Latest Articles
12.21.2012What Can Rendering Service Market Get From Cloud Computing?
12.20.2012Penetrating the Japanese Social Gaming World With the Help of Japanese Social Gaming Companies
12.19.2012Cloud-Based Rendering – the Logical Next Step for Render Farms
Archives
Categories
Tags
Android Basic Cloud Concepts big data CIO cloud Cloud adoption Cloud applications Cloud benefits cloud computing cloud concepts cloud gaming cloud hosting Cloud in business Cloud in Vertical Industries Cloud Migration Cloud News cloud provider cloud security cloud servers cloud services cloud storage cloud technology Enterprise gaming industry Google Government IaaS IT Japan mobile applications mobile gaming PaaS private cloud public cloud SaaS security Small Business small businesses smb SMBs social gaming Social Media social network virtualization virtual serversCall 855-466-4678
08.13.2012
Japan has always been regarded as a slow adopter of every new, non-Japanese technology. There are some facts to support this observation. A typical example is the unexpectedly slow acceptance Japanese businesses have for social media like Facebook, Twitter and Mixi etc. In a survey reported in Nikkei Computer, the results tabulated below indicate that Japanese businesses are cold to the idea of massively using social media in their day-to-day business activities; however, this revelation obviously points to the fact that there is a huge possibility for their usage in the near future.
Purpose |
|
|
Mixi |
Get info before Newspapers & TV |
49.3% |
31.9% |
5.8% |
Get info on products & services of interest |
20.6% |
12.1% |
8.6% |
Advertise and promote products & services |
2.7% |
3.2% |
0.5% |
Source: Nikkei Computer
The figures above show ample opportunities for future expansion in the use of social media as Japanese businesses warm up to the adoption of these technologies in their daily business operations. And foreign developers and marketers of social media applications will also have equal chances of entering gallantly into Japan’s social media market.
So, how can cloud computing facilitate the use of social media in Japan? The table above indicates that a moderate number of Japanese businesses have already been utilizing social media to obtain information about products and services of interests. This entails that large amounts of information will be collected on daily basis, which may include the price information, specifications of products and services, contact/communication information etc. This bulk of information requires appreciable space on these businesses’ servers for storage, processing and retrieval. In this case, cloud computing will offer more storage capacity for these businesses while making sure that the information obtained is protected and stored in a format that can be easily accessible to these Japanese businesses’ usage.
Secondly, the results above reveal a hope for future increase in the utilization of social media by Japanese businesses in the area of advertising and promoting their products and services. This revelation attests to the expectation that the social media market in Japan will be big and profitable, calling all potential new entrants into the market to be ready for quick action.
And as the volume of advertising and products/services promotion on social media increases in Japan, companies (both local and foreign) that offer these services will have a lot to gain if they migrate their storage facility to the cloud so as to be able to handle the huge amount of data that will be generated by this action. New foreign entrants into Japan’s social media market will hugely benefit from coming into the country because Japanese businesses usually act in a group, meaning that once the concept of using social media has become popular, so many Japanese companies will come aboard at once to apply the same procedure to their day-to-day operations.
However, there will be huge demand for data storage, protection, easy accessibility and flexibility. And the only way to achieve this purpose effortlessly is for the social media companies, developers of social media applications and other accessories (software and hardware) to adopt the cloud technology. Cloud computing, tested and trusted, will offer these companies (both local and foreign) the needed storage capacity, security assurance, flexibility and scalability. The good news is that companies can scale down their storage capacity in case Japanese businesses suddenly withdraw from using social media in their advertisement and products/services promotion.
The points raised above strongly support the fact that cloud computing is the only solution for dealing with the projected demand for social media services in Japan in the coming years. Without it, it will be impossible for social media companies as well as their Japanese customers to grow in size and profitability.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/
08.10.2012
Although cloud computing has become mainstream within many organizations within the last few years, the reality is that the concept of transitioning from legacy IT systems to a cloud environment is still in its infancy. While there are enterprises that have fully implemented cloud infrastructures, many others are still in the contemplation or planning phase. In a report entitled “Sizing the Cloud” by Forrester, the research indicated that the global market for cloud computing is expected to reach $241 billion by the year 2020. This represents a significant increase over $150 billion during the year 2011. The report represents the first cloud industry research to classify the market sector and category expansion on the global scale which helps to forecast when each market sector will hit full capacity. As the demand for cloud computing increases new technologies will be developed to fully support new cloud initiatives and enterprise needs. So what are some of the ways cloud computing may change by the end of this decade?
Cloud Integration and iPaaS
The current cloud IT software stack consists of three different layers which include IaaS (Infrastructure as a Service) – this provides the basis on which systems are deployed, PaaS (Platform as a Service), which is the middle level that enables the integration of multiple applications as well as the development of advanced applications, and SaaS which provides the end-user applications that support business productivity. The development of the series of platforms that make up the cloud infrastructure with the absence of integration solutions has been a primary issue. As cloud computing grows and more applications migrate to the new architecture there will be a growing need to find new ways to integrate the contrasting elements of a cloud model. iPaaS platforms have been recently emerging and will be the next generation integration platform for integrating cloud computing applications both onsite and with legacy applications.
Inexpensive Processing
As it currently stands, 32-bit ARM architecture is being widely used however, Intel has been working on releasing an ARM chip which reduces power consumption and improves performance by utilizing 64-bit capability. Although this technology will not be released until sometime next year and mostly applies to a family of microprocessors related to mobile devices, it is believed that high performance, low power consumption chips will make their way into server technology and storage classifications in cloud environments. Some of the primary companies have already been providing ARM servers to many of the providers of cloud-based infrastructure.
Faster Performance
The increased need for application distribution on a massive scale coupled with the implementation of faster processing will result in data center that runs at much faster speed. With the development of new technologies, data centers will eventually be able to deliver high performance cloud-based environments capable of running at speeds as fast as 200-300 GBPS (gigabits per second) at the onset. This will also allow enterprises to get more accomplished in less time and at a lower cost than in-house legacy IT systems.
Maintenance Automation
The current cloud environments require reduced intervention on the part of IT professionals since many IT infrastructures can easily be controlled from a single interface as opposed to multiple locations that result from server sprawl. As new technologies emerge for maintaining hardware and software applications as well as cloud security, cloud IT environments will basically be able to run themselves in terms of the automation of routine maintenance tasks, updates, and patch management. This leaves even more time for enterprises to focus on the development of new IT initiatives which contribute to company growth.
Cloud Specialization
Instead of the differentiated cloud services such as IaaS, SaaS, and PaaS, cloud environments will become more specialized with more cloud providers offering customized services that would otherwise be carried out on company premises. This will allow more enterprises to easily shift their workloads to the cloud without having to plan for data classification and their relationship with costly legacy IT systems.
The 2020 cloud looks like a significant shift in the middleware PaaS model to an environment where customized solutions can easily be created. Additionally, the private cloud will take precedence over a public cloud environment thanks to the development of new technologies which will place the virtual private cloud within reach for many enterprises and organizations.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Aeyne Schriber has more than two decades of accumulated experience in IT security, computer technology, and internet marketing, including technology education and administration field both on the public school and college level. She works worldwide helping companies establish an online presence from small businesses to large enterprises. Her skills as a published copywriter and marketer also include consulting and training corporate personnel and entrepreneurs. For more details, visit www.digitalnewmediamarketing.com
08.9.2012
The media industry has gone through some transformations in recent years, and one of these significant changes is the good news that some media companies have already begun to move their IT systems to the cloud for faster delivery and cost efficiency.
Needless to say, the millennium had seen many media companies change their content format from analog to digital for easy storage, transmission and upgrade. The amount of digital archives in the media industry has increased lately, and this has brought immense pressure on media companies to devise appropriate mechanisms to protect, store, and update their digital archives.
Similarly, the recent hike in the demand for media products and services has forced media companies to rethink the way they serve their insatiable customers: there is unprecedented volume of demands for online videos, news, reports, commentaries etc, and media companies are bothered with the huge responsibility of fulfilling their customers’ requests within the shortest time possible.
Media cloud—a jargon used to describe the adoption of cloud computing in the media industry—has been quite instrumental in assisting media companies to respond to their customers’ demands in a faster and properly coordinated manner. Traditionally, customers could not have access to media products until sometime after they had been produced. Today, with the adoption of cloud technology, media companies can deliver their digital products/content as soon as they are made. This gives the media companies a huge advantage of marketing their digital products/services faster than before.
Media cloud offers bigger capacity for digital content as well as maintaining them in archives for a long time so that customers can easily access them anytime anywhere. This practice of increased exposure of media content to customers for as long as possible has helped some media companies achieve more profitability through increase in sales and revenues. Not only that, customers can receive the latest flow of information in real-time owing to the fact that cloud computing, which is flexible and scalable, allows periodic updating of the media products without any delay. In other words, cloud computing guarantees the availability of media products/services globally, and this quality, no doubt, enhances business expansion and agility.
Since media companies won’t be bogged down with huge cost of hiring IT personnel, maintaining the inventory and spending recurrent capital expenditure on acquiring IT software and hardware, many media companies find cloud computing expressly cheap and stable. Cost efficiency is one of the innovation-driving indices in the business world today as companies spend less on a section of their operations, say IT system and invest the saved money elsewhere to increase performance and profitability. Media cloud encourages optimal use of technologies and improves asset utilization for the purpose of reducing the time media products/services are made available to the market.
However, the two main risks associated with the use of media cloud are: (i) security and (ii) worry about performance. Some media companies that are reluctant about moving their in-house IT infrastructure to the cloud often cite security as the main cause of concern. They often argue that exposing their archives of content to subscribers whose activities they cannot control (once their content is in the cloud) may lead to loss of vital content. They strongly believe that some mischievous users or subscribers may steal some of their media products and violate their archives. Similarly, there is a grave concern about how media cloud shutdown may affect the performance of their operations. Not all media companies are sure that adopting media cloud can guarantee uninterrupted products-services delivery.
But as the issues of security and performance are practically dealt with, there is every possibility that the number of media companies adopting cloud computing will increase in the years ahead. No success-oriented company wants to overlook the cost efficiency, fastness in product/service delivery and possibility of business innovation that media cloud promises.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Jerry Olasakinju, a Bachelor of Technology (B.Tech) degree holder, is a passionate researcher and writer whose interest in everything computing is unparalleled. He blogs about his literary works at http://jerryolasakinju.blogspot.jp/
08.8.2012
While there are a number of security and regulatory concerns in the health care sector and these have held back universal adoption of cloud computing, there is no doubt that growth in this sector is still robust. The healthcare market which was worth just $1.8 billion in 2011 is expected to touch $5.4 billion by 2017. This is a cumulative average growth rate of nearly 20.5% which is exceptional by any standards. While the market is growing robustly, no clear market leaders have emerged as yet and no cloud service provider presently has a market share greater than 5%. Therefore the next five years may see plenty of consolidation, mergers and acquisitions.
Typically, the healthcare industry can be broken into Clinical and Non-Clinical sectors. The clinical sector is where the sensitive work gets done and this is the sector that is most heavily regulated. Applications in this domain consist of Electronic Health Records, physician instructions and orders, investigations and imaging, radiographic software etc. The specific fields covered in the clinical domain are listed below –
The non-clinical domain is essentially concerned with managing the business end and handles issues like patient billing, claims management, revenue cycle management and employee management etc. This is nearly similar to most other businesses and represents the more easily implemented end of the business. The specific modules in this domain are –
Cloud computing makes it easy to share patient Electronic Health Records between doctors. In case, for example, a person from New York were to face a medical emergency in Los Angeles, the doctor he consults should have the latest data about his medications, allergies, blood group and any other medical problems. In case the person is unconscious or otherwise unable to tell, much time could be saved if the physician had immediate access to this data. While technologically there are no difficulties in implementing this, there are many regulatory issues involved. These regulatory issues and the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) are presently delaying the full fledged roll out of this capability.
Imaging is another major area where cloud computing can help the healthcare industry. Medical science has evolved its imaging capabilities far beyond X-rays. These images are now occupying thousands of gigabytes and must be stored because they provide an excellent record of the progress of a medical condition over time. Storage and retrieval of these images presents challenges that the cloud is uniquely poised to handle.
While security has often been cited as a concern, fact remains that most of the cloud security issues have been resolved already and large numbers of business enterprises have begun to pin their faith in cloud security. In any case, it has been often said that the physical and logical security that can be provided to cloud based services and applications is much more than that can be provided by most enterprises to their in-house data services. Availability of services in the public cloud has also been shown to be much higher as compared to captive services.
In summary, the healthcare industry is going to face a round of disruptive innovation as the presence of cloud computing increases in healthcare. The cloud, as discussed earlier is the perfect medium for delivery of electronic health records. Once this really takes off, patients will save on duplication of tests and the large amount of time being wasted in waiting rooms. Billing will also become more transparent with the patient really coming to know what he is being billed for. There is also a churn occurring in the industry with pure cloud computing companies offering low cost pay-as-you-go models. The new cloud based health care services are also far easier to deploy and have a very shallow learning curve.
It is certain that in ten years time, cloud computing will change the way healthcare works in developed countries.
Our articles are written to provide you with tools and information to meet your IT and cloud solution needs. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.
About the Guest Author:
Sanjay Srivastava has been active in computing infrastructure and has participated in major projects on cloud computing, networking, VoIP and in creation of applications running over distributed databases. Due to a military background, his focus has always been on stability and availability of infrastructure. Sanjay was the Director of Information Technology in a major enterprise and managed the transition from legacy software to fully networked operations using private cloud infrastructure. He now writes extensively on cloud computing and networking and is about to move to his farm in Central India where he plans to use cloud computing and modern technology to improve the lives of rural folk in India.