This Week in Cloud

Register now!

Get weekly insight from the experts at Cloud Commons.

Special Offer

Subscribe now for a chance to win a $500 Apple gift certificate*†

This Week in Cloud, September 8, 2011: Salesforce.com adds social and mobile to cloud platforms, news from vendors at VMworld, what does it take to compete against Amazon Web Services. And more…

Cloud News

  • Salesforce.com added social and mobile capabilities to its major cloud platforms, Force.com, Database.com and Heroku. This CRN article has the details. Salesforce.com’s CEO Marc Benioff talked about how cloud is about building an ecosystem of many partners, not just one company alone at the top. Read this ZDNet article for more.
  • In this CNET blog, James Urquhart shares his thoughts on what it would take to successfully compete against Amazon Web Services in the public IaaS space.
  • More than 250 companies showcased cloud and virtualization technology at last week’s VMworld show. This Channel Insider article summarizes some of the news announced by companies other than VMware at the event, including news from HP, F5 Networks, Cisco, Riverbed Technology, N-able Technologies, Trend Micro, Virtual Computer and CSC.
  • Symantec and VMware announced a desktop-as-a-service offering with integrated security, end-to-end application and data management capabilities, according to this eWeek article.
  • In other interesting cloud news, Ford unveiled its Evos concept car, which connects to the cloud to increase fuel efficiency and customize a driver’s experience. The car has the ability to analyze your work schedule or the weather and pre-heat itself to the ideal temperature at the time you usually leave for work, for example, or continue playing the same radio station you were listening to in the house. Read this PCMag article for more.

Feature article

Heavy Clouds over the traditional IT outsourcing model

By Jan Juul, CA Technologies

IT outsourcing has been a part of many large companies' IT strategy for the last decade. In these traditional outsourcing contracts, a company typically signs a large multiyear deal (4 - 7 years) with an IT services provider which will take over and manage specific functions of the IT infrastructure for the company.

The contracts are very detailed and focused on cost reduction and operational efficiency, controlled by financial measures to ensure the delivery of the right quality, of the then current known requirements. However, studies show that the most common complaint about outsourcing relates to degradation of service quality.

But in today's world these agreements can end up hindering a company's ability to compete and survive in a period of recession and changing markets conditions, and there are already predictions by analysts that in the next five years, traditional IT outsourcing as we know it, will have disappeared. Read the full article.

Cloud Views

  • IT Management Gets SaaS Options: This InformationWeek article cites market growth statistics for IT management SaaS solutions, and describes two architectural models (hybrid and pure-play) and the benefits of each. It also discusses some of the downsides of SaaS, in particular, integration and data management challenges.
  • This CIO article provides guidance on what CIOs should do about rogue IT and this related CIO article discusses what the consumerization of IT really means to CIOs.
  • 5 tips for secure cloud computing: This itbusiness.ca article highlights the following tips: consider the full business case, plan for problems, read the fine print, track users and their usage, and know where your data is.

MSP Corner

  • This MSP Mentor blog written by Nimsoft’s Ken Vanderweel lists the top 10 questions companies ask when looking for a managed service provider.
  • Mycroft Inc. released Heimdall, a self-service management portal that is based on CA AppLogic to help provide role-based access management to cloud and virtualized applications. Read this Talkin’ Cloud article for more.

Upcoming Cloud Events

Forward to a Friend

If you are finding this newsletter valuable, please forward this to colleagues who are interested in cloud computing. They can register to receive This Week in Cloud here.

About Cloud Commons

Cloud Commons is an independent online community of IT professionals, analysts, technology providers, and industry experts. Members can ask questions, learn from experts, and find the latest cloud-related news. Cloud Commons offers a forum to contribute and discuss best practices and successes, as well as research vendor solutions. Sponsored by CA Technologies, Cloud Commons has been growing steadily since its launch in May of 2010.

Hosted on Cloud Commons is the Service Measurement Index (SMI). Led by Carnegie Mellon University, SMI encompasses a growing consortium of members. SMI compiles user-submitted ratings of cloud services and scores them relative to other services of the same type. Ratings include metrics such as: quality, agility, risk, cost, capability, and security.

http://www.cloudcommons.com

Follow @cloudcommons on Twitter

Cloud Commons Atom Feed
Questions?

* To qualify to win the Apple gift certificate, you must sign up to receive This Week in Cloud before May 31st, 2012, by entering a valid email address.

† No purchase necessary. Prize awarded following random drawing; odds of winning depend on total entries received. Winner is responsible for reporting and paying applicable taxes and must ensure their acceptance of prize does not violate any laws, regulations or company policies. Promotion is not available to any employee or official of CA Technologies or any governmental or quasi-governmental entity.

Email katherined@ca.com for official rules for the drawing requirements (including entry, eligibility and prize details). For our privacy policy, see ca.com/us/privacy. Winner will be notified by email.

Copyright © 2012 CA. All rights reserved. All trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos referenced herein belong to their respective companies. This document is for your informational purposes only. CA assumes no responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of the information. To the extent permitted by applicable law, CA provides this document “as is” without warranty of any kind, including, without limitation, any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or noninfringement. In no event will CA be liable for any loss or damage, direct or indirect, from the use of this document, including, without limitation, lost profits, business interruption, goodwill or lost data, even if CA is expressly advised in advance of the possibility of such damages.