April 7, 2014
Volume XLVII, Issue 9
Visit Octoshape at the NAB Show
INSIDE Secure, a leader in embedded security solutions for mobile and connected devices, and Octoshape, the industry leader in cloud-based over-the-top (OTT) streaming technology, have entered into a strategic partnership to enable service providers, content providers, and operators to securely deliver premium content to broadband multiscreen devices globally with the same quality and economics of traditional broadcast TV platforms.
The integration takes full advantage of Octoshape's Infinite HD-M broadband-enabled multicast suite of technologies, which interoperate with Juniper Networks MX Series 3D Universal Edge Routers to provide an end-to-end system that represents disruptive innovation for broadband OTT IPTV services.
The solution is now debuting at the 2014 NAB Show, demonstrating global, secure broadband multiscreen video delivery via Native and AMT Multicast. The showcase is being hosted from Juniper Networks' New Jersey-based OpenLab — the Junos Center for Innovation, which provides a collaborative environment for Juniper customers and partners to learn about and develop new network-integrated software applications.
Driven by customer demand, the partners INSIDE Secure and Octoshape now have a fully interoperable product designed to prevent hackers from tapping into streamed or downloaded, offline content. This product leverages the best of Octoshape's stream acceleration and Multicast technologies, and INSIDE Secure's digital rights management (DRM) solution. Content providers and operators are increasingly moving to add multiscreen broadband video services into their product portfolio. This interoperability delivers an end-to-end broadband TV solution for operators, featuring strong security and capabilities combined with a superior TV experience for viewers.
Octoshape's patented suite of Multicast technologies has more than 100 million installations, and includes multi-path and multi-source capabilities that enable true TV-viewing experiences on mobile broadband devices. The clear quality advantages of Octoshape's stream acceleration components, combined with the scale and economic benefits from the suite of Multicast technologies, enable true operator-friendly business models, such as a 'flat fee per subscriber' and 'flat fee per channel'. Thus, broadcasters are no longer constrained by quality, audience size and view duration exponentially increasing their costs. Broadcasters also can now expand their product reach globally without having the concern of massive capital deployments in-country to achieve high quality video experiences.
"Partnering with INSIDE Secure was a natural extension for Octoshape as we both share a common focus to provide a superior premium content user experience," said Michael Koehn Milland, CEO of Octoshape. "Securing premium content for broadband connected devices is clearly a top-of-mind concern. INSIDE Secure has a mature and widely deployed multiscreen solution which fast-tracks our secure integration with multiple DRMs and with Playready in particular."
To learn more, please schedule a meeting at NAB by emailing sales@octoshape.com.
CLOUD EAST Is Becoming an Industry Who's Who
Where will technology, healthcare, and public sector elite gather in May?
At CLOUD COMPUTING EAST (CCE:2014), the upcoming strategic summit for business leaders and software developers taking place in Washington, DC.
Jointly presented by the DCIA&CCA, this spring's must-attend event will be held on Thursday and Friday, May 15th-16th, at the Doubletree by Hilton Hotel in our nation's capital.
Heading the list of plenary session speakers are Amazon Web Services' Steve Spano, Canon's Stephen Agostini, Dell's Michael Elliott, Google's David Mihalchik, IBM's Sal Vella, Microsoft's Yung Chou, Oracle's Brian Kracik, Rackspace's Bret Piatt, SAP's Marlyn Zelkowitz, and Verizon's Igor Kantor providing delegates with a real insider's view of breaking developments in this space.
Joining this top-ten roster of thought leaders will be more than fifty additional presenters zeroing in on CCE:2014's key themes — the gCLOUD (The Government Cloud) and the hCLOUD (The Healthcare Cloud).
This important gathering of first movers will thoroughly examine the current state of adoption and the outstanding challenges affecting two major and increasingly related sectors of the economy, whose principals are currently engaged in migrating to the cloud.
gCLOUD case studies will expose the truth about cloud computing and the public sector, while hCLOUD sessions will feature a generous sharing of critical lessons learned.
The explosion of data, advances in security and reliability, and options for redundant storage; challenges to natural resource management, transportation, and utility grid monitoring; and the impact of cloud services on law enforcement and emergency responsiveness will be explored in depth.
Progress being made by the healthcare industry in adopting cloud-based solutions to become more efficient, collaborative, and interactively connected will also be discussed, as will managing private patient records; collecting clinical research data; big-data imaging, and remote patient monitoring.
Please contact Don Buford, CEO, or Hank Woji, VP Business Development, at the CCA to learn more about attractive conference exhibition and sponsorship opportunities.
To review conference topics and apply to join the speaking faculty for this event, please click here. If you'd like to speak at this major industry event, please contact Marty Lafferty, CEO of the DCIA, at your earliest convenience.
Report from CEO Marty Lafferty
 The DCIA urges DCINFO readers to voice your objection to the Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) continuing opposition of badly needed reform of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) and to weigh-in with your support of a legislative amendment that would address related concerns.
As you know, the DCIA is a member of Digital Due Process (DDP), a large and diverse coalition of American businesses, trade associations, and public-interest groups from across the ideological spectrum that supports ECPA reform.
Bi-partisan reform legislation is currently pending in both Houses of Congress (S. 607 and H.R. 1852).
Please join us now in supporting an amendment to clarify and codify the neutrality principle that we believe should guide ECPA reform, making it clear that the SEC and other regulatory agencies can use the courts to compel account holders to retrieve and disclose content stored in the cloud on the same terms agencies have always used to compel entities to disclose content stored locally.
ECPA reform is critical to US-based Internet and communications companies, which have been leaders in the development of the innovative cloud services that are revolutionizing how businesses and individuals store and share private and proprietary data.
In this time of widespread concern about government intrusions on privacy, ECPA reform will assure businesses and the public that their electronic communications and data stored in the cloud receive the same protections as postal mail and letters stored at home or in the office.
From the DCIA's perspective, ECPA reform has a singular purpose - to require a warrant for the government to obtain data stored in the cloud.
But the premise of ECPA reform is to ensure that content stored in the cloud receives neither less nor more privacy protection than data stored locally.
ECPA reform was never intended to interfere with the authority of the SEC to use subpoenas to compel individuals or companies to disclose the communications they send or received regardless of how they are stored.
The SEC, however, is not a criminal justice agency and has no authority to obtain warrants; rather, the SEC has always had substantial powers to subpoena documents in the possession or control of its targets or other parties who may have sent or received communications relevant to SEC investigations.
On the other hand, it would be wrong to reform ECPA by giving the SEC a power that it is now widely agreed even criminal justice agencies should not have - the power to compel third-party disclosure with only a subpoena rather than a warrant.
Indeed the Sixth Circuit held in US v. Warshak, 631 F.3d 266 (6th Cir. 2010) that a warrant rather than a subpoena is required to compel a service provider to disclose the content of communications held on behalf of its customers.
The Fourth Amendment requires a warrant, rather than a mere subpoena, for the compelled disclosure of information stored with a third-party service provider.
In the more than three years since Warshak, neither the SEC nor any other civil agency has tried to compel a service provider to disclose the content of stored communications with a subpoena.
But now the SEC seeks not only to avoid the clear Constitutional ruling of Warshak but also to gain the power to compel from a service provider any data transmitted even a day ago, which has never been available to the agency from a third-party service provider, even pre-Warshak.
Not only would this lesser standard not comport with the Constitutional basis for Warshak, but it would also open the door to potential abuse.
For instance, in a parallel civil investigation by the SEC and a criminal investigation by the Department of Justice (DoJ), the SEC could obtain information with a subpoena and then share it with DoJ, allowing the DoJ and other criminal agencies to circumvent the warrant process.
This approach also raises other pitfalls, including the risk of violating an individual's attorney-client privilege if, for example, email was used for their communication.
ECPA already provides the SEC with a powerful tool to prevent the destruction or alteration of evidence while a motion to compel is being pursued, and there is no reason to grant it more authority.
Furthermore, this order can be issued at the earliest stages of the SEC's interest in an individual or entity, even before a formal investigation has been opened.
The DCIA-supported amendment to ECPA would make it clear that the SEC or any other agency can use its subpoena power to compel an individual to retrieve and disclose any data held with a third party.
We believe that this would fully clarify the neutrality principle — that ECPA cannot be used to shield data in the cloud from ordinary discovery techniques — and will fully preserve the access that the SEC has today to electronic evidence. Share wisely, and take care.
A Nudge on Digital Privacy Law
Excerpted from NY Times Report by James Kanter
The top data protection official for the European Union (EU) called Tuesday for member governments to restore public trust in the Internet by pressing ahead with an overhaul of the bloc's electronic privacy laws by the end of this year.
The official, Peter Hustinx, European Data Protection Supervisor, also called on President Obama to stick to his pledge to review American privacy rules in the wake of disclosures that have exposed the vast reach of government surveillance that has shaken trans-Atlantic relations.
Legislation to revamp European digital privacy law has been in the works since November 2010, when the European Union's justice commissioner, Vivian Reding, first proposed updating rules set during the mid-1990s in the early part of the Internet era. She presented her version of the legislation in January 2012.
A separate bill, aimed at providing more equitable access for companies and consumers to the Internet — "net neutrality" — and making mobile phone roaming less costly to consumers is now before the European Parliament, which is to vote on that legislation Thursday.
But Ms. Reding's digital privacy regulation is running on a separate track.
Last month the European Parliament gave preliminary approval to a strengthened version of Ms. Reding's rules that would set higher fines and provide stronger bulwarks against demands by countries like the United States for access to data belonging to Europeans. But that version still needs to be reconciled with the views of the European Union's 28 member governments.
As it stands, the proposed digital privacy law would establish fines that could run to billions of euros for giant American technology companies like Amazon and eBay if they failed to adhere to rules like limiting the sharing of personal data. Companies like Google and Facebook would also need to seek clearance from European officials before complying with United States court warrants seeking private data.
At a news conference Tuesday, Mr. Hustinx stressed the urgency of keeping the privacy legislation moving through the Council of the European Union in Brussels, the body in which national governments meet to adopt laws and coordinate policies.
"The problem is that the council is not ready yet," Mr. Hustinx said.
Mr. Hustinx called on the bloc's 28 member states to reach a deal with one another and with the Parliament by the end of the year, because "the 21st century requires stronger rights, stronger responsibilities, more consistency across Europe."
Mr. Hustinx said European Union governments were ready to approve most of the current version of the privacy legislation, including a "right to erasure" that would enable users to demand that data be scrubbed from websites.
But he suggested that governments could continue to hold up approval because of other elements, including difficulties reaching agreement on how to enforce uniform rules across the bloc and whether to apply the rules to the way civil servants in member countries handle data.
Germany has been particularly forceful in seeking a broad carve-out for the public sector, because of a deep reluctance to modify its own existing privacy rules, which it regards as preferable. Britain, too, has reservations about how the law could create more red tape for businesses in an area of the economy with potential for growth.
Mr. Hustinx also challenged the United States government to do more in updating its own rules. "There are some interesting movements in Washington, but we'd like to see much more," he said. "If trust should be rebuilt, then it certainly takes a number of actions at the other side as well."
Mr. Hustinx suggested that European governments could be given added reassurance they would be in sync with the American approach to data privacy, if a group led by John Podesta, a special advisor to Mr. Obama, issues its report on data privacy this spring as expected.
That study by Mr. Podesta, announced in January, is expected to review how businesses collect private data. But it might also suggest specific legislative proposals to give consumers more control of that information.
"To avoid a limping horse in the trans-Atlantic space, we need to have sufficient consistency," Mr. Hustinx said.
Cloud Computing Trends & Latest Stats
Excerpted from Smart Data Collective Report by Mike Solomonov
The cloud has become omnipresent, casting its shadow over practically every aspect of business operations within every industry. No matter large or small, organizations are moving to the cloud to take advantage of the ease of management and cost savings.
Cloud hosting provides organizations with virtual IT services from around the world, with no hardware, installation, or maintenance costs. The services are remotely managed and provided by a cloud hosting provider or dedicated third party that is committed to keeping them available when necessary. Cheaper, more flexible services are perfect for startups, giving them access to high-quality tools that they would not otherwise be able to afford or maintain.
More businesses are tapping into the cloud every year. The 2013 Future of Cloud Computing Survey questioned 855 IT decision makers, cloud vendors, and business users, finding that 75% of survey respondents are using the cloud in some way. Last year 67% said that they were using the cloud.
Some applications of the cloud are being used more widely than others. In particular are business cloud apps used for social business/collaboration, file sharing, business productivity, and CRM/marketing.
The total global market for cloud computing is expected to reach over $158 billion dollars by 2014, up 126% since 2011. The fastest growing cloud applications are expected to be managed IT services like systems management, mobile services, big data management, and security.
Security concerns are one of the main factors slowing cloud adoption.
Healthcare companies, businesses with private information and organizations dealing with confidential data have worked out complex systems to keep their data secure, and the cloud, being an entirely new system, represents a potential risk to that security. Information distributed across several servers instead of being stored in a controlled location seems like a scary situation to many. In other cases, people are content with their current situation and see no need to change. For medium and large companies, switching legacy systems over to cloud services can be a complex and involved undertaking.
A recent Microsoft survey has shown that many of these fears may be unfounded, especially concerning security and network reliability. 94% of businesses reported that they saw an improvement in security after switching to cloud computing, and 75% said that network availability improved. 91% of respondents also said that their cloud providers were making it easier for them to meet government compliance requirements such as PCI, HIPAA, and FISMA.
These numbers show that there is a large perception gap between those who are still using traditional systems and those who are already using the cloud. In the same study, 60% of small businesses who were not using the cloud were concerned about the security of their data, while 39% believed that they could not switch to the cloud because of compliance requirements.
There is no doubt that cloud providers provide flexible, high-quality services for often times less cost, and businesses who refuse to take advantage of this will fall further and further behind competition.
Cloud Computing Costs Falling Dramatically
Excerpted from Midsize Insider Report by Fran Howarth
Cloud services have often been viewed as being better suited to some tasks than to others: They were considered highly beneficial where there was a need for the elasticity that they can offer, where there are peaks and troughs in demand for computing power — such as for managing variable rates of traffic to a website — or for meeting peaks in seasonal demand.
Many organizations were finding, however, that cloud computing costs were rising over time and voiced concerns about the costs of running fairly consistent workloads in the cloud. Where workloads stay the same, it was often cheaper to buy and run the hardware needed in house, especially given the low and falling costs of hardware.
As a result, some small and midsize businesses (SMBs) were moving off the cloud, realizing that savings could be made from buying their own hardware and running operations in house. Nonetheless, this all looks set to change since cloud computing costs appear to be plummeting.
Just how low can public cloud pricing go?
That is the question posed by author Matt Asay in a piece for ReadWrite. Citing cloud guru Bernard Golden, Vice President of Enterprise Solutions at enStratus, Asay's answer is "pretty darn low." In his evaluation of the cost benefits of the cloud, Golden examined company spending on hardware and software infrastructure, Internet bandwidth, energy, labor and cost of capital. He found that public cloud solutions trump private data centers in terms of cost in every category examined and explained that organizations stand to save a total of about 75 percent across all six categories.
Cloud computing costs have long been seen as one of the greatest drivers for subscribing to such services, particularly with respect to the cloud's oft-touted ability to reduce capital expenditures on hardware and the software that runs on those servers since such services are paid for out of operating expenses via a subscription.
To fully understand the benefits of the cloud, however, SMBs must look beyond up-front and operational costs and focus on long-term value.
Cloud services also reduce the cost of IT administration and provide IT managers with greater productivity by freeing them up to perform higher-value tasks. Gerri Martin-Flickinger, CIO of Adobe, cites this point as one of the most important and often overlooked benefits of cloud computing adoption in an interview with Martha Heller for CIO.
When midsize IT professionals are relieved of menial day-to-day tasks, they are able to collaborate more closely with other departments to identify solutions and services that will benefit their organization's greater business needs. Once these solutions and services have been identified, IT will be able to set them up quickly owing to the instant access to computing services that the cloud allows.
In light of these "hidden" benefits, especially when they are coupled with rapidly falling cloud computing costs across the board, cloud services have become attractive even for SMBs running fairly static workloads. With some providers now offering "sustained use" discounts, it will make sense economically to use the cloud even for consistent services instead of purchasing and running hardware. Such moves will ease the running cost concerns for many SMBs and will make the use of cloud services an even more attractive option.
The Non-Cost Benefits of the Cloud
Excerpted from MSPmentor Report by Michael Brown
When it comes to the cloud, it's not all about cost. In this post, we highlight the other benefits of cloud-based file sharing.
By this point, the financial benefits of cloud computing (and cloud-based file sharing) are becoming obvious to all. But as this article points out, there are quite a few more that don't receive the attention they probably should.
Let's take a deeper look at some of the reasons besides saving money that companies may want to transition to cloud based file sharing:
Accessibility — Next to the financial benefits, accessibility is probably the most frequently mentioned advantage. In the mobile, multi-device world we live in, accessible data is paramount to the corporate world. Most people today have smartphones, tablets, laptops and work computers (or more!) and want or need to be able to access their corporate data on all of them. Cloud based file sharing makes the once cumbersome process of moving data and information from device to device as easy as a quick log in. This allows employees to maintain busy travel schedules, workplace flexibility and work remotely easier than ever.
Sharing and Collaboration — Similar to accessibility, sharing and collaboration between employees and even companies is far simpler with the ease of moving data that the cloud offers. People from around the globe are able to work together seamlessly, viewing, editing, and accessing information and projects easily and quickly.
Automation — How often do you consciously sit down with the sole reason being to back up your personal files? What about your work files? If you are like most, your answers are probably "Not often enough" and "even less". Cloud services eliminate that pang of guilt and allow you to spend your time elsewhere. Automated backup schedules can be made, even utilizing times when you wouldn't have been working anyway.
Protection and Recovery — Thanks to the automation the cloud can provide, data is more protected and recoverable than with traditional storage methods. Automated backups will create additional protection in the case of data loss or failure. The cloud allows for recovery of lost data instantly, keeping things running smoothly, even when they previously wouldn't have.
Security — There is a lot of discussion about the security of the cloud, and with all the recent IT security breaches, it's hardly surprising. However the fact is, more often than not, cloud based services offer a higher level security than traditional data security methods. Data is encrypted during storage, and laws and regulations are becoming more involved in making sure that cloud services provide the best security for their client's data.
As you can see, the benefits of the cloud are far more numerous than simply saving money. As MSPs which of these benefits tend to be the most popular with clients? Do many companies fully understand all the positives associated with cloud computing and sharing? Be sure to share your thoughts in the comments.
Google Gets Serious about Enterprise Cloud
Excerpted from ZDNet Report by Larry Dignan
If you asked most C-level information technology buyers about Google's enterprise cloud efforts, they'd wonder out loud whether there was serious interest in them.
And why wouldn't a CXO wonder if Google's plan to challenge Amazon Web Services (AWS) was a passing hobby? Almost a year ago, Google launched its initial cloud infrastructure efforts. The plan sounded pretty strong in May 2013. Then there was nothing, but radio silence.
I pretty much wrote off Google's enterprise cloud effort as another Google I/O launch and leave venture.
The last two weeks changed that equation. Rest assured that Google's cloud efforts are still behind Amazon Web Services and all the previous challenges remain, but the company is at least preparing to mount a challenge. To wit:
On Wednesday, Google outlined its plan to launch its Andromeda networking stack to its cloud platform. The move should bolster its Compute Engine service in the background.
Last week, Google launched a bevy of new services and cut its pricing. Google also outlined sustain usage discounts, which could alter the cloud equation for some companies.
The entire infrastructure cloud market is racing to the bottom when it comes to price. AWS cut its prices a day after Google did. According to Rightscale, AWS, Microsoft, Google, and others simply trade price cuts. Eventually you may get to free. Google's spin on pricing though may open up a few eyes.
Forrester analyst James Staten said, "Google's new Sustained-use Discounts returns that value to customers without the hassle of forecasting or predicting your forward cloud use. It's a simple and highly compelling value - if you use more, you get a bigger discount, automatically. Hard not to like this value as you can now use more without worrying if you will be hit by the shock bill so many cloud pioneers have faced."
Add it up and Google warrants consideration in an enterprise sandbox. AWS will still garner more wallet share, but Google — assuming it follows through in the months ahead with more enterprise cloud goodness — can be a player. Here's a look at RightScale's pricing bakeoff.
Like AWS' first efforts, enterprises are likely to try Google out in developer projects and then expand.
Jefferies analyst Brian Pitz and team said in a research note, "Google's deep price cuts and simplification of the pricing structure were a direct hint that they are committed to challenging AWS on pricing and passing on any technology savings to the customer. We believe that AWS remains the leader in cloud computing but its position would be challenged more often by big competitors such as Google and Microsoft."
The cloud dream here is obvious: If enterprises used AWS, Microsoft, Rackspace, Google and IBM's SoftLayer (or any other vendor ranging from Oracle to HP to Verizon) companies could just let a computing trading algorithm arbitrage pricing. That day is far off, but Google has made it worthwhile to play the cloud field.
Amazon Gets Government Boost in Cloud War
Excerpted from The Fiscal Time Report by John Grgurich
Most people only think of Amazon as the omnibus online retailer that sells everything from books and music to baby clothes and garden implements. But while that side of Amazon's business is its most high profile, there's another, less glamorous side that will likely become ever more important: cloud computing services.
Cloud computing lets people build Internet-based businesses incrementally, and pay for more and more computing power as they go, without having to buy any actual hardware. Amazon's offering is the undisputed leader in the fast-growing field. Research firm Gartner last year estimated that the public cloud services market totaled $131 billion worldwide, with the Amazon Web Services business being "five times larger than the next 14 competitors combined."
Amazon doesn't release specific numbers for its cloud computing side, but an estimate from Macquarie Capital puts the 2013 revenue contribution from Amazon Web Services at $3.4 billion. Amazon made $74 billion in total revenue last year. If the Macquarie estimate is correct, Amazon Web Services contributed only 4.6 percent of total revenue, but that percentage is forecast to grow. Macquarie forecasts AWS's revenue contribution to increase to $5.3 billion for 2014 and $8.1 billion for 2015.
While Amazon is the biggest player in cloud computing right now, how long that will last remains to be seen. A price war in the space has already begun, and Google just announced a simplified pricing structure for Google Cloud Platform — its cloud computing side — that will cut prices anywhere from 30 percent to 85 percent. Amazon responded the very next day with deep price cuts of its own. Cisco and Microsoft are also trying to get in on the act.
The stakes are huge. As Kevin Roose notes at New York magazine's website, "Whoever wins the cloud war will, in effect, control the Internet. As the back-end operator of the world's biggest companies, the choices the winner makes will have a major impact on issues like net neutrality and data privacy."
If that's the case, Amazon just got a significant boost from the Department of Defense (DoD). Amazon announced last Wednesday that its cloud computing side — known as Amazon Web Services — had won clearances that will allow it to work with all DoD agencies. Amazon Web Services, which launched eight years ago, has been selling cloud computing services to government agencies like the Navy and Air Force for years. But the depth and breadth of this latest clearance means the potential for even more business with the Pentagon.
DoD already has its own cloud-storage service, as well, called MilCloud, which was just rolled out this month. MilCloud is meant to provide Amazon-style cloud computing services at similar costs, but with even higher levels of security than Amazon's (though in the post-Edward Snowden area, government invulnerability in the cyber arena is no longer a given). MilCloud isn't intended to compete in the private sector.
In the meantime, as the world becomes more and more data and computing driven — and if the government becomes more reliant on Amazon's cloud — it might be worth pondering what happens if the day ever comes when the President needs to mobilize American military forces but all he sees on his DoD computer screen is: "Sorry. Amazon is currently experiencing technical difficulties. Please try again later." The President better be sure he has Jeff Bezos's mobile number.
GSA: Blazing Government's Path to Cloud
Excerpted from InformationWeek Report by Wyatt Kash
As part of its mandate to provide a range of services to other federal agencies, the General Services Administration (GSA) owns or leases 354 million square feet of office and warehouse space in 9,600 buildings, and it provides workspaces for more than 1 million federal workers. The problem: Half the time, those people are out in the field or working away from their desks. For a government agency that spends roughly $10 billion annually on leasing and construction costs, officials knew there had to be a smarter approach.
They moved toward a hoteling model, whereby employees check in and out of workspaces. However, that move required GSA to overhaul its IT infrastructure, says acting CIO Sonny Hashmi. Enter cloud computing.
Beginning in 2010, when cloud computing was still mostly a vision for federal policy-makers, GSA officials, including Casey Coleman, the CIO at the time, crafted a multiyear strategy to migrate core agency systems to the cloud.
GSA started by migrating 17,000 employees to Google Apps, making it the first federal agency to move basic email and collaboration services entirely into the cloud. GSA officials now expect that migration, completed in July 2011, to save it $15 million over five years.
In August 2011, GSA launched the second phase of its "Drive to the Cloud" initiative. Working with Salesforce, it implemented cloud-based software that made it easier for GSA employees to collaborate on projects, share and manage case files, find internal experts, and capture new ideas. GSA now has an enterprise social network with 10,000 users across 1,000 communities of interest.
On one occasion, employees used the network to generate 640 ideas in 30 days to streamline GSA business processes, an initiative that eventually saved the agency $5 million annually, Hashmi says. GSA's project management dashboard offers a glimpse of those improvements. It lets any employee follow or contribute to a GSA project, track its costs and schedule, and link to planning and budget documents.
GSA also established a rapid application development platform in the cloud, launched in the fall of 2011. Within six months, GSA's IT shop developed and delivered "more than 100 enterprise applications with zero infrastructure footprint," replacing more than 1,700 legacy applications, Hashmi says. GSA developers reduced the average time to deliver an application by 75%, to an average of six weeks, he says, and lowered the total cost of ownership for a midtier application by 92%.
GSA now has begun the third phase of its cloud strategy, migrating core parts of the agency's storage, compute, and other infrastructure to the cloud. Hashmi estimates that 80% of GSA's IT systems now have a cloud component.
Moving to the cloud didn't just streamline IT operations; it also improved business operations by automating a wider range of processes. In one instance, GSA migrated a high-volume call center to the cloud in less than six months, cutting $1.5 million in annual support costs.
The lessons GSA learned in moving to cloud services -- acquiring the services, dealing with security, developing shared services, integrating mobile computing, consolidating data centers -- are also paying dividends, Hashmi says. GSA proved that the cloud is a viable and scalable option for other federal agencies and can deliver more for less. GSA will spend $593 million on IT in fiscal 2014, nearly $100 million less than the year before, according to White House budget figures.
GSA officials are making cloud project-management artifacts, application development processes, and governance structures and templates available for other federal agencies, Hashmi says. Meantime, GSA has released under an open-source license all of the applications its developers created, letting state and local governments build on the agency's work.
The larger lesson Hashmi and GSA learned is recognizing that "migration to the cloud is not a project, it is a strategy," he says. "This is not an IT problem. Folks from acquisition, security, compliance, accessibility for the physically impaired, records management all have to come together."
What GSA is still learning, he says, is how to forecast demand, which is very different in the cloud than with traditional IT, where you look mostly at licenses and capacity on what you own. "With the cloud," he says, "the forecast is based on consumption, not provision or on how many servers you have. If you're not careful, you may not be using the cloud in a optimized way."
But Hashmi adds: "It's easy to find reasons not to go down this road. You can't perfectly plan your way through a disruptive path like this. You have to trust you have the right people in the room and be open to failing fast and adjusting. We were fortunate to have that freedom."
Verizon and Unisys Team on Cloud for Government
Excerpted from Light Reading Report
Verizon and Unisys are teaming to offer Verizon enterprise-class cloud computing solutions through Unisys' Public Cloud Hosting contract with the Western States Contracting Alliance-National Association of State Procurement Officers (WSCA-NASPO) cooperative purchasing organization.
WSCA-NASPO provides cooperative purchasing contracts for use by all 50 states, the District of Columbia and the five US territories to help spur innovation and competition in the marketplace. Counties, cities, and towns, K-12 public schools, colleges, and universities, public safety agencies, and authorized nonprofit groups in member states can also leverage WSCA-NASPO purchasing contracts. Under terms of the agreement, Unisys and Verizon will collaborate to leverage their respective capabilities to offer cloud computing solutions for IT transformation and more efficient delivery of agency and constituent services.
"Cloud computing is transforming the business of government," said Brian Costello, Vice President of Public Sector Cloud, Verizon Enterprise Solutions. "By joining forces with Unisys to offer advanced cloud infrastructure planning, migration and managed services to participating WSCA-NASPO members, we are combining our unique capabilities to enable public sector organizations to harness the power of cloud to drive efficiency and fundamentally change the way services are delivered."
How Cisco Plans to Win the Cloud Computing Industry
Excerpted from The Motley Fool Report by Adrian Campos
The cloud is poised for rapid growth in the business world. A growing number of companies are swapping traditional IT systems for affordable cloud-computing services to improve efficiency. Aware of the cloud market's huge potential, tech giant Cisco Systems is looking forward to offering a new cloud service. The networking company plans to spend $1 billion on this project over the next two years, called Cisco Cloud Services.
At first glance, Cisco's new venture could be regarded as yet another cloud service. However, the service that Cisco plans to provide is well-differentiated. The company plans to use OpenStack technology -- an open-source cloud-computing platform for private and public clouds -- to create a global intercloud, which is a network of clouds designed for high-value application workloads.
Cisco will likely employ an infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model. The company has already partnered with Telstra, Australia's largest telecom, and other organizations. However, Cisco could face strong competition from Amazon, which started offering online services through its cloud platform -- Amazon Web Services -- in 2006. How does Cisco plan to win the cloud computing industry?
The key benefit to Cisco Cloud Services is that it would allow customers to hold and manage a variety of clouds in a single platform. This would be especially useful for companies with large, fast-paced, growing needs for data processing and storage, which might experience difficulties relying on just one cloud. As fellow Fool contributor Joseph Gacinga recently pointed out, several Internet giants such as Best Buy and PayPal have used the OpenStack technology before, and have gotten quite positive results. By using OpenStack, Cisco could successfully enter the market by targeting needs that leading cloud companies currently overlook.
Cisco plans to sell its cloud service to other companies that will later resell it through a bigger package. The company will likely use its new cloud service to move forward with its Internet of Things project, which aims to bring together data, processes, and people to enhance an organization's efficiency and performance.
In its most recent quarter, Cisco's revenue came in at $11.2 billion, down 8% year-over-year, enough to surpass the Street's revenue expectations. Moreover, its cash dividend increased to $0.19 per common share, up by $0.02 from the former quarter.
Regarding the future, the company's new cloud service has great growth potential. According to a forecast by research firm Gartner, cloud computing will take the majority of IT spending by 2016. Another research firm, IDC, estimated that worldwide spending on public IT cloud services might exceed $107 billion by 2017, with IaaS becoming one of the fastest growing categories, experiencing a compounded average growth rate of 27.2%. Certainly, there is a bright future ahead, yet Cisco will have to face competition from another great tech company, Amazon.
Amazon is a pioneer in cloud services, and it is already a well-established, respectable brand in the industry. Amazon Web Services is distinguished by its S3 (data storage) and EC2 (resizable compute capacity) services in the cloud. Note that, after several years of losses, the company has recently performed well, in financial terms. In 2013, revenue came in at $74.5 billion, representing a 22% annual increase. Moreover, its net income was $274 million, reversing its 2012 net loss of $39 million.
As the Wall Street Journal reported, estimates show that Amazon Web Services could be generating $3 billion or more in annual revenue. Simply put, the cloud service is a strong asset for the company. Even if Cisco offers a different service, it might face a difficult time entering the cloud service market due to the aggressive price strategies that Amazon.com uses to market its cloud server farm.
Cisco plans to offer a differentiated cloud service. Using OpenStack technology, Cisco Cloud Service will allow customers to access data and run their businesses through different clouds. The move seems to be part of the company's Internet of Things project, which aims to connect data, processes, and people to improve efficiency and performance in any business. Note that there is a strong competitor in the market; Amazon is a cloud computing pioneer, able to put pressure on competitors through aggressive price reductions. That being said, Cisco could use OpenStack and its strong brand to enter the market successfully.
Let's face it, every investor wants to get in on revolutionary ideas beforethey hit it big. Like buying PC-maker Dell in the late 1980s, before the consumer computing boom. Or purchasing stock in e-commerce pioneer Amazon in the late 1990s, when it was nothing more than an upstart online bookstore.
The problem is, most investors don't understand the key to investing in hyper-growth markets. The real trick is to find a small-cap "pure-play" and then watch as it grows in EXPLOSIVE lockstep with its industry. Our expert team of equity analysts has identified one stock that's poised to produce rocket-ship returns with the next $14.4 TRILLION industry. Click here to get the full story in this eye-opening report.
How to Use the Cloud to Simplify Your Life
Excerpted from FedSmith Report by Jason Kay
As a federal government employee, any tools available to help you save time, money, and frustration during your busy day may be considered priceless. With approximately $2 billion invested annually in cloud computing, the US government already understands the full value of the cloud. Regardless, many individuals remain confused about the cloud and what benefits it has to offer. Before discovering the best ways to simplify your life using the cloud, take a look at its rapid growth and impact on the future of computing.
Over 50 years ago, J.C.R. Licklider formed the Advanced Research Projects Agency Network, with the primary goal of connecting people across the globe by providing access to programs and information from anywhere. In the past five years, the rise in cloud computing adoption seems to have fulfilled Licklider's mission. Listed as a $150 billion industry, cloud technology has outpaced traditional IT and is projected to sustain its rapid growth rate in years to come. For federal government employees, it's simply a matter of using this technology to make life a little easier.
Most people are familiar with cloud computing in the workplace. In essence, cloud technology provides security and reliability while enhancing productivity and collaboration among employees. It does this by creating a virtual space in which to share documents, communicate, and monitor projects or tasks. Outside work, however, cloud computing technology is a powerful tool that saves users time and money. For individuals, the use of cloud computing provides access to stored information and time-saving programs from anywhere.
Storage — As the most common use for the cloud, online storage tops the list of priceless reasons to use cloud technology. Cloud-based storage ensures that sensitive documents, business documents, family pictures, and any other form of media remain safe and secure.
Programs — From accounting and personal finance tools to automated tasks and note taking, cloud-based programs have become a functionally-rich addition to everyday living. As its popularity grows, cloud computing has inspired the creation of numerous web-based programs and apps designed to simplify life.
Stay Mobile — Federal government employees benefit immensely from cloud technology, since it provides access to documents and productivity tools from anywhere in the world, on any device. Whether you work from one location or travel the globe, cloud computing acts as a virtual briefcase, planner, and collaboration tool.
To get you excited about the use of cloud technology, here are ten ways to utilize the cloud and simplify your life.
Receipts — If you're like most people, keeping track of receipts and expenses usually involves a few shoeboxes filled with scraps of paper and a spreadsheet that leaves something to be desired. With cloud-based tools, like Wave, the process of tracking expenses, income, and investments becomes automated. The program even allows users to upload and store receipts — no more shoeboxes!
Photos — Most people have photos scattered throughout their lives. You may have albums, pictures on your phone, images you like on social media, and your distant cousin may have sent you an email with the latest pictures of her family. Navigating between so many platforms becomes a time consuming, disorganized process. Using a cloud storage solution, like OneDrive or Google Drive, provides you with a secure place to store your most precious moments.
Simplify Shopping — As a government employee, you're required to juggle the responsibilities of work, home, and family. For those with large (or generally scatter-brained) families, shopping can become a nightmarish task. Between a lack of communication and time constraints, going to the store may seem like more trouble than it's worth. Fortunately, cloud programs, like Out of Milk, make it possible to create and share grocery shopping lists from anywhere.
Documents — It's easy to accumulate a lot of documents over time and suddenly find yourself with a pile of chaos that seemed to develop out of nowhere. Between bills, work-related documents, business information, and school or health records, there's more than enough to sort and manage on a daily basis. Cloud-based storage, however, enables users to break free from the mounds of paper and commit everything to the security of the cloud. Many cloud storage programs, including DropBox and Cubby, provide free storage with options to extend their limits.
Worry-Free Backups — Since technology is relied upon to store information, complete transactions, and communicate with others, it's crucial to protect against loss by regularly backing up stored information. Many people spend a significant amount of time each month backing up various devices. As an alternative, many cloud-based programs offer automated backups, which simplifies the process.
Enhance Security — It is one thing to keep documents safe, but it's another entirely to monitor the security of items spread out in different locations. Recent statistics indicate global cybercrime accounts for about $400 billion a year in damages. As a federal government employee, you may already have a preferred method of securing information. The use of the cloud adds an extra layer of protection, though. Often, cloud storage providers encrypt data utilizing the same rigor as financial institutions, providing you with maximum security.
Save Money — Thanks to the rise in competition among cloud solutions providers, there are many free programs available to help simplify your life. From the Wave app and Evernote to Google Drive and Box, free cloud programs come stocked with robust functionality and time-saving features. Best of all, it costs zero dollars. Absolutely nothing. Compared to the costs of an accountant, personal assistant, and paid storage solutions, free takes the cake.
Manage To-Dos — A common struggle for many federal government employees is the management of daily tasks. It can be challenging to keep track of commitments, reminders, and work-related projects when the completion of each requires a different process. Here's where cloud technology saves the day. Cloud-based programs, like Todoist, make it easy to record, access, and share tasks on any platform. No more missing a meeting or forgetting to schedule a doctor's appointment. Todoist provides users with reminders, notifications, and automated tools to expertly manage life's responsibilities.
Automate Email — Keeping track of emails, sending timely messages, and providing speedy responses is challenging, especially when you're juggling multiple contacts, each with different demands. When using cloud-based programs, however, sending emails at the right time, and to the right people, becomes simple. While many email assistants exist, Boomerang for Gmail has received rave reviews. This is because it includes email reminders, scheduled responses, and notifications. Since tools like Boomerang practically automate the task of email engagement, you have more time each day to contribute to the more important things in your life.
Save the Web for Later — You're probably familiar with how distracting and time consuming conducting research on the Internet can be. Whether you're working on a project for your employer or trying to find the best car repair shop in town, it's often necessary to save information for later. With cloud-based programs, like Evernote and Pocket, you're able to "clip" content found on the web and store it for later review. To make recall even easier, these programs include categorization tools to help you quickly find the article or image you're seeking.
Before running out to grab the latest cloud program, it's imperative to your future satisfaction that you evaluate your individual needs. Do you require top-of-the-line security, or are you mostly interested in a productivity tool? What are the leading causes of delay throughout your day? Perhaps your schedule gets interrupted because you need to complete the tasks or make the phone calls you forgot about yesterday? How can these delays be reduced or eliminated? Consider the following before committing to a certain program.
Security — Prior to signing on for the latest cloud tool, check the program's level of security. If you will be using a particular program to record or share sensitive information, make sure you're aware of the protection offered and, if needed, ask if the level of security can be upgraded.
Operating Systems — This doesn't apply to everyone, but those using less common operating systems, like Linux, may not have as many cloud-based options as those using Mac or Windows. Ultimately, the use of cloud-based tools is determined by your needs, but it's important to ensure your devices are compatible.
Support — For federal government employees, troubleshooting a computing issue needs to occur quickly and efficiently. Before choosing a cloud storage provider or cloud-based program, review the technical support offered by the company in order to determine if it can adequately meet your needs. Unless you're tech-savvy, successfully troubleshooting a technical problem on your own, or with someone who is ill-equipped, can take time and additional resources.
If you struggle with misplacing documents and receipts, keeping track of to-do lists, or any number of life's responsibilities, there's a cloud program designed to make your life easier. Be sure to choose cloud solutions that are capable of satisfying your demands while allowing room to grow if they change in the future. Next time you run into a historically time consuming task, think about the available cloud solutions that will simplify the process for you.
Coming Events of Interest
NAB Show — April 5th-10th in Las Vegas, NV. From broadcasting to broader-casting, NAB Show has evolved over the last eight decades to continually lead this ever-changing industry. From creation to consumption, NAB Show has proudly served as the incubator for excellence — helping to breathe life into content everywhere.
Media Management in the Cloud — April 8th-9th in Las Vegas, NV. This two-day conference provides a senior management overview of how cloud-based solutions positively impact each stage of the content distribution chain, including production, delivery, and storage.
CLOUD COMPUTING EAST 2014 — May 15th-16th in Washington, DC. Three major conference tracks will zero in on the latest advances in the application of cloud-based solutions in three key economic sectors: government, healthcare, and financial services.
US Cyber Crime Conference — April 27th to May 2nd in Washington, DC. This unique event combines digital forensics training with an interactive forum for cyber professionals and covers the full spectrum of topics facing defenders as well as law enforcement responders. Sessions will cover intrusion investigations, cyber crime law, digital forensics, information assurance, R&D, and testing of forensics tools.
International Conference on Internet and Distributed Computing Systems — September 22nd in Calabria, Italy. IDCS 2014 conference is the sixth in its series to promote research in diverse fields related to Internet and distributed computing systems. The emergence of web as a ubiquitous platform for innovations has laid the foundation for the rapid growth of the Internet.
International Conference on Cloud Computing Research & Innovation - October 29th-30th in Singapore. ICCRI:2014 covers a wide range of research interests and innovative applications in cloud computing and related topics. The unique mix of R&D, end-user, and industry audience members promises interesting discussion, networking, and business opportunities in translational research & development.
|
