IT Services

The challenges of competing with Cloud computing providers

In discussions about cloud computing and in comments readers leave on my blog posts, I commonly get statements along the lines of "Yeah, this cloud computing stuff sounds great, but at the end of the day, you have to have an IT guy solving problems like they've always done." In personal interactions, I often hear this sentiment portrayed as, "Public cloud computing is fine for the SMB and startup market, but enterprises aren't ready to move to that model." The tone of much of this feedback is that anyone who advocates cloud computing is at best naive or at worst incapable of understanding the real details of IT.

By Bernard Golden | 27 August, 2011 03:32

Tags: cloud computing, internet

Ubuntu's marketing kick: Is Canonical the next Apple?

Another six months has passed and another version of Ubuntu Linux has been released, right? Wrong. Ubuntu 11.04 ‘Natty Narwhal’ arrived today and so did a new marketing direction from its parent company and principle sponsor, Canonical. And its flavour has a hint of Apple.

By Rodney Gedda | 29 April, 2011 14:20

Tags: Apple, app stores, canonical, cloud computing, desktop linux, Linux, music, ubuntu, unity

Earth Hour on election night: Cast a vote for power

In a chance case of progress versus sustainability, the NSW Electoral Commission will be in the middle of counting electronic votes on the evening of March 26 when everyone else will switch their power off for Earth Hour.

By Rodney Gedda | 17 March, 2011 12:37

Tags: earth hour, energy, government, green IT, NSW Electoral Commission, NSW State Government, power

Cloud computing: A sustaining or disruptive innovation?

If you've read this blog over the past couple of years, it should be no surprise that I am a huge advocate of the theories of Clayton Christensen, author of "The Innovator's Dilemma." Christensen and his book were brought to mind this week by the cover story in Forbes about his severe health problems, his experience with the U..S healthcare system, and his prescriptions for how to fix it.

By Bernard Golden | 17 March, 2011 05:28

Tags: cloud computing, internet

Turning service management green - Part 2

Is it a bird? Is it a plane?..No! – it’s service management! ITIL Version 3 may not explicitly talk about sustainability but at every stage of the service lifecycle there is implicit guidance that can assist organisations in addressing the environmental challenges of its operations.

By Karen Ferris | 09 March, 2011 14:27

Tags: eco-ITSM, green IT, ITIL, Macanta Consulting, service management

Turning service management green - Part 1

Green IT is a widely talked about subject at the moment. Organisations are undertaking numerous initiatives to address the challenge of increasing power consumption, growing carbon footprint not to mention increasing costs. An initiative that most organisations are not undertaking is embedding sustainability into processes and workflow.

By Karen Ferris | 08 March, 2011 09:21

Tags: eco-ITSM, framework, green IT, service management

All brand new: an amaysim experience down under

A group of European entrepreneurs have banded together to create a new mobile telecommunications company aimed at the high-volume consumer market, and it even has a local call centre.

By Rodney Gedda | 23 November, 2010 10:44

Tags: amaysim, branding, marketing, mobile services, offshoring, outsourcing

NBN economics: When cost becomes a factor

With the debate over the cost of the NBN raging at full steam again since the election, it's time to rethink the practical economics of such an ambitious project.

By Rodney Gedda | 25 October, 2010 15:01

Tags: broadband, economy, fibre, NBN, politics

The cloud issue you really can't ignore

Maybe it's time to rethink the cloud. Yeah, I know -- at this point, most IT shops haven't thought through the cloud the first time. But Microsoft's recent troubles keeping its cloud services available to users shine a harsh light on the issue of cloud availability and reliability.

By Frank Hayes | 27 September, 2010 20:08

Tags: cloud computing, Configuration / maintenance, Data Center, Google, hardware systems, internet, Microsoft, rackspace

NBN or not, regional IT must move ahead

Yesterday I was invited to attend the opening of the first HP POD container data centre in the Asia Pacific region. It was located in the regional NSW town of Wyong and, most interestingly, the advanced data centre project will be servicing customers from next month – all without an NBN.

By Rodney Gedda | 20 August, 2010 16:04

Tags: central coast, data centres, HP POD, NBN, regional IT, Verb IT

The number cruncher's guide to delivering IT value

I'm a qualified accountant. I even sometimes read the Accountants Journal - there, I've said it!

By Owen McCall | 11 March, 2010 08:14

Tags: accounting, CIOs, IT costs, IT spending

Risk Priorities for Financial Institutions in 2010

Looking through the holidays into 2010 there are four clear priorities for risk management that cut across all tiers with financial institutions. Over the last year the pendulum has swung from the exotic to the pragmatic, from chaos to order within financial services. The four priorities for risk in 2010 can be derived from the word D.A.T.A.(data, analysis, transparency, accuracy).

By Dana Wiklund | 09 December, 2009 08:08

Tags: 2010, finance, global financial crisis, risk, risk management

Sundown for Sun?

It looks like an old friend of mine, Sun Microsystems, may be going the way of the dinosaur. Sort of, anyway. Or maybe just transformed. We all have to wait and see.

By Paul Krill | 01 April, 2009 09:00

Tags: IBM, Sun Microsystems

Top 10 qualities of a great IT shop

No two IT shops conduct business in the same way: CIOs report to various executives, project approval processes are all over the board, and personnel policies are vastly different. Unlike other professions, IT doesn't seem to have a common set of basic principles across companies.

A primer on cloudbursting

The term "cloudbursting" was coined by Amazon Web Services evangelist Jeff Barr to describe the use of cloud computing to deal with overflow requests, such as those that occur during seasonal rushes to online retail sites.

By Lori MacVittie | 18 December, 2008 09:07

Tags: cloudbursting

Cloud computing. More than blue sky thinking

Looming on the horizon are the nimbus, cirrus, stratus and cumulus that threaten to deliver us cloud computing imminently. Promising an end to most of the challenges and frustrations of IT systems as we know them, the concept of cloud computing is thundering through the business community to become one of the most talked about and revered subjects of the day.

By Paul Harapin | 28 November, 2008 10:23

Tags: cloud computing

Storing your data in their cloud

Although it may seem like your computing life is all e-mail and browsing, computer users still create files, documents, spreadsheets, boring presentations and all manner of other stored information. Which brings me to the question: Where do you store your data? And are you ready to store your data online in a service hosted by a third party provider?

By James E. Gaskin | 07 November, 2008 09:34

Tags: cloud computing

Ellison hypes Oracle's data warehouse appliance

The high-end data warehousing wars are fast upon us. Vendors are launching ever more scalable DW solutions. And they're delivering them with more aggressive -- and slippery -- performance claims.

By James Kobielus | 08 October, 2008 09:57

Tags: HP, larry ellison, oracle

Survey: Technology key to SMBs' green strategy

Motivated to help the environment as well as their businesses, SMBs are increasingly embracing green practices. One of their primary approaches: employing green technology, according to recently released survey results from KRC Research.

By Ted Samson | 03 October, 2008 09:07

Tags: green IT

Profiting from reduced IT energy dependency

While I applaud any company's attempt to be environmentally responsible and implement "green" projects, I remain skeptical of long-term commitments to green initiatives that don't decrease costs, fatten the bottom line, or polish the organization's image.

By Ephraim Schwartz | 01 October, 2008 09:54

Tags: green IT