Even if businesses are not actively engaged in making the leap to the cloud for at least one of their services, most are running pilot schemes in order to find out just how cloud technology can benefit their particular firm.

Analyst TPI says that 78 per cent of businesses have already had round table discussions with internal managers in order to establish their position in relation to cloud computing.

Some have voiced concern that those who have historically handled on site technology that could become obsolete in the face of a cloud alternative will become disgruntled as they could lose their positions. However, CWJobs has published a survey which suggests that the majority of IT experts are going to welcome the challenge of learning new skills in order to remain competitive.

75 per cent of respondents to a survey said that they would be taking on additional training in order to prepare for and adapt to the requirements of cloud computing.

It is said that IT staff will begin to find work for the cloud vendors and with each vendor servicing multiple businesses, there should be a real boom, consequently creating more employment opportunities.

The management of the cloud will still require internal expertise and thus IT workers will continue to be relevant to individual businesses as they attempt to form a tactical approach to the cloud switch-over.

The adoption of cloud services by public sector organisations in the UK is seen as being key to its expansion and public money will empower vendors and allow private businesses to invest in cloud services. This, in turn, will benefit IT professionals who might otherwise have found themselves out of work, which proves that in ideal circumstances the move to cloud computing can be universally beneficial.

Survey finds employees eager to embrace cloud computing is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

Microsoft’s server executive Bob Muglia outlined the ideas during a speech at the TechEd 2010 conference in the USA, suggesting that in order to remain competitive, businesses will need to prepare for cloud computing now, rather than making the transition in a single leap at a later date when migrating services could prove to be costlier and more complex.

Mr Muglia said that the cloud computing industry is on the brink of significant expansion and evolution, which he believes will have an impact across all business sectors the world over. He also said that although the prospects of cloud computing are exciting to many, the actual process of integrating cloud solutions into existing in-house systems is neither simple nor quick to achieve.

Mr Muglia went on to say that many businesses are not aware that the applications that they use on a daily basis via their in-house systems are already optimised and ready for migration to the cloud. He believes that this transition will involve finding a hybrid solution or a happy medium between total cloud adoption and the rigid continuation of in-house system support.

Mr Muglia was keen to point out that he believes the idea that total migration to the cloud must be performed instantly and permanently is a myth developed by some vendors in order to further their own businesses rather than actually aid the client.

He went as far as to say that many firms will have invested in cloud-ready technology without perhaps realising that they had done so, which may mitigate the cost of migration and make the transition easier for staff as the user interface will remain the same while all of the benefits of the cloud can be assimilated.

Microsoft is clearly keen on publicising its own commitment to cloud computing, but it is facing stiff competition from many other firms in this fast growing industry.

Microsoft advises preparation for cloud computing migration is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

GFI Software carried out a survey into cloud awareness and comprehension amongst UK SMEs, and it concluded that technical language and fears about network management under cloud computing are contributing to a less than universal appreciation as to the value of cloud-based solutions.

Only 10 per cent of SMEs based in the UK can explain what cloud computing is, according to the respondents who took part in the survey. In stark contrast to this figure is the 90 per cent of those questioned who were able to understand the key concepts of hosted services and managed solutions.

The report points out that most SMEs are becoming entangled in the superficially complex but often synonymous terms which are use to describe the different elements of cloud computing. It believes that this continued confusion is proving to be a roadblock to wider cloud adoption.

The report asked respondents to identify the service that they were least likely to outsource for whatever reason. It found that an overwhelming minority, some 79 per cent, were unwilling to assign the management of their networks to a third party vendor, with just over a fifth claiming that they believe that the opposite is true.

Other roadblocks to wider adoption of cloud-based solutions amongst SMEs around the UK include cost and the duplicitous nature of certain third party vendors, according to GFI’s CEO Walter Scott.

Mr Scott believes that cloud firms need to streamline the way in which they market their services in order to attract smaller businesses. The simplification of the jargon that is profligate in the industry is seen as a first step in the right direction.

Mr Scott also suggests that putting cloud products on the same level as the likes of SAAS (software-as-a-service) will allow understanding to permeate the UK SME market.

Study shows small businesses still perplexed by cloud is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

The distinction between the operation of private cloud systems and public cloud services is often made by the relative complexity of SIEM in relation to the two, according to Q1 Lab’s data security expert Chris Poulin.

Mr Poulin believes that cloud vendors lack the motivation to act transparently, largely obscuring the operation of their systems from clients.

Mr Poulin said that in order to guarantee client access to various important system log files on request, many businesses would have to negotiate this at the very beginning of the process, as getting full disclosure after a contract is signed may prove to be far more difficult.

The applications of SIEM are wide ranging amongst firms and organisations that are required to comply to specific industry standards and regulations, such as the PCI DSS.

Members of the SIEM market are currently predicting that a significant shift towards public cloud use by larger businesses will take place in the near future, according to Mr Poulin. This is being anticipated by the vendors as they ready themselves for an influx of new business.

There is currently a lack of analytical tools available to businesses looking to move their data onto public cloud platforms and Mr Poulin believes that the provision of these tools must come from third party suppliers.

The biggest players in the public cloud market, Google and Microsoft, have the means to offer robust SIEM to clients, but they are currently allocating resources to other areas of their businesses, according to Mr Poulin. In the example of Google, he believes that it is focusing on marketing when it could turn its attention to SIEM quite easily.

Mr Poulin also commented on Microsoft’s commitment to SIEM, saying that his own view was that the software giant did not fully appreciate the wider ramifications.

Expert claims lack of SIEM provision by cloud vendors is troubling is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

There is ongoing debate as to whether shifting data storage and other IT workloads over to third party cloud vendors is a positive move, with many having previously expressed concern as to the security of cloud computing in comparison with traditional in-house alternatives.

In a report authored as part of the 360°IT Event, more than 50 per cent of respondents said that improvements to their overall security levels could be achieved if they chose a cloud computing platform.

Nearly 300 professionals took part in the survey, with 20 per cent suggesting that switching to the cloud would neither improve nor weaken their data security. A further 25 per cent believed that a negative impact on security would be observed if cloud technology were to be employed.

Cloud computing expert Richard Hall said that the perception of cloud computing as intrinsically less secure than internal systems was gradually being addressed. Mr Hall believes that the security industry and businesses are actually using the move to cloud computing as an opportunity to improve security across the board, creating better systems for protecting personal information and sensitive data, whether stored internally or with a third party cloud vendor.

Mr Hall wrote on a personal blog that data loss and security breaches have typically been caused by the inadequacies of in-house management tools and processes. As a result, he sees the automation of basic security measures such as encryption – which is offered by cloud providers – as being key to the argument that cloud platforms can be far more secure than was previously believed.

By removing the requirement for human intervention in essential security systems, cloud vendors can create a secure, automated environment on which data can be stored and retrieved with total security guaranteed at every point in its journey, according to Mr Hall.

Data security strengthened by cloud computing according to survey is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

With some applications licensed only to run on internal systems or private cloud-based platforms, businesses could find themselves drawing up boundaries within the cloud because of third-party policy.

Novell’s Javier Colado explored this subject at the firm’s Brainshare Europe conference last week, suggesting that there was a thin line for IT managers to tread between complying with regulations and actually using the cloud with as much flexibility as the technology can theoretically offer.

Mr Colado said that businesses would need a management system that could balance the workloads of various applications without breaching licenses, compromising security or limiting scalability. These potentially mutually exclusive criteria are said to be achievable, but to many it may seem like an impossible task.

Mr Colado envisions a future of three tiered IT operations, with physical, virtual and cloud-based stacks, all requiring management, robust data security and online backup in order to avoid conflict, loss and non-compliance with industry regulations and application licenses.

The juggling act of keeping customer information and business secrets safe and secure whilst properly implementing the multiple layers of storage is set to become harder for those who do not equip themselves with the right tools, according to Mr Colado.

Many software firms are working on products that will allow businesses to designate the management of different application workloads across their internal and virtual systems, with the option to shift everything to the cloud depending on the requirements at any given moment, which is a true definition of scalability.

Novell’s Roger Whitehead said that management software and services would gradually become more homogenised as business requirements change, with IT departments requiring less of a distinction between the various systems and services they employ. As cloud adoption grows, a new set of challenges continues to emerge, but there are also vast opportunities which are increasingly recognised by industry leaders.

Licences for the management of applications to set boundaries of the cloud is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

Over 250 SMEs participated in a survey carried out by GFI Software. According to the results there is still a considerable degree of confusion as to the benefits that cloud computing can offer SMEs, with IT professionals working in this sector unable to appreciate or recommend switching to the cloud.

The survey’s most significant finding is that only 12 per cent of UK SMEs are actually being deterred from cloud computing because of security concerns. This is still the second highest reason given, but the overriding worry is that businesses will be tied to a single vendor for an inordinate amount of time when signing up for a cloud-based service.

The cost-cutting capabilities of the cloud, which are relatively well publicised, are also poorly appreciated by SMEs according to the study, which shows that 56 per cent of those questioned are happy to maintain their internal systems for data backup and storage.

SMEs understand that by adopting a cloud-based platform they will be benefiting from the experience of the vendor, in addition to sharing the accountability for data protection with another entity. However, total cloud migration is a rarity, with many choosing to combine in-house and outsourced systems in a hybrid approach.

86 per cent of firms with over 100 staff say that they are either signed up with a cloud vendor, or have plans to do so in the future. However, amongst those with fewer than 99 employees this figure falls to 69 per cent, and still further to 39 per cent for SMEs with 10 people and below.

GFI’s Walter Scott blamed the excessive use of jargon and confusing advertising for the slower uptake of cloud computing amongst SMEs in the UK. He also points to fear tactics employed by vendors who supply on-site technology to businesses as a contributing factor to mistrust and confusion.

Survey shows cloud computing inadequately marketed to SMEs. is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

The ability to plan and assess cloud migration is believed to be of significant benefit by creator Fortify Software. The new scorecard system gives firms a simple indication as to whether or not their operations are cloud-ready.

Fortify’s Brian Chess identified a significant problem with the current perception of cloud computing amongst those business managers not involved in IT. It appears that many perceive switching to the cloud as an instant way in which to increase the security risks facing their customers’ personal data and their own intellectual property.

Mr Chess says that a lack of confidence in software platforms can result in a negative response to cloud migration. He suggests that any business that would not be happy using its current internal software platforms in the open-ended world of cloud computing should seriously consider reviewing its current data security measures.

Mr Chess is one of a growing group of experts who are in accordance that cloud computing in its various forms represents a great way in which businesses can save substantial sums. He told Infosecurity Magazine that the uptake of cloud platforms would occur from the bottom upwards, with small and medium sized firms making the switch before larger businesses and corporations.

The new cloud readiness scorecard system is far from just a passive tool. It can be used to identify potential weaknesses that will need to be addressed in order to improve data security within businesses in preparation for future migration to the cloud.

Experts from many fields are attempting to redefine the image of cloud computing, building trust with businesses looking to outsource IT systems and software platforms. It would seem that these efforts are being met with some degree of success. Initiatives such as the scorecard system can only help in persuading current sceptics that cloud computing is a safe, secure option provided that the correct steps are taken.

New scoring system to rate cloud migration relevance is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

Speaking at the 2010 EMC World conference in Boston, Mr Coviello said that building cloud platforms from the ground up meant that professionals could integrate security measures into the foundations of the new systems, resulting in a more stable, trusted environment and a reduction in the likelihood of data loss or theft.

Mr Coviello sees the rise of cloud computing as a chance for firms to go back and start from the very beginning, by which he means that proper data protection needs to be considered and included in the core functions of any cloud-based system. He believes this to be something of a once in a generation opportunity that should not be missed.

There is still some apprehension surrounding cloud solutions, with even the vendors questioning whether they can offer adequate security and build confidence in the client base. Mr Coviello gave the example of a recent report which found that over 50 per cent of IT managers are still mistrusting of the security offered by cloud computing.

Experts are attempting to push for the creation of a platform which will have multiple layers of security to be harnessed by businesses from day one of its adoption. The intention is to make the monitoring of each system as simple as possible, whilst the protective layers are there to make it difficult to attack or misuse data.

The EMC’s Pat Gellsinger concurred with Mr Coviello, adding that a significant security benefit of cloud computing was its ability to implement protective measures in a granular form.

Both Mr Coviello and Mr Gellsinger offer warnings as well as positive messages in relation to the cloud, with the general assumption that cyber criminals will pounce on any cloud system which is not adequately protected. Cloud security is seen as a somewhat black and white environment, guaranteeing either complete protection or a data loss nightmare.

Expert praises security potential of cloud computing is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.

The Interactive Data Corp (IDC) has published this information in a report that asks whether firms are ready to face what it is calling the Digital Universe Decade.

A Zettabyte is the equivalent of a trillion gigabytes, or in current pop culture terms, the same volume of data that could be stored on about 75 billion Apple iPads with 16GB of capacity.

Between 2008 and 2009 the annual global data output grew by 62 per cent, according to IDC. This rate of growth shows no signs of slowing, and to give some perspective, the figures have also been translated into terms that will be comprehensible to social networking fans. 1.2 Zettabytes is equivalent to the volume of data that the entire global population would produce if everyone used Twitter non-stop for a century.

The boom in data storage requirements that will be seen as a result of increased data volumes is believed to mean that in ten years time there will be many more professionals working in the IT industry than there are today. However, this will be a relatively small increase compared to the capacity of the data storage solutions that will exist in a decade, with at least a 62 per cent increase predicted.

The most telling fact noted by IDC is that the global community is already producing 35 per cent more data than there is available storage. This discrepancy is only set to grow, with a 60 per cent overflow rate being predicted within the next few years.

Experts believe that this seemingly insurmountable growth in the data storage requirements of businesses will mean that switching to cloud-based solutions will be the only viable option to maintain effective operation.

IDC says that 80 per cent of the world’s data output is stored by businesses, despite the fact that the creation of 70 per cent of the total annual data can be attributed to individuals. It also says that firms that adopt social media tools for internal use will also bear a greater proportion of this growth as a result.

Global data usage figures predicted to soar in 2010 is a post from our Online Backup blog. Contact us today for business continuity consulting.