Cloud computing: You are probably ignoring the biggest security flaw

Even if your code is hacker-proof, there's still one way into your systems and it's much tougher to patch.

There's an ongoing debate about the security implications of using cloud computing services versus running IT systems in-house.

Cloud advocates note that the largest cloud companies will have hundreds, or even thousands, of security staff and the time and money to keep their systems up to date. In contrast, the average enterprise may only have a handful of security staff to cover a wide range of different systems, many of which may be ageing and incapable of being entirely secure. However, some businesses feel more secure holding their critical data themselves rather than trusting it to a cloud company that may spread it across datacenters in different countries.

But however good the systems are, the weak link is always the humans, according to ethical hacker and penetration tester Jamie Woodruff

Avnet joins Microsoft Cloud OS network

Avnet A/NZ is the first distributor in the region to be accepted into the Microsoft Cloud Operating System Network (COSN).

COSN is a group of Cloud service providers which collaborate with Microsoft to offer technically­ validated, Cloud-­based infrastructure and application solutions.

Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM) Market is Expected to Reach $2.8 Billion, Worldwide, By 2020

A new report by Allied Market Research titled, “World Cloud Identity and Access Management (IAM) Market - Opportunities and Forecasts, 2014 - 2020” projects that the global cloud IAM market would garner revenue of $2.8 billion by 2020, registering a CAGR of 26.2% during the forecast period 2015 - 2020.

Multi factor authentication service is expected to witness fastest growth, at a CAGR of 30.5% from 2015 to 2020.  North America was the highest revenue generating region in 2014 for cloud IAM, followed by Europe and Asia-Pacific.

IBM Cloud Data Services Ready To Rock Enterprise With Power Features, Marketplace For Developers

IBM told the media that it is expanding its portfolio of Cloud Data Services with more than 25 services, and all can be accessed on the IBM Cloud.

At least two IT groups will benefit from the new services. Coders will be able to craft, deploy and manage apps for mobile gadgets and Web services, while marketing specialists can look at hidden trends in the online environment by consulting data analytics in the cloud.


A plus of IBM's hybrid cloud services is that it works on many cloud providers. What's more, the technology relies on open source ecosystems and architectures such as Apache Spark, which means that data can easily be transferred to and from various services.

Facts and statistics about Cloud Computing

Cloud computing describes the use of networks of remote servers - usually accessed over the Internet - to store, manage, and process data. As a segment of IT services, cloud computing is generating billions of dollars in revenue annually and showing few signs of slowing down. For customers, cloud computing offers access to numerous technologies while lowering the barriers to entry, such as technical expertise or costs. Typically, the cloud service market is divided into three primary service models, encompassing infrastructure, platforms, and software. Depending on a business's needs and security concerns, customers can also choose between private, public, or hybrid cloud deployment.

The largest segment of cloud computing is Software as a Service (SaaS), which currently generates more than half of the cloud computing market's revenue and has become a common delivery model for many business applications. Popular services include customer relationship management and enterprise resource planning software. Under this model, customers pay for access to software and databases, while the infrastructure and platforms are managed by the service provider. Salesforce, Microsoft, Adobe, and SAP are all major players in this segment.

On the next tier, Platform as a Service (PaaS) grants customers access to a computing platform for application development. This platform may include an operating system, web servers, databases, and the access to one or more programming-language environments. Salesforce has the highest market share in the PaaS segment, although established other players like Amazon and Microsoft also hold sizeable proportions. While experts predict the cloud platform market to grow rapidly over the next decade, it is nevertheless expected to remain the smallest cloud computing segment by some margin.

Read More: http://www.statista.com/topics/1695/cloud-computing/

What is a cloud computing storm?

What is a cloud computing 'storm' -- if such a term exists... and what are its implications for software application developers working in newly virtualised platform environments?

Also sometimes known as 'boot storms' or VDI boot storms, a storm is a degradation of service experienced when a large number of users boot up a cloud service inside a narrow time frame.

The effect of the storm is that the network becomes overwhelmed with data requests -- and so, logically, performance naturally suffers.

According to TechTarget, storms are a problem because slow, unresponsive virtual desktops can make a VDI project unpopular with end users even though desktop performance is good the rest of the time.

"To prevent VDI boot storms, experts recommend starting virtual machines (VMs) in waves, implementing caching or adding solid-state storage to handle the concentrated number of storage input/output (I/O) requests," reads the official definition.

Combatting storms

Naturally then, the IT industry has been busy developing layers to help combat the effects of cloud computing storms.

Hybrid-cloud performance management company Xangati's own Xangati Virtual Appliance (XVA) architecture features automated storm remediation for virtualised and VDI infrastructures.

According to the firm, even the best run cloud environments are hit by storms of all kinds such as storage, CPU, memory and boot storms, which cause contentions that cripple applications and disrupt end-user experiences.

Read More: http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/cwdn/2016/01/what-is-a-cloud-computing-storm.html

IT leaders plan to further embrace cloud in 2016

The majority of CIOs plan to foster a cloud-first strategy for enterprise applications next year, according to a new survey from Bitglass. The "cloud access security broker" conducted its survey of 92 CIOs and IT leaders at the Gartner Symposium IT Expo last month, and it released the findings today.

Half of the respondents reported cost savings in 2015 as a result of using SaaS applications, such as Microsoft's Office 365 and Google for Work, but they also continue to face security challenges. In 2016, 87 percent of IT leaders expect to increase security spending, and 77 percent plan to bump up cloud security expenditures for mobile and cloud-based services, according to the survey.

Roughly one in three (34 percent) IT leaders anticipates an increase of more than 20 percent in cloud security spending next year. The biggest cloud security challenges of 2016 will be controlling downloads (36 percent), evaluating cloud provider security (24 percent), external sharing (21 percent) and shadow IT (14 percent), according to the survey.

"CIOs now realize that shadow IT is not an employee attempt at mutiny, but a response to the poor choice of tools provided by IT," says Rich Campagna, vice president of products and marketing at Bitglass. "As the cloud-first mindset has become more commonplace, security concerns have shifted to topics like access from unmanaged devices and external sharing — common gaps in cloud applications."

Read More : http://www.cio.com/article/3001920/cloud-computing/it-leaders-plan-to-further-embrace-cloud-in-2016.html

Now IBM unveils Blue Box Local on-prem OpenStack private cloud service

IBM aims to simplify the private cloud for businesses. Image: Shutterstock
Having earlier this month rolled out the Bluemix Local platform as a service for firms to run behind their own firewall, IBM today has taken the wraps off an OpenStack on-premise private cloud service - a fruit of its June acquisition of Blue Box.
The new on-premise environment, IBM Blue Box Local, will absorb features from the existing IBM Cloud OpenStack Services offering which it replaces, when it becomes available from November 30.

With IBM Blue Box Local, after a site survey to determine the deployment capacity required, the customer buys the hardware as prescribed in a compatibility list. IBM then builds the rack and delivers it to the customer site. Once the power and network connections are made, the entire environment is then managed remotely by Blue Box and IBM.

"If you look at most private-cloud installations, they're measured in months or years to get up and running," IBM Blue Box CTO Jesse Proudman said.

"There are sites where typically the customer goes and buys a software distribution from a vendor, and they have to figure out how to train their people in that software distribution. They have to figure out how to operate that environment - what do they do when they get a monitoring alert?

"It becomes challenging to derive immediate value from that cloud.

"We're trying to take all that out of the mix and put a small portion of the IBM cloud footprint in that customer site," he said.

Having been in business since 2003, Blue Box created its OpenStack-based hosted private cloud some two years ago. Before the IBM acquisition, that product ran on dedicated hardware in four Blue Box datacenters around the world.

Following the IBM purchase, the first jointly-released product was the porting of that dedicated offering onto IBM's Softlayer cloud in early September. IBM Blue Box Local is essentially that same technology but placed within a customer's datacenter.

IBM launches Bluemix Local, aims to bridge public, private clouds with data center
IBM launches Bluemix Local, aims to bridge public, private clouds with data center

Read More: http://www.zdnet.com/article/now-ibm-unveils-blue-box-local-on-prem-openstack-private-cloud-service/

Microsoft Focus on Cloud Service Raise Its Third Quarter Revenue

Microsoft, a software giant has started to see their new strategy focus is paying off, as they announced their latest quarterly result, last Thursday. Strategy shifting on cloud computing and mobile business has started to deliver a positive result.

In the recent Market Watch, Microsoft was reported to have produced a better than expected outcome. Revenue generated from its Azure cloud service delivered more than double result, and revenue from cloud version of Office 365 software jumped nearly 70%. Overall, Microsoft's cloud business has generated a $5.9 billion revenue in this quarter, an 8 percent rise from the previous quarter. The number is expected to reach more than $6 billion this year.

Microsoft has witnessed dramatic changes in IT business landscape following a decline of the PC and the emergence of new segments - the cloud computing and mobile technology. Microsoft was the master of personal computer software era has seen their crown was taken away with the drop of PC sales. Under a new CEO, Satya Nadella, Microsoft determined to switch their business focus to cloud service supported by mobile business. Integrating smartphones and hybrid laptop into their cloud, and building comprehensive software ecosystem to support Windows 10 that will run on all device in their superior cloud service technology on Windows Azure.

It seems the effort has started to show a progress. With such positive result,Reuters reported that Microsoft's shares rose as much as 9.8 percent, their highest since March 2000.
A very good move was taken by Microsoft when joining hands with long term partner in PC, Dell. As ZDNet reported, Microsoft and Dell announce the rolling out of their "cloud-in-a-box" system. A system that integrates Dell hardware and Microsoft Windows Azure cloud service and Windows server operating system. Such system is dubbed as "Dell Hybrid Cloud System for Microsoft"  and the configuration from crate to cloud can be achieved in three hours. Its target market is aimed for "cloud aware" small and medium size business along with government and education. Dell also provides a Dell Cloud Flex Pay for the financing option.


Read More : http://www.vcpost.com/articles/101779/20151028/microsoft-focus-cloud-service-raise-third-quarter-revenue.htm

India's public cloud services to touch $730 million in 2015: Gartner

NEW DEL:HI: Public cloud services revenue in India is forecast to touch U$731 million by the end of 2015, growing more than 31 per cent over last year, research firm Gartner said.

High rates of spending on cloud services in India to continue through 2019 when the market is expected to reach USD 1.9 billion, Gartner said in a statement.

The revenues, which stood at $555 million in 2014, are expected to be driven by high growth rates in key market segments like cloud infrastructu as a service (IaaS), cloud management and security services and software as a service (SaaS), it added.

Gartner forecast spending on IaaS to total $100 million in 2015, an increase of 25 percent over last year.

Spending on cloud management/security will grow 36.6 per cent to $82 million, and SaaS will grow 33.4 per cent to $302 million this year, Gartner added.

"The forecast for cloud services vary based on local factors, including supply and demand within the local ma ..

Read More : http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/tech/software/indias-public-cloud-services-to-touch-730-million-in-2015-gartner/articleshow/49536888.cms