Friday Cloud News Roundup
Cloud Computing in a Much Wider Scale
Two years ago, the Energy Department had started a project to determine the feasibility of cloud computing for the kinds of CPU-intensive processing jobs done by national labs.
The project, named Magellan, is a collaboration of Argonne and Lawrence Berkeley National Labs. They have recently released the results:
- There is a steep learning curve, performance and scalability shortcomings
- The cloud is more expensive compared to the existing high performance computing (HPC) environments
Inspite of these challenges, researchers still concluded that the cloud is well-suited for certain types of scientific applications. In a survey conducted to DOE users, it was discovered that majority stil preferred the cloud and were willing to accept performance tradeoffs. Their attraction to the cloud were attributed to:
- Ease of access to computing services (79%)
- Ability to control software environment (59%)
- Ability to share the setup of software and experiment with peers (52%)
At the moment, researchers are inclined to combining the flexibility of the cloud models with the performance of HPC systems.
Visit Information Week to view the full article and see a more comprehensive set of results on the project.
Virtual Desktops are Catching Up
The promotion of the cloud-based virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and the pace of its adoption by SMBs is picking up. Speculators are then led to think that this might be the start of desktop’s obsolescence.
An article in IT Business Edge tackles the tremendous shift to the cloud and how much easier and cost-effective it has been especially delivery of data to notepads, smart phones and the like.
Read the well-cited opinion of the author in IT Business Edge and see how he came to the conclusions that in the future, there will be changes but it will not be abrupt.
Should Significant Budget be Appropriated to the Cloud?
An article in PC World takes notice of the creation of hybrid systems of companies due to its see-saw nature of internal-external service requirements.
Cited results from IDC indicated that the global revenue for cloud services will increase to $55B in 2014, or a compound annual growth rate of 27.4%. CFOs must now strategize on how to keep their systems stabilized.
The key is to adopt an approach that will be able to adopt to a requirement as needed. The article mentions several points that will help them with decision-making:
- Company’s Growth Plans
- Stafing Ratios
- Skill Sets
- Current Infrastructure
See what else C-level executives should think of to be able to come up with the necessary steps to properly allocate funds to cloud services.
Cloud in a Different Light
As continuation to the previous entry, an article in CFO World helps readers understand how CFOs should look at cloud implementation in terms of maximizing IT productivity.
Sadagopan Singam, Global Vice President, Cloud Computing of HCL Technologies, stressed key points on how to look at the cloud and the value it brings to an organization. According to him, it might pose some challenges on the onset, but what should be really considered are the long-term benefits 2-3 years after the initial implementation. He said that organizations view cloud computing technology as the mean’s to provide immediate and sustainable cost benefits to drive bottom line improvements.
This is the first of a 2-part blog and is a good read to clear out some cloud myths. Read the full material and be updated on the second installment at CFO World.
Cloud Security Alliance
In an entry in Technet by Tim Rains, director of Trustworthy Computing, the security segment of cloud computing was focused on.
Aided by a short interview clip with the founder and Executive Director of the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), Jim Reavis, he inquired what the bigest challenge that cloud is facing these days.
According to Reavis, the compliance issue and how meeting the regulatory requirements greatly afects the decision of companies’ adoption of the cloud might be the main concern. This is in great part related to security, and these are the kinds of concerns that they work on in order to alleviate problems that hinder cloud adoption.
Partnered with CSA in this initiative is Microsoft. Similar to CSA, there are also other groups that promote cloud computing and they work together to create guidance, educations and the best practices in security-relation areas of cloud computing:
- Cloud Controls Matrix (CCM) Initiative
- The Consensus Assessments Initiative
- The Cloud SIRT Initiative
- Security as a Service Initiative
Visit Technet to watch the video and read the full article on Cloud Computing Security.
The Cloud Spells High Stocks
A short but meaningful entry in Wall Street Pit has revealed the increase of leading cloud computing stocks in the market. These include:
- VMWare Inc.
- Riverbed Technology Inc
- Salesforce.com Inc
- Citrix Systems Inc.
This means that the cloud computing market is becoming a good investment since a large portion of the market has started to have confidence in the technology.
Check the results in Wall Street Pit and see the dramatic increase of cloud computing stocks.
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