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Continued from the last two customer questions post, Bluelock Solutions Architect Jake Robinson tackles the third part of the customer question:

“Can enterprises go with the complete private cloud [approach]?  Or, is it better to have some portion of public cloud [as part of your strategy] for DR, etc…?”

In Part 1, Robinson sets up the basis for private cloud within an enterprise and the changes and best practices to identify when using private cloud.  In Part 2, Robinson talks about the benefits of using a hybrid cloud strategy and using public cloud with private cloud. Today, in Part 3, Robinson will tackle DR in the public cloud.

Disaster Recovery (DR) is the hot topic for cloud right now, and has been for some time.  In this question, the individual wants to know if it's better to have some portion of their approach, namely DR, in the public cloud. Note: DR in the cloud can also be referred to as DRaaS (DR-as-a-Service) and RaaS (Recovery-as-a-Service).

“The promise of DR in the public cloud is that you don’t have to spend the capital to duplicate hardware infrastructure to a warm or hot DR site,” explains Robinson. >>Read more

Source: Bluelock.com

Building on its strong ties to Amazon Web Services (AWS), Eucalyptus today unveiled the latest update to its open source cloud computing platform, adding expanded AWS storage compatibility as well as features to speed up installation and simplify management via a new GUI with self-service capabilities.

In discussing Version 3.2 of Eucalyptus' private and hybrid-cloud software with InfoWorld, company CEO Marten Mickos reiterated what he sees as one of the company's key advantages over rivals such as OpenStack: its unique partnership with Amazon that has enabled Eucalyptus to bake Amazon-API functionality natively into its product. Mickos has predicted that, just as IBM created the industry standard for the PC back in the 1970s, Amazon has created the industry standard for the cloud that will shape the market for years to come. He's confident AWS is the right horse to attach to the Eucalyptus wagon.

"We're just dead certain that the Amazon paradigm will be dominant in the cloud industry for the next 10, 20, 30, 40, or even 50 years," Mickos said.

Eucalyptus customers ought not expect the company to roll out similar levels of support for AWS public cloud rivals anytime soon. But "any public cloud that reaches 20 to 25 percent market share, we will support," he said. "Whoever the next major player after Amazon will be, we will go about supporting them. Today, Amazon has 90 percent of the market or something."

Release 3.2 isn't focused entirely on AWS, mind. In this go-round, the company aimed to simplify installation and management of Eucalyptus. "We've traditionally been focused on advanced features before usability," Mickos said. "We are now achieving and striving to achieve simplicity on the far side of complexity." >>Read more

Source: InfoWorld

IDG News Service - Workday on Monday unveiled a new set of enhancements to its cloud-based ERP software aimed at winning business from large multinational companies.

The announcement, made as Workday begins its Workday Rising user conference, continues a strategy the vendor has pursued for some time. As large companies weigh what to do with their aging on-premises ERP installations, many of which were implemented decades ago, Workday is hoping to beat out the likes of SAP and Oracle, which are both trying to offer companies more cloud-based software.

To that end, Workday version 18 features a beefed-up financial management component that includes improved global tax and payment capabilities; more detailed reporting functionality; and a "project scenario planning" feature that uses Workday's human-resources software along with the financials module, allowing managers to "allocate resources seamlessly across projects with details that include cost, worker availability, skills, and experience," according to a statement.

Workday 18 also features grants management and fund accounting for government bodies and educational institutions, Workday said.

Other new features in the update focus on human resources capabilities, such as a new employee profile system and the ability to punch in and out of work from mobile devices and web browsers.

Workday has also made additions at the platform level, with custom field management tools that make it easy for customers to configure the software to their liking, according to a statement.

The announcement comes in the wake of Workday's recent, highly successful IPO filing, which raised not only more than $600 million but also the company's public profile, which had already been on a steady climb.

Workday 18, however, provides substance to go along with the flash, according to analyst Ray Wang, CEO of Constellation Research. >>Read more

Sourcce: ComputerWorld

Nowadays, more and more businesses are moving their operations to the cloud as the industry starts to realize the benefits that the cloud brings, whether it’s cost-efficiency, improved flexibility and agility, or any of the myriad advantages that comes from cloud computing. However, before you start migrating all of your data to the cloud, there are some considerations that you need to think about first, such as:

Bigger is Not Necessarily Better
Due to the popularity of cloud computing, you’ll see a lot of large companies from other IT related sectors now staking their claim on the rapidly growing cloud market, but don’t always assume that you’ll be better off with a certain provider just because they are a large, popular company – as they could have earned their reputation in another field and are still not used to the cloud business. It would be wise to do your research first and focus on the provider’s reputation regarding cloud services before signing up with one.

Think of Your Security Needs
While cloud technology has already managed to distance itself from the early critiques levied on it regarding security, there is still a certain amount of risk much in the same way any service provider will have. One thing you have to keep in mind is that different organizations will have different needs and expectations regarding security, so you need to find out yours and use them when researching potential cloud service providers.

Study the Principles of Data Backup
You should find out how your cloud provider backs up data, so that you can be prepared for the worst case scenario: what would happen if you want to move data to another provider. Try to research their reputation as well as the location of their data centers, not to mention the redundancy of their infrastructure. Crashes or downtimes are a matter of when, not if, so you need to know if your chosen provider has contingencies in place so that you will not lose your data. >>Read more

Source: CloudTimes

Cloud computing has been called a saint and other great names by friends and foe. It promises great benefits, cost cuts and efficiencies at individual and enterprise level. However, even as momentum grows, uptake figures have not been at all impressive. In fact, experts indicate that the confidence in the cloud and what it can do is waning. This trend is negative. In this article, we look at some of the factors that hurt cloud computing confidence, especially among would be users.

Insecurity in the cloud

Security is one of the hottest cloud computing topics. It worries so many people. Depending on the application whose service you use with the cloud, security cannot be guaranteed. And because of the fact that cloud computing is entirely constructed on the precepts of the internet, it’s hard to convince one security is taken care of. Moreover, more and more companies are attached in the cloud by malicious hackers. These security threats deem user confidence because people love to back up their data, feel it and see it-as is the case with traditional techniques.

Control by service providers

Cloud computing service providers call the shots. The developers choose what to make accessible to the normal users. This means that, users have no say in what they get. They are dictated to by the whims of the providers. This is a negative characteristic. People love it when it’s them who decide what to customize or not.

Internet dependency

Internet dependency for computing is scary. It can limit your ability to access a program if it’s slow. This means that you could lose a lot if anything went wrong. However, with a desktop application, whether or not the internet does exist is a question of no consequence. You can use it whenever you want. Outages and breakdowns in internet communications cannot harm you. >>Read more

Source: CloudTweaks