InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology

InformationWeek: The Business Value of Technology
e2 Conference & Expo - Boston 2013

Informationweek Influencer

Cloud computing and distributed applications are part of a greater shift to building out an ecosystem with inter-dependent parts. This may seem obvious, but what is less obvious is how the industry will interoperate and develop systems that let information flow through the ecosystem.

Interoperability, and the challenge of maintaining control of operations in the face of it, is a central issue for those that operate distributed applications on the internet — or “in the cloud.”

In this case, however, I’m not talking simply about creating and

Yes, cloud adoption in Europe hasn’t happened at as fast as in the US. But despite the difficult economy, there’s considerable interest in cloud on the continent. The market bears watching and here are 5 things you should know about it. Most of what we hear about cloud computing in Europe tends to fixate on the notion that cloud adoption there lags that in the US by one to three years.That may be generally true, but it’s still a simplistic analysis. Despite the economic mess over there, IDC predicts a 30 percent compound annual growth rate for cloud deployments between 2011 and 2016 compared to an 18.5 percent CAGR for the US during that period.

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:1) Who really pays for cloud? This is a tangle in and of itself. In surveys I have seen and conducted, it’s all over the place. IT departments pay for a lot of it, and a lot of it is put on corporate credit cards.  As a result, the costs get hidden or buried within corporate budgets. Another issue — when the holder of the corporate

Cloud computing and education sounds ambiguous on the face of it. Naturally, it’s because, very few individuals, publishers and users alike come from the education sector. In most cases, cloud computing is only associated with businesses and how they can leverage their efficiencies.Just to introduce how the cloud deserves a place in our current education institution, it’s important to reiterate the education philosophy. Its essence is knowledge. It’s this knowledge which brings advancement, achievement and success. However, there are several things which make these parameters unattainable. In blunt language, this is failure. Small classrooms,

According to a study by the London School of Economics and Political Science, the development of cloud computing will result in economic growth, increased productivity, and promote change in the types of jobs and skills required by businesses.The study focuses on two industries – smartphone and aerospace service – and dives into the impact of cloud computing on said industries using the UK, Germany, Italy, and USA and the years 2010 and 2014 as subjects. Microsoft helped underwrite the study.The study claims that investments in cloud computing are contributing to job creation and growth in both the old and slow-growing aerospace sector and the

The European Commission produced a communication entitled “Unleashing the Potential of Cloud Computing in Europe,” which announced a new cloud computing strategy for the European Union. The EC released a statement saying that the Cloud computing strategy will, if it works, facilitate the use of the cloud across the EU both in the state and private sector. This would create and estimated 2.5 million jobs and 160 billion Euros added to the EU’s GDP by 2020.The initiative would align cloud computing services with existing EU protocols regarding consumer rights such as privacy and security of data under the Data Protection Directive. This would mean

in Business, Cloud Computing, Computing, Host, Images, Infographic, IT, Security, Social networks, TechnologyCloud computing as a technology is changing the way so many things are done today. It’s at the center of how you use another company’s e-mail, how you share documents on Google, how you chat on Skype, and so much more. The list of what the cloud implies is endless; however, if you have no clue about what cloud computing does for you, you are not alone. There are many people as you out there who have no idea what the cloud does for them.Cloud computing is not entirely new. It’s been here for a decade or so. However, if you think it’s alien,

There's a lot of concern, much of justified, about the fate of IT jobs as cloud computing gains traction.At one extreme, some analysts predict much of IT will move outside the organization.

Evolven's Syed Raza and Martin Perlin did a great job pulling together the top ways cloud computing is changing IT employment opportunities.  Pulling information and analysis from various sites (including some from yours truly), Raza and Perlin paint of picture of great opportunity -- not decline

The History of Web Hosting Facebook timeline, launched in September, is a community project that lists major events from web hosting historyBack in September, Ben Fisher launched the History of Web Hosting timeline on Facebook, a community project he says is designed to collect what he considers to be key moments in the history of web hosting into Facebook’s timeline format, providing visitors with a snapshot-style look at many of the events that shaped the industry.Fisher is a veteran of the hosting business, a founder of the marketing consulting company TechPad, and the hosting industry information site TheHostingNews, as well as a former marketing

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about IT and its role in the era of cloud computing, API-driven development and increasing interconnectivity. As enterprise computing moves from a server-centric to an application-centric operations model, what happens to the role of IT in a corporation? What is IT to cloud, anyway?Nick Carr famously wrote about the lack of differentiation that IT brings to the business in his 2004 book Does IT Matter?. His argument was essentially that as computing is more and more expected in business, the things IT does for the business provide less and less differentiation. That means that each business owning its own information

Get InformationWeek Daily

Don't miss each day's hottest technology news, sent directly to your inbox, including occasional breaking news alerts.

Sign up for the InformationWeek Daily email newsletter

*Required field

Privacy Statement



Upcoming Events

This Week's Issue

Special Issue

Current Government Issue

In this issue:
  • The Government CIO 25: These influential and accomplished government IT leaders are finding ways to be cost efficient and still innovate.
  • Rethink Video Surveillance: It's not just about networked cameras anymore. New technology provides analytics, automation, facial recognition, real-time alerts and situational-awareness capabilities.
  • Read the Current Issue

Featured Whitepapers

Featured Reports






Video