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This Week in Cloud, June 2, 2011: Citrix OpenStack announcements, 2 biggest lies about cloud security, 5 things to look for in a cloud service provider, do SaaS security apps perform better than desktop ones? And more…
Featured on Cloud Commons
Reviewers sought: The Cloud Services Measurement Initiative Consortium (CSMIC) is asking for your candid and careful review of the SMI Framework developed for use by corporate and government clients to determine:
- Which cloud service characteristics matter most in decisions to move to the cloud and
- What clients should expect in performance and service quality when acquiring cloud services.
Click here for more information, including a link to a survey and a file which includes the full framework.
Feature Article
BBC: I’m sorry about Cloud Reliability
By Justin Pirie, Mimecast
I'd like to issue an apology.
I'm sorry Cloud is so confusing.
Yes. There. I said it.
The problem we have is twofold: Cloud covers an enormous part of the computing stack and because it is the movement du jour, almost everything either is Cloud or is being rebranded Cloud. We call this cloud-washing. Combine a very diverse set of technologies and lots of marketing spin—it’s a recipe for disaster in anyone’s book.
It’s not surprising therefore that lots of people have reached out to me to ask about the recent downtime on Amazon and Playstation Network (PSN) being hacked asking: Is Cloud really ready for primetime? This sort of fear and uncertainty is exacerbated by Tim Weber’s inaccurate reporting on the BBC.
In addition to his generous apology, Pirie uses this article to delve into the causes of the issues at AWS and PSN, examine why some AWS customers were able to avoid downtime and provide some straightforward guidelines for when a consumer service should be called cloud and when it shouldn’t. Read the full article .
Cloud News
- Citrix announced a cloud infrastructure platform based on OpenStack that will be available later this year. The project, code-named Project Olympus, consists of a Citrix-certified version of OpenStack combined with a cloud-optimized version of Citrix XenServer, according to this ZDNet article. Citrix also announced Netscaler Cloud Bridge (due out later this year) that the company says will help connect enterprise data centers to any off-premise cloud.
- Capgemini is offering services to help customers run SAP applications in Amazon Web Services’ cloud. Read more in this PCWorld article.
- AT&T is pledging to invest $1 billion in mobility applications, as-a-service cloud-based solutions and network sourcing. This CRN article has more info.
Cloud Views
- The two biggest lies about cloud security: In this Network World article, Bernard Golden debunks two commonly held myths: that private clouds are inherently secure, and that the responsibility for security in public cloud rests solely with the cloud service provider.
- This eConsultancy article identifies 5 things to look for in a cloud service provider: a solid SLA, pricing that passes the sniff test, a standards-based solution, an experienced management team and a non-Amazon-based architecture.
- IT as a Service is the future: in this TechWeb article, Charles Babcock writes about the certainty among software executives that the market is transitioning to a SaaS model. The article summarizes some of the key takeaways from a report published by the Software and Information Industry Association titled ‘Vision from the Top’ based on interviews with 45 senior software executives from companies such as Intuit, NetSuite and Plex Systems.
- This PCWorld article which explores whether cloud-based security apps actually deliver the benefits over desktop security suites they are presumed to offer (better security because of always-up-to-date threat signatures, and better system performance). The study compared cloud-based Trend Micro and Panda solutions to desktop packages including Norton Antivirus. The results: none of the cloud solutions blocked more threats than the leading desktop solution and neither outshone desktop suites in terms of impact on a PC’s performance.
- This InformationWeek piece describes using SaaS applications to manage cloud-based VMs. The article focuses on ScaleXtreme’s offering.
MSP Corner
- Who owns the customer? This Channel Insider article explores some of the sticky issues and implications around whether hardware providers or MSPs “own” the customer relationship in a cloud-centric world.
- Intel announced a new set of services MSPs can offer to SMBs, according to this ChannelWeb article. The Intel AppUp Small Business Cloud Services are built on the Intel Hybrid Cloud, which comprises a server, pre-packaged small business apps from partners like Microsoft, Symantec, Level Platforms and Astaro, and Intel-developed software to manage and track use of the application software.
- Nimsoft sponsored a survey in conjunction with Enterprise Management Associates that talks about the growing interest among large and mid-size companies in working with MSPs. The top motivators for engaging MSPs were cost reduction (41%), technical expertise (37%) and ability to focus on core business (36%). The most common management functions outsourced are storage/recovery (56%) and help desk (44%). Read more in this Cloud Computing Topics article.
Upcoming Cloud Events
- Cloud Expo East: June 6-9, New York City
- Gartner IT Infrastructure & Operations Management: June 11 – 13, Orlando, Florida
- The Business of Cloud Computing: June 13 – 15, San Diego, California
- GigaOm Structure: June 22 – 23, San Francisco, California
- Hosting and Cloud Transformation Summit: June 28 – 29, London
- IEEE Cloud 2011: July 4 – 9, Washington DC
