Calculating the ROI on Cloud IDC calls cloud computing “one of the most potentially transformative developments in the information technology world in the last 20 years.” Many companies have already chosen virtualization – generating a straightforward and easily measurable ROI through the deployment of basic applications such as email and collaboration. Assessing the ROI of further investments in private cloud and PaaS, for example, is more complex and the ROI is often unclear. This can raise a roadblock for further corporate investment in cloud. Additionally the recent economic recession has pressured corporate profits to cut technology spending and limited further
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The Cloud and Kermit: “It’s Not Easy Being Green” This Thanksgiving holiday meant the arrival of a highly anticipated new film, centered on The Muppets. Many a critic has raved for the picture. My review: skip it by all means, especially if Miss Piggy and the gang occupy a special place in your hearts. The movie panders to the lowest common denominator — in this case, the dumbest three-year old you’ve ever met. Fozzy Bear fizzles out; Gonzo and his hilarious poultry do not prosper. I digress. But I’ll note one positive aspect: Kermit keeps his respectability, and if anything is blessed
Whitepaper: Start Small, Grow Tall: Why Cloud Now The cloud is the hottest thing in computing today,and enterprises are eagerly seeking to adopt it. They realize that cloud computing holds the promise of curing today’s “data center sprawl,” with its colossal complexity, considerable costs,and substantial capital investment. For their part, service providers see the cloud as a catalyst for revenue growth. Executives and leaders look forward to the day when information technology will be delivered as a pure service throughout the organization, metered, ubiquitous, and available on demand much like electricity or water. But the reality is that the cloud
Cloud Computing: Business Model or Technology? There are many articles on the Internet about cloud computing, and I have written quite a few as well, covering all sorts of subjects from history to future trends, advantages, disadvantages, what it is, what is not, and the list could go on and on. Lately, there seem to be more and more people querying the nature of cloud computing services, is it really about technology as much as it is a business model? Of course, there are also articles describing the cloud as an over hyped marketing ploy, but lets just concentrate on
Why I Give Thanks For The Cloud In a few days, I’ll be plowing into pounds of protein and watching each of “Friends’” ten Thanksgiving Day episodes. But before I don my bib and elastic sweatpants, I wanted to share my reasons for expressing gratitude to the cloud above. It’s given me a way into the “techie” world. My college’s technology obsessives, known as “techies,” deflated any interest I had in all things virtual, digital, computerized, etc. They lived for JavaScript and unpacking IP addresses. I studied English. At galleries, I’d analyze Picasso paintings for their brushstrokes. I read cookbooks,
Best Small Businesses to Use the Cloud Google and Amazon, juggernauts they may be, are not the only beneficiaries of cloud computing. Small businesses across the country have also realized the cloud’s capacity to nourish their operations. We could have honestly cited dozens of companies nationwide who’ve wholeheartedly taken to cloud computing — and reaped massive rewards. Look for us to indeed feature more of these small businesses in the future. For the moment, here’s an impressive trio that’s taken to the cloud with the greatest of ease. Signature Personal Insurance, Roper DeGarmo Well known cloud applications and programs like
Cloud Computing 101 For Music Lovers In the music world, clear skies and clouds go hand in hand. And we don’t mean meteorologically. The boom of cloud computing continues to redefine the ways in which we experience our favorite tunes. The music industry, for example, is no longer packaging songs and albums as products that you purchase. Instead, your tracks are converted into services that you pay to access, very frequently via streaming servers. We understand cloud computing’s rep as confusing. To help you grasp a real world application of this software redefinition, we wanted to present three practical examples
