Following Gartner’s recent report on what it sees as the five key trends that will shape cloud computing strategies between now and 2015, here is my perspective on the impact cloud computing will have on an SME audience.

Gartner’s trends tend to focus on the larger organisations, typically 5000 seats and above, yet in the UK 99% of businesses are sub-250 employees and will have different requirements, benefits and considerations when looking to utilise a cloud platform. 

Many customers are...

Microsoft’s tablet finally surfaced yesterday. I was discussing it with my son and he said the whole thing reminded of the movie The Sixth Sense, which Microsoft playing the Bruce Willis part. They’re walking around, wondering what’s going on, trying to solve people’s problems and don’t realize they’re dead. People’s computing problems are directly attributable to them, not being alive and aware of how the world now...

Having read JP Rangaswami’s argument against private clouds (and the obvious promoting of his version of cloud) I have only to say that he’s looking for oranges in an apple tree. His entire premise is based on the idea that enterprises are wholly concerned with cost and sharing risk when that can’t be farther from the truth. 

Yes, cost is indeed a factor, as is...

Samsung have revealed that they will be offering a cloud-based gaming service which they will build into their flagship 7000 series HDTVs.

This is a big step forward for an idea that has been around for quite a while now. The back-end infrastructure is to be performed by...

The question of course could be directed to none other than Larry Ellison.   While Salesforce.com founder Marc Benioff took the term and made it a cornerstone of their CRM marketing, Ellison and Oracle took umbrage at trying to re-invent an operating model he believed had been around for a while.

At the recent D10 conference, Kara Swisher interviewed him about this famous brush-off of the term cloud computing.

“I objected to people saying, “Oh my God, we just invented cloud...

In recent years the world of gaming has seen a shift in the way in which games are played and therefore the way they need to be developed. In 2002 Xbox released the Xbox Live system, allowing gamers all around the world to connect via the internet and play games together. Since then all of the...

Are all rogue IT projects bad things? Could this type of activity be beneficial? If rogue IT projects could be beneficial, should they be supported or even encouraged?

Recently, I took part in a live Twitter chat hosted by the Cloud Commons blog (thanks again for the invite!) that was focused on Rogue IT. After hearing from, and engaging with, some major thought leaders in the space, I decided to write a blog summarizing my thoughts on the...

Remember the heady dot.com days circa 1999? We thought we were reinventing business, forming a New Economy, revolutionizing the essential nature of commerce. In our dreams! By late 2001 the bubble had burst, and what we thought was a new paradigm for business—the World Wide Web—turned out to be little more than a new marketing...

Let me start out by saying that I am not an Apple fan boy. I am not a Microsoft zealot or a Linux aficionado. I use them all daily; it is all about usability to me.

I wanted to talk about the shift I have seen in technology that we use in business every day. This transformation has been just as large and disruptive as virtualization. 10 years ago, the end user hardware and software was set and had very little diversity or customization. It was Win/Tel (Windows running on Intel processors) all the way with...

Patrick Houston — VCs devoted $6.9 billion in 2011 to “Internet-specific” startups, a proxy term for “cloud” because that’s what most of them are doing, according to Steve Bengston, a director of a startups practice at PricewaterhouseCoopers. That’s up 68% from last year.

In Q4 alone, cloud-related investments of $1.8 billion outdistanced the dollars that went into biotech ($1.3 billion), cleantech ($883 million,) and medical devices ($498 million.)

It’s not...

Bear Threat © by Mrs. Gemstone

Lately some have been suggesting that the internet is at risk. Much if not all of the hoopla stems from a

If you believe that you've had to learn more about the safe online operation and ongoing management of your PC than you ever wanted to know, then you'll be pleased to discover that there's relief on the horizon. According to the latest market study by Gartner, the reign of the personal computer is coming to an apparent close. By 2014, the personal cloud will replace the personal computer -- and this transition will likely include greater use of media tablets, chromebooks or other similar devices. Gartner analysts said the personal cloud will become the foundation for a new era that will provide users with an increased level of flexibility with the devices...

Ok, so it’s a few more than 300. What can I tell you? The segment is growing by leaps and bounds. The question remains, who is gaining mind share in the 1st quarter of 2012?

So lets take a look at the Top Cloud Enablers Gaining Mind Share, and The Leaderboard (Cloud Innovators, Movers and Shakers). Large enterprise IT companies continue their rapid restructuring to an on-demand cloud compute model enhancing their portfolios with Cloud acquisitions. Here is a snapshot of 2012...

 Senior Solutions Architect Ralph Kindred discusses key concepts around Unified Communications and what to expect in the future.

I do not think anyone who is currently working in IT right now would disagree with me that a transformation is in progress.  There would probably be a heated discussion on what that transformation is, or where it is headed, as this transformation can mean different things to different companies. Let’s talk about what GreenPages is seeing with our clients and how this can help you make sure this transformation works in your users’ favor.

Here are four main changes I have...

Spending on public and private cloud services is predicted to generate almost 14 million jobs worldwide between 2011 and 2015, according to a new report from IDC.

The study, carried out in association with Microsoft, predicted that around half of these new positions would be created in China and India.

More than one-third of cloud-enabled jobs will occur in the communications and media, banking, and discrete manufacturing...

Ever received an email unsolicited (yes we know you get spam) to your work or personal email address? Found an account of yours compromised and that you can’t log in? Gone onto messenger and had messages from someone you don’t know popping up? So just how do they do that? how do they know who you are and how do they get your email or messenger IDs, and is there anything you can truly do about this?

I often see an email in my Hotmail inbox from someone I know that looks out of context, not...

It’s no longer in doubt that Cloud Computing will be transformative for business, with access to high powered applications in the cloud for everything from accounting to design enabling businesses to grow faster and be more successful.

This was one of the messages from Google chairman Eric Schmidt in his keynote address to a packed

By now you’ve probably heard the term, “Cloud Wars”, though with so many fronts sometimes it’s difficult to ascertain which Cloud battles are being referenced. In The Battle for the Enterprise the reference is to cloud computing leaders making their way into the enterprise segment taking market share from the legacy IT providers. Others may be referring to the Oracle and SAP acquisition shootout or the

When Cloud computing first moved on to the IT horizon, many of the headlines focused on how this future hosting option would save businesses money. Experts and vendors alike touted the potential savings that cloud solutions could offer to companies.

However, as with most things in IT, the picture became less clear the closer you got to it. In fact, as many businesses have since discovered there can potentially be a number of hidden costs to cloud computing that may lead to an overall increase in...