Cloud Email Project in LA

LA government moves to outsourced cloud-based email solution (Google's Gmail) and will demonstrate the effectiveness of the cloud in supporting an enterprise solution, while delivering tangible savings to the city. ...

... "Los Angeles is now slowly marching toward a full implementation of Gmail for the city work force. If successful, the project could open the floodgates for other governments that are awaiting a successful test case ... " ...

Via Government Technology: Cloud-Based E-Mail

Desktop via Cloud Delivery Model

IBM offers virtual desktop through a cloud computing model to shift enterprise spending from capital investment to "buy by the drink" subscription payments. ...

... "The new IBM Smart Business Desktop on the IBM Cloud subscription service helps clients virtualize desktop computing resources, and provide a logical, rather than a physical, method of access to data, computing power, storage capacity and other resources. This service requires no up front capital or one time expense and is designed to provide enhanced levels of security, resiliency, reliability, and quality for virtual desktops. " ...

Via IBM: Desktop Cloud

Reaching for the Cloud creates Business Value

Amazon CTO provides his take on cloud computing and the type of cloud that would appeal to CIOs and increase adoption. Amazon has introduced a virtual private cloud that can be used to extend an enterprise architecture. Interesting note: some CIOs are capping the growth of their traditional data center in favor of growing the cloud portion of the architecture. This offering plays to that emerging trend. ...

... "The cloud let its users focus on delivering differentiating business value instead of wasting valuable resources on the undifferentiated heavy lifting that makes up most of IT infrastructure. " ...

Via All Things Distributed: Extending the Data Center to the Virtual Private Cloud

G-Cloud Project

Government leaders are looking to the cloud computing model as a means to leverage their IT applications investment, so that over time a robust application portfolio is available to the community. ...

... "Development of G-cloud is to be made a priority, according to the Digital Britain report, and while the plan is developed over the next three years, all other IT services procurement should look to follow a similar model in preparation. " ...

Via UK Computing: Government app store

Scalable Green Clouds

Some interesting points in the following article re ... analogy of on-premise computing with on-site power generation, a scalability success story with cloud computing, and alignment of IT sustainability goals with future cloud computing models. ...

... "Energy efficiency, as well as reliability and scalability, ought to be factors in your cloud computing migration strategies. " ...

Via InformationWeek: Cloud / Electric Generator

Cloud Computing Forecast

Cloud computing strategy is debated, with startups likely to leverage the foundation and existing enterprises easing their way along the adoption curve. Will the need for increased operational efficiency in the near term speed up migration to the cloud? Stay tuned. ...

... "In one way it will look much like the old software world. There will be a few big platforms, akin to today’s operating systems, and most applications will be written to one of these platforms. " ...

Via InformationWeek: Cloud Computing

Use the Cloud for Project Pilots

Cloud computing could play a role in making marginal IT investments more financially attractive or serve as an incubator before sinking investment into scalable infrastructure requirements. ...

... "For a minimal investment [using cloud computing] it is possible to prove the business case for an IT project, without the need to buy expensive hardware and software licenses. " ...

Via ComputerWeekly: Amazon cloud

Resiliency Services

IBM makes significant investment into business continuity, branding its services as providing "Business Resilience" through its globally distributed centers. The service will be offered through the cloud. ...

... "The massive infrastructure expansion is the largest of its kind and will permit IBM clients to access services that support business continuity for the first time from a cloud computing environment. Business continuity and resiliency services help ensure uninterrupted operations across all layers of the business, as well as helping businesses avoid, prepare and recover from a disruption. IBM is the world's leader in providing services that help avoid disruption and enable business continuity. Future Business Resilience service delivery centers will be located in every geographic region of the globe ... " ...

Via IBM: $300 Million Investment to Expand Business Continuity and Resiliency Services

Collaborate via the Cloud

IBM supports Vietnam's development of information technology education through use of its cloud computing infrastructure. The collaborative portal will support education programs in service management. ...

... "To build and sustain a highly-skilled competitive IT workforce, the Vietnamese government plans to adopt the academic programs nationwide through a joint effort by the Ministry of Education and Training, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and the Ministry of Information and Communications. These programs will offer computing courses in IT Service, free software tools, and business case studies representing real-world challenges. " ...

Via IBM: Collaboration Portal Goes Live on IBM Cloud

Microsoft Live Mesh

Microsoft's Ray Ozzie discusses the company's Live Mesh strategy that will integrate services in the cloud. ... Ozzie whitepaper, PDF. It looks like an interesting concept that could integrate our information services as we navigate the day from work to home and across various devices.

Store Info in the Cloud

New business models for managing enterprise storage offer small and medium size businesses an opportunity to save on information technology costs and/or to shift the infrastructure operating expense savings to value-added IT investments. ...

... "Mr. Dolan calculates that a company with $100 million in annual revenue, for example, spends about $7 million a year on information technology. We can reduce that cost by 25 percent, he said ... " ...

Via New York Times: Profiting from Information Storage Services

Microsoft Cloud Computing Predictions

In order to seecure a foothold into the future of computing beyond desktops and servers, Microsoft appears poised to make eye-popping investments in a cloud-computing infrastructure that rivals peer companies in the space. ...

... "Microsoft has the resources and, it appears, the will to invest many billions in the physical infrastructure necessary to secure a place ... " ...

Via Nicholas Carr Blog: Microsoft data-center investment likely