An article by Ryang Huang, Editor at ZDNet's Asia/Singapore, conveys that there will be both practical and commercial risks when choosing a cloud service which can be mitigated by focusing on the service contract. He also mentioned that the service contract must enable organizations to comply with their own obligations. Also, the service contract should include a plan detailing the steps to be taken on exit and how data will be extracted from the vendor. As cloud services may involve the use of software and other intellectual property rights under a license, organizations could be dragged into a legal dispute in the event of third party claims of infringement against the cloud service provider.

To gather better insights in this aspect follow http://www.zdnet.com/how-to-manage-contractual-risks-in-cloud-computing-7000027568/ 

Digital technology has evolved largely over the last decade. It can change the future of a organization. For digitalizing businesses, companies should follow some necessary steps. To know more on the digitalization process of business, go through the article by Dion Hinchcliffe, an expert in IT and business strategy.

http://www.zdnet.com/businesses-have-digitized-but-not-transformed-7000027190/

Though Red Hat, Ubuntu and Linux are rivals, yet all of them agree in one point - Docker, a container technology. Docker is potential as well as disruptive in different aspects. Now the question is- can containers with Docker be the next great revolution in virtualization and the cloud? To know the answer of this question, go through the article written by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, writer of technology.

http://www.zdnet.com/red-hat-ubuntu-and-docker-container-virtualization-goes-mainstream-7000028610/

Enterprise portals provide semi-personalized access to important applications from a single screen. Liferay ( a Los Angeles-based company), provides portal technology to organizations, is observing a shift in its business as social, mobile, analytics and cloud is becoming the new foundation of enterprise computing. Building an open source community around its portal platform will deliver more long-term dividends than short-term profits. To know more on this topic, go through the article by Joe McKendrik, author, consultant and speaker specializing in trends and developments.

http://www.zdnet.com/what-happens-when-a-software-vendor-decides-not-to-follow-the-silicon-valley-path-7000028210/

OpenSSL is a software library which is used in everyday for proper functioning of internet. It is not only used for SSL by websites, but also for all sort of software with cryptographic need use it. OpenSSL is dependent more on API more than its OpenSSL library. Including both of this in the system may cause a risk for the major developers like Red Hat. For more information, go through the article written by Larry Seltzer, an expert in technology.

http://www.zdnet.com/is-openssl-secure-in-its-dominance-7000028644/

According to OpenStack user survey, Ubuntu Linux is the most popular OpenStack operating system. According to Mark Shuttleworth (founder of Canonical, Ubuntu's parent company), 55 percent of OpenStack operating systems are on Ubuntu. To know more about synchronization of Ubuntu and OpenStack, go through the article by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, writer about technology.

http://www.zdnet.com/openstacks-top-operating-system-ubuntu-linux-7000027360/

It is true that cloud computing is rapidly changing the nature of businesses. Now, it is spanning across various industries. Even, the legal industry has adopted the cloud technology in recent years.

Though, it is a fact that cloud has brought in numerous benefits, but security and privacy are main concerns. Particularly, these are very much important in legal issues as they deal with clients which are privileged information. But does that mean that lawyers will stop adopting cloud technology? Definitely not. They have to use the technology in such a way so that they can realize maximum benefits of using it.

At a panel discussion titled “Privacy and Your Practice: Data Sovereignty for Lawyers,” held at CUNY Law School, experts discussed how lawyers can cope with the technology maintaining privacy and security simultaneously. To know the discussions, read them at http://venturebeat.com/2014/05/06/practicing-law-in-the-age-of-cloud-computing/ .

OpenStack, an extremely popular open source Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) cloud program, has released its latest version: Icehouse. Approximately 350 new features and 2,902 bug fixes were added this time. The main focus was on testing, maturity, and stability. In addition, third-party continuous integration (CI) has resulted in 53 external systems testing OpenStack compatibility across broad sets of hardware and software configurations. Read more at:

http://www.zdnet.com/icehouse-new-openstack-cloud-arrives-7000028560/

The rapid rate of cloud adoption has given rise to the natural necessity to have some data generated live on cloud-based platforms. One of the biggest mistakes a company can make is assuming that once you are managed by a hosting provider or other cloud-based platform company, the inbuilt security features will provide everything you need from a data safety perspective. Depending on the cloud service provider or managed service provider you use, you can expect scalability and flexibility to be built into the system so that you don't miss out on the cloud's ability to quickly respond to changes in demand. Having the technical skills in-house is just as important as finding the outsourced technical expertise that will enable a greater degree of secure infrastructure planning.

To know more visit the article at http://www.cloudcomputing-news.net/blog-hub/2013/nov/19/the-reality-of-data-security-in-the-cloud/

Implementing cloud data encryption and maintaining control over encryption keys is an important way for the enterprise to verify how information can be shared and unlocked. Cloud data encryption transforms data so that it is undecipherable without the key that can be used to change the data back to its original form. But several enterprises are now realizing that when they cede control of their encryption keys to their cloud providers, their sensitive data may not be as private as they had hoped. They need to look for peer reviewed security proofs and understand implications on end users of cloud applications if there are strong encryption techniques. Recommendation from Gartner and the security and compliance needs to control sensitive data and it becomes clear that having vast amounts of sensitive data dispersed to multiple cloud application providers and relying on those providers to keep the encryption keys safe creates a security paradox for the enterprise.

To gather more insights visit the article by Gerry Grealish, Chief Marketing Officer of PerspecSys, follow http://www.cloudcomputing-news.net/blog-hub/2014/mar/20/when-deploying-cloud-data-encryption-protecting-encryption-keys-is-critical-to-keeping-cloud-data-private/

An article by Ryan Huang, editor at ZDNet's Asia/Singapore office, talks about recognizing vulnerabilities in existing facilities before embarking on a cloud computing deployment for potential adopters to fortify critical systems. The implementation of high-density configuration increases both the compute capacity and energy efficiency of an existing facility. When evaluating external cloud providers, the vendor's data center power infrastructure and availability strategy should also be examined and understood. To create an optimal cloud computing environment, data centers need to bridge the gap between the physical layer of the data center infrastructure and the IT infrastructure.

To know more visit http://www.zdnet.com/optimizing-existing-facilities-for-cloud-computing-7000028083/

If you are a call center provider, then you must know that performance is an important parameter. Every day, large volume of management information is produced from different call center systems where each center is given a business target to achieve. This target is then fragmented into smaller ones to team levels where individuals have to work in order to meet it. Apart from this, you have to take into account different generic measures like volume of total calls answered, percentage of calls abandoned, and average call duration, turnover and percentage of absenteeism of your staff, etc. Together, this will tell you how efficiently your call center is operating.

To make your task easy, there are different performance management solutions that you can put to use to know various aspects – out of which you can make out areas of improvements. But for this, you have to know how to use your performance management solution. Read more at: http://www.callcentrehelper.com/trade-secrets-getting-the-best-from-your-performance-management-solution-60462.htm to know the secrets and increase your profit.

Google had maintained a complete secrecy about the algorithm it uses to generate site links. Google includes pages in the sitelinks that don't appear to be the healthiest pages in traffic acquisition, engagement, or any other supporting data point. Why is Google selecting these pages? Below are three possible explanations:

• Something for Everyone.
• Search Trends.
• Testing.

Examining web analytics data on site content and to try and "save users’ time" are something organizations do on a daily basis. There is a common assumption that Google has a clever way of determining the popularity of site pages without knowing the website analytics.The method that Google utilizes to determine sitelinks is still somewhat of a mystery. But data shows that Google is anticipating the popularity and health of pages within a site and in many cases including one sitelink that is not typically very popular on the site.

Mark Ryan, Lead Analyst, Extractable writes on this aspect in detail. To read, visit the following link:

http://www.clickz.com/clickz/column/2342233/comparing-google-sitelinks-with-google-analytics-data

According to a report by www.theinformation.com, Google plans to offer a premium Android experience with high end Android Silver line of products. The US market is the initial target. The number of non Google apps installation will be restricted in this product category. Android Silver products will also get prompt software updates and will have top-end features like advanced voice recognition and water resistance.Unlike Google Play Edition and Nexus products, Android Silver devices will be heavily promoted by the internet search giant. Unlike Google Play Edition devices, Android Silver devices are expected to carry Google's brand, not the manufacturers. The report also says that Google has already roped in LG and Motorola to produce the first Android Silver devices.This is not the first time that rumours about Google killing the Nexus line have surfaced in the news. It is needed to be seen that whether Google will annihilate their Nexus products to avoid any kind of cannibalization effect to its soon to be launched silver range or they will opt for a mutual existence strategy.

To read more, visit

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/Google-to-replace-Nexus-line-with-Android-Silver-Report/articleshow/34419033.cms

Economic uncertainty makes dynamic resource model of the cloud a tempting option for start-ups. With the elasticity of cloud computing, no capital goes unused and organizations don't have to guess how much capacity they require. AWS is attractive to small businesses because it is inexpensive to deploy and allows companies to pay only for the resources they use. Amazon Chief Technology Officer Werner Vogels said that “Cost of failure in the cloud world is close to zero". Application and deployment speed, in addition to ease of use, are key benefits of the cloud for enterprises. For large organizations, hardware savings also can be significant.Redistributing capacity to use capital in the most efficient way is another main reason to implement AWS.

To read more, visit

http://searchaws.techtarget.com/news/2240182220/Startups-omit-in-house-IT-with-Amazon-Web-Services

The industry-wide cloud services pricing curve have inclined downwards with respect to time. Courtesy to the big players like Amazon, Google & Microsoft, price cut is a routine phenomenon in this industry. Amazon Web Services is well known for its belief in the phrase “change is the only constant”. AWS has made frequent changes to its cloud service in recent years, from price cuts to tighter integration with private data centres, to accommodate the enterprise market and branch out beyond its original clientele of developers and start-ups. They had reduced their price 42 times over the past 8 years! At the same time, with huge amount of data available today, a lot of hidden, unearthed insights can be found for each and every industry. AWS Kinesis is an amazing platform to perform various operations on big data. There are also other third party tools to help you explore your data. Matt Wood, General Manager for data science, Amazon Web Services, said “One of the biggest trends is the augmentation -- not the replacement, but the augmentation -- of traditional business intelligence reporting with more real-time services. … Being able to use the two together is very empowering”.

In a recent conversation, Matt Wood, General Manager, AWS, spoke about cloud pricing, big data trends etc. To read, visit the following link:

http://searchaws.techtarget.com/news/2240217081/AWS-chief-data-scientist-talks-cloud-pricing-big-data-trends

In recent times, if you have surfed internet, then you have probably come across cloud computing. Due to its benefits like mobility, cost advantage, etc. companies are switching rapidly to cloud environment from existing on premise platforms. With Big Data in forefront, the usage of cloud computing has spurted.

To win the heart of prospective customers, cloud based IT service providers have started to offer cloud services and at present, a stiff competition is going on between them. Surrounded by this fierce competition, you may become confused about choosing the right type of cloud service provider for your organization, since it comes at a cost. Whether you are a technology chief, a business owner or alike, while selecting your cloud service provider, you should ensure that its potential benefits are in tune with your business objectives. For that, it is a must that you should ask some critical questions about the architecture and management of the service being considered.

So, what are the areas that you should consider while framing up the questions before you actually avail the services from a cloud service provider? Read them at http://www.zdnet.com/key-questions-when-selecting-a-cloud-based-provider-7000027391/ to know.

There is a huge demand for production ready MongoLab plans on Microsoft Azure. The MongoLab and Microsoft are excited about their latest high-memory MongoDB database plans with virtual machine options that can immediately supply up to 56GB of RAM per node. These will be available in all eight Microsoft Azure data centres worldwide, which will be able to fulfil the massive need.The cloud-served MongoDB instances come from MongoLab, a fully managed database service provider that works with major cloud platforms such as those provided by Amazon and Google. Along with the new memory capacity, the service also provides management tools for backups, performance monitoring of key metrics, analysis to speed up queries and index recommendations. Support is also provided via e-mail or an around-the-clock emergency hotline, depending on the plan.

To read more, visit the following link:

http://blogs.msdn.com/b/windowsazure/archive/2014/04/22/announcing-new-mongodb-instances-on-microsoft-azure.aspx

With the introduction of Red Hat Enterprise Linux OpenStack Platform 4.0, Red Hat has moved one step forward in OpenStack cloud system. This platform can be used in both public and private cloud. Some new features are also added in this version. To know more on the key features of this platform, go through the article written by Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, writer about technology and the business of technology.

http://www.zdnet.com/red-hat-enterprise-linux-openstack-platform-4-0-is-here-7000024518/

AWS has been authorized to operate under FedRAMP(U.S. government-wide general security standard) since May of 2013. Under FedRAMP, AWS has already made contracts with U.S. Military, Air-force & Navy. With the recent authorization from United States Defence Department’s cloud security standards, AWS can work with all agencies within the U.S Defence Department from now on. It’s like a new feather added to the AWS hat! Teresa Carlson, AWS’s vice president for the public sector, said the new certification could mean more than just new Defence Department business. This would let AWS work with more defence agencies to host several sensitive projects.

To read more, visit the following link:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/capitalbusiness/amazon-web-services-gets-defense-security-authorization/2014/03/28/7959ad8a-b500-11e3-8cb6-284052554d74_story.html