Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Judy Spitz, CIO Of Verizon (Part 1)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Shaloo Shalini

What is a typical user’s expectation of a tolerable speed of mobile connectivity? Connectivity today spans telephony, infrastructure and service access speeds, application speeds, and perceptible performance. Having been in the business of managing ever-higher customer expectations for telecom providers, Judy Spitz, CIO of Verizon, has a witty answer to this question. She says that for a typical user, the slowest speed they are willing to tolerate is the fastest speed they have ever experienced! >>>

The State Of Cloud-Based Storage – Is It Ready? Are You? (Part 4)

By guest author Bob Shinn, with an introduction by guest author Shaloo Shalini

[In this final segment, Bob discusses the cost savings of cloud storage in detail and advises businesses what to consider when deciding which applications to move to the cloud.]

The Cost Analysis

In our discussions with CIOs, many from Fortune 500 companies (and most entrepreneurs are working to be on that list), we have developed our own variation of the Pareto rule – 80 percent of applications and data are non-differentiating and not related to your venture’s IP or value proposition, and so are good cloud candidates. These include e-mail, archive and backup, and data on shared drives (e.g., documents, spreadsheets, databases.) The other 20 percent of your data and applications are critical IP and differentiate your company or carry substantial regulatory or compliance requirements. These should not be put in the cloud. >>>

Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Sankarson Banerjee, CIO of IndiaInfoline (Part 11)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Shaloo Shalini

SM: How active is this market segment comprising Netmagic-type cloud services in India? Are there a lot of startups coming up in that cloud segment?

SB: No, no. Data centers have large startup costs, and there is a [high] barrier to entry. So, I don’t see that Netmagic has too much competition yet. >>>

The State Of Cloud-Based Storage – Is It Ready? Are You? (Part 3)

By guest author Bob Shinn, with an introduction by guest author Shaloo Shalini

Open Issues with Cloud Storage Adoption

Many enterprises are sensitive as to where the data is actually stored in cloud; for example, a U.S. company doing business globally cannot store client data in China or a host of other countries. Legislation and regulations such as the EU’s Data Protection Directive describe conditions to regulate handling and processing of personal data to protect personal privacy. The United States, on the other hand, takes a less restrictive approach to handling personal data, although stringent rules govern export of software containing encryption algorithms. The ‘Framework for Global Electronic Commerce’ proposed under the Clinton administration suggests that the private sector lead the way in ensuring data protection and security. Data breaches have prompted various branches of government to implement regulation, but to date no overarching construct or regulation is in place that governs placement of data in the cloud. Businesses would do well to follow the recommendations of Booz & Company’s ‘Eyes Wide Open – Mitigating Risk in Cloud Computing’ report and demand contract clauses that address security and privacy by “asking cloud vendors for location guarantees that use geographic limitations and local partnerships to control cross-border data transfer and to take operational responsibility for applications by following the same procedures used internally.” >>>

Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Sankarson Banerjee, CIO of IndiaInfoline (Part 10)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Shaloo Shalini

SM: I think this is one of the big opportunities for India right now. Indian entrepreneurs should take a hard and close look at what is happening in Software as a Service (SaaS) applications, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) applications, and Platform as a Service (PaaS) applications around the world, mostly in the U.S. market. If they can undercut U.S.-based vendors, sell their services to the Indian market, and bring these services to the U.S. market a bit later, it could be a good opportunity to explore. >>>

The State Of Cloud-Based Storage – Is It Ready? Are You? (Part 2)

By guest author Bob Shinn, with an introduction by guest author Shaloo Shalini

What Is the Cloud Storage Market?

Cloud storage solutions emerged from the utility computing model, in which defined services depend on standardization and customer satisfaction depends upon optimization of those defined services. Players include low-end providers such as EMC’s Mozy, which offers online backup to the home/individual/small business market, and Dropbox, which enables users to store files in the cloud and synch them between home and work. Cloud storage options for SMBs include Rackspace’s Cloud Files, Nirvanix, or ElephantDrive, which stresses security. Enterprises will likely turn to Rackspace, EMC, Eucalyptus, and traditional IT stalwarts Red Hat, IBM, HP, and Microsoft. >>>

Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Sankarson Banerjee, CIO Of IndiaInfoline (Part 9)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Shaloo Shalini

SM: You are saying that in terms of the Indian market, customers want local support network and vendors to have retail offices [in India].

SB: Yes. Netmagic is located in India, and that offers a face which people can see and relate to. I would say this is more of a psychological barrier. It is not a mindset that will go away any time soon. >>>

Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Sankarson Banerjee, CIO Of IndiaInfoline (Part 8)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Shaloo Shalini

SM: I would like to pursue the pricing aspect. Let’s say you are using SurveyMonkey in your organization and want all of your client service representatives to use SurveyMonkey and have access to or accounts in SurveyMonkey to be able to view their sets of customers and their feedback, as well as analytics and so forth. In that case, is there an opportunity for an Indian company to come to this market and provide the same function as SurveyMonkey but offer it at, say, one-tenth of the cost in terms of the per-user price? Also, let’s say that the offering is on top of Amazon, so the infrastructure cost remains affordable. But in terms of per-user cost, if someone comes to you with a comparable offering and makes it more attractive than the dollar pricing, would you consider it? >>>