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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.

Channeling New Cloud Opportunities November 09, 2012 THINKstrategies, the Cloud Computing Showplace, and Rising Tide Media hosted our second annual Cloud Channel Summit earlier this week, giving executives from leading cloud and channel companies a peer-to-peer networking forum where they could share perspectives on how to forge successful partnerships to capitalize on the unprecedented opportunities created by the cloud.

The Enduring Relevance of SOA October 29, 2012 There's been a resurgent role of service-oriented architecture as a practical and relevant ingredient for effective design and use of cloud, mobile and big-data technologies. The concept of "architecture is destiny," especially when it comes to hybrid services delivery and management, has become popular.

It's a Mobile, Cloudy, Appy, Thingy World October 25, 2012 It is that time of year again -- namely, prediction-making season. Gartner is the first out of the gate with its top 10 strategic tech trends for 2013 and a few years beyond. Among its forecasts: dominance of mobile devices; shift to HTML5; growth of the personal cloud; growth of private enterprise app stores; and rise of the Internet of things.

Google's New Chromebook Caters to Cloud Crowd October 19, 2012 Google unveiled a new Samsung Chromebook on Thursday, available for pre-order at $249. The new model is more streamlined and far cheaper than its predecessors. It costs $200 less than the Samsung Chrome 550, which was released earlier this year, and $100 less than the Series 5 model, which debuted last year. The sleek new form factor is compelling, said iSuppli analyst Craig Stice.

Microsoft Dances Closer to the Set-Top With Xbox Music October 16, 2012 Microsoft is taking another stab at the digital music industry with the Tuesday launch of Xbox Music, a streaming music service that will be an update to the Xbox. It will also be released as a built-in feature on Windows 8 PCs and tablets later this month. Users will have options for free streaming, buying music, and subscribing to a cloud service that opens access to their device of choice.

The World Post-Windows 8: Getting Better All the Time October 15, 2012 Given that the Theme for Windows 95 Was "Start Me Up," Windows 8 likely should pull from the old Beatles hit "Getting Better." As we approach launch, it truly appears to be getting better all the time. It is clear Microsoft has been holding some things back for the launch. I've been working on a Windows 8 tablet for some months now, and I just did my first system build from scratch with Windows 8.

IBM Ratchets Up Power for the Enterprise October 13, 2012 In commercial IT, "enterprise systems" have long been defined as the technologies that provide large organizations the highest levels of compute performance and critical attributes such as reliability, availability and scalability. But enterprise IT infrastructures have never been about technology alone.

The Channel Steps Up to the Cloud October 12, 2012 I've been suggesting for the past few years that a more robust channel ecosystem must emerge for the cloud movement to continue to grow at its current pace. While fundamental nature of the cloud computing business creates significant challenges for traditional channel companies, rapidly rising user demand creates market pressures and opportunities that cannot be ignored.

IBM, AT&T Offer Secure Passage to the Cloud October 10, 2012 After years of chipping away at the cloud computing market, IBM on Wednesday announced that it has teamed up with AT&T to offer secure cloud computing as a service. The two companies will combine IBM's SmartCloud Enterprise+ with AT&T's virtual private networking service to Fortune 1,000 companies worldwide. The service will be offered early next year. The combined offering secures data in motion, integrating the security features of both IBM's cloud computing resources and AT&T's VPN service.

The Faster, Cheaper Help Desk in the Cloud October 08, 2012 One of the trends emerging in the cloud computing space is taking on IT service desk and incident management functions "as a service." A common data architecture and fast delivery benefits combine to improve efficiency, cost and results for IT support end users. For example, intelligent energy-management solutions provider Comverge has extended its use of Salesforce.com into a self-service enabled service desk capability using BMC's Remedyforce.

Oracle's Leap to the Cloud October 03, 2012 I've been at OpenWorld for two days as I file this, but so far I have little CRM-oriented material. CRM really kicks in on Wednesday when the company focuses on CX -- or customer experience -- the moniker that Oracle has given to much of its CRM focus. CX is good for what Oracle is about and some of the announcements about private cloud and high capacity storage fit well with the message.

Is Oracle Making an Offer Customers Can't Refuse? October 02, 2012 On the first day of OpenWorld, Oracle unveiled a slew of products designed to position the company as the preeminent cloud vendor: a high-end server; an upgraded flagship database, version 12c, which will be released early next year; and a range of new or upgraded applications for the cloud.

Automating Complexity Out, Efficiency In October 01, 2012 Cloud infrastructure and hosted IT services provider Savvis has been able to automate out complexity and add deep efficiency to its operations using a range of performance, operations orchestration and Business Service Automation solutions from HP. Savvis has improved its incident resolution and sped the delivery of new cloud services to its enterprise clients.

EU Cloud Strategy Ruffles US Industry Group's Feathers September 27, 2012 The European Union has announced a strategy to boost the use of cloud computing among its members in the private and public sectors. This includes establishing standards for interoperability, data portability and reversibility, the development of model contracts, government spending on cloud computing similar to what the United States is doing, certification, and requirements for data protection, security, privacy and user rights.