Cloud computing

Article (31)
  • Disadvantages of the cloud and how to overcome them
    The cloud promises to liberate organisations from the limitations of traditional IT infrastructure. Here, Oracle’s Marc Caltabiano argues that early cloud solutions have created new computing silos that actually impose new limits on organisations. He suggests that organisations must take a more nuanced view of the cloud to get the most from a cloud strategy.
  • OzHub to raise cloud profile in Australia
    Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr recently launched OzHub, a cloud initiative with the aim of building “Australian consumer and business confidence in cloud computing”. Merri Mack takes a closer look at OzHub and its potential impact on cloud computing in Australia.
  • Getting a grip
    In his eleven years at TechnologyOne, IT Manager Andrew Bauer has seen the IT team grow from just two members to a team that supports the company’s current staff of 850 people. Merri Mack talks to Bauer about the challenges of getting a hold of something relatively intangible - such as the cloud - and using it to create real-world benefits for the business.
  • Small business latches onto cloud computing
    Cloud computing is offering small business the applications and IT concepts that were previously exclusive to large enterprises, like disaster recovery and data resiliency. Merri Mack reports on this flattening of IT.
  • Thinkpiece: Do we really need ‘the cloud’?
    Nowadays, ‘the cloud’ is a term that’s widely misused. It’s a broad, abstract concept that is frequently applied to many technologies, as though they were the same thing, despite each being radically different from the other. This leads to great confusion and frustration among users, who are growing increasingly cynical of the real value of cloud computing. This begs the question: do we really need the concept of ‘the cloud’?
  • The telco cloud invasion
    Australian telcos have begun ramping up their cloud service offerings in earnest, as part of a larger war effort to sequester a piece of the cloud services pie for themselves. So what does this mean for IT departments looking at adopting cloud solutions? Andrew Collins finds out.
  • Adopting the cloud without compromising security
    The cloud promises many advantages - dynamic allocation of resources, CAPEX-based pricing and so on. But so far, there are no widely accepted standards for security in a cloud environment, leading some organisations to be wary of the technology. Patrick Eijkenboom, Principal Consultant at NetIQ, discusses best practices for security when adopting cloud computing.
  • Big data and cloud computing skills shortages
    With the rapid explosion of data volumes occuring around the globe, the IT industry is scrambling for qualified workers to handle the challenges that arise. Merri Mack takes a look at the cloud and ‘big data’ storage certification programs that vendors and universities have to offer.
  • Cloud computing infrastructure for small business
    Small businesses sometimes have difficulty building in-house IT infrastructure to match their business requirements, for a variety of reasons, including budget and a lack of IT expertise. Cloud computing presents an alternative to in-house solutions, offering the expertise of a company that specialises in a particular application, plus an on-demand payment model. *Bennett Oprysa, CEO of Bucan Holdings, explains how cloud computing works and the benefits it can bring.
  • How to choose a cloud computing provider
    Keen on the cloud but worried about the security of cloud computing - specifically, putting your data in the cloud? Andrew Collins talks to McAfee about what you should know before you pick a cloud service provider, to avoid losing control of your data.
  • Getting cloud computing right
    Cloud computing is a concept surrounded by misinformation. But used correctly, it can be of great benefit to your organisation. Analyst Joe Sweeney dispels the misconceptions and explains how to best approach the cloud.
  • My dog is a cloud
    Often in ICT, the realities of a technology become obscured by a fog of hype. Joseph Sweeney, analyst at IBRS, believes that cloud computing has suffered this fate. In this humorous and insightful piece, Sweeney renders his verdict on some of the more common assumptions about the technology.
  • Private clouds, flat earth and unicorns
    The cloud is the subject of many thoughtful and insightful articles. Salesforce knows a little about the cloud having been one of the first to offer cloud services so Salesforce’s Peter Coffee is qualified to set us straight on ‘private cloud’.
  • Why test your new cloud? Ten things you need to know
    With the promise of a robust and broad range of next-generation networking offerings, the awareness of cloud computing’s advantages is widely acknowledged.
  • Is your ‘cloud’ delivering the expected performance?
    Cloud services are all the rage now and becoming increasingly so, but how do you actually measure performance? Daryl Cornelius, Director Enterprise EMEA, Spirent Communications, asks: How do you know until you test it? What are the complexities of measuring virtual systems?
  • Cloud is not a product, a managed service or software as a service
    Cloud is not a product. There is confusion in the market about what cloud is, due to the fact every other day a vendor will announce their “latest cloud solution” which equates to little more than a hardware and software bundle - this is not cloud. Cloud is also not managed service, software as a service or a fancy lease.
  • Employee network access - beware the security threats
    CIOs are struggling to defuse a double-primed ‘trust time bomb’ that threatens the organisational security from both the shop floor and from the supply chain. And why is this so? The well-credentialed Jo Stewart-Rattray, Director of Information Security at a national accounting firm, explains the pitfalls of organisational risk created by employees morphing into super-users who possess enough network access to damage a business.
  • CIO implements cloud-based applications
    Having been CIO of South East Water in Victoria for six years has not diminished Marcus Darbyshire’s excitement for the job. In fact, he says he has the best job in the company. How many people can say that and actually mean it? Voice&Data’s Merri Mack finds out why.
  • Is outsourcing your security the best option?
    Andrew Collins takes a quick look at the pros and cons of cloud-based hosted security solutions.
  • Eliminating the performance barriers to cloud computing
    Cloud computing is becoming an important new tool for IT managers in controlling the cost and complexity of business-critical applications and data. The technology is compelling to enterprises because it allows them to consolidate resources, provision services more quickly and even rationalise costs more effectively with new business models. But there are limitations that often limit the effective gains of a scalable cloud computing model.
  • A practical look at cloud computing
    Lower costs, greater flexibility and access to resources on demand: it’s no wonder cloud computing is attracting attention. Oracle’s Robert Gosling, Vice President of Technology Sales, Oracle ANZ, discusses the ways in which organisations can take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing while mitigating risks around security, compliance and quality of service.
  • Secure the pearly gates, not the cloud
    Cloud computing is fast becoming one of the most widely adopted IT trends of recent years. Lured by the offer of flexible, low-cost and easily scalable IT, many businesses are relying more and more heavily on cloud-based applications, storage and security. However, as highlighted by Gartner and many others, big questions remain over the security of cloud computing. Clearswift’s Peter Croft* explains how the big security questions should be answered.
  • VMware reveals in-house cloud concept
    At its VMworld conference, VMware has put forward its vision for in-house computing clouds.
  • Microsoft's System Center to enter the cloud
    In this interview, Brad Anderson, general manager at Microsoft, explains the company's cloud plans for its System Center line.
  • The data centre need not fear the cloud
    Compliance issues mean that cloud computing will not solve every problem the data centre industry faces, according to one writer.
  • Support issues continue to slow virtualisation deployments
    At IDC's Virtualization Forum, users reported that support issues have slowed down their deployments.
  • Users have a lot to learn about virtualisation and the cloud
    According to Melbourne IT, which recently undertook a cloud-computing beta, users need more education on cloud and virtual technologies.
  • Private clouds vs. virtual servers
    Analyst Mark Bowker explains what a private cloud is, and what makes it different from the garden variety virtual server.
  • Start cloud-preparation by looking at the network
    The first step in the adoption of cloud-computing should be an analysis and reconfiguration of your LAN and WAN.
  • Virtualisation empowers end users
    Virtualisation and cloud computing are allowing end users to get out from under the thumb of IT departments - something that could be worth worrying about.
  • SNIA's Scroggie on virtualisation
    Virtualisation has strong ties to cloud-computing, ones that could influence how you use the technology.
White Paper (2)
  • Ready Your Infrastructure for the Cloud
    Cloud is here. Nine out of 10 data center decision makers view private cloud as the next logical step for their organizations. Is your infrastructure fully ready? Find out the best practices for ensuring that your infrastructures can handle a cloud initiative.
  • Unleashing your mobile workforce with Cloud-based Communications Applications
    Is your mobile workforce positioned to collaborate, share information and communicate with customers at any time or place? Companies who are not yet to this level of business are generally prohibited by the cost or complexity of the solution. Let Fonality show you how we take a different approach to help you overcome both obstacles, and be up and running in no time.
Feature (2)
Product (28)
  • CA Cloud 360 helps cloud service migration
    Cloud 360 provides enterprises with a prescriptive approach to validate and select which applications and business services are best suited to private, public and hybrid clouds or traditional models.
  • Veritas Storage Foundation High Availability 6.0 for Windows Server failover
    Veritas Storage Foundation High Availability 6.0 for Windows is designed to help organisations rapidly failover Windows Server applications.
  • EMC VPLEX Geo virtual storage technology
    VPLEX virtual storage technology federates data located on multiple storage systems - EMC and non-EMC - allowing the storage resources in multiple data centres to be pooled together and accessed anywhere. When combined with virtual servers, it is a critical enabler of private and hybrid cloud computing and the delivery of IT as a flexible, efficient and resilient service.
  • Brocade 16 Gbps Fibre Channel fabric portfolio
    The Brocade portfolio of 16 Gbps fibre channel fabric solutions can be used to assist enterprise users to migrate smoothly to private cloud architectures. It includes DCX 8510 Backbone, the Brocade 6510 Switch, the Brocade 1860 Fabric Adapter, Brocade Network Advisor 11.1 management software and the Brocade Fabric OS 7.0 operating system. The products are based on the next-generation Fibre Channel industry standard FC-PI-5.
  • IBM Virtual Server Services (VSS) enterprise-class virtual IT infrastructure
    IBM Virtual Server Services (VSS) utilise the flexibility and efficiency of the cloud, hosted in Australian-based Tier 3 data centres with 24-hour support to help meet regulatory and risk-management requirements, including those of banks and government agencies.
  • Cloud Foundry open platform as a service (PaaS)
    Cloud Foundry, claimed to be the industry’s first open platform as a service (PaaS), is designed specifically for cloud computing environments and is delivered as a service from enterprise data centres and public cloud service providers.
  • Oracle Sun Fire x86 clustered systems
    Sun Fire x86 clustered systems can be used to enhance enterprise systems for virtualised and private cloud deployments.
  • Hewlett-Packard 3PAR utility storage
    HP has announced the integration of 3PAR utility storage to simplify scalable cloud computing and has introduced storage solutions for virtualisation and data deduplication.
  • Database.com enterprise database for cloud
    The industry shift to mobile apps, to a social data model and to an event-driven, push model all require a new kind of cloud database to support the next generation of enterprise apps. The Database.com enterprise database, built for the cloud, will free developers to spend their time building applications instead of managing and maintaining database management systems and hardware.
  • Interactive ‘virtual’ and ‘dedicated’ cloud servers
    With the trend towards hosting IT applications in the ‘cloud’, Interactive has introduced two system options. Its ‘virtual’ and ‘dedicated’ cloud servers with enterprise-level technical specifications and redundancy use the latest equipment in a high-availability N+1 data centre environment. The company provides a 100% communications availability guarantee by using multiple communications providers, each with fully redundant diverse paths and exchanges. The services are provided with a comprehensive penalty agreement.
  • Optus Cloud Solutions enterprise cloud computing services suite
    The Optus Cloud Solutions suite of enterprise cloud computing services provides businesses with a scalable and flexible approach to manage their IT resources without the need to maintain their own infrastructure.
  • VMWare vCloud Director, vShield, vFabric, View 4.5
    VMWare has announced products and services including vCloud Director, vShield, vCloud Datacenter and Consulting Services for cloud infrastructure and management; vFabric cloud application platform; and View desktop management.
  • VMware vSphere 4.1 virtualisation platform
    The VMware vSphere 4.1 virtualisation platform enables enterprises and service providers to lay the foundation for cloud computing by aggregating a pool of computing resources that can be accessed on-demand while enabling policy-based automation and management.
  • Blue Coat Assessment Service
    The Assessment Service cloud-based reporting and analytical service enables Blue Coat channel partners to remotely conduct an extensive analysis of an enterprise network.
  • Salesforce Chatter Cloud 2 enterprise social collaboration app
    Salesforce Chatter is a Cloud 2 enterprise social collaboration application that is social, mobile and real time, and allows employees to collaborate across their company using social features like profiles, status updates and real-time feeds.
  • NetApp ApplianceWatch PRO 2.1 cloud computing accelerator
    NetApp’s integration with Microsoft technology is claimed to streamline data centre management and accelerate cloud computing. Customers can use familiar Microsoft management tools to monitor and manage their virtual environments that include NetApp storage and build internal and public clouds.
  • NetSuite Manufacturing Edition SaaS solution
    Manufacturing Edition is aimed at mid-market and fast-growing manufacturers, enabling them to manage all front- and back-office operations in a single, fully integrated SaaS solution.
  • Citrix Cloud Solutions and XenServer 5.6
    Cloud Solutions allows cloud providers to create services addressing individual business needs. Also announced is XenServer 5.6 to give enhanced virtualisation management capabilities for all elements of server virtualisation. As well, a virtualised delivery infrastructure for Microsoft 2010 applications and NetScaler 90-day Burst Pack licences have been announced.
  • Amazon Web Service's first Asia Pacific region platform launched
    Amazon Web Service has announced the launch of its first Asia Pacific region platform. Asia Pacific-based businesses or global businesses with customers based in Asia can now leverage the AWS suite of infrastructure web services to build their businesses and run their applications in the cloud. The first AWS Asia Pacific Region (located in Singapore) is now open and any business or software developer can sign up.
  • NetSuite SuiteFlow graphical workflow management software
    NetSuite SuiteFlow graphical workflow management software allows users of cloud computing business suites the ability to develop, automate and streamline complex business processes.
  • Teradata Data Warehouse Appliance 2580 with 1 TB drives
    The Data Warehouse Appliance 2580 with 1 TB drives, in addition to the current 300 and 450 GB drives, is suitable for a wide range of users’ performance and data volume needs.
  • Hewlett-Packard Cloud Design Service
    The Cloud Design Service has been developed to assist businesses and government agencies to accelerate the adoption of cloud-based infrastructures to improve technology and business flexibility.
  • NetSuite OneWorld SRP cloud business management suite
    NetSuite has announced NetSuite OneWorld SRP, claimed to be the first end-to-end cloud business management solution, suitable for global services businesses from corporate, to subsidiaries, down to individual project level.
  • Juniper cloud networking platform
    Juniper Networks has announced software, silicon and systems designed to enable the ‘new network’ for enterprise and service provider customers.
  • RightNow Cloud CRM
    RightNow has announced the RightNow CX cloud solution, a customer experience suite designed to assist organisations to deliver seamless customer web, social and contact centre experiences.
  • NEC hosted managed service
    NEC Australia has extended its cloud computing and services strategy with the launch of a hosted managed service aimed at SMEs.
  • Cloud-based security services
    Zscaler provides risk mitigation and policy enforcement for businesses through its in-the-cloud utility service. Users do not need to purchase, deploy or manage multiple point products.
  • Cloud-based storage
    Atmos, a cloud computing-based infrastructure offering, is now available.
News (16)
Case Study (2)
  • Infrastructure as a service helps Village Roadshow cope with data growth
    Village Roadshow has moved to the cloud with an IaaS model to cope with its massive data growth.
  • Cloud computing saves a million a year
    Sydney-based Fresh Produce Group (FPG) replaced multiple software systems, including a DOS-based financial system which was actively used by only a handful of accounting staff, and Excel spreadsheets which were used to compile forecasting and inventory, with a NetSuite cloud computing ERP system. The company improved its net profit margin by 100% and realised savings of approximately $1 million a year.
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