. The interesting part is that these self-motivated customers have done a better job of selling cloud computing than the marketing departments with their billions of dollars. CDW's "2013 State of the Cloud" report surveyed 1,242 tech professionals and concluded that the personal use of cloud services is a big factor in corporate cloud adoption. In the report, 73 percent of respondents claimed that, in their company, employees' use of personal cloud services has "significantly influenced" the decision to move aspects of enterprise IT to the public cloud. The survey included employees who worked within as well as outside of IT.

Where The Highest Paying Cloud Computing Jobs Are

Using analytics to better understand the cloud computing job market is fascinating. One of the most advanced companies in this area is Wanted Analytics, who aggregates job postings from over 500 job boards and maintains a database of over 600 million unique job listings.  They specialize in business intelligence for the talent marketplace, providing insights into how one company’s salary range compares to competitors for the same position, also calculating the difficulty to hire a given type of candidate.  They’ve developed a unique Hiring Scale to accomplish this.

Are you on the right cloud computing career path?

While the rise of cloud computing frightens some in IT, many see the technology as an opportunity to accelerate their careers and their bank accounts. And IT pros have good reason to be optimistic. In a 2012 survey conducted within a 90-day period by Wanted Analytics, more than 2,400 companies said they are seeking candidates with cloud computing skills. Moreover, hiring demand increased by 61% from 2011 to 2012 for IT people with cloud knowledge. Analyst firm IDC also released a report last year that indicated public and private spending in cloud computing will increase exponentially over the next few years, resulting in an available jobs boost of nearly 14 million positions worldwide.

How Cloud Computing Is Redefining the M&A Landscape

In 2013, expect to see the pace of mergers and acquisitions for cloud computing, mobile and analytics technologies accelerate as software vendors look to fill gaps in their product and service strategies. This and other key insights of how cloud computing is reshaping the merger and acquisition landscape can be found in the latest Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC) report published today.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, February 22, 2013

As public cloud computing gains greater adoption across enterprises, there’s an increased level of spending occurring on infrastructure-related services including Infrastructure-as-a-Service(IaaS).  Enterprises are prioritizing how to get cloud platforms integrated with legacy systems to make use of the years of data they have accumulated.  From legacy Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) to Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems, integrating legacy systems of record to cloud-based platforms will accelerate through 2016.  I’ve seen this in conversations with resellers and enterprise customers, and this trend is also reflected in Gartner’s latest report on public cloud computing adoption.

Read More

Microsoft Azure overtakes Amazon's cloud in performance test

Microsoft Azure's cloud outperformed Amazon Web Services in a series of rigorous tests conducted by Nasuni, a storage vendor that annually benchmarks CSPs (cloud service providers). Nasuni uses public cloud resources in its enterprise storage offering, so each year the company conducts a series of rigorous tests on the top CSPs' clouds in an effort to see which companies offer the best performing, most reliable infrastructure. Last year, Amazon Web Services' cloud came out on top, but this year Microsoft Azure outperformed AWS in performance and reliability measures. AWS is still better at handling extra-large storage volumes, while Nasuni found that the two OpenStack powered clouds it tested -- from HP and Rackspace -- were lacking, particularly at larger scales.

Cloud Computing Boosts Next Generation of Startups, Survey Shows

Cloud computing isn’t just potentially delivering savings and flexibility for existing organizations. It is also laying the groundwork for a new generation of business startups, a new survey finds. The study of 1,300 U.S. and U.K. executives, conducted by Rackspace Hosting with support from Manchester Business School in the U.K., finds cloud engagements are delivering positive impacts, from cost savings to more innovation. Interestingly, the survey also reveals that most of these executives see cloud as laying the groundwork for the next entrepreneurial boom. 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.

Going to the Cloud? Time to Make Security and Policy Decisions

With cloud computing taking off at a very fast pace — some administrators are scrambling to jump into the technology. Unfortunately, many organizations are purchasing the right gear, deploying the right technologies, but still forgetting the policy creation process. The truth is that cloud computing is relatively new for many organizations. This means that companies looking to enter the cloud must be careful and avoid jumping in with both feet. Although every environment is unique, administrators must take the time to create a plan which will help them retain control over their cloud initiative.

Misconceptions Your Parents Make About Cloud Computing

The collective sigh heard around the world when they read this section may signal that this joke has run its course, but you must have forgotten already, this article is about what your parent’s think. In addition, the day your dad stops telling the same bad joke over and over again is the day he is no longer a father. So let me explain an inconvenient truth (see what I did there?) about this misconception. Sure the joke, “Al Gore invented the internet,” is a little old but your parents had seven years to work on this environmental Cloud twist to the joke to shock it back to life. Now our parents will confuse their joke with reality and we have to hear them complain about Al Gore for a few more years. Just let the man be!

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, February 15, 2013

While software has been “eating the world” for years in the consumer world, now start-up software is infiltrating even the largest of enterprises at an ever increasing rate. Today’s enterprise-grade datacenter infrastructure makes it easier than ever for startups to rapidly build and deploy disruptive software. This is the basis for applications like Box.net, Marketo, and Nimble that quickly emerged as “must-have” software.

1. Quickly Start-up
2. Scale Simply and Easily
3. Efficient Cost Structure
4. More flexibility
5. Do what you do best

Read More

New guidelines eliminate PCI as a barrier to cloud adoption

You know a trend is picking up steam when the security standards bodies start issuing guidelines. So it's good news that the Payment Card Industry trade group, whose PCI Security Standards Council's standards dictate how most electronic payment transactions are handled, has come out with its guidelines for cloud security (PDF). In even better news, they're worth reading, with solid lessons for IT.

Will cloud computing applications become the golden record for customer data?

It has long been thought that the place to find the most accurate information about customers is in a company's enterprise resource planning system. But some within the IT industry say cloud computing applications -- and specifically Software as a Service-based sales applications like Salesforce.com -- may eventually become the place to find the most up-to-date customer data. A subtle shift in power may be underway.

Get prepared for cloud-based computing

Businesses considering switching to cloud-based computing can now access free guidance on how to secure their privacy in the cloud. The Privacy Commissioner released a checklist today of potential questions small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) can use when working out whether a change to cloud computing may suit them. Cloud computing is the name commonly given to computer resources such as data storage being delivered as a service via the internet. Commissioner Marie Shroff said many SMEs were flying blind with the range of options, providers and risks involved in cloud computing including ensuring that their client and staff information remains safe.

Rackspace Down On Slowing Cloud Computing Growth

Rackspace Hosting (RAX) late Tuesday reported fourth-quarter sales below estimates, as cloud computing growth slowed, sending shares down in after-hours trading. Rackspace said Q4 revenue rose 24.5% to $352.9 million. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected sales of $355.4 million. Rackspace posted Q4 profit, minus items, of 21 cents a share, up 17% from a year earlier, in-line with estimates. Rackspace garnered 24.7% of Q4 sales from cloud computing products, up from 20.6% in the year-earlier period. Rackspace said cloud sales rose to $87.3 million in Q4, up 49% from the year-earlier quarter.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, February 08, 2013

Want your mind blown? The Motley Fool Rulebreakers released this report revealing the significance of what has now become referred to as “the cloud.” Give it a read.

What is the cloud?

To be clear, the definition of cloud computing is sometimes still debated among investing and technological professionals. In short, though, cloud computing is a new industry where services are offered and delivered via a network, primarily the internet. Most all firms providing cloud computing services utilize rental or pay as you models for charging users.

Following are 3 of some of the most utilized services:

Software (like accounting, information systems, or HR)

Storage (benefits of data storehouses without owning the necessary tools)

Infrastructure (benefits of hardware and structure without owning the assets)

Does the following image excite you?

Read More

Calculating the true cost of cloud outages

Amazon.com had an outage for 49 minutes on Jan. 31, and it cost big -- more than $4 million in lost sales. I'm sure many in the cloud computing community where thinking, "Now you know how it feels." According to Network World's Brandon Butler, "Amazon officials have said that the biggest customer of the company's cloud division -- AWS (Amazon Web Services) -- is Amazon.com. AWS has experienced a variety of outages during the past three years, but usually the Amazon.com retail site is not impacted." For example, an EBS (Amazon Elastic Block Storage) outage in October 2012 affected such customers as Reddit. Moreover, an outage on Christmas Eve 2012 brought down Netflix, but not the video steaming service that Amazon.com provides. In the Jan. 31 case, Amazon.com appears to the affected party.

How Cloud Computing Is Driven by Mobile, Media and Marketing

The crucial fact is that those who defend enterprise computing fail to grasp the fact that legacy IT infrastructure and operations don't address the requirements of new application types that I label the "three M's"—mobile, media and marketing. These apps are flocking to public cloud computing because they're not well served by traditional infrastructure and are much more aligned with what cloud computing brings to the table.

Size Doesn't Matter In IaaS Game

ElasticHosts has launched a new style of infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) to challenge Amazon, Rackspace and other major cloud service providers with its own brand of cloud services.

ElasticHosts announced Feb. 5 that it has nine data centers around the world, and it's possible all nine would fit into one of Google's or Microsoft's.

Cloud Computing And Thin Clients

Thin clients have been around for as long as there have been computers tied together in networks. The concept is pretty simple; individual users do not need full access to a computer to do their work, so rather than placing a fully functional computer on each desk, a thin client machine provides just the functionality needed to accomplish the necessary tasks.

Thin client systems are useful in some business and institutional settings. They have the advantage of keeping the major computing functions, processing and storage, in a safe, central location. There is also potential savings in software licensing, the software is licensed to the central computer but can be accessed from any of the thin client remote terminals.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, February 01, 2013

Capacity management is the most underestimated problem of cloud computing, says Morgan Stanley executive director for IT strategy Evangelos Kotsovinos. Evangelos Kotsovinos is leading cloud computing strategy and execution at Morgan Stanley.

“One of the main reasons for using cloud computing services is to get efficiency and cost savings. And maximum IT efficiency on the cloud comes from good capacity planning and management,” Kotsovinos said at the Cloud Expo Europe 2013 event. But it is still the most overlooked and underestimated aspect of the cloud, he said.

Source: Computer Weekly

Read More…

Roundup of Cloud Computing & Enterprise Software Market Estimates and Forecasts, 2013

When the CEO of a rust-belt manufacturer speaks of cloud computing as critical to his company’s business strategies for competing globally, it’s clear a fundamental shift is underway. Nearly every manufacturing company I’ve spoken with in the last ninety days has a mobility roadmap and is also challenged to integrate existing ERP, pricing and fulfillment systems into next-generation selling platforms.

Cloud computing for small businesses: it's time to follow the herd

The latest market forecasts for cloud computing are predicting 30% annual growth in the industry, as more and more people adopt the latest technology to store information in a virtual space. But cloud computing isn't just for data, you can also use it to run applications and software remotely, without being tied to one computer. For a small businesses, outsourcing IT to the cloud lowers the need for specialist skills and frees managers to concentrate on the core business. It may cost slightly more than in-house IT, but this is often outweighed, as it can sometimes enable a small company to take a "big company" approach to problems by increasing efficiency.

7 Great Unsolved Mysteries of Cloud Computing

There has been no shortage of assumptions made and confusion about cloud computing, along with boatloads of conventional wisdom. But the rise of cloud brings with it some so far unanswerable questions. Here are just seven of the great unsolved mysteries that are accompanying the great cloud computing migration of the 2010s.

Today's cloud contracts are driving away enterprise adoption

Cloud computing has a growing problem: Many providers haven't built contract negotiations into their customer on-boarding processes. Instead, they offer "take it or leave it" contracts that protect the provider from everything, transferring all responsibility, liability, and risk to the businesses using the cloud services. Small and medium-sized businesses have accepted such contracts because they can't afford the lawyers to second-guess them. But large businesses have lawyers, and they aren't about to enter into such one-sided contracts.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, January 25, 2013

Although no longer quite the buzzword that it was back in 2011, it’s clear that the cloud is here to stay, even though some still find cloud storage hard to trust. As demand grows for faster, higher-resolution videos and games – especially on smaller and smaller devices – our dependence on cloud storage and cloud computing will only increase. But what does “the cloud” actually mean to you? It can be unnerving to rely on cloud technology without fully understanding how it works, so read on for a more substantial grasp of what’s happening.



Read More

Big Data and cloud computing empower smart machines to do human work, take human jobs

To better understand the impact of technology on jobs, The Associated Press analyzed employment data from 20 countries; and interviewed economists, technology experts, robot manufacturers, software developers, CEOs and workers who are competing with smarter machines. The AP found that almost all the jobs disappearing are in industries that pay middle-class wages, ranging from $38,000 to $68,000. Jobs that form the backbone of the middle class in developed countries in Europe, North America and Asia.

Cisco's Private Cloud: Pain And Profit

Cisco is not a cloud service provider, but it has an expanding suite of products under the label "Cisco Intelligent Automation for Cloud 3.1." With it, Cisco is building out a private cloud across seven major data centers in hopes that its experience will serve as a model for customers to build out their own private clouds. Intelligent Automation for Cloud 3.1 derives both from Cisco's own data center experience and from acquisitions such as Tidal Software in 2009 with its IT automation products, and newScale in 2011 with its service catalogue, self-service portal and process orchestrator.

Beware: 7 Sins of Cloud Computing

Why seven? Why not?! While none of these problem areas align with the so-called deadly sins, the reality is that each represents a real challenge that can arise in many organizations, whether enterprises or SMBs, when it comes to implementing and maintaining a cloud architecture. These are universal challenges. While each is not an ultimate, insurmountable hurdle to adoption, thinking about how each of these is wrong, or at least misguided, is a smart way to navigate toward successful cloud strategy and implementation.

Cloud Standards: Bottom Up, Not Top Down

There's a growing demand for standards to bring some sanity to the cloud computing market. Both buyers and sellers have their reasons to want common ways to do things such as transfer data from one cloud-based app or infrastructure to another. But the competition to be in control is fierce. "The Internet had the IETF, which wrangled people and protocols," says Mathew Lodge, VP of cloud services at VMware. "But in the cloud, the standardization landscape is so fragmented. There isn't a central body or forum or place, although lots of people and organizations are trying to be that."

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, January 11, 2013

With the analysts predicting cloud computing to rise and rise in 2013, it can be refreshing to get a consumer perspective on how they use the cloud and their overall knowledge of it. Yet the signs don’t appear to be good – a new survey from UK-based hosting group Webfusion has revealed that two thirds of UK consumers don’t have a clear view of what the cloud entails. Webfusion polled over 1,000 people, with their findings giving little credence to a consumer shift in cloud perception.

When asked the question ‘when it comes to computers, do you understand what ‘cloud’ means?’, just over a third (33.8%) related most closely to the response ‘yes, I have a clear understanding’. 28.5% emphatically said ‘no!’ whilst 18.3% agreed with the response ‘I have some understanding’.

Source: Cloud Tech

Read More

Why cloud computing ROI tools are worthless

With the rise of cloud computing comes a rise in tools and models that estimate the cost benefit of the technology. Most are created and promoted by cloud providers that sell their services, and a few come from analysts and consulting organizations. Whatever their source, their ROI calculations are based on the same assumption: Cloud computing avoids hardware and software investments, and because you pay only for the resources you use, the cost of those resources should align directly with the amount you require.

The Perils of Cloud Computing

The cloud may be the future, but it's not a bed of roses. The Amazon Cloud had a meltdown on Christmas Eve, affecting many customers who use the service. Companies that use Amazon as their cloud, their customers and workers were all affected. What should we learn from this high-profile meltdown? It may be the talk of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week, but the Cloud may not be the panacea they told us it was. Over the last several years, companies of all types have been steering us into the cloud. The arguments they offer seem to make sense. However, there is also a dark side, and that side bit Amazon and its cloud customers in the rear end.

Cloud computing's Achilles' heel: Poor customer service

I'm consistently taken aback by many businesses' disregard for customer service. As long as customers push back on companies that treat them shabbily, enterprises willing to cut service will find themselves out of business or forced to merge with establishments that treat their customers better. Giving short shrift to customer service remains an issue in the cloud, which is based on the notion of automation and self-provisioning at scale. Dealing with people individually seems contrary to the idea of the cloud. Many public cloud providers assumed they could just put a layer of Web pages between them and their customers, and all would be right -- no phones to answer, no planes to board.

Companies Learn to Successfully Implement Cloud Computing in Global Knowledge Workshop

Through a moderated question-and-answer format, participants will be engaged in a guided conversation with cloud computing veterans that is structured around the key decisions IT managers face when implementing cloud computing. Panelists include executives with real-world corporate cloud responsibilities and experience and cloud subject matter experts with wide industry views.

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.

WOLF Weekly Cloud Sum-up, January 04, 2013

It's 2013. Cloud computing is another year older. As adopters, we're making fewer mistakes, but I suspect we'll repeat many of the same errors from 2012.

Now it is the time to work on cloud computing improvements, to set reasonable goals and to make sure we live up to them. To that end, here are four cloud computing resolutions for 2013 I suggest we all adopt:

1. I resolve not to "cloud-wash." 
2. I resolve not to use cloud computing for everything. 
3. I resolve to always consider management, performance, and service governance. 
4. I resolve not to question cloud security before I understand the technology. 

Read details about the 4 cloud computing resolutions you should make for 2013 

Cloud computing, mobile ushering in "major shift" for enterprise security practices

Gartner Thursday held forth on what it expects to be the top security trends for 2013, citing the rise of cloud computing, social media and employees bringing their own devices to work as among the forces likely to produce radical changes in how enterprises manage IT security. The market research firm also says the "major shift" expected in IT security in 2013 will shake up established IT security vendors as newer players in cloud and mobile challenge them.

The 7 deadly sins of cloud computing

Automation, cost savings, and data redundancy - no wonder cloud adoption is tempting. The CISO can rest easy knowing there is no vice in moving to the cloud to reap these rewards. What may keep her up at night is not knowing how many missteps the enterprise is making in the process. Here CISOs and security buffs round up seven security sins that can undermine cloud computing's benefits.

Understanding The Cloud Computing Infrastructure

As a long time advocate of cloud computing, I already know most of the technology and terms surrounding cloud computing and if someone mentions a new application or feature I might be able to gleam how it works based on the technologies used. This is not necessarily true for most people even if they have been in the IT industry for a long time. That is why I write “simple” articles that the less informed might be able to grasp easily. But to get a real understanding of something, you need to get an understanding of its internal structure, understand how it works and not just what it does. If someone tells you that an airplane flies because of engines and wings, it will still seem like magic because you are not really informed on the how. Same as cloud computing, for many it simply provides them with that service that they take for granted without really knowing how it is done. And to understand it better, we must understand the underlying infrastructure of cloud computing.

Will Cloud Computing Destroy What is Left of Your Free Time?

Computing giants like Amazon and Rackspace are leaders in the virtualization of computer servers, a core element in the development of cloud computing. This technology makes it possible for a single PC that was used 20 percent of the time to be used 80 percent of the time or more, Hardy said. Software that monitored workloads could identify when a machine was free, and assign it a workload that would keep it busy without distracting it from its original function, he said. But until recently, that kind of utilization efficiency was seen mostly in corporate data centers and computer-centric organizations.

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.