Cloud computing has created some great opportunities in IT, but many still consider cloud computing a threat to their livelihood It’s difficult to track cloud computing without stumbling upon a few stories about cloud computing coming in and pushing IT workers out. There’s also the threat that if they don’t adopt cloud computing, they’ll be labeled as “non-innovative” and shoved out the door just as fast. I hear about these concerns more in one-on-one conversations than in meetings these days, as it’s become very politically incorrect to push back on cloud computing in public statements. My response is a bit
Software
California software as a service company Provade Inc., which has a product development office in downtown Milwaukee, said Tuesday it raised $3 million in new funding. San Mateo, Calif.-based Provade focuses on vendor management system technology for global work force spend management. The financing round was led by Palo Alto, Calif.-based Asset Management Company. Also participating were Menlo Park, Calif.-based Altos Ventures and Harbor Pacific Capital, also of Palo Alto. With the latest funding, total venture investment in the company now exceeds $23 million. Read more: Provade raises $3M in new funding – The Business Journal of Milwaukee
Google cloud-computing applications get certification for federal government use Google wants the federal government to use its e-mail. The company earned federal certification last week for its cloud-based e-mail, calendar and other collaboration applications after the General Services Administration determined they met moderate-level federal security requirements. It’s the first cloud-based suite to earn such accreditation and serves as an impetus for the Mountain View, Calif.-based giant to ramp up its sales efforts in Washington, said David Mihalchik, Google’s federal business development executive. “We hear them tell us that federal employees are clamoring for the same technology [at work that] they
Tools that benchmark performance promise to reveal the strengths and weaknesses of competing cloud providers. New software developed to measure the performance of different cloud computing platforms could make it easier for prospective users to figure out which of these increasingly popular services is right for them. Right now, developers have little means of comparing cloud providers, which lease access to computing power based in vast and distant data centers. Until actually migrating their software to a cloud service, they can’t know exactly how fast that service will perform calculations, retrieve data, or respond to sudden spikes in demand. But
Analyst firm, Gartner, published a set of guidelines intended to ease relationships between cloud vendors and users. As cloud computing becomes more pervasive, the ecosystem (including vendors and analysts) is seeking ways to align expectations among relevant parties. Gartner specified “six rights and one responsibility of service customers that will help providers and consumers establish and maintain successful business relationships:” The right to retain ownership, use and control one’s own data – Service consumers should retain ownership of, and the rights to use, their own data. The right to service-level agreements that address liabilities, remediation and business outcomes – All computing
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The rapid growth of cloud computing is making it much easier for SMB channel partners to provide a broader range of offerings on a 24/7 basis at a lower cost and with fewer IT staff. These offerings include services such as SaaS and managed IT services. As a result, SMB channel partners could lose more than 200,000 IT jobs over the next decade according to AMI Partners’ recent Cloud Computing Research studies. “We have already seen some early signs of IT services job attrition at the high end of the market as a result of software automation. It
