VMware Acquires Cloud-based Presentation Provider SlideRocket Palo Alto-based cloud computing company VMware has announced the acquisition of San Francisco-based SlideRocket for an undisclosed sum. While the former focuses on virtualization and cloud infrastructure, the latter is a cloud-based online presentation application that produces slideshows and is used by over 20,000 customers and 300,000 users. Considering that presentation software is second only to email as the most widely used business software, this acquisition can considerably expand and enhance VMware’s portfolio. The benefits of using a cloud-based product like SlideRocket’s eponymous product were outlined in a blog posted by VMware CTO and
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What does IBM’s New Cloud Financing Policy Mean for Customers? “The number one thing leaders can do to facilitate balance is to support flexibility and understand the needs of your people.” – Jim Mitchell (1946-2002), Irish politician. Now, the above words may have been spoken in a context far removed from Information Technology (IT), but it outlines one of the most important requirements of a Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and his staff – flexibility. Flexibility is one of the crucial requirements of business today when information changes at the drop of a hat and critical decisions have to be taken
Encoding.com Creates Fastest Encoding Service – Integrates with Rackspace and Amazon Cloud Platforms
Encoding.com Creates Fastest Encoding Service – Integrates with Rackspace and Amazon Cloud Platforms SAN FRANCISCO, April 14, 2011 — Encoding.com, the world’s largest video encoding service provider, today announced that it is also the world’s fastest Encoding service, with the addition of its game changing new feature – Instant Encoding™. With Instant Encoding, the Encoding.com platform will start transcoding source videos as the download process begins, dramatically accelerating the entire video workflow. In benchmark beta testing with multiple customers, the overall encoding process – including download, transcode, and delivery – improved by 30 to 100% depending on the source video
CA Technologies Strengthens Cloud Computing Portfolio with Acquisition Several larger companies have been buying up niche firms to strengthen their presence in the cloud computing space. CA Technologies made a move in this direction with its acquisition of privately-held consulting firm Base Technologies. I had earlier written about possible consolidation in this sector, and recent trends suggest likewise (See: Is Consolidation Coming to Cloud Computing? ). With this acquisition, CA Technologies will also get access to the federal IT space, a region where Virginia-based Base Technologies already has a strong foothold. Its list of customers includes the US Department of
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
