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.