Data Security in the Cloud: Solutions for Consumers and SMBs A recent small business cloud computing survey from Microsoft found that a chief concern of potential SMB cloud customers is the security and privacy of their data. A full 70% of small businesses are concerned about where their data is stored. Just over half of all SMBs cite data privacy as a potential deal breaker for adopting cloud services. And only 36% of businesses think their data is as or more secure in the cloud than their current on premises solution. Most data security and privacy concerns revolve around four
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10 Things To Look For In Your Cloud Service Provider The cloud computing market is exploding with a large number of new entrants. If you are shopping around for a cloud service provider (CSP), here are ten things you should keep in mind. 1. Technical Expertise A cloud computing service is not a commodity: it is not as simple as providing you with a computer in a server farm. It requires a lot of technical expertise to set up the right system that guarantees security for your data and lets you run your business without interruption. Thus, the first thing you
Microsoft Gives Cloud Computing Center Stage in Certification Program Revamp For several years now, a Microsoft certification has opened doors to IT employment throughout the world. Whatever be the platform or application, a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) has found life easier on the job market. Almost every year we hear about a new contender to the title of youngest MCP, with the recent death of Pakistani prodigy Arfa Karim grabbing international headlines. Now that cloud computing is set to rule the IT landscape and create millions of jobs worldwide (See: Cloud Hiring Reaches New Heights and Cloud Computing to Fuel
Is Cloud Computing a Lunch Break Creation? There have been allegations that “cloud computing” is just a marketing term, with the underlying principles and technologies having long existed. Personally speaking, while I do believe that a lot of cloud computing as it exists today did exist before Ramnath Chellappa used the term in a 1997 lecture (See: A History of Cloud Computing), there’s a lot that is different from earlier grid computing and utility computing paradigms (See: Cloud Computing vs Utility Computing vs Grid Computing: Sorting The Differences). Therefore, it may come as a surprise that a recent report cited
Microsoft’s Biggest Client, or Just a PR Stunt? – Part II This is the concluding part of a two-part article. For the first part, please see Microsoft’s Biggest Client, or Just a PR Stunt? – Part I . There is another possibility at play here. If Microsoft manages to sell the viability of its cloud offerings to the Indian government, this freebie can actually result in paying contracts in other areas. And as we all know, governments are big spenders, even on information technology (See: How Much Can the US Government Save By Going to the Cloud?). Getting buy-in is important
Greenpeace Report: How Clean Is Your Cloud? The cloud computing world was all abuzz last week when Greenpeace released its report, “How Clean Is Your Cloud?” According to the report, global IT brands like Yahoo, Google, Microsoft, Apple, Amazon, and Facebook are changing how we share pictures, listen to music, watch TV or movies, communicate, and how we work because of the cloud. Due to the scale and growth of investment, the cloud computing community is expected to grow 50 times its current amount by 2020 with an estimated half a trillion dollar in investment by next year which will
Microsoft’s Biggest Client, or Just a PR Stunt? – Part I On April 13, Reuters ran a news item where “Microsoft announced its biggest-ever customer for cloud computing – software that it hosts on behalf of clients and delivers over the Internet – after winning a contract to provide free services to the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE)” (). Now, the first thing that struck me was the word “free” and left me thinking, “Does this truly make the AICTE Microsoft’s biggest client, or is this just a PR stunt full of fluff with no solidity?” I looked
