BlackBerry-maker RIM Ties Up with Microsoft for Cloud Storage Last week saw the announcement of two major joint ventures in the cloud computing space. While German enterprise software maker SAP AG tied up with Verizon to offer its CRM solutions on the cloud, BlackBerry-manufacturer Research in Motion (RIM) announced it was teaming up with Microsoft for cloud-based storage. The new service, termed BlackBerry Office 365, will fully integrate with Microsoft’s forthcoming Office 365 offering, with users of one having full and free access to the other. Features will include calendar, contacts, video services, etc., all accessible from BlackBerry devices. “We’re
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Is Consolidation Coming to Cloud Computing? In recent times, the biggest news in cloud computing has been Hewlett-Packard’s (HP) entry into the sector. And this entry is not a side business; the new CEO truly believes the company’s future lies in the cloud, going on record saying, “Everything that we do in the future will be delivered as a service.” (See: HP Declares Ambitious Plans in Cloud Computing Space). Now, HP is truly a big boy in the IT space, in fact the biggest boy among all the IT companies in terms of annual revenue (by market capitalization it’s a
SAP products to be available on Verizon cloud For several years now, German software giant SAP AG has been at the forefront of enterprise software. Now, the largest software firm in Europe (and the fourth biggest in the world) has decided to tie up with the largest communications company in the US, Verizon, to offer its customer relationship management (CRM) solutions on the cloud. SAP CRM will be available to enterprise users through Verizon’s Computing as a Service (CaaS) cloud offering on the user-subscription license model so customers can pay on a per-user, per-month basis for the software, including cloud
Cloud Computing Contracts “The universe never did make sense; I suspect it was built on government contract.” – Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988), American science fiction writer. A contract is defined as “a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties for the doing or not doing of something specified.” Contracts are the cornerstones of business. Unfortunately, for cloud computing, contracts are still a grey area that has the potential for causing serious problems. In some of my previous articles, I had mentioned how lack of clarity of contracts is holding back widespread adoption of cloud computing. A lot of the
Looking Back at Joe Weinman’s 10 Laws of Cloudonomics Back in September 2008, Joe Weinman, Strategic Solutions Sales VP for AT&T Global Business Services, came up with a new term “Cloudonomics” to describe the economic effects of cloud computing. At that time, cloud computing hadn’t entered the popular lexicon and his definition went a long way towards popularizing the technology. During this time, Weinman also came up with what he called “The 10 Laws of Cloudonomics.” Now, two and a half years later when cloud computing has somewhat matured as a technology, it will be interesting to look back at
HP Declares Ambitious Plans in Cloud Computing Space For a long time, relatively speaking, Hewlett-Packard (HP) has been content to sell servers that service providers use to create cloud computing products and services. Now, HP has realized the immense potential of cloud computing and is planning a more active role in this field. In this way, it will follow in the footsteps of IBM, and to a lesser extent Oracle, who have footholds in both the hardware and software sectors of cloud computing. On Monday, 15 March 2011, new HP CEO Leo Apotheker outlined his vision for the company’s future,
Gaming on the Cloud “Gaming is no child’s play; it’s big business!” Quick, what’s the first thing that comes to mind when you visualize gaming? If you are thinking “unsocial teenager whose only exercise is moving his fingers on the computer keyboard”, you are wrong. While unsocial teenagers do comprise a big chunk of the gaming market, the appeal of video/computer games transcends demographics. Gaming’s universal appeal is why it racks up the big numbers. Since the last two years, gaming has been bringing in more revenue than Hollywood. Individual titles have outperformed the biggest blockbusters, and the trend is
Earthquakes and Cloud Computing “We learn geology the morning after the earthquake.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882), American poet and lecturer. Switch on the television, and there’s only one news item grabbing headlines around the globe – the earthquake in Japan. Unless you have been meditating in the Himalayas, you must know that Japan has been hit by the strongest earthquake in 140 years, measuring a massive 8.9 on the Richter scale. Although the epicenter was hundreds of miles from the mainland, the resultant tsunami has resulted in extensive loss of life and material damages. The official death toll stands
