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Friday, December 27, 2013

Worldwide Enterprise Storage for Public and Private Cloud 2013-2017 Forecast

Worldwide Enterprise Storage for Public and Private Cloud 2013-2017 Forecast


LONDON, Dec. 24, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportbuyer.com just published a new market research report:


Worldwide Enterprise Storage for Public and Private Cloud 2013-2017 Forecast This IDC study presents the worldwide 2013-2017 forecast for storage spending in support of public and private cloud deployments. The forecast provided in this study is influenced in large part by much of the research published in the "storage solutions for public and private clouds" report series, including the 2012-2016 forecasts, which discusses many of the forces that drive spending on storage hardware, software, and professional services by public cloud providers and in private cloud deployments.




[caption id="attachment_1179" align="aligncenter" width="454"]Worldwide Enterprise Storage for Public and Private Cloud 2013-2017 Forecast www.TheCloudComputingAustralia.com-196 Worldwide Enterprise Storage for Public and Private Cloud                    2013-2017 Forecast[/caption]

"For most businesses, the cloud has become a mandatory and integral part of the information services delivery infrastructure. Public and private cloud deployments will imminently overtake traditional datacenter deployments. As one the most noteworthy developments in the evolution of IT, cloud has transformed IT delivery and supplier ecosystem permanently. The storage hardware, software, and services industries have the potential to be one of the biggest beneficiaries of this trend. By pivoting around the appropriate part of the storage value chain, they can deliver the right solutions for all types of public and private cloud deployments," says Ashish Nadkarni, research director, Storage.


Table of Contents


IDC Opinion


In This Study


Methodology


Situation Overview


Future Outlook


Forecast and Assumptions


Revenue and Aggregate Capacity


Public Cloud Service Provider Forecast, 2013-2017


Private Cloud Deployments Forecast, 2012-2017


Assumptions


Market Context


Comparison of 2012 and 2013 Spend by Public Cloud Service Providers


Comparison of 2012 and 2013 Spend by Private Cloud Service Providers


Essential Guidance


Public Clouds


Private Clouds


Common Attributes


Learn More


Related Research


Definitions


Enterprise Storage Systems


Entry-Level Business Storage


Methodology


Historical Market Values and Exchange Rates


Enterprise Storage Market Metrics


Customer Revenue


Terabytes


Market Values and Exchange Rates


Synopsis


Table: Worldwide Public and Private Cloud Deployments Spending, 2009-2017 ($B)


Table: Worldwide Public and Private Cloud Deployments Capacity Shipped, 2009-2017 (Exabytes)


Table: Worldwide Enterprise Storage Systems, Software, and Professional Services Spending by Public Cloud Service Providers, 2009-2017 ($B)


Table: Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Capacity Shipped and Direct HDD Capacity Acquired by Public Cloud Service Providers, 2009-2017 (Exabytes)


Table: Worldwide Enterprise Storage Systems, Software, and Professional Services Spending for Private Clouds, 2009-2017 ($B)


Table: Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Capacity Shipped for Private Clouds by Segment, 2009-2017 (Exabytes)


Table: Top 3 Assumptions for the Worldwide Enterprise Storage for Public and Private Cloud Market, 2013-2017


Table: Key Forecast Assumptions for the Worldwide Enterprise Storage for Public and Private Cloud Market, 2013-2017


Table: Worldwide Storage Spending by Public Cloud Service Providers, 2009-2017: Comparison of December 2012 andDecember 2013 Forecasts ($B)


Table: Worldwide Storage Spending by Private Cloud Service Providers, 2009-2017: Comparison of December 2012 andDecember 2013 Forecasts ($B)


Figure: Worldwide Public Cloud Service Provider Spending by Enterprise Storage Systems, Software, and Professional Services, 2013


Figure: Worldwide Private Cloud Deployment Spending by Enterprise Storage Systems, Software, and Professional Services, 2013


Figure: Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Capacity Shipped and Direct HDD Capacity Acquired by Public Cloud Service Providers, 2009-2017


Figure: Worldwide Disk Storage Systems Capacity Shipped for Private Clouds by Segment, 2009-2017


Figure: Worldwide Storage Spending by Public Cloud Service Providers, 2009-2017: Comparison of December 2012 andDecember 2013 Forecasts


Figure: Worldwide Storage Spending by Private Cloud Service Providers, 2009-2017: Comparison of December 2012 andDecember 2013 Forecasts


Read the full report:Worldwide Enterprise Storage for Public and Private Cloud 2013-2017 Forecasthttp://www.reportbuyer.com/telecoms/data/worldwide_enterprise_storage_public_private_cloud_2013_2017_forecast.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=NoCategory


For more information:


Sarah Smith


Research Advisor at Reportbuyer.com


Email: query@reportbuyer.com


Tel: +44 208 816 85 48


Website: www.reportbuyer.com


 SOURCE ReportBuyer

RELATED LINKS
http://www.reportbuyer.com

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Cisco Cloud Connections: Your Amazing Cloud Journey Starts Here

Cisco Cloud Connections: Your Amazing Cloud Journey Starts Here


Cisco cloud innovations enable cloud and managed services providers to build best in class cloud platforms, empowering them to provide comprehensive cloud services to end customers


Hong Kong, December 12, 2013 - At Cloud Connections, held today at the JW Marriott Hotel Hong Kong, cloud technologies leader Cisco gathered prominent Cisco cloud and managed services providers to share their cloud strategies and comprehensive Cisco® Powered Cloud and Managed Services, giving customers and partners the confidence and insights they need to prepare for a cloud journey. Themed "Your Amazing Cloud Journey Starts Here", the event not only offered the best opportunity to help customers keep abreast of the latest Cisco cloud innovations, but also represented an ideal platform for Cisco cloud and managed services providers to connect with end customers and partners, and assist them in choosing optimal Cisco Powered Cloud and Managed Services in embarking on their own cloud journey.

[caption id="attachment_1175" align="aligncenter" width="700"]Cisco Cloud Connections: Your Amazing Cloud Journey Starts Here www.TheCloudComputingAustralia.com-195 Cisco Cloud Connections: Your Amazing Cloud Journey Starts Here[/caption]

Cloud computing is an irreversible trend in which enterprises are moving from careful contemplation to industry-wide adoption. The latest Cisco Global Cloud Index (2012-2017) predicts that global cloud IP traffic will increase nearly 4.5-fold over the next five years to reach 5.3 zettabytes by the end of 2017. Additionally, the "Impact of Cloud on IT Consumption Models" study conducted by Cisco Consulting Services and Intel, which surveyed 4,226 IT leaders in 18 industries across nine key economies, revealed that more than four out of five respondents believe that cloud will positively impact their organizations. Cloud also represents a significant share of IT spending worldwide, with an average of about 23 percent today expected to reach 27 percent by 2016. Cloud is becoming a crucial element of IT in addressing today's business demands, as organizations are increasingly looking to cloud and managed services to accelerate growth and lower costs.

Cisco Cloud Connections began with welcoming remarks by Barbara Chiu, managing director, Cisco Hong Kong and Macau, who emphasized Cisco's ongoing commitment in innovating cloud technologies and driving partner go-to-market strategy, as well as Cisco's role in supporting businesses on their cloud journey.

"As a leader with extensive experience and unmatched expertise in cloud technologies, Cisco is fully equipped to travel with our partners and customers on their cloud journeys. From a highly secure and reliable cloud platform to hosted services and partner programs, Cisco is here to provide everything you need for a profitable cloud journey, enabling our partners and their customers to benefit fully from the immense advantages of cloud and achieve their core business objectives," said Chiu.

Highlights of the event included a keynote presentation by Bob Gault, vice president of the Cisco Cloud and Managed Services Partner Organization, featuring a review of "Cloud and IT: Creating New Consumption Models". When organizations consider investing in cloud, the main challenge is creating a strategy and flexible architecture that allows for new business innovation, reduces network complexity and better aligns IT costs with delivery capabilities. Gault provided an overview of private versus public clouds, the total addressable cloud market, Cisco's cloud approach and cloud partner go-to-market strategy, and how Cisco can help businesses prepare for the evolution to a cloud consumption model.

At the event, customers and partners could also experience the power of a variety of comprehensive Cisco Powered Cloud and Managed Services offered by the cloud and managed services providers employing Cisco technology. The showcase area also featured a Cisco booth, showcasing Cisco's innovative cloud solutions such asCisco Meraki Cloud Managed Solution, a managed edge and branch networking solution that simplifies enterprise-class networks and can centrally manage the wireless network including switching, security and devices from the cloud.
 Cisco Cloud Strategy

As the leading cloud enabler, Cisco's cloud strategy is to help customers build, deploy and consume cloud services with its comprehensive cloud portfolio, including theCisco Cloud Intelligent Network and the Unified Data Center platform, and to drive demand for its partners' Cisco Powered Cloud and Managed Services. The Cisco cloud partner go-to-market strategy is based on three key roles a partner can play, namely, cloud builder, cloud provider and cloud services reseller: -

  • Cloud Builders: Build and sell Cisco-centric cloud to customers and cloud providers

  • Cloud Providers: Manage and sell Cisco Powered Cloud Services to customers

  • Cloud Services Resellers: Resell providers' Cisco Powered Cloud Services to customers


Cisco Powered Cloud and Managed Services

Cisco Powered Cloud and Managed Services provide a technology platform for delivering secure and reliable cloud services that customers will associate with faster time-to-value, assured performance and continuous innovation. Cisco Powered Services comprise a comprehensive portfolio of best-in-class, flexible and scalable solutions for cloud providers, including: -

  • Cloud Service for Hosted Collaboration


With the Cisco Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS), cloud providers can offer cloud-based unified communications and collaboration applications to customers. Applications are delivered within a highly secure, cloud-ready, virtualized platform under a centralized management system. The solution helps providers differentiate themselves and promote value in the collaboration market.

  • Cloud Service for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)


This solution enables customers to use IT resources more flexibly with on-demand computing, networking and storage resources within the cloud.

  • TelePresence-as-a-Service (TPaaS)


This solution helps customers access and enjoy a reliable, cost-effective Cisco TelePresence® video experience. Partners can provide Cisco Powered TelePresence-as-a-Service, benefitting their customers with in-person videoconferencing experiences that are available to all their users, as well as improved business agility, flexible and scalable control, and optimized resources.

Telstra Global Launches IaaS in Hong Kong

At the Cloud Connections event, Telstra Global, Cisco Cloud and Managed Services Master Partner worldwide, announced that its globally connected Cloud Infrastructure solution supported by Cisco's leading cloud portfolio including the Cisco Nexus® Switches, Cisco Unified Computing System™ (UCS), Cisco Carrier Routing System (CRS) and Cisco Aggregation Services Routers 9000 (ASR 9000), is now officially available for order within its Hong Kong data centre. The Telstra Cloud Infrastructure offering, hosted in Telstra's data centers and delivered over Telstra's leading global IP backbone network, helps customers to reduce costs, enable innovation and streamline the way they manage their ICT.

"Cloud Connections represents Cisco's continued commitment to driving the cloud computing market. The event marks a milestone for Cisco, as we gather prominent Cisco cloud and managed services providers to connect with customers, partners and cloud services resellers to make the amazing cloud journey happen. We will continue our efforts in investing abundant resources to innovate and to drive Cisco's go-to-market strategy for our trusted partners. We look forward to seeing more customers enjoying the full benefits of cloud and growing their businesses," concluded Chiu.

Supporting Resources

About Cisco

Cisco (NASDAQ: CSCO) is the worldwide leader in IT that helps companies seize the opportunities of tomorrow by proving that amazing things can happen when you connect the previously unconnected. For ongoing news, please go to http://thenetwork.cisco.com.

###

Cisco and the Cisco logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Cisco and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and other countries. A listing of Cisco's trademarks can be found at http://www.cisco.com/go/trademarks. Third-party trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners. The use of the word partner does not imply a partnership relationship between Cisco and any other company.

Cisco products are supplied in Hong Kong by the channel partners of Cisco Systems International, B.V., or Cisco International Limited, both being wholly-owned subsidiaries of Cisco Systems, Inc.

News Source : Cisco Cloud Connections: Your Amazing Cloud Journey Starts Here

Monday, December 9, 2013

Australian Infrastructure as a Service market (IaaS) to reach $380 million by 2017

Australian Infrastructure as a Service market (IaaS) to reach $380 million by 2017


Key benefits driving IaaS adoption: reduced CapEx, better scalability of IT resources, independence, lower risk and mobility


SYDNEY, Dec. 5, 2013  Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is growing rapidly as organisations gain more confidence in the reliability and security of the cloud delivery model and realise the benefits of outsourcing their IT infrastructure such as storage, servers and networking components to specialist vendors who provide access to these resources over the cloud on an as-needed basis.




[caption id="attachment_1169" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Australian Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market to reach $380 million by 2017 www.TheCloudComputingAustralia.com-194 Australian Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) market to reach                                $380 million by 2017[/caption]

IaaS can be used to host a variety of systems including corporate applications, websites and virtual data centres. The benefits IaaS offers include significantly reduced capital expenditure (CapEx), quicker and easier scalability of IT resources, location independence and lower risks of system failure associated with on-premise resources.


Frost & Sullivan's latest report, Australian Infrastructure as a Service Market (IaaS) 2013, outlines the main drivers stimulating IaaS adoption as reduction of IT capital expenditure (CapEX), the greater agility and scalability IaaS offers in changing infrastructure requirements, higher levels of awareness of the benefits of IaaS, an increasing need for mobility amongst corporate employees requiring access to corporate resources from any internet-enabled location and public cloud infrastructure improvements such as the National Broadband Network (NBN).


As the benefits and reliability of the cloud delivery model for infrastructure are better understood, concerns about sovereignty and security of data held in the cloud, the reliability and security of access to infrastructure delivered over the cloud and general management conservatism over migrating business functions to the cloud are eroding.


Frost & Sullivan estimates that IaaS vendors in Australia earned revenues of just under $65 million in 2012. Phil Harpur, Senior Research Manager, Australia & New Zealand ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan says, "Although the IaaS market is considerably smaller and much more nascent in comparison to the SaaS market, Frost & Sullivan forecasts that IaaS expenditure will grow at an compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of almost 43% to reach $380 million by 2017, as an increasing number of clients switch to the IaaS provisioning model, and many more vendors enter the local market."


Mayank Kapoor, Industry Analyst, Datacenter and Cloud Computing, APAC ICT Practice, Frost & Sullivan says that IaaS vendors in Australia are categorised into four main groups.


Pure play IaaS cloud providers, which include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Google and Rackspace  typically offer public IaaS service as core service, although an increasing number are offering private, virtual private and hybrid offerings as well.  Carrier cloud players on the other hand are essentially telcos offering cloud based solutions. They leverage their strong network capabilities. Examples include Macquarie Telecom, Optus, and Telstra.


The third group, traditional managed service providers, provides cloud-based services, and usually private cloud offerings, although an increasing number are also offering hybrid and public cloud deployments. Services range from cloud brokering and best of breed solutions to actual hosting and deployment. This is a rapidly growing segment. Examples include Brennan IT, Fujitsu, Harbour MSP, HP and IBM.  The final group of resellers and channels partners re-sell or white-label some of the first three categories providers' offerings.


As growth of cloud computing threatens traditional revenue streams from on-premise system integration and maintenance services, many of the large integrators and channel partners are now developing cloud services. "Managed service providers and system integrators are adapting to the emergence of IaaS and have the advantage of being able to offer end-to-end IT services and support, and customising private cloud solutions in the Australia market. Examples of managed service providers and system integrators that are building or expanding their cloud services portfolio include Brennan IT, Dimension Data, HP, Fujitsu and IBM," Kapoor added.


Frost & Sullivan's Australian Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) Report 2013 report forms a part of the Frost & Sullivan Australian Cloud Computing Research program. All research services included in this subscription provide detailed market opportunities and industry trends evaluated following extensive interviews with market participants.


About Frost & Sullivan


Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants. For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies? Contact us: Start the discussion


Contact:


Donna Jeremiah
Corporate Communications – Asia Pacific
P: +61 (02) 8247 8927
F: +61 (02) 9252 8066
E: djeremiah@frost.com


 SOURCE Frost & Sullivan

Thursday, December 5, 2013

Cloud Security Alliance Releases SDP Framework Details

Cloud Security Alliance Releases Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) Framework Details


New White Paper Outlines Best Practices to Deploy an SDP to Protect Application Infrastructure from Network-based Attacks


ORLANDO, Fla., Dec. 5, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --CSA Congress 2013  The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a not-for-profit organization which promotes the use of best practices for providing security assurance within cloud computing, today announced the release of the Software Defined Perimeter Reporta new white paper report that explains the Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) security framework and how it can be deployed to protect application infrastructures from network-based attacks. Bob Flores, former CTO of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), will unveil further details of the SDP initiative at afireside chat keynote this afternoon, at 4:00 pm ET, hosted by CSA Executive Director Jim Reavis.




[caption id="attachment_1164" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Cloud Security Alliance Releases Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) Framework Details www.TheCloudComputingAustralia.com-193 Cloud Security Alliance Releases Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) Framework Details[/caption]

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130723/DC51526LOGO)


The Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) Initiative is a new CSA project aimed at developing an architecture for securing the "Internet of Things" by using the cloud to create highly secure and trusted end-to-end networks between any IP addressable entities, allowing for systems that are highly resilient to network attacks.  By incorporating security standards from organizations such as NIST as well as security concepts from organizations such as the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), the SDP works to mitigate network-based attacks on Internet-accessible applications by eliminating connectivity to them until devices and users are authenticated and authorized.   The initiative is being led by Flores, former CTO of the CIA and President & CEO at Applicology Incorporated and Junaid Islam, founder and CTO of Vidder Technology.


"This paper is the first step in providing enterprises with a high-level approach to understanding how to best protect their application infrastructure from network-based attacks," said Islam.  "The traditional perimeter model has rapidly become obsolete and the growth of devices moving inside the perimeter along with the migration of application resources to outside the perimeter has stretched the traditional security model.  A new approach is needed that enables application owners to protect infrastructure wherever it may be."


The white paper includes details on the Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) architecture, its implementation and applications, and its relationship to certain industry standards and protocols. The report also addresses the working group's scope, purpose and deliverables.  The Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) is a collaboration between some of the world's largest users of cloud computing within CSA's Enterprise User Council.  It is being designed to be highly complementary to Software Defined Networks (SDN), the popular network layer construct which decouples routing and architectural decisions from the underlying equipment to create virtual networks.


Detailed information about CSA's Software Defined Perimeter (SDP) initiative and a prototype demonstration will also be delivered at the CSA Congress Architecture Workshop being held on December 6, 2013 from 9:00 am – 5:00 pm in Orlando, Florida.


About Cloud Security Alliance
The Cloud Security Alliance is a not-for-profit organization with a mission to promote the use of best practices for providing security assurance within Cloud Computing, and to provide education on the uses of Cloud Computing to help secure all other forms of computing. The Cloud Security Alliance is led by a broad coalition of industry practitioners, corporations, associations and other key stakeholders. For further information, visit us at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org, and follow us on Twitter @cloudsa.


SOURCE Cloud Security Alliance
RELATED LINKS
http://www.cloudsecurityalliance.org

Thursday, November 28, 2013

Top 5 Cloud Testing and Performance Monitoring Tools

Top 5 Cloud Testing and Performance Monitoring Tools


By Kevin Darwin


Cloud computing is still an evolving paradigm. Its definitions, use cases, underlying Technologies, issues, risks, and benefits will be refined in a spirited debate by the public and private sectors. These attributes,and characteristics will evolve and change over time.

Various cloud based technologies and tools are available in the market facilitating the different facets of IT development. The rapid pace of advancement has also made way for tools catering to varied aspects of testing involving both performance and load management. The benefits of integrating the cloud testing based tools are many like flexibility of use and cost reduction (usage charges, licensing infrastructure). It also helps you choose the right kind of tool required for the job and start working immediately.

[caption id="attachment_1158" align="aligncenter" width="500"]Top 5 Cloud Testing and Performance Monitoring Tools www.TheCloudComputingAustralia.com-192 Top 5 Cloud Testing and Performance Monitoring Tools[/caption]

Here is a top 5 companies and the cloud based testing tools and solutions released by them, which help in cloud performance monitoring and testing:

1. SOASTA: The CloudTest from SOASTA leverages the cloud resources for facilitating performance monitoring and load testing. Additionally, it also replicates traffic that hits an application or a website from inside or outside the firewall.

2. Keynote: is the global leader in cloud testing & monitoring cloud application, cloud testing service provider, Test Perspective of Keynote provides comprehensive solutions geared towards the enhancement of online experience. It helps companies analyze the performance of their websites, applications, and content on a diverse set of browsers, mobile devices, and networks. The exclusive business model of Keynote allows you to improve productivity while, controlling costs with the reliable and striking performance of its on-demand measurement and test services and products.

3. BrowserMob: The monitoring service of this particular provider makes use of real web browsers to replicate the interaction of a user with your website. Irrespective of being equally priced to the monitoring service style of simplistic ping that only goes through individual URLs, this takes a step ahead in the service approach. The usage of real browsers enables you to have a check on the response of the individual objects alongside verifying the functionality of your website in its entirety. This particular approach also involves ensuring that third-party components like gadgets, content delivery networks, advertisement, and analytics does not affect your website negatively.

4. GFI: The MAX RemoteManagement of GFI enables easy monitoring of different aspects of your clients like remote offices, bandwidth usage, servers, ISP connection, raid arrays, and the website. In simple words, this particular service allows monitoring the principle parts of the infrastructure of your network and takes care of the clients proactively maintaining a minimum cost of the hardware avoiding costly downtime.

5. CloudHarmony: This particular testing solution is still in beta. However, you may make use of the continuously updated extensive list of benchmarks for viewing and comparing the performance metrics from different cloud services and providers.

The above-mentioned cloud monitoring solutions and cloud testing services allow a better analysis of the IT infrastructure maintaining a smooth and swift approach.

Kevin is the Senior Editor, whose expertise spans in Cloud, Mobile and Web privacy.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kevin_Darwin

http://EzineArticles.com/?Top-5-Cloud-Testing-and-Performance-Monitoring-Tools&id=8115609

Bridging The Gap Between Supplier And Retailer With Cloud ERP

Bridging The Gap Between Supplier And Retailer With Cloud ERP


By Sadie Hawkins


Traditionally wholesale and food distribution has slowed compared to different market sectors, with too much sturdy attention on competitive pricing causing stagnation within the industry. Treating retailers as customers, instead of merely distributors, can make a big change in how food wholesale works.

We all know the feeling of a positive customer experience, so why is it so overlooked everywhere but retail in the food industry? In fact, good business is all about quality and value, but not forgetting its about building working good partnerships and repeating trade.

[caption id="attachment_1152" align="aligncenter" width="554"]Bridging The Gap Between Supplier And Retailer With Cloud ERP www.TheCloudComputingAustralia.com-191 Bridging The Gap Between Supplier And Retailer With Cloud ERP[/caption]

Meeting distinctive requirements of wholesalers using technology

Food wholesalers would ideally have a flexible mobile system to track everything, from order placement, delivery and warehouse distribution. Still, some suppliers are still in the dark that this can easily be achieved through a Cloud-based ERP solution!

Cloud-based ERP provides a paperless, mobile surroundings which helps to increase productivity and reduce administrative costs, while also allowing easy action on order changes or recalls.

Drivers on delivery with mobile devices can log order status, giving detailed information about each product in real-time. Real-time access data aids staff to deal with queries from the retailer on the spot, reducing the risk of missing deliveries - sound business all round.

Our conclusion? We've highlighted a shift in ERP functionality, as businesses are moving away from internal staff or hardware in favour of Cloud technology. ERP is something they use like any other programme, without going through the lengthy and old-fashioned processes to arrange an order.

Managing correct stock levels and inventory supply arrangements can be a particularly technical (and more often costly) process that can be made more efficient (and cost effective) by implementing solutions that are Cloud-based. Some 2 or 3 tier set ups, where numerous products from multiple distributors and manufacturers are being tracked, can point to a complicated supply chain schedule, but streamlined ERP software enables accurate forecasting of both supply and demand.

Thanks to Cloud technology integrated into ERP software, forecasts of your data can be instantaneously shared across both sides of the supply chain, helping to forge even closer working relationships with your retailers and generating greater transparency in business for equal measures.

Automating through a Cloud-based ERP solution means more time is freed up for staff to provide more support personalised to customers, in turn meaning you are improving relationships and giving business a boosst. Whilst the software provides all of your business processes to be fully taken care of.

Lakeview are a effective ERP and accounting solutions company that are here to help you support your production network with our vast array of bespoke software solutions and services.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Sadie_Hawkins

http://EzineArticles.com/?Bridging-The-Gap-Between-Supplier-And-Retailer-With-Cloud-ERP&id=8130197

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

IT Authorities Ranked Among Top 100 Cloud Services Providers in the World

IT Authorities Ranked Among Top 100 Cloud Services Providers in the World


IT Authorities earned a spot among the top 100 cloud providers in the world for the second year in a row.


Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater, FL (1888PressRelease) November 13, 2013 -

IT Authorities ranks among the world's Top 100 Cloud Service Providers (CSPs), according to Nine Lives Media's third-annual Talkin' Cloud 100 report. The Top 100 CSPs generated more than $15.7 billion in combined cloud services revenues in 2012, up nearly 37 percent, according to the report, which is available now by visiting http://www.talkincloud.com/tc100.

[caption id="attachment_1148" align="aligncenter" width="450"]Top 100 Cloud Services Providers in the World www.TheCloudComputingAustralia.com-190 Top 100 Cloud Services Providers in the World[/caption]

  • In addition to honoring IT Authorities, this year's Talkin' Cloud 100 report profiles:- Cloud Services Providers: CSPs offer SaaS (software as a service), infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and/or PaaS (platform as a service) to partners/customers.- Cloud Services Brokerages: CSBs, or cloud brokers, recommend and resell multiple cloud services to customers, and often integrate those services.-Cloud Services Aggregators: CSAs, or cloud aggregators, typically offer a portal that allows VARs and MSPs to source multiple third-party cloud services for customers.

    -MSPs (Managed Service Providers) with cloud services expertise: MSPs proactively monitor and manage customers' on-premises and cloud-based systems.

    - VARs (value-added resellers) with cloud services expertise: VARs offer a range of IT consulting, deployment, integration and management services to customers.

    "Ranking in the Top Cloud Providers in the World is the equivalent of making it to the Olympics. It is a massive honor and testament of our support team's ability to consistently provide world class service to our customers," said Jason Caras, Co-CEO, IT Authorities. "Our customers enjoy the old school customer service as much as the advanced technology of our superior cloud platform."

    The Talkin' Cloud 100 report is based on data from Talkin' Cloud's online survey, conducted January through May 2013. The Talkin' Cloud 100 report recognizes top cloud service providers based on such metrics as annual cloud services revenue growth (both in actual dollars and in percentage growth rates).

    "Nine Lives Media and Talkin' Cloud congratulate IT Authorities," said Amy Katz, president of Nine Lives Media, a division of Penton. "The Talkin' Cloud 100 honor arrives amid a land grab in the cloud computing market. And the Talkin' Cloud 100 companies are leading that land grab."

    Talkin' Cloud, produced by Nine Lives Media, is the go-to resource for CSPs, VARs and MSPs profiting from cloud computing. Talkin' Cloud features a daily blog, research, Channel Expert Hour Webcasts and FastChat videos. It is the first online media destination for channel partners working in the cloud.

    About IT Authorities

    IT Authorities is a Cloud and IT Managed Services Provider headquartered in Tampa, Florida. We offer Cloud services and IT Management services to small and medium sized businesses throughout the United States and assist some of the largest companies in world to design, monitor and manage their network operations centers. We help companies keep their computer systems in the most optimum, reliable and secure state while supporting their internal IT staff and/or end users and providing expert IT guidance. Accolades include: - Ranked in the Top 100 Cloud providers in the World by TalkinCloud - Ranked in the Top 100 Managed Services Providers in the World - Ranked Inc. Magazine 5000 Fastest Growing Companies in America - Ranked in the Tampa Bay's Fastest Growing Companies - Voted the #1 Company to Work for in Florida by Florida Trend Magazine - Voted Best Places to Work by the Tampa Bay Business Journal

    About Nine Lives Media

    Nine Lives Media, a division of Penton (www.penton.com), defines emerging IT markets and disrupts established IT markets. The company's IT channel-centric online communities include MSPmentor (www.MSPmentor.net), The VAR Guy (www.TheVARguy.com) and Talkin' Cloud (www.TalkinCloud.com).

    Contacts:

    IT Authorities:

    Jason Caras, Co-CEO

    813-246-5100 or jcaras ( @ ) itauthorities dot com

    Nine Lives Media:

    Joe Panettieri, Editorial Director

    212-204-4206 or joe.panettieri ( @ ) penton dot com


News Release Source : http://www.1888pressrelease.com/it-authorities-ranked-among-top-100-cloud-services-providers-pr-499550.html

Tuesday, November 19, 2013

International Collegiate Contest Spotlights Cloud Computing

International Collegiate Contest Spotlights Cloud Computing


Tens of thousands of students from universities across the globe are vying for a coveted invitation to the World Finals of the 38th annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), sponsored by IBM

[caption id="attachment_1142" align="aligncenter" width="450"]International Collegiate Contest Spotlights Cloud Computing www.TheCloudComputingAustralia.com-189 International Collegiate Contest Spotlights Cloud Computing[/caption]

WACO, Texas, Nov. 19, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Tens of thousands of students from universities across the globe are vying for a coveted invitation to the World Finals of the 38th annual ACM International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC), sponsored by IBM (NYSE: IBM).


Known as the Battle of the Brains, the IBM-Sponsored ACM-ICPC challenges university students to solve complex real-world problems using advanced computing methods under a grueling five-hour deadline. In five hours, these students will complete an entire semester's worth of computer programming. This year, the contest also exposes students to key emerging industry trends and capabilities, such as cloud computing, a major economic growth engine and development opportunity for students.


Today, cloud computing has become an invisible thread impacting countless industries by bringing all key information together. For example, thousands of doctors and hospitals are connecting to revolutionize patient care across healthcare organizations; retailers are accessing intelligent networks to build a mobile marketplace and capture business wherever customers roam; and universities are creating new virtual learning environments to inspire a generation to pursue ideas without limitations. The power of cloud is unprecedented, enabling businesses and organizations to take speed, agility and innovation to previously unimaginable levels.


"Cloud computing presents an immense career opportunity for the world's sharpest computing minds competing at the ICPC," said David Barnes, Program Director of Emerging Internet Technologies at IBM. "As a global leader in cloud computing and sponsor of the ICPC, each year IBM recruits top computing talent from the contest. We hope that the opportunity to join the world's finest cloud computing team, or our company in another capacity, will pique the interest of these innovative minds and result in long, prosperous careers with IBM."


Regional qualifying contests are already underway in the United States and will continue through December. Following the regional rounds, only 18 to 20 United States universities will be a part of the 120 elite three-person teams from around the world to advance to the World Finals. The final contest will take place June 22-26, 2014, and will be hosted by Ural Federal University in Ekaterinburg, Russia.


"Preparation for the ICPC is relentless, but its impact on productivity and opportunity lasts a lifetime," said Dr. Bill Poucher, ICPC Executive Director and Baylor University Professor of Computer Science. "These students are dauntless problem solvers. We aim for them to inspire each other to raise the bar for global technological innovation as they move into their careers with top industry players like IBM."


Considered the largest and most prestigious computer programming competition in the world, the Battle of the Brains reaches tens of thousands of students from more than 2,300 universities in 91 countries on six continents. Since IBM began sponsoring the contest in 1997, participation has grown more than 1,100 percent. During the 2012-2013 contest, nearly 30,000 students participated in the regionals portion alone.


The 2013 World Finals were held in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Students from St. Petersburg National Research University ITMO, the host university, captured their record-setting fifth world championship.


More than 400 schools from the United States are participating in regional qualifying contests. A complete list of schools can be found at http://icpc.baylor.edu/regionals/finder/north-america-2013.


For more information about the contest, follow ICPCNews on TwitterYouTube and Facebook, using #ICPC2014.


For IBM's take on the latest industry trends and the ICPC, follow Battle of the Brains on Twitter and YouTube, and listen to podcasts with IBM and ICPC executives on Podbean.


For more information about IBM, visit http://www.ibm.com/software and http://www.ibm.com/university.


About the ACM-ICPC
Headquartered at Baylor University, the ACM-ICPC is a global competition among the world's university students, nurturing new generations of talent in the science and art of information technology.


About ACM
ACM is the world's largest educational and scientific computing society, uniting computing educators, researchers and professionals to inspire dialogue, share resources and address the field's challenges. ACM strengthens the computing profession's collective voice through strong leadership, promotion of the highest standards, and recognition of technical excellence. ACM supports the professional growth of its members by providing opportunities for life-long learning, career development, and professional networking.


About IBM
IBM is the world's largest information technology and service provider. IBM has 35,000 software engineers in more than 90 research and development laboratories around the globe, who focus on solving real-world business issues for clients in more than 170 countries. IBM invests in high business values and strategic markets such as Big Data, Social Business, Mobile Computing and Cloud Computing. IBM provides industry solutions in areas such as smarter cities, smarter commerce, health care, energy, finance, communications, public service, transportation, manufacturing and many others.  For more information, visit http://www.ibm.com/software.


Media Contact:
Chas Kurtz
Tierney Communications
(215) 790-4386
ckurtz@tierneyagency.com


SOURCE IBM

Cloud Security 2013: Companies and Solutions

Cloud Security 2013: Companies and Solutions


NEW YORK, Nov. 18, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue:


Cloud Security 2013: Companies and Solutions


http://www.reportlinker.com/p01870952/Cloud-Security-2013-Companies-and-Solutions.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=IT_Hosting


Overview:


Cloud security is the set of security protocols and technologies that protect the cloud resources and the integrity of data stored in a cloud computing environment. Cloud security differs from traditional computer security in that it is not focused on preventing access to specific machines.

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This report provides information about cloud computing environment including types of cloud computing models, challenges facing cloud computing, best practices for cloud security, and analysis of key players in cloud security industry. The report provides an overview of key security components of popular cloud security solutions including architecture and capabilities. The report also provides a market outlook and view into the future of cloud security.


Report Benefits: 


Understand the basics of cloud computing
Evaluation of cloud security companies and their solutions
Identify key practices of cloud security vendors and customers
Understand cloud computing environment, benefits and challenges
Identify the evolution of cloud to content, applications, content, and communications
Understand cloud security solutions including components, architecture and capabilities

Target Audience:


Telecom service providers
Security solutions providers
Content and application providers
Datacenter and hosting companies
Cloud services (SaaS, IaaS, PaaS) companies
Companies involved with SDN and virtualization

Companies in Report: 


BARRACUDA
CARPATHIA
CISCO
CITRIX
EXPEDIENT
HYTRUST
MCAFEE
OPSOURCE
SAFENET
TRAPEZOID
VIRTUSTREAM
OVERVIEW 6
CLOUD COMPUTING 6
CLOUD COMPUTING MODELS 6
Storage-as-a-service 6
Database-as-a-service 7
Information-as-a-service 7
Business-Process-as-a-Service 7
Application-as-a-service 7
Platform-as-a-service 7
Integration-as-a-service 7
Security-as-a-service 7
Management-as-a-service 8
Testing-as-a-service 8
Infrastructure-as-a-service 8
CLOUD COMPUTING BENEFITS 8
Expand scalability 8
Lower infrastructure costs 8
Increase utilization 8
Improve end-user productivity 9
Improve reliability 9
Increase security 9
Saving Effort for IT Tasks 9
Gain access to more sophisticated applications 9
Save energy 9
CHALLENGES OF CLOUD COMPUTING 10
SENSITIVE DATA LEAKAGE OVER INSECURE CHANNELS 10
A LACK OF INTEROPERABILITY 10
APPLICATION COMPATIBILITY 10
DIFFICULTY IN MEETING COMPLIANCE REGULATIONS 10
INADEQUATE SECURITY 10
CLOUD SECURITY BEST PRACTICES 11
CLOUD PROVIDER 11
Isolation of networks 11
Isolation of management networks 11
Isolation of customer data networks 11
Secure customer access to cloud-based resources 12
Secure, consistent backups and restoration of cloud-based resources 12
Strong authentication, authorization and auditing mechanisms 12
A library of secure and up-to-date templates of base OS and applications 12
CUSTOMER SECURITY BEST PRACTICES 12
Follow standard best practices for securing operating systems 12
Encrypt critical data 13
CLOUD SECURITY PROVIDERS 14
BARRACUDA 14
Barracuda Web Security 14
CARPATHIA 15
Cloud Security Solution - InstantOn 16
CISCO 17
Cisco Cloud Security Solution 17
CITRIX 19
Citrix Cloud infrastructure solutions 19
EXPEDIENT 20
Expedient cloud computing solutions 20
HYTRUST 21
HyTrust Appliance 21
MCAFEE 23
Mcafee Cloud Security Platform 24
OPSOURCE 24
OpSource Cloud Hosting 25
SAFENET 26
TRAPEZOID 27
VIRTUSTREAM 29
CLOUD SECURITY FUTURE OUTLOOK 32
PROACTIVE APPLICATION MONITORING 32
ENHANCED DATA CENTER PHYSICAL SECURITY 32
ENHANCED DATA TRANSFER PROTECTION 32
DISASTER RECOVER AND THE CLOUD 32
APPENDIX: UNDERSTANDING THE CLOUD AND SECURITY 33
Cloud Computing 33
Beyond Computing: Content, Apps, Commerce, and Communications 33
Content 34
Applications 34
Commerce 35
Communications 37
Cloud Solution types 38
Private Clouds 38
Community Clouds 39
Public Cloud 39
Hybrid Cloud 39
General Security Concerns in the Cloud 40
Dos Attack 40
Bounce Attack 41
Personalization 41
Media specific Attack 41
Malicious Code Injection 41
Case Examples: Security Applications and Content as a Service 42
App Store Security 42
Security Management: 42
Identification management 43
Authentication and Authorization 43
Individual Privacy: 43
Data storage 43

To order this report: Cloud Security 2013: Companies and Solutions
http://www.reportlinker.com/p01870952/Cloud-Security-2013-Companies-and-Solutions.html#utm_source=prnewswire&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=IT_Hosting


__________________________
Contact Clare: clare@reportlinker.com
US: (339)-368-6001
Intl: +1 339-368-6001


 

SOURCE Reportlinker

RELATED LINKS
http://www.reportlinker.com

Friday, November 1, 2013

IEEE Cloud Computing Conference stresses on innovations

IEEE Cloud Computing Conference stresses on innovations


IEEE Cloud Computing Conference addressed the need for innovations in the Emerging Indian Cloud Computing Market.

(1888PressRelease) October 19, 2013 - Bangalore - IEEE Cloud Computing, a key initiative of the world's largest technical professional association, hosted its second international conference in Bangalore, India. The three-day dynamic IEEE Cloud Computing for Emerging Markets [CCEM] Conference held in Bangalore from 16th to 18th October, 2013 provided a platform for all the key stakeholders involved in the Indian Cloud eco-system to discuss on the innovations, challenges and opportunities for the emerging Indian Cloud computing markets. Kris Gopalakrishnan, Executive Vice-Chairman, Infosys unveiled a White Paper on "Roadmap for Cloud computing innovation in India" and inaugurated the conference. IEEE Cloud Computing is uniquely qualified and positioned to play a leading role in the development of cloud computing globally and to help, guide and shape its future.

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Speaking at the inauguration, Kris Gopalakrishnan, Executive Vice-Chairman, Infosys said, "The government must support by use of cloud in e-governance, making regulations to promote cloud and taking leadership in cloud related standards and policies. Also, academics should include cloud in the curriculum, as Cloud computing is the way computing will be in the future."

Emphasizing on the opportunities perspective, he illustrated, "The advantages of a central Electronic Health Records System (EHR) on Cloud are, it can be accessed by the hospitals, doctors, R&D organizations and insurance companies, with the permission of the patient. Government can also use the data to build statistics on particular ailments."

"CCEM is a vital platform for all the stakeholders in the Indian Cloud eco-system to discuss on the challenges and opportunities in the emerging Indian Cloud computing markets," said Kathy L Grise, Future Directions Senior Program Director, IEEE Cloud Computing Initiative. "With the rapid adoption of Cloud in India, we are happy to host the second edition of CCEM in Bangalore with the pro-active participation from government, academia and industry, following the grand success of CCEM 2012."

"The CCEM summit has clarified ambiguities on the subject and addressed blue-sea opportunities for telcos and enterprises to monetize on Cloud services. While telcos emerge out of walled garden approach to focus on user-centric cloud platforms and unified billing, it will create a pull-effect on Content and OTT players for collaboration, leading to new multi-sided revenue models. We expect this trend to lead the recovery of the Indian telecom industry and lay a strong foundation for growth of mobile internet services. Huawei advocates a platform-based approach for multi-media services, fostering an open and cooperative ecosystem." added Sethumadhavan Srinivasan, Director - Strategy & Corporate Marketing, Huawei Telecommunications (India) Co. Pvt. Ltd., one of the sponsors.

Well-known speakers at the conference included Dr. Anurag Srivastava, Senior VP & CTO, Wipro; Manish Israni, Infrastructure Head, Vodafone India; Gautham Mago, Principal, Sequoia Capital India; Dr. Fausto Bernardini, VP & distinguished engineer, Cloud Managed Services, IBM USA; Dr. Anand Deshpande, Founder Chairman and MD, Persistent Systems among others.

The Startup showcase & Demo sessions had enthusiastic participation from NanoBI Analytics, Impel CRM, Cloud Munch, i7 Networks, IDOS, Researching Souls, Cloud Byte Inc., Cloud Munch, Wolken Software Private Limited, Knowlarity, TAL Software Solutions Pvt Ltd, {Fix}nix, Manjrasoft.

The IEEE CCEM conference had a mix of invited expert talks, high-level panel discussions, poster session, Startup showcase & demo sessions and peer reviewed papers with a truly distinguished array of personalities from industry, academia and government from across the world. All these aligned with the theme that focused on cloud based innovations in the emerging market, opportunities in the rapidly growing Indian cloud market, issues and challenges, security and compliance issues, market oriented cloud computing and the role of standards.

The IEEE Cloud Computing Initiative leads the way by collaborating across the interested IEEE societies and groups for a well-coordinated and cohesive plan in the areas of big data, conferences, education, publications, standards, intercloud testbed, and dedicated web portal. The event made its mark on with around 150 distinguished members from across the world.

About IEEE:
IEEE, a large, global technical professional organization is dedicated to advancing technology for the benefit of humanity. Through its highly cited publications, conferences, technology standards, and professional and educational activities, IEEE is the trusted voice on a wide variety of areas ranging from aerospace systems, computers and telecommunications to biomedical engineering, electric power and consumer electronics. Learn more at http://www.ieee.org.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Increase Process Efficiency With Cloud Document Management

Increase Process Efficiency With Cloud Document Management


By Zecy K


Perhaps the most obvious reason for using cloud document management technology is increasing office space for other functions. Nevertheless, the primary reason for employing document management software for your company is improving its overall responsiveness as well as reducing operational costs. In other words, your business runs faster and you save time and money. Your employees also become more productive as a result of features such as workload automation, mobile solutions and e-forms. This technology is no longer a privilege enjoyed by large companies only. Practically any organization with a decent budget and vision can implement it.

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Cloud based systems bring down investment cost. Digitech System vendors such as ImageSilo and FileBound have provided document management services that are affordable. These systems are superior to earlier versions because they offer the following advantages:

Lower Investment Cost; No need for IT infrastructure and servers.

Speedy Deployment; Most features do not require a lot of training as they are point and click.

Rich in Features; Majority of productivity features are available in the base software.

Flexibility: Migrating from a maintenance/license model to a monthly fee makes the costs predictable and flexible.

Organizations and businesses that have used cloud document management services have noted that the features offered drive majority of process improvement capabilities. In addition to accountability of processes and speed processing, other benefits include;

Mobility; Instead of just accessing processes and documents at their desks, people can work from anywhere.

E-forms; People can use online forms that flow smoothly into processes for approval, instead of filling them out on hard copy. Therefore, transactions are fast and easily accountable.

Workflow; Instead of manually moving documents for signatures, they can be routed automatically, thus reducing the workload and improving accountability of processes.

Once the technology is set up, the applications occur across your business or organization. Document management technology can be configured to suit the needs of specific departments and processes. Some of the common areas where many organizations have experienced considerable improvement in processes include;

Engineering; Simplifying engineering change orders and improving visibility of connected documents.

Customer Service; Enables salespeople to easily access all relevant customer information while in the field.

Human Resources; Eliminating overnight paperwork, automating employee on-boarding and preventing non-compliance issues during audits.

Invoice Processing; Automating invoice approval processes, therefore allowing you to maximize on early payment discounts etc.

With cloud document management services, your business is bound to soar higher than you ever imagined. Forget the obvious benefit of more room in your offices, that is given. The main benefit you enjoy is achieving your organization's objectives in a fast, efficient and a fun way. Your employees enjoy less workload and can focus on providing creative solutions, suppliers are handled faster, and your customers are served more efficiently. You can find companies that offer cloud based systems online by using search engines and online directories, or you can obtain references from organizations that use these cloud based repositories.

Zecy K is the author of this article on document management.
Find more information, about workflow here

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Zecy_K

http://EzineArticles.com/?Increase-Process-Efficiency-With-Cloud-Document-Management&id=7998349

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Top 10 Best Practices for Managing the Risk of Cloud Services

Best Practices for Managing the Risk of Cloud Services


Author: skyhighnetworks


The number and variety of cloud services offered to enterprises is growing at a staggering rate, and the adoption of cloud services by these enterprises is growing just as rapidly.  Gartner says that 72of enterprises use Software as a Service (SaaS) today and expect a Compound Annual Growth Rate for SaaS of 52.4off the current base of $14.5B.  What's more startling is how much spending on cloud services occurs outside of IT.  Gartner predicted that a full 35of IT spending would take place outside of IT by 2015 – only two years away. By the end of the decade, that figure will hit 90  This segment of cloud services purchased outside of IT is often referred to as 'Shadow IT'.

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Enterprise employees purchase cloud services for a variety of reasons.  They provide rapid scalability, reduce time-to-value, offer agility and ease of use, and enable a shift from capital expenditure to operating expenditure.  However, use of these services can come with significant security, legal, and business risks, especially when they are procured and managed outside of IT's visibility and control.  In this whitepaper, we will share the best practices used by real companies to reduce the risk presented by the use of approved and unapproved (Shadow IT) cloud services.

Top 10 Best Practices for Managing the Risk of Cloud Services

1. Identify all cloud services in use & evaluate risk

2. Block all high-risk services & suggest lower-risk alternatives

3. Confirm all corporate data removed from newly-blocked services

4. Alert employees using recently compromised services

5. Detect and remediate policy inconsistencies

6. Search for anomalies in user behavior

7. Conduct investigations into anomalous behaviors i.e. cloud usage patterns

8. Encrypt data going to key services

9. Use Data loss prevention software (DLP) to avoid compliance risk

10.  Track progress regularly

Leading companies in a variety of industries have reduced their cloud services risk through the use of the Cloud Services Manager. By implementing the best technology and leveraging these proven best practices, you can help your organization safely deploy, use, and manage cloud services leading to increased agility, scalability, and ease of use, and decreased overall costs for your IT and Security departments.

Enterprise employees purchase cloud services for a variety of reasons.  They provide rapid scalability, reduce time-to-value, offer agility and ease of use, and enable a shift from capital expenditure to operating expenditure.  However, use of these services can come with significant security, legal, and business risks, especially when they are procured and managed outside of IT's visibility and control.  In this whitepaper, we will share the best practices used by real companies to reduce the risk presented by the use of approved and unapproved (Shadow IT) cloud services.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/best-practices-for-managing-the-risk-of-cloud-services-6702284.html

About the Author

This article has been brought to you by the Skyhigh Networks cloud visibility and control company. We are leader in helping accelerate the safe and profitable adoption of cloud service by businesses and also we use Data Loss Prevention Software(DLP) to avoid compliance risk.  For more information on Cloud Security services, call Skyhigh Networks experts at 1.866.727.8383, or visit http://www.skyhighnetworks.com.

Steps to Safe Cloud Services Adoption

Steps to Safe Cloud Services Adoption


Author: skyhighnetworks


Enterprises Cloud SaaS and IaaS are an unstoppable force sweeping through organizations large and small at a breakneck pace. The rapid adoption has allowed anyone in an organization with a Web browser and an Internet connection to take over (and pay for) traditional IT department functions such as email, storage and backup, and collaboration tools. As a result of this rapid shift, IT consultancy Gartner estimates that by 2015, 35of IT spending will come from budgets outside of the IT department. That figure will grow to 90by the end of the decade.  The benefits of these fast-growing cloud services are undeniable and include service agility; wider choice of products; ease of collaboration; fast, cheap deployment, and swapping fixed capital expenditures for variable operating costs that can be ratcheted up or down to meet demand. While enterprises have long leveraged traditional cloud services such as Salesforce.com and Office 365, employees increasingly use popular but lesser known services, such as Evernote (social bookmarking and document sharing) and Prezi (online presentation tools). They also log into SaaS services while at work for personal needs including photo sharing (Instagram), and social media (Twitter). To quickly build and test applications, developers at enterprises rely on cloud IaaS products such as Amazon Web Services, Rackspace and Heroku. From developers to marketers to salespeople, employees are accessing and using these cloud services with or without their IT department's permission or knowledge.

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Few, if any, CIOs know exactly how many services are in use on their networks, let alone which services are in use. According to a Jan. 2013 survey undertaken by Symantec[2], 77of businesses have suffered rogue cloud deployments or unauthorized uses of cloud services. This lack of information means that IT organizations have no way to secure their networks against risky services or manage and mandate safe cloud service use by employees. IT organizations also struggle to maintain cost control over cloud services and to unify cloud service usage under more economical enterprise-wide contracts.  Some of the world's largest financial, health care and technology enterprises have successfully deployed Skyhigh Networks\' Cloud Services Manager product suite to leverage the benefits of cloud services and manage employee usage while minimizing the security risks and controlling costs.

Gain Visibility

The first step towards controlling cloud service usage and minimizing cloud services risk is to gain complete visibility into which services employees are already using. This is no simple task. Estimates of the total number of cloud services functioning right now range from ~2000 to over 5,000. New cloud services emerge every day. Any new application coming onto the market has a significant cloud component for backup and synchronization, at a minimum. It is also important to understand the breadth of the cloud services universe. For example, if an employee visits a popular industry blog and writes a comment, chances are that the employee has registered and then logged into Disqus, the most popular blog commenting platform. Disqus is actually a cloud service. An employee working on an open source software project probably uses the GitHub repository system to store source code. This is another major cloud service that flies under the radar.  Popularity of cloud services varies significantly by region and by platform. While DropBox is a popular sharing platform in the U.S., in Eastern Europe a service called 4Share is far more popular. For these reasons, establishing a solid cloud services policy and management strategy requires complete visibility and understanding of cloud service usage.

The only way to attain this visibility is through detailed log-file analysis, mapping back services accessed to business units and individual users. Initially, this is a 'snapshot' that provides a baseline of cloud services accessed by employees. Log-file analysis alone is not sufficient. The analysis must be pushed into a simple-to-consume dashboard that allows lesser trained IT administrators to view a list of all services running and key details about those services (type of service, location of physical servers, potential risks of service, etc). For any cloud services management strategy to remain effective over extended periods, the snapshotting process must be moved towards a regularly discovery period done weekly, daily, hourly or even in real-time. This is essential because the cloud services landscape is evolving very quickly and a log-file analysis has a very short half-life both in terms of services accessed but also risk profiles of the specific services and even service details (ports accessed, types of service calls, communications protocols used).

Gain Service Insight and Analysis

The second step towards putting in place a strong cloud services management strategy is gaining insights into which services present the most risks. This is possible and relatively simple once an IT organization has obtained full discovery of all services in use. At that point, the IT security team should bucket the services into broad categories in order to compare similar services and perform comparative risk analyses. For example, employees in one unit may be using Box.net while those in another use Google Drive while those in another use SugarSync and 4Share. Box.net may present a very low risk while 4Shared is a very high risk. SugarSync, in comparison may be an acceptable risk. Once those risk assessments are completed, IT and cloud security services managers should identify the services with the lowest risk in a category and consider establishing a commercial relationship with the provider. With or without such a relationship, the IT security team can promote the lesser risk services across your employee pool while discouraging or blocking the use of higher risk services in the same category.  Just like the log-file analysis and visibility exercises, cloud services risk assessment is a continuous activity that may require temporary halts or lockdowns on specific services. For example, the recent password breach at Evernote increased risk of that service until the breach was addressed.[3] Enterprises using Evernote should have reassessed their Evernote usage to minimize their risk exposure.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/security-articles/steps-to-safe-cloud-services-adoption-6709989.html

About the Author

By sequentially following the methodology explained in this article, CIOs can quickly gain control of their cloud services exposure. More importantly, CIOs can transform their role inside the organization from that of a naysayer to a business enabler and an inclusive contributor to improved business operations via smarter cloud services usage and proactive cloud service selection.  A well-executed cloud services strategy, used in conjunction with specialized tools such as Skyhigh Networks' Cloud Security Manager, can deliver significant business benefits while actually improving enterprise IT security through full transparency and visibility. for more details visit http://www.skyhighnetworks.com/

How to protect encrypt data and avoid data loss prevention on cloud

How to protect encrypt data and avoid data loss prevention on cloud


Author: skyhighnetworks


Detect and remediate policy inconsistencies

Policy inconsistencies can occur in two ways.  In the first type of inconsistency, there is a high-risk service that is allowed, while another, lower risk service is blocked.  In this instance, make a policy decision to block both, allow both, or allow only the lower risk service.  All three options would eliminate the inconstancy, but you will need to determine which option makes the most sense for your business.

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The second type of inconsistency occurs when a service is partially blocked.  Sometime there is a legitimate reason for this type of inconsistency (e.g. Marketing needs access to Facebook but other departments do not.  More often than not, this type of inconsistency occurs because the infrastructure cannot keep up with the velocity of new cloud services being introduced and used by employees and therefore many service fall in the unclassified category.  Using a cloud service management product that has an extensive registry of services and automatically visualizes allowed vs. denied traffic will make identifying both types on inconsistencies simple and will allow you to easily monitor progress resolving the inconsistencies.

Search for anomalies in user behaviour

When working to reduce the risk of cloud services, much attention is paid to the risk profile of the cloud services themselves.  However, often times perfectly safe and secure cloud services can be the source of a data leak if an internal employee is acting maliciously.  Unfortunately, no proxy, firewall, or SIEM can alert the organization of malicious use of a legitimate service.  So, the best practice is to leverage a cloud services management product that has the ability to identify usage anomalies that are indicative of malicious behaviour.

Conduct investigations into anomalous behaviours

While a cloud service anomaly, such as the Twitter example mentioned above, is a very good indicator of malicious behaviour, and investigation must be conducted in order to determine the context and intent of the anomalous behaviour.  For example, the user associated with the IP address that had 1M tweets may have simply contracted a malware virus that had seized her Twitter account, or she could have been intentionally leaking confidential data.  In most cases, the best practices is to look for a legitimate business use case, compare their activity to benchmarks, and then contact the line of business manager and corporate security to alert them of the issue, monitor their activity, and intervene if needed.

Encrypt data going to key services

It is prudent to add another layer of security to the most critical cloud services in your organization.  The first step is to identify services that are enterprise-critical, blessed, and procured, such as Salesforce, Box, Office365, and Google.  Access to those services should require that employees to use their corporate identity and then access to your enterprise\'s account at the service.  For example, their traffic would go to acme.salesforce.com, rather than directly to salesforce.com.   This means that you can then control who has access the account, and what happens to the data sent to this service.

The best practice is to leverage a reverse proxy to encrypt data sent to these services with your enterprise managed encryption keys.  In doing so, you guarantee that even if the provider is compromised, your data will not be.  Finally, you will need to ensure that your control is enforced for on-premise to cloud accesses and for mobile to cloud access.  This should be done without requiring the traffic from those devices to be back-hauled (through a VPN) into your enterprise edge first to avoid introducing user friction.

Doing this will provide 2 distinct advantages.  The first obvious advantage is that even if the service is compromised, your data will not be because you hold the encryption keys.  The second advantage is that in this era of limited data privacy, this encryption guards against a blind government subpoena.  Microsoft, Google, and Box, for example, often receive subpoenas from the government asking for information for a particular company, with a gag order prohibiting them from alerting that company.  By encrypting the data that lives within the cloud, the company can ensure that it is notified of any investigation, as it will need to provide the encryption keys to government investigators.

Implement Data Loss Prevention (DLP) guidelines to avoid compliance risk

Any enterprise that utilizes cloud services should be careful about sending confidential data to the cloud, but if you work in a regulated industry, such as healthcare or financial services you must be extra vigilant.  Within a regulated industry, sending confidential client information to the cloud can result in a serious compliance violation that would damage the reputation of the company and result in serious financial penalties.   Specifically, healthcare companies must comply with HIPPA regulations, banks and financial institutions must comply with PCI guidelines and almost every company must comply with SOX regulations.  Complying with these regulations.  Any company using the cloud must have a DLP strategy in order to comply with these regulations.

Proxies and firewalls cannot protect against the incidental transmission of personal information, so your cloud data security management product should be able to provide DLP functionality to help prevent sending confidential client information to the cloud.

Track progress regularly

Managing the risk of cloud services is not a point in time exercise.  You will need to continually monitor the use of cloud services since new services hit the market daily and your employees will constantly seek the latest tools to help them do their jobs.  In order to drive a successful and quantifiable risk management program you will need to determine which metrics to track and develop a methodology for gathering the data on a regular basis.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/software-articles/how-to-protect-encrypt-data-and-avoid-data-loss-prevention-on-cloud-6713185.html

About the Author

This article has been brought to you by the Skyhigh Networks cloud visibility and control company. Your cloud data security management product is to be provided with certain DLP functionality to help prevent sending confidential client information to the cloud.. For more information on Cloud Security services, call Skyhigh Networks experts at 1.866.727.8383, or visit http://www.skyhighnetworks.com.

Thursday, August 1, 2013

The Benefits of Cloud Storage Australia Services

The Benefits of Cloud Storage Australia Services


Author: Unified IT


Data needs to be stored safely for quicker retrieval when need arises. There are numerous IT services Australia has on offer for companies and businesses that are keen in minimizing risks associated to data loss. There are numerous benefits that come with cloud storage in Australia. First of all, you'll only be required to purchase the capacity that you require. This means that there is no wastage of resources. Another benefit is that service providers will get your system up and running in a matter of few minutes. The programs are easy to use and seldom necessitate assistance from the representatives of the company.

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Convenient

Many companies agree that cloud storage Australia is convenient since the data remains within the region. No entity is capable of accessing it in another region outside of Australia. In case you need to share content with your contacts, this option will come in handy in enabling you to do so via email and even social media networking sites. Archiving of important files has also never been easier as it is now. Although the process of uploading, sharing and retrieving data is simple, free live support is still available on a 24-hour basis. This basically includes: - email, live chat and telephone assistance.

Efficient

Cloud backup storage in Australia will also ensure that large data is uploaded efficiently. In such a case, the company will ask you to provide your hard drive so that they can handle the entire process and return the component as soon as the process is complete. Data will be controlled in a much more effective manner because of the reliable high speed access and first class security. There are many features that ensure errors are corrected quickly. The software programs enable users to undo previous actions meaning that any files that are deleted by mistake can be retrieved instantaneously.

Easy to use

In general, the amount of training required for operating the programs is quit minimal. After the initial installation process, the software will function just like the traditional computer hard drive. In addition, there is no need to worry about compatibility issues since the service providers design the cloud storage Australia software to work with PCs, Android and even iPhones. You'll also enjoy viewing your files just the way they are since there is no need of compressing them prior to uploading them. Now, you have the power of setting privacy controls for all users.

Article Source: http://www.articlesbase.com/data-recovery-articles/the-benefits-of-cloud-storage-australia-services-6531288.html

About the Author

Mike Simmon is a professional author lives in Melbourne, Australia. He loves to write about IT services in Australia. For more information visit unifiedit.com.au.