Taking a Closer Look at the iCloud Apple is set to change the technology world again. And this time it is entering the cloud computing realm. With the recent announcement of the iCloud service, it has embarked in a crusade to change the way customers store and access their files and applications. iCloud is an Internet-based service which stores and automatically synchronizes content, in order for it to become available on all Apple devices: iMacs, iPods, iPads, etc. The supported content ranges from music, photos, books and documents, to email, contacts, calendar and bookmarks. Below I take a look at
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Perhaps the number-one problem IT faces in its pursuit of cloud computing is the challenge of integrating legacy systems with cloud applications. Most software or application vendors have Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) written that that provide access to the data or processes in their systems, leaving individual IT teams to create the programs and infrastructure that manage these interfaces. That might seem like a straightforward task, but anyone who has attempted it knows that it is neither quick nor simple when dozens of applications are involved. The benefits of solving this issue are clear. Legacy systems run on expensive and
Microsoft Office 365 – Reviewed In Plain English Office 365 is a re-launch of Microsoft BPOS. The clumsily named Business Productivity Online Suite is bizarrely also referred to on their own website as Business Productivity Online Software and Services at the same time giving the impression that the branding was never quite spot on. The basic Office 365 package is basically an upgrade to the 2010 versions of Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications Online and Live Meeting – the last two which have become one and are now known as Lync. More interestingly though are the additional Office Software Online options
Over the next several weeks we will be focusing on “Green Computing Technology” and will be presenting articles from those who are currently working and developing in this area. One of these companies is Greenqloud that we have previously covered on our:” Top 25 European Cloud Computing Rising Stars List“ In the meantime, here is an excellent article written by Eirikur Hrafnsson, CEO & Co-Founder Greenqloud that was originally posted back in October 2010 discussing a Power Usage Effectiveness Scale or PUE. You can expect future contributions to CloudTweaks from Eirikur Hrafnsson as well as Environmental Manager, Ruth Shortall in
Cloud Security Still Top Priority For Finance Execs In the wake of the recent Sony PlayStation hack, Amazon EC2 outage and Epsilon data theft, information security is once again back in the news – for all the wrong reasons. The web has become a playground for hackers and malcontents eager to phish, defraud and steal wherever and whenever they can. Policing this landscape is a logistical nightmare, and battle lines are being drawn and redrawn many thousands of times a day – which perhaps hints at why many of us are still uncomfortable with the idea of storing sensitive data in
The Real Pioneers of the Cloud Long ago, in the early 1990s, the business landscape was rife with what were then known as “dumb terminals.” These didn’t last forever: in just a few years, the consumer-driven market–assisted by a publicly available Internet and a commoditized PC ecosystem–managed to completely change the business IT landscape. Now, it seems, were are about to witness such a consumer-driven change again. Only this time, it won’t be the machines themselves that will be changing, but rather the software that runs on them. The change that is upon business IT is, of course, the cloud.
65 Reasons For NOT Moving To The Cloud While navigating the Cloud Computing, VMware, Virtualization and Enterprise 2.0 Group on LinkedIn, I ran across this question, originally asked in Focus, a network of business and technology experts, thought leaders, and veteran practitioners. “What is a good reason for NOT switching to a cloud computing system?” Let me begin by saying, that is an excellent question, and one that I recommend should be well thought out during your analysis of any potential Cloud migration. That being said, the question also inspired me to have a little fun, and include some additional reasons why you should
