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As new and transformative technologies continue to hit the market at an ever-increasing pace, CIOs are faced with a substantial opportunity. No longer purely the domain of the IT group, technologies such as cloud computing have caught the attention of decision makers across the business. Forward thinking CIOs will grasp this opportunity to initiate and drive the corporate conversation about the benefits, risks and roadmap for cloud. In doing so, they will carve out a leadership role in an empowered business unit that thrives on exploiting technology for overall business success. For complete paper see here

From the Rackspace surve y, of those already using cloud computing: The largest sample, 41 percent, said cloud computing reduced costs from 10 to 25 percent, while 19 percent said it providing 25 to 50 percent in IT savings, and 27 percent said it only cut costs by 10 percent or less. 54 percent said use of cloud services helped accelerate IT project implementation, including application development, while 17 percent begged to differ. The rest weren't sure.   Image Source  56 percent saw increased profits while 18 percent reported no benefit to the bottom line, with 26 percent unsure. 49 percent said cloud computing helped grow their businesses, with 21 percent seeing no such benefit, and 30 percent unsure. 59 percent said cloud services provided better disaster recovery. 56 percent were using open source cloud technology, though in the United States that figure is 70 percent.

In a recent article published here , Marty Humphrey , an associate professor in the  Department of Computer Science  at  University of Virginia , said one task for educators is to ensure that students are able to author new cloud-based applications. "On the one hand this will not require a radical rethinking of computer science curriculum because at the core, cloud applications are based on algorithms and data structures, which have been the foundation of computer science courses since the beginning," he said by email. "But on the other hand, cloud applications are so important that we will need to ensure that computer science students are up-to-date with the latest frameworks and data analysis tools," Humphrey said. "This can be a challenge because the field is changing so quickly." Students in our department , have started doing cloud-based projects. Here are some of the examples Cloud based Teaching system uses cloud resources to build s

Here is a set of examples from WSJ on Cloud Computing charming Big Companies  Royal Dutch Shell plc, the largest company in the world by revenue, could afford to build all the data centers that it desires. But like many other major corporations, it has enthusiastically embraced cloud computing, which has been introduced at multiple layers of its information technology, from routine applications to the very core of the energy giant’s global IT infrastructure. Image Source Large organizations are adopting cloud technology for many of the same reasons smaller organizations have been attracted to the idea of renting rather than owning computing resources — greater flexibility and cost savings, resiliency in the event of natural disasters, and the ability to try new technologies without having to commit to them. And while they acknowledge concerns about cybersecurity, they believe they can safely pursue their cloud strategies while taking appropriate precautions. “For

The cloud computing world is opening up for the OpenStack. This open source project, launched by NASA and Rackspace in late 2010, is assembling a private cloud "operating system" for the data center that promises vast increases in operational efficiency. The momentum behind it is phenomenal ; at last count more than 150 companies back the project including CISCO, Citrix, Dell, HP and Intel. With OpenStack, there is a vibrant, fast growing open source project for creating private cloud, flanked by VMware that offers a proprietary portfolio of private cloud software. OpenStack private cloud is compelling in part because it follows a Linux like open source model. Today, under an Apache license , the OpenStack "kernel" has three components: Compute( for managing large networks of Virtual Machines) Object Storage ( for massive storage clusters) Image Service ( for managing virtual disk images). Around this kernel- with Linux distros (distribution) - vendo

At its core, cloud computing's inherent value proposition centers on answering a perennial challenge of every organization faces: Lack of budget to really improve a enterprise's competitive edge in the business market space. Cloud computing promises to help IT organizations to relay back maintenance costs so they can spend on business value creation process. Behind that promise are the benefits for small enterprises.                                 Image source Low start-up costs Low costs for sporadic or seasonal use ease of management scalability  Device and location independent Rapid innovation 

Cloud computing in practical terms can be understood as the storing, processing and use of data on remotely located computers accessed over the Internet. This approach provides users almost unlimited computing power on demand, and they do not have to make major investments to meet their needs and they can get to their data from everywhere with an internet connection. As a consequence, cloud computing has the potential to cut user's IT expenditure and enable many new services to be developed without making upfront investments. Cloud computing makes the world a flatter and level-playing field and with cloud computing, even the smallest firms can reach out to ever growing and larger market. The governments can make their services more attractive and efficient even when controlling in spending.  Cloud computing represents a new stage and a paradigm in the networked society. Where the world wide web makes information available everywhere and to anyone, cloud computing makes compu

According  to a post  " One sector that has been truly transformed by the cloud is  logistics and supply chain management .  In many ways the cloud is a natural fit for this industry because of its global scope and involvement of many participants.  The cloud allows data from many sources to be centrally collected, transformed, and presented in dynamic dashboards.  With the cloud, supply chain and logistic analysts are able to track in real time every step of the supply chain, enabling them to make informed decisions and forecasts for capacity management and contingency planning.  Cloud platforms for logistics are more flexible and responsive compared to the previous generation of supply chain and logistics tracking tools. Image Source: Dwight Klappich , research vice president for Gartner, said in a  Logistics Management article , that “two to three years ago when we talked to shippers about software, the cloud was just one option. In many cases, the cloud has now b

As more businesses move their IT systems into the cloud, lawyers need to ask if cloud computing is right for their firm.  Cloud Computing for Lawyers  features a discussion of cloud computing fundamentals, an overview of legal cloud computing products, and step-by-step instructions for implementing cloud computing in your practice--including practical tips for securing your data. This book will help you:  Understand the current state of cloud computing technology Weigh the risks and benefits of cloud computing Evaluate legal cloud computing applications like law practice management, billing, time tracking, e-mail, and e-discovery software Consider the ethical considerations of storing client data in the cloud Maintain security and privacy for your online data Cloud Computing for Lawyers  will be an essential resource for attorneys seeking to make an informed decision about adopting cloud computing in their practice. More information about the book is available here

Couchbase says " Interactive software has changed in fundamental ways over the last 35 years. But until recently, database technology has not advanced to keep pace. The “online” systems of the 1970s have evolved into today’s web and mobile applications. These systems solve new problems for vastly larger user populations, and they execute atop a computing infrastructure that has changed even more radically over the years. NoSQL database technologies have emerged to enable the cost-effective management of data behind modern web and mobile applications. Here a complete details about need for and framework of NoSQL For more general treatment of topic see here for wikipedia article on NoSQL.

Cloud computing will be the key platform for most applications in the coming decade, according to a senior researcher.  Gordon Bell, principal researcher in the Microsoft Research Silicon Valley Laboratory, said training in cloud computing would be ‘super important’ in the coming days. Gordon Bell speaking at CMUQ on Thursday. PICTURE: Shaji Kayamkulam. Cloud computing has not been made use of very well by the computing community, he said. “Many of the people are not even aware of the fact that they come across many of the cloud computing applications in their activities.  Within a short time, cloud will be the platform for most of the applications,” Bell told Gulf Times.  Cloud applications would be used for real monitoring in many areas that would improve the services dramatically.  Highlighting certain services, Bell said traffic and transportation would be one area where cloud computing would have a big impact.  For complete story see here 

Cloud computing has made its way onto Wall Street. Firms on Wall Street are now adopting cloud computing practices. One of these innovative new cloud computing firms is  Navatar Group , which was founded in 2004 by Deloitte Consulting veterans, including Alok Misra. Navatar Group has geared its cloud solutions toward the financial sector. The company focuses on debt or equity capital markets, mutual funds, private equity, asset management and banking. Navatar Group works with leading financial institutions worldwide. complete story is here 

After speaking with hundreds of software start-ups, here’s  Bob Rizika, CEO of  ProfitBricks USA advice and top 5 list for start-up software executives of why the Cloud is perfectly suited to be the IT “launch pad” for start-ups:   Image Source 5. Quickly Start-up – Getting started developing and testing prototypes and beta releases in either bootstrapped or VC funding models is now easier and requires less capital expenditures than ever.   Then, assuming that the software rocks, your PR push works, and the stars properly align, your venture may grow rapidly within the first few weeks. 4. Scale Simply and Easily – To meet this growing demand, you will quickly need to add additional servers, compute power, and storage. If you architected your application based on software industry best practices, it will be really easy to for you maintain a rapid growth pace. Cloud Computing providers offer you the option to scale-out by adding more machines or scale-up

The biggest challenges facing companies moving to cloud lie in the implementation of cloud technology. A survey by KPMG of 650 senior executives in 16 countries found that over a third said they had found costs related to implementation were higher than expected, while 31 percent indicated that the process of integrating existing IT architecture with new cloud services was creating challenges.

These are turbulent times for business. In today's economic environment, the ability to respond to rapidly changing customer needs is a key competitive ingredient for success. Towards this end, enterprises always seek ways to improve their agility to adjust to market demands. Cloud computing enables business to rapidly adjust processes, products and services to meet the changing needs of the market, cloud computing in addition facilitates rapid prototyping and innovation and helps speed time to market.  Image Source ActiveVideo use d cloud's power to enhance it 's  market adaptability when it created CloudTV. CloudTV is a cloud-based platf or m that unifies all forms of content- web, television, mobile, social, video-on-demand and mo re onto any video screen. Content and applications from web content creators, television networks, advertisers and other media ent ities can be developed qu ickly for cloudTV using standar d web tools  Source

Due to its expanded computing power and capacity, cloud can store information about user preferences, usage pattern and that store information can be used to enable product or service customization for that customer. The context-driven changes provided via cloud allows business to offer users personal experience that adapt to subtle changes is user defined context which allows for a more user-centric experience. This is an important cloud aspect as it enable businesses  in addressing "fragmented "user preference.   Siri, the Apple iPhone 4S cloud-based natural Language "Intelligent Assistant" source Siri, the Apple iPhone 4S cloud-based natural language "intelligent assistant" is an example of context-driven customization. It allows users to send messages, schedule meetings, place phone calls, find shopping malls and more. Unlike the other phones that have some voice recognition features, Siri " learns user voice". It uses artificial

Cloud Computing offers a set of benefits for users and one of them is dynamic scalability. This post explains what is scalability , its benefit to business with an illustration . IT scalability is identified as by many major benefit of c loud computing application. But the real benefit is more tha n mere computing resource sca lability - in a way it  enables an enterpr is e to effortlessly sca le its business operations as well. By allowing for rapid provisioning of computing resources without scale limitations , cloud enable s business organization to benefit from econom ies of scale without procuring large vol umes of its ow n.  Here is an example of scalability in action in real -life business scenario                                                          Image Source           NetFlix is an Internet subscription-based service for movies and TV shows. Since it streams many movies and shows on demand, the company faces large surges of capacity at peak times. As it