Cloud Computing

Microsoft Cuts Ribbon on Low-Rent Office
January 31, 2013

Microsoft this week announced the worldwide availability of Office 365 Home Premium, a cloud-based subscription version of its flagship Office productivity software. It will include all Office applications and work on Windows tablets, PCs and Macs. Pricing for most consumers is $99.99 a year or $9.99 per month.

HP Horns In on the Chromebook Action
January 29, 2013

The brief appearance of a spec sheet on HP's online shopping website Monday seemed to indicate the company has joined the list of Microsoft partners offering Chromebooks. The sheet listed details of the HP Pavilion Chromebook 14-c010us PC and carried an advertisement embargo date of Feb. 17. It may have been placed on the Web by accident, but it's also possible it was a marketing ploy.

The Call Center in the Cloud
January 21, 2013

Call centers are increasingly migrating away from on-premises systems to cloud-based systems, which can save money and give greater flexibility. Everything from customer data to telephony software is making its way to the cloud, revolutionizing the way call centers manage their operations. "It's all the buzz now, " said Mitch Lieber, principal at Lieber & Associates.

Securing BYOD Access With Single Sign-on
January 19, 2013

For enterprises, the collision of the mobile revolution with the cloud revolution represents a security train wreck. Tablets and smartphones are quickly becoming the productivity tool of choice for executives, sales professionals and remote workers. However, BYOD is making it difficult for IT departments to enforce security policies on private and public cloud applications accessed from personal devices.

The Perils of Cloud Computing
January 10, 2013

The cloud may be the future, but it's not a bed of roses. The Amazon Cloud had a meltdown on Christmas Eve, affecting many customers who use the service. Companies that use Amazon as their cloud, their customers and workers were all affected. What should we learn from this high-profile meltdown?

Bringing Order to Data Backup Chaos
January 07, 2013

Enterprise backup is broken, but there are methods being developed to fix it. Nowadays, methods for backing up and protecting enterprise data are fragmented, complex and inefficient. However, some new approaches are helping to simplify the process, keep costs in check, and improve recovery speed and confidence.

When Amazon Fails, the Buck Stops at Netflix
December 28, 2012

Some Netflix customers found themselves without service on Christmas Eve -- an unpardonable lapse on a day when many are snuggled in their homes and eager for entertainment. The streaming video provider has caught its fair share of flak for the outage -- but it was not solely to blame for its service being down in this particular instance.

CRM Product Profiles: The Year in Review
December 28, 2012

CRM applications tend to embody a range of features, depending on the maker and the audience. Some applications are stripped-down products sporting a handful of features -- and only those features -- deemed necessary to the user. Other products have become de facto mini-ERP systems with their integrations into back-end systems and business analytics.

Can Google Apps Crumble Microsoft's Office Foundation?
December 27, 2012

Google is heading into the new year with a new set of enterprise customers, the result of moves made this year to revamp its cloud-based productivity applications. For years, Google has been infiltrating areas beyond its core search business. This was the first year it was able to make real headway with large-scale customer adoption for its collaboration software, though.

Salesforce.com Pilots Tech for Team-Building
December 21, 2012

Salesforce.com rolled out an integration between Sales Cloud and Work.com this week. The integration is currently available in pilot and will be made generally available to all Salesforce.com customers in the first half of 2013. To understand the value-add the integration offers, one first has to become acquainted with Salesforce.com's social performance management platform, Work.com.

2013: The Shape of Cloud Computing to Come
December 14, 2012

SaaS has become an accepted alternative to traditional on-premises enterprise applications, and a broader set of cloud services is becoming a viable option for businesses seeking more flexible, economical computing capabilities. Adoption of these services is accelerating rapidly, because they are delivering tangible, measurable business benefits that clearly demonstrate their value.

The Cloud: No Longer Distrusted and Misunderstood
December 10, 2012

A recent survey on cloud computing explored the business growth opportunities for buyers and consumers of cloud services alike, and its findings about confidence are surprising. Businesses are experimenting with the technologies and services that are available. The multi-year annual survey on the cloud market provides a springboard to examine some of the implications for where the growth opportunities and inhibitors may be.

iTunes Expands to India, Russia, 54 Other Countries
December 04, 2012

The iTunes store has opened up in Russia and a slew of other countries that were previously left off its coverage map. The 56-country expansion nearly doubles the number of countries in which iTunes is now available. Turkey, India and South Africa were also part of the launch, which Apple says will feature local and international music targeted at specific audiences.

The Rationale for Building Your Own Cloud
December 03, 2012

Many businesses know the benefits of taking their business to the cloud, but Australian IT services provider Thomas Duryea Consulting made the transition to cloud computing its business. The company is using a cloud-of-clouds approach to provide new types of IT services to customers in the Asia-Pacific region. Thomas Duryea designed, built, and commercialized a vast cloud infrastructure.

Amazon Launches 'Profoundly Disruptive' Data Warehouse
November 29, 2012

Amazon Web Services on Wednesday launched RedShift, an on-demand data warehouse service that is optimized for the analysis of huge sets of data. RedShift is "profoundly disruptive," said Merv Adrian, research vice president of information management at Gartner. Its success will move the economic boundary between on-premises and cloud usage and "data will seek its lowest-cost home more rapidly than before."

Google Puts Huge Files in Gmail/Drive's Cargo Bay
November 28, 2012

Google is integrating its Google Drive cloud storage service with Gmail, letting users send files 400 times larger than previously allowed. Gmail now will send links to files up to 10 GB stored on Google Drive from inside the Gmail interface. Google also put privacy protections in place for the new feature.

Google Gears Up Compute Engine for Cloud Fight
November 27, 2012

Google is stepping up its game in the battle for cloud supremacy by slashing prices and beefing up the services it offers with Compute Engine. The Infrastructure as a Service product was first announced at Google's I/O show in June and is currently available in a preview version.

Feds' Cloud Migration Percolates With Agency Deals
November 21, 2012

Adoption of cloud technology at the federal level is still far from routine -- but cloud transactions continue to emerge on a regular basis. The deals range in value, demonstrating that cloud migration can be applied for relatively small deployments or for huge networks. In the latest major deal, HP Enterprise Services will provide a cloud-based email system for the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.

File-Sharing's Cloudy Future
November 20, 2012

Last month Megaupload founder Kim Dotcom, who is facing charges in the United States for engaging in digital piracy, announced that he would relocate a new version of his site, Me.ga, outside the United States. The belief was that this would free him from coming under fire by U.S. law enforcement, but Gabon -- which controls the ".ga" domain -- has already suspended it.

All Things Appy: Top 5 Chrome Office Productivity Tools
November 14, 2012

If you haven't already, dump archaic email for projects. It doesn't work. The idea of having a stream of emails gathered chronologically -- and stuffed with uncollaborative attachments rather than fluid conversations organized by project -- is asking for confusion and delays.