Cloud Tech News

The Australian government has finally embraced cloud services as a critical element of the digital economy by releasing a National Cloud Computing Strategy. While not quite "cloud first", the strategy creates an explicit requirement for agencies to consider cloud services for new ICT procurements, test and development activity, and to migrate existing websites to cloud services at natural refresh points.

The UK Cabinet Office's third iteration of the G-Cloud framework not only added an extra 368 suppliers to its CloudStore, but it raised a few eyebrows over the exclusion of one notable bidder - Amazon. The company made no secret of its desire for includsion during the G-Cloud's second iteration, touting that it was looking to get involved with the G-Cloud in the future, but what's happened since then?

After a raid at his New Zealand mansion in January last year, the larger than life Kim Dotcom has released a whitepaper taking direct aim at the US government.

When it comes to cloud computing, government's on the forefront, particularly when it comes to cloud-based email. Public sector organizations should be paying close attention: it's not as easy as many think.

We believe it is time for governments to elevate their policy thinking about cloud services to confront their ICT strategy conundrum. They must address increasing fiscal constraints and disappointment with existing approaches to boosting ICT productivity with an approach that enables cross-agency sharing.

Cloud services policies are being developed and iterated in all jurisdictions. Having reviewed a number of draft policies in recent months, we believe policy-makers need to work harder to create a level playing field for cloud services adoption, mindful of the potential for a type I procurement error or a type II procurement error.

Cloud security is once again on the agenda after a report from Lieberman Research showed that nearly half of IT professionals were wary of keeping sensitive data in the cloud due to government intervention. The survey was conducted at November’s Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) Congress and found that the majority of respondents prefer to keep their most sensitive data on private networks rather than on the cloud.

The European Economic and Social Committee (EESC) has published an opinion piece detailing opposition to the well documented European Union (EU) computing initiative.