In early February, Oracle announced that it would be acquiring Taleo, Corp. This company provides solutions for recruiting employees and is web-based.   The company’s proposition is that a good amount of the expense incurred by the company is on employees like on salaries, yet businesses are really not paying as detailed attention to employee information as they should be given the amount of expenses invested in employees. Since it is a cloud based solution Taleo can provide service to small, medium, and larger enterprises.  The purchase price for Taleo is $1.9 billion.

Yet this was not the first acquisition by Oracle of a cloud computing company this year. In January, Oracle paid $1.5 billion to acquire RightNow Technologies. This company offers software used for customer service.

SAP even made a bigger purchase spending $3.4 billion on SuccessFactors, Inc.  It provides solutions to human resource issues.   It focuses on performance and goals, compensation, recruiting, learning, core HR, succession and development, workforce planning, workforce analytics, and collaboration and social learning. It’s amazing what this company is offering and it’s all made possible by software development. Many view this as SAP’s way of accelerating its move into the cloud computing industry.

Whether these acquisitions will lead to success stories is too early to tell. What’s obvious is Oracle and SAP would not be spending billions on these companies if they weren’t important parts of a bigger picture.

Not every company has the complete capability to handle every issue. Some companies are wise enough to team up with another company whose expertise in a particular area can make a project take off. This is what Riverbed and Akamai have done.

Riverbed is known for its WAN optimization technology and its Steelhead appliance products.  Akamai on the other hand has loads of experience in content delivery network (CDN). They have designed a new solution named Cloud Accelerator.  This solution has been created to enhance the performance of software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. SaaS products offered through Salesforce.com, Microsoft 365, and Google Apps and existing Steelhead appliance users, can get an increase in their performance with no need for alterations in their infrastructure.

There is always this issue of upgrading bandwidth to improve performance. Riverbed and Akamai have been able to provide solutions that improve performance of systems without having to increase bandwidth.  Now these two companies will combine their distinct solutions for a seamless enhancement of public networks and WAN that will be felt all the way down to the end user of SaaS applications.

Retrieving data directly from your computer and from a server which could be hundreds of miles away are two different things.  Thus there are challenges inherent with cloud computing.  There is latency present in any network and there is also bandwidth constraint. Speed and efficiency are prized commodities in the IT world.  The collaboration made by Riverbed and Akamai can help increase speed and efficiency.

To fully maximize the use of cloud services, speed and efficiency has to be constantly improved. Partnerships like this one made Riverbed and Akamai are helping to make cloud computing an integral part of the IT world.

Aspect is a top vendor for Microsoft platform and customer contact solutions.  Dell of course is into computer manufacturing, software, and has an ever growing presence in the cloud computing industry. This kind of collaboration is tapping businesses where communication is an integral feature of their products.

An example would be companies in the travel and leisure industry where people will have to communicate to get to certain destinations or activities.  As featured in an article Golfbreaks.com will be using a communication system provided by the Aspect-Dell partnership. Golfbreaks.com is one of the biggest golf tour operators in Europe.  Its PBX platform is getting old and the company will be replacing it. With increasing needs of customers their current platform has not been able to keep up with the service demanded.  In their search for the right and affordable contact center solution they chose Dell and Aspect.

They want to be able to meet customer booking needs while at the same time not have to increase employee head count and increase costs. To make customer booking easier they are integrating their CRM system and support for email and SMS. This approach being used is a software-powered communications ecosystem.

Specifically what the Aspect- Dell partnership will provide is a comprehensive Microsoft Lync-based Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) solution. According to Dell this collaboration will give customers all over the world with a unified next generation communications solutions, this already includes software, hardware, service and support all provided by a single seller.

The approach can also be configured with existing PBX systems; it does not necessarily mean the total replacement of all systems if not warranted.  Software offers many flexibilities, and combined with the cloud can be used in very effective manners as demonstrated by this collaboration.

This very setup makes it also susceptible for outsiders to have access to company data. In the olden days a data thief would have to probably go to the office at night and turn on a computer and down load the data. Now a hacker from the other side of the world has the capability to do it from the comfort of his room.

There are proven measures to prevent data theft and online service providers and others in the IT industry are working round the clock to prevent this from happening.  While there is a big concern about outside intrusion, there is an equal concern from access to data from within the company by company personnel.  This brings the issue to who should have access to what kind of data.  This will involve passwords and hierarchy access to different kinds of data. The company should be careful in giving access while at the same time consider operational efficiency.

The all-time example of this concern is the WikiLeaks scandal. Bradley Manning a U.S. Army intelligence analyst was able to download over 700,000 classified or confidential documents and transmitted thousand to WikiLeaks founded by Julian Assange. The U.S. government has acted from trying to downplay situation to going after Assange. The truth of the matter is the U.S government has a security breach and the enemy was from within. What more this individual was not even a high ranking member of the military establishment.

While there has to be some degree of trust when you allow employees access to data, just keep in mind that not all the enemies are outside the gate.  There could be one from within.

In this case they are offering a Dynamic Case Management Platform as a service. This technology helps to automate any type of process. Process analytics is used to help knowledge workers become more productive and efficient. Through this platform the company offers Case Management Solutions in areas such as: customer complaints; delinquent accounts; fraud & abuse; customer service; medical records; claims; e-discovery and IT governance.

It can automate repetitive tasks; provide an eagle-eye view of all customer data coming from various sources, and help institute resource saving measures. A company who is having problems in many facets of management or is expanding will not have to grope in the dark looking for solutions.  Eccentex can provide solutions with the aid of software analytics.

The company sees more growth in this area as it recently raised $7.5 million to further expand its PaaS product. Your own company at the moment may only need to have backup storage for data and more elementary use of the cloud. Nevertheless companies like Eccentex is showing the promising market of the cloud computing industry by raising more money to expand.

This is just an example of how companies are thriving and making inroads to new markets with the use of cloud computing.  The tedious process of having to install a whole software system inside the office can be eliminated by just getting and using the software on demand. This ability allows companies to have access to services that were not available to them before because of cost and the technology was not yet there.

As stated earlier your company may have a more basic use for cloud computing but from there you can have access to a multitude of applications that may be beneficial to your company at an affordable price.

The cloud is viewed as a disruptive technology which can alter the way business is being done. With what cloud computing can offer companies of various sizes now have access to services and technology that in another time and era only large companies could afford. Paying for only what they need this is most advantageous to small companies who otherwise do not have enough resources to build their own IT infrastructure.

Dell has been in the process of building many data centers all over the world. These are newer more efficient data centers built with the latest technology available to Dell. More customers can have access to Dell’s private and public technologies in the cloud.

Late last year saw Dell announce plans to open a brand new data center in Slough, London.  There is also a major cloud hosting facility located in Quincy, Washington State.  The initial phase in Quincy is 40,000 square meters of data center space. Dell actually deploys some of its data centers outdoors for easy power hook up, as well as for easy cooling.

Dell owns 80 acres of land in Quincy so you can bet of more facilities rising there centered on cloud computing.  Quincy has abundant electricity generated through hydro power.  This means the use of green energy which is more environmentally friendly.  On practical side the cost of electricity is also cheaper. The weather in Washington is cooler as well so there would be less energy used for cooling appliances. These features have made Quincy the favored place of other large IT companies.

Dell has made a major move which will make and acquire cloud computing resources so they will be more available to the business world and to the general public.

This is not the first time Kleiner Perkins has been funding cloud startups. In 2011 it invested in 10 cloud startups with the amount reaching around $100 million. In a similar situation, just this January the company led a round of funding for a startup the helps companies manage web applications. The amount involved was about $20 million.

What has motivated Kleiner Perkins (and others are sure to follow) is the growing market for cloud computing. Companies are now becoming more aware of the benefits this approach can bring. Aside from more focused service and up-to-date software and systems, it can be less expensive to use than a company putting up its own facilities.  A report by Market Research Media, Ltd notes that the cloud computing market will be growing by 30% each year. By 2020 it will be a $270 billion dollar market; this is actually less than 8 years from now.

In the software mergers and acquisitions front, software behemoth Oracle Corp. recently agreed to purchase Taleo Corp. for a cool $1.9 billion. Last year Cloud.com, Inc. which produces software for managing and delivering cloud services was bought by Citrix Systems, Inc.  Things are beginning to heat up in the cloud-computing market.  Venture capital firms look to see profits down the road with these investments. The venture money pouring in will see the emergence of more innovative and cutting-edge startups.

So is my data more secure in the cloud? Perhaps one of the best ways to answer this constant question is to ask another question. Is the data more secure in my own hands?

We have feeling of security when something of value is with us and we can see it. What we may not realize or fail to ask is do we have the capability to protect this thing of value in the best way possible and at a reasonable cost? To stretch the question a bit, would you rather store your ten bars of gold inside your house or at Fort Knox?

Just like gold, data whether personal or business are valuable either in psycho-emotional or monetary terms.  Do you have the resources whether in terms of time, talent or money to protect them?

You must be aware of the new threats constantly being created by people who have nothing better to do than take or destroy your data. Yet this is probably not your main line of business so you really cannot devote as much time to it. If you do have some sort of IT department is your talent up to the challenge of doing battle with digital foes? Lastly do you have the resources to have this kind of structure in your company?

When storing online, the company handling your data is only focused in managing and protecting it. This company will not have other things to do like making sure the shoe delivery shipment is on schedule. Being in the industry it will be fully aware of the latest trends in security setup and security threats.

Your own company may actually be bigger than your online data storage provider. The bulk of your assets will be in your main line of business and not on data storage and protection.  Viewed from this perspective the online storage data provider may be bigger when solely looking at data storage capability.

You or your company may not actually need online data storage, but the main question is worth considering.

One of the students, Anoop Maypurath will be doing research on glycopeptides and how they are utilized in disease prediction. It may seem biological in nature, but the focus will be on developing ways to enhance software systems in identifying changes in the peptide. 

The other student is Thilina Gunarathne.  The research to be funded by the grant involves the application of cloud computing in scientific roles.  The concentration will be on creating applications for cloud computing that will assist scientific research.

Cloud computing is more prevalent in the commercial world. The latter grant signals a new development that can have far reaching impact. To some degree those in the business or corporate world looks to be ahead than in the academe.  With the brain power of the academe involved there may be more advancement in the field of cloud computing than we imagined.

It can’t be denied that development of cloud applications have been greatly motivated by being able to generate profit.  Without the pressure of profit there may be significant innovations or discoveries that eventually may still find its way into the commercial world. Cloud computing in the academic setting may also allow for a wider collaboration which can result in better outcomes than if individual companies worked on their own.

Persistent Systems has been into software product and technology innovation for over 20 years now. The awarding of a grant involving cloud computing is a smart move on their part. They may be able to put to good use the outcome of the research.   The act itself may be the start of a new trend in grants for cloud computing which is a very welcome development.

While using the term “cloud computing” is certainly sexier than “online data storage and other services”, there is something suspect.  Is this really something solid and reliable? After all if you can  go up to the clouds you can’t hold on to it; it’s not solid matter it will go right through your hands.

So is there actually a growing demand for cloud computing? One area where you can see the real demand is through the academe. While schools and universities can be viewed as being old and stable institutions they also move with the times and adjust to present market realities.  Due to industry demand some schools are now offering degrees in cloud computing.

Bond University located in Gold Coast, Australia is now offering a course specialized in cloud computing.  This course seems to be the first one to be offered in the whole of Australia. The new course will concentrate on how to make a virtual environment, how to manage clouds, and how to put it into operation.  Offering this course will provide students the skills needed for the cloud computing industry. This will also give better chance for employability.

The university see businesses become more dependent on cloud computing and this lessens the load on companies to manage or update themselves if they do not have the available talent or skill with student graduates who do possess the skills.  While engineering, business, biology, and english are some of the staple courses in colleges and universities, we may yet see cloud computing as one of the regular courses offered.