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John Cowan

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Top Stories by John Cowan

Network computing posted  a good article on tool for assessing cloud ROI. Check it out below. Posted by David Greenfield, January 08, 2013 Gone are the days when the cloud meant simply a hosted virtual instance or resource on some provider's network. We're seeing all sorts of new variants and twists emerge. I'm not just referring to the use of storage or compute resources or those that allow for elastic computing, such as Amazon's Reserved Instances. We're likely to see industry-specific community clouds emerge. These clouds are built to address the security and compliance needs within specific industries. Examples of community clouds may well be Verizon's Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) cloud service, which targets the healthcare community; and Metal Lynx, a cloud community targeting buyers and sellers of precious metals. Other options ... (more)

Six Things I Think I Think for IaaS in 2013

Another year, another dollar… or something like that.  It’s time for an update on the 6 things I think I think for Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) in the coming year! 1. Hybrid Cloud Computing 2012 Perspective: Hybridization WAS key in 2011 and I’m doubling down in 2012.  If you’ve paid attention to the consolidation in the industry, you’d best do the same.  The big boys are snapping up anything that smells like bridging the enterprise to the multi-tenant host.  Look for this trend to intensify. 2013 Perspective: VMware buys DynamicOps.  Red Hat buys ManageIQ.  Cisco buys C... (more)

Security and the Cloud

By Steven Wolford, 6fusion Director of Information Security Is now the time to make the move to cloud services with all the current IT security concerns? Security and the cloud seems to be the topic of conversation for many businesses and IT groups today. As you prepare for that decision making process around your IT infrastructure security, remember to take a risk based approach to help ensure a sound decision from an information security perspective. Rather than spend months learning, digesting, and attempting to implement a structured formal risk management framework, regard y... (more)

IT Metrics Drive Enterprise IT Cost Visibility

Many organizations are focusing on IT metrics and metering to generate IT cost savings. Here's a quick summary of how one organization is using metering of IT resource consumption to improve IT cost visibility and move from being a cost center to an internal service provider. Company and IT Overview The Company operates a 24-hour cable network that reaches about 100 million US homes and a web site that has more than 60 million users per month. The Company is divided into two primary business units, each with their own P&L. The IT organization is moving toward a centralized internal... (more)

AWS Re:Invent Shows IaaS Opportunity for Channel, Enterprises, and SMB’s

As I fly the friendly skies on my way back home from the Amazon Re:Invent show that I was lucky enough to be a part of last week in Vegas, I thought I would take a few minutes to share some thoughts about the show. The biggest takeaway here was that this event for me cements the “coming of age” of the cloud space, particularly for the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) segment.  While there have long been cloud-focused events, they were typically multi-vendor or analyst think tank sessions or individual company events by software companies that include cloud (VMworld for example).... (more)