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A Cloud User Switches Clouds
Less than two weeks after platform-as-a-service vendor Coghead disclosed that it's going out of business, competitor Caspio has migrated one of Coghead's abandoned customers to its platform.
Salesforce CEO Benioff Claims Huge Wins Over Oracle
UPDATE: Bob Evans has just posted a new column about Salesforce and Benioff's challenges and opportunities in squaring off against Oracle, Microsoft and SAP.
Two months after Oracle CEO Larry Ellison told financial analysts his company was whipping Salesforce in head-to-head competition for cloud deals, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff hit back this week by releasing a list of customers h
Novell Rolls Out Manager For Virtual Environments
The company's PlateSpin Orchestrate 2.0 software helps coordinate Hyper-V, Xen-based environments.
IT Search Engine Adds Netflow
Startup Paglo, which offers SaaS-based IT management based on search, now collects Netflow data to help customers monitor bandwidth usage by users, applications and protocols.
Gmail Failure Breeds Status Dashboard
The software provides data on the status of Google Apps applications, including Gmail, Google Calendar, Google Talk, Google Docs, Google Sites, and Google Video.
Yahoo CEO Bartz Shakes Up Management
While Yahoo's CFO and mobile czar pack their bags, the executive's first blog indicates a new focus on improving relations with customers and advertisers.
Google Takes Credibility Hit With Gmail Outage
The company will credit some customers for 15 days of service, which would amount to almost 4% of the $50 per user per year Google charges.
Coghead Failure Highlights Risks Of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is growing, with Google now monetizing its App Engine. But no matter what the vendor, customers should have a good emergency-exit strategy.
Honda Logistics Adds SaaS Link To Supply Chain
This success story highlights one of the reasons why CIOs in this rotten economy can't close their eyes to forward-looking innovation: a Honda warehousing unit says that a SaaS application from a small vendor called SmartTurn has exceeded all of its expectations and is leading to "a whole new change in how this type of business is done."
HP, Sun To Support Solaris On ProLiant Servers
The deal elevates Sun to a strategic partner for HP's ProLiant servers and could also help each in its battle with a common enemy: IBM.
Survey: Fear Slows Cloud Computing Adoption
A survey of 500 C-level executives and IT managers yields some interesting attitudes toward cloud computing. The bottom line is that while many business and technology managers see potential value in the cloud, fears over security and control are holding them back.
Keep Your Eye on the Prize
My greatest fear as we run, not walk, in the direction of the clouds is that we won't consider how cloud computing folds into our IT strategy, but more how our IT strategy needs to fold into cloud computing. That's dangerous thinking, considering how many times we've done that over the years with less than positive results...
Memo To Google: I Know 600 Students Who Depend On Your Gmail
I couldn't help but take Google's Gmail outage today a bit personally. I'm in the midst of my one, big yearly contribution to my son's school: computerizing the school's heavily paper-based read-a-thon competition, using Gmail as the platform. So I'm asking you please, Google, don't mess up my PTO project. For once I look like a hero rather than the under-involved parent.
VMware Adds To Data Center Operating System
vCenter Server Heartbeat and vShield, launched at VMware's user group meeting, bring the company closer to supplying the data center operating system via its virtual machine management capabilities.
Google App Engine Now Ready To Take Your Money
The launch of a billing system for its Web application hosting platform puts Google in competition with Amazon Web Services and Microsoft's Azure Services Platform.
How To Get Started With Storage-As-A-Service
Pay-as-you-go online storage services are a flexible way to deal with exploding data volume. For 25 cents per month, you can rent a gigabyte of storage from Nirvanix. But is that any way to buy enterprise storage?
Microsoft Offers 'Appliance-Like' Data Warehouses
Microsoft has teamed with Bull, Dell, and HP to offer appliance-like data warehouses starting at $13,000 per terabyte.
'Guitar Hero' Rocks On To Android
With the introduction of paid applications in the Android Market, a wave of high-profile games may be coming to Google's mobile platform.
Cloud Experts Miss The Point: Solve A Problem Upfront
At the Cloud Computing Forum, InformationWeek asked a distinguished panel why it was necessary for every hypervisor vendor to launch its own virtual machine runtime format. If we can see the need to move workloads from one cloud to another, a common runtime format would simplify the process. What will it take, I asked, a user revolt?
Coghead's Collapse: Memo From The Trenches
The demise of platform-as-a-service vendor Coghead is being described as a "debacle" and a "disaster" for the small and midsize companies who were using applications built on Coghead's cloud-based platform. Here's the story from the trenches.
Security, Privacy And Compliance In The Cloud
One of the more interesting panel discussions at the IDC Cloud Computing Forum on Feb 18th in San Francisco was about managing the complexities of security, privacy and compliance in the Cloud. The simple answer according to panelists Carolyn Lawson, CIO of California Public Utilities Commission, and Michael Mucha, CISO of Stanford Hospital and Clinics is "it ain't easy!"
Violent Video Game Law Ruled Unconstitutional
The 2005 law prohibited the sale of violent video games to anyone under 18 and imposed a fine of as much as $1,000.
Why Cloud At All?
In his recent blog, Bycast CTO David Silk provides some insight on how enterprises minimize the risk associated with adopting cloud storage. At the heart of the matter is why does cloud storage or, for that matter, cloud computing, exist at all?
Is SaaS Cheaper? Depends On How Long You Have It.
Gartner published a report this week on the "five most-common SaaS assumptions." I agree with all of them, but must throw in my own two cents on the first assumption: SaaS is less expensive than on-premises software.
Lessons From The Demise Of A Cloud Startup
Amid the growing interest in cloud computing, Coghead's collapse provides a reality check. SAP is providing a safety net for Coghead's intellectual property and its employees, but Coghead's customers are left to fend for themselves.
Intel Solid-State Drive Found To Slow Under Heavy Use
The problems appear to be in the sector remapping and wear-leveling algorithms that are suppose to improve performance.
SAP Buys Cloud Computing Startup Coghead
Coghead's service continues through April, but SAP will shut customer obligations and relationships down after that.
A Cloud Conservative
Vanguard talks about its cautious approach to public cloud services, and the steps it's taking to build an internal cloud.
Where Does Apple Go From Here?
Apple's got room for future triumphs -- but it also faces threats from a battered economy, rejuvenated competitors, and a leadership crisis precipitated by Steve Jobs' illness.
What To Look For In Virtual Server Backup Products
Virtual machine backup software is evolving rapidly, and there's no one best tool.
Western Digital Redesigns Consumer Back-Up Drive
The device can also provide storage for Xbox 360 and Sony PlayStation 3 video-game consoles, wireless digital picture frames, or digital TVs.
Beyond AIM: Top Instant Messaging Clients For Business
Instant messaging has all but replaced the phone as an office tool. We take AIM, Google Talk, ICQ, Jabber, Yahoo Instant Messenger, and Windows Live Messenger for a spin and give you the lowdown.
Nintendo DSi Making U.S. Debut In April
Among the unique features on the DSi is two 0.3 megapixel cameras, one on the external body and the other pointing at the user when the device is flipped open.
Amazon's Cloud Is Too Cloudy
Amazon senior VP Andy Jassy talks about Amazon Web Services in a recent interview with TechFlash.com. It's an interesting chat with the guy who oversees Amazon's cloud computing business. Unfortunately, Jassy, once again, refuses to answer key questions about AWS.
Berkeley Talks Cloud: Should We Listen?
Far too many people out there in the emerging space of cloud computing are arguing the semantics of this model, and not what's important -- the architectural improvement opportunities and the reasons why businesses should look at cloud computing... What's important to this movement is the use of the model, the benefit to business, and what we need to do to get there.
Google Row Boat
Oliver (Olly) Hicks set out from Tasmania last month in his rowboat to become the first person to row across the world on his own.
Hybrid Storage Service Targets Cloud Doubters
Don't quite trust online storage providers with your company's files? A new service wants to lure the doubtful with a hybrid model that combines local and cloud-based storage. Startup Egnyte links your premises file server to an online service for belt-and-suspenders storage and backups.
VMware To Take Its Next Steps Into The Cloud
It's been six months since VMware announced vCloud, the company's grand plan for public, private, and hybrid computing clouds. It's almost time for an update on VMware's progress.
U.S. Video-Game Market Remains Strong In Tough Economy
Sales of the Nintendo Wii outpaced the Microsoft Xbox 360 and the Sony PlayStation more than 2-to-1.
When Robots Attack: A Look At 21st Century Warriors
P.W. Singer, author of the new book Wired For War, is concerned about how battlefield robots are changing IT perspectives.
Microsoft Windows Azure Pricing Expected Soon
Managers suggest the company's cloud computing efforts will be pay as you go, but customers can also prepay if they want discounts.
Amazon Web Services As The Center Of The Software Industry
IBM is the latest software company to make its wares available as machine images on Amazon Web Services. Expect to see more enterprise-class software vendors do the same as a fast-and-easy way to move their software into the cloud.
When The Cloud Fails: Nokia's Ovi Service Loses 3 Weeks Of User Data
Nokia is attempting to position itself as much more than a handset company. It is rife with other services, such as Comes With Music, or Contacts On Ovi, where people can upload pictures and save contact data directly from their phone. That is, when it works. A recent server crash completely lost three weeks' worth of user data.
Forrester: Platform-As-A-Service Is Here And Now
Some of the key questions around cloud computing these days involve timing. When will cloud services be ready? And when should your company adopt them? In a just-released report, Forrester Research says there's no reason to wait.
Interoperability is Key in the Cloud
The big push right now is around interoperability among cloud providers, or the notion of cloud vendors offering built-in communications -- as well as application and data portability -- among suppliers. Core to this concept is a buzzword I've been hearing the last few months: Intercloud.
Salesforce.com President Leaves For SaaS Vendor Xactly
We learned last week that Steve Cakebread had left his president and chief strategy officer job at Salesforce.com. This morning, SaaS vendor Xactly announced it's appointed Cakebread as its CFO.
HP On The Cloud: 'The World Is Cleaving In Two'
The company's CTO for cloud computing contrasts Google's, Amazon's, and Microsoft's enterprise data center strategies with HP's new way of thinking about clouds.
Google Updates App Engine In Advance Of 'Big Announcements'
It's been a busy few days for Google App Engine, the "preview mode" platform-as-a-service with which users deploy applications on Google's IT infrastructure. Google yesterday released an updated App Engine software development kit and late last week updated the App Engine road map with new APIs.
Dave Duffield Explains The Stickiness Of SaaS
I had a chat the other day with Dave Duffield, a software industry icon who founded PeopleSoft and, more recently, SaaS company Workday. Why, Dave, I asked, are you so confident in the profitability and growth potential of the SaaS model? After all, there's a lot more red than black on the industry's SaaS balance sheets. I share with you Duffield's thinking on the sustainability of SaaS.
Netbooks For Road Warriors On A Budget
These laptop replacements from Asus, Acer, Dell, MSI, and Sony are budget-friendly and road-ready. Bonus: We've rounded up some gear to enhance their basic mobile functions.
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State of the Cloud
Cloud has drastically changed how IT organizations consume and deploy services in the digital age. This research report will delve into public, private and hybrid cloud adoption trends, with a special focus on infrastructure as a service and its role in the enterprise. Find out the challenges organizations are experiencing, and the technologies and strategies they are using to manage and mitigate those challenges today.
IT Careers: Tech Drives Constant ChangeAdvances in information technology and management concepts mean that IT professionals must update their skill sets, even their career goals on an almost yearly basis. In this IT Trend Report, experts share advice on how IT pros can keep up with this every-changing job market. Read it today!
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