Category Archives: Cloud Computing
Brown to decide Monday if Cloud Computing runs in the Travers – Horse Racing Nation
The decision on whether Klaravich Stable's Cloud Computing will run in Saturday's Grade 1, $1.25 million Travers Stakes 2017 presented by NYRA Bets will have to wait until Monday, according to trainer Chad Brown.
The colt by Maclean's Music breezed five furlongs on Saratoga Race Course's main track Saturday morning, shortly before 9 with Hall of Fame jockey Javier Castellano in the irons. The pair stopped the timer in 1:01.65 over the track labelled fast.
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"It went good, Brown said. "I won't make any decision yet until I talk to the owners. I'll be sure about what I'm doing Monday, I'm going to give myself until Monday, I want to see how the horse comes out of the work, take time to talk to the owners, and think about it. He couldn't have worked any better. I was very happy with the work, and Javier was pleased."
Castellano, a five-time winner of the Travers who rode Cloud Computing to an upset victory in the Grade 1 Preakness and a fifth-place finish in the Grade 2 Jim Dandy on July 29, said the objective was to keep the horse happy and fresh.
"He felt great," Castellano said. "I'm happy with the way he did it, the right way. [It was a] nice and easy work. We weren't looking for anything more because we know he's a good work horse. It was just something to maintain before he goes to the race.
"[He was] nice and comfortable, relaxed," he added. "He just sat steady and galloped out beautiful. I didn't overdo it because today the goal was just to maintain."
Source: NYRA
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Brown to decide Monday if Cloud Computing runs in the Travers - Horse Racing Nation
Thailand urged to opt for cloud computing – The Nation
Zakir Ahmed, general manager for Asia of Oracle CAPAC Services, said the cloud computing model, which has gained popularity over on-premise computer facilities, will allow companies in Thailand to better leverage its technology edge.
Based on the Thailand 4.0 initiative, cloud solutions for business software will boost the countrys international competitiveness and accelerate the economic growth rate.
At present, Thailands GDP growth rate, projected to be 3-3.5 per cent this year, is still lagging behind other Asean countries whose average growth rate is 4.8 per cent per annum over the past decade.
According to Ahmed, the technology advantage using the cloud model is crucial to uplift economic growth because companies from small and medium-sized enterprise to big corporations need the latest business software to stay ahead of competition.
This digital transformation can be done better with cloud solutions for enterprise resource planning (ERP) software covering finance, supply chain, payroll and other management.
Besides ERP software, cloud solutions are also preferred for e-commerce, human resource (HR) and customer relationship management (CRM) software.
In terms of cost saving, he said, the cloud model means that companies do not have to invest heavily in new IT facilities but can get the software as a cloud-based service.
This will turn the IT spending into an operating expense instead of a capital expenditure while companies can pay for the service based on what they actually use.
The cloud model also has a time saving, he said, adding that new products and services can now be launched more quickly since IT facilities will be ready to make the launch possible within a matter of weeks or within 3-6 months rather than 1 or 2 years.
Thirdly, he said, the cloud model allows companies to focus on their innovation and core business so as to stay ahead of competition since IT and related services are outsourced.
In terms of security, he said, cloud-based facilities are better protected by the service providers who have more expertise when compared to on-premise computing facilities which could be more easily threatened by malware such as Wannacry and Petya.
Oracle, which acquired Netsuite last year, now operates a total of 25 data centres around the world, including those in China and India, that can provide business software services on the cloud. Given the scale, the service provider has more experts to ensure cyber-security than individual companies operating their own on-premise IT facilities.
At present, IT spending in Thailand is growing at an annual rate of 2.5 per cent with more companies expected to move their computing facilities to the cloud model. Ahmed said retail and wholesale as well as distribution and logistic sectors are among the top industries expected to take advantage of the cloud solutions.
In addition, manufacturing industries such as automotive, food and beverage firms as well as services like hotels, tourism, and healthcare businesses will likely turn to cloud solutions due to better value for money spent on the digital transformation.
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Thailand urged to opt for cloud computing - The Nation
Cloud computing reversal: From ‘go away’ to ‘I can’t miss out’ – InfoWorld
Isaac Asimov once said, I do not fear computers. I fear the lack of them. That quote has stuck with me to this day. Theres no doubt that computers and computing have changed our lives. Without them, we would be slaves to processes and paper.
I was reminded of Asimovs quote when I saw the results of a recent poll done by Comvault of 100 IT leaders. More than two thirds said that they were worried about keeping up to date with the latest products and iterations across the major cloud providers. In other words, they fear missing out.
About a quarter (24 percent) of those polled said they were a cloud-only organization, which perhaps means they are very small or very new businesses. Additionally, 32 percent said they are cloud-first, with plans to become cloud-only, so they are likely mid-sized businesses. Also, 6 percent said they did not have a specific migration plan, which means they are BDCs (big dumb companies).
Finally, when those surveyed asked to sum up their cloud journeys in one word, one respondent said frustrating. But the most popular words were innovative (51 percent) and exciting (35 percent).
This survey is proof that cloud computing has really turned the corner, in terms of how enterprises think of and consume cloud services. If this poll were done just three years ago, the responses would have been more along the lines of I fear the cloud. Go away, please.
Recent events, such as the acceleration of service releases from the major cloud providersAmazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Googlehave many people thinking that cloud is not only okay to use but, unless you get onboard soon, its another technology that will sail away without you.
This pattern is similar to what we saw happen to those companies that failed to adopt the web during its riseand ended up playing catchup later. For many, it killed their business entirely.
If you believe youre missing out on the value of cloud computing, you probably are. Nearly everyone will soon find out that cloud technology will be strategic to the success of their companies. A company that can use the cloud for strategic purposes, such as the ability to change the business on a dime to follow market changes, has a much better chance to dominate over competitors that cant.
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Cloud computing reversal: From 'go away' to 'I can't miss out' - InfoWorld
Alibaba’s cloud computing revenue almost doubles – SiliconANGLE News (blog)
Chinese online retail giant Alibaba Group Holdings Ltd. said its public cloud computing business hit 1 million paying customers for the first time and revenues nearly doubled from last year.
Cloud revenue jumped96 percent, to 2.43 billion yuan ($359 million), in its first quarter as the company said today itwelcomed aboard 137,000 new customers. These additions not only fueled the business overall growth, but it also helped generate an improved revenue mix for the company from value-added services, which led to higher average revenue per user.
Some of Alibabas biggest cloud customers include large Chinese corporations such as CITIC Group, China Huaneng Group and PICC Finance.
Alibaba said it would continue focusing on expanding its cloud business. In the past year, the company has been quite aggressive in its pursuit of growth, adding new data centers in the U.S., Middle East and Asia. This year it announced plans to add new data centers in India, Indonesia and Malaysia, which will expand its global footprint to 14 countries. Its also said to be in the hunt for acquisitions to boost its cloud business, targeting ZTE Corp.s software business among others. In addition, the company has been pushing new products, such as Cloud Storage Gateway and Lightning Cube, that are designed to help companies migrate large amounts of data to its cloud.
Alibaba also saw rapid growth in its primary e-commerce business. Inits retail unit, revenue shot up 58 percent, to 43.03 billion yuan ($6.35 billion). Revenue from the digital media and entertainment businessrose 30 percent. In total, the organization saw revenue top 50.184 billion yuan. Profit rose to 14.03 billion yuan.
The company has been just as aggressive in its efforts to grow its e-commerce business. Earlier this year it said it would acquire Singapore-based Internet retailer Lazada Group, which has a strong presence in Southeast Asia. In addition, Alibaba is said to be targeting new e-commerce acquisitions in the U.S. and Russia as part of a wider international expansion drive.
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Alibaba's cloud computing revenue almost doubles - SiliconANGLE News (blog)
Alibaba Stock: Why Cloud Computing Could Be Equivalent to AWS – BNL Finance (press release) (registration) (blog)
Wall Street is drooling over Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (NYSE:BABA) fiscal first quarter results, where revenue grew 56% year-over-year to $7.4 billion and beat expectations by a whopping $250 million. What Alibaba stock owners should really be excited about is its cloud computing prospects.
Alibabas cloud computing business ended up growing 92% vs the same period last year, and 14% sequentially. After peaking with growth of 162% in its fiscal fourth quarter of 2016, the previous four quarters had seen deceleration of growth. The first quarters 92% growth not only represents a slight acceleration over the previous quarters performance, but suggests that 90% growth could likely be sustainable.
For the record, Microsofts Azure has become very relevant very fast with sub-90% growth on a consistent basis. It does not take long to become a big business with that kind of performance.
With that said, cloud service providers like Amazon, Microsoft, and Google are all competing for the same pie, and have aggressively cut service prices over the last five years to try and lure customers onto their respective platform. Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) has without question done the best with AWS, as it remains the market leader by a mile.
Last year, AWS created more than $12 billion in revenue. The HADE Platforms machine learning algorithms, which have proven far superior to Wall Street expectations, figures AWS will grow to nearly $21.4 billion by the end of 2018.
AWS will continue to grow revenue as it adds more customers and creates higher revenues from existing customers. Not only is cloud services a recurring revenue stream, but infrastructure and platform as a service constantly require customers to scale with higher consumption. Thats how cloud services will continue to grow fast for years to come.
That said, one reasonfor AWS dominance is that Amazon.com was first in this space. It has a multi year head start over the competition. Therein lies one big reason that Alibaba investors should be so excited about the companys performance in cloud computing.
Alibaba is not doing anything new. However, cloud computing is just getting warmed up in China, and in China, Alibaba does not have to compete with the American cloud computing juggernauts.
With over a million customers and very little revenue relative to its user base, we have to believe that Alibabas cloud business will have many years of rapid growth as consumption surges in China. Notably, China is the worlds largest market, and that presents a golden opportunity for Alibabas cloud computing business to eventually become the next AWS. In fact, one could argue successfully that Alibaba has far greater long-term potential in China than any of the major tech companies in the U.S.
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Alibaba Stock: Why Cloud Computing Could Be Equivalent to AWS - BNL Finance (press release) (registration) (blog)
Big Data and Cloud Computing Software, Platforms, and Infrastructure 2017 – 2022 – Markets Insider
LONDON, Aug. 17, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Overview:
The management of unstructured data (e.g. Big Data), the leveraging of analytics tools to derive value, and the integration between Cloud, Internet of Things (IoT), and enterprise operational technology are key focus areas for large companies across virtually every industry vertical. A new data economy is developing in which the data associated with corporate products and services becomes almost as value as the company offerings themselves. New models are emerging to reduce friction across the value chain including enhanced Big Data as a Service (BDaaS) offerings. BDaaS is anticipated to make cross-industry, cross-company, and even cross-competitor data exchange a reality that adds value across the ecosystem with minimized security and privacy concerns.
Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5065098/
Cloud Computing technology and the "as a service" business model is transforming Services, Platforms, and Infrastructure for the entire ICT ecosystem. With the Everything as a Service (XaaS) model, leading apps such as Business Process, Communications, and Commerce/Payments may all be offered in a manner in which risk and CapEx are minimized while OpEx is logically scaled to business outcomes. Distributed Cloud Computing is becoming increasingly important in both fixed and wireless networks. Mobile Edge Computing (MEC) in particular is anticipated to become a critically important aspect of Communication Service Provider operations.
This research provides an in-depth assessment of the global Big Data market, including a study of the business case, application use cases, vendor landscape, value chain analysis, case studies and a quantitative assessment of the industry with forecasting from 2017 to 2022. This research also evaluates the global cloud computing marketplace including centralized and distributed services, platforms, and infrastructure. The research also analyzes the market for cloud computing "as a service" across major industry verticals as well as carrier cloud services and market opportunities for cloud support of IoT networks and associated apps and services. It includes detailed forecasts for the aforementioned from 2017 2022
Target Audience:
- IoT companies
- Cloud SPI companies
- Network service providers
- API management companies
- SDN and virtualization vendors
- Systems integration companies
- Big Data and Analytics companies
- IT, data center, and CDN companies
Download the full report: https://www.reportbuyer.com/product/5065098/
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Reportbuyer is a leading industry intelligence solution that provides all market research reports from top publishers
For more information: Sarah SmithResearch Advisor at Reportbuyer.com Email: rel="nofollow">query@reportbuyer.comTel: +44 208 816 85 48 Website: http://www.reportbuyer.com
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Big Data and Cloud Computing Software, Platforms, and Infrastructure 2017 - 2022 - Markets Insider
Microsoft Acquires A Cloud Technology Company From Right Under Google And Amazon’s Noses – Inc.com
In the era of big data, "big computing" is a must. Cycle Computing was a small company you never heard about, until now, when Microsoft announced that it will acquire it for an undisclosed amount. But it's the possible tsunami effect on the cloud computing market, and specifically Google and Amazon, that would make waves as a result.
"Cycle Computing software leverages cloud resources to make computation in the cloud productive at any scale, by orchestrating workflows, managing data, balancing cloud options, and enabling users in a secure, controlled way," the company described on its website. Its customers at the time of the acquisition included arch-rivals Google Cloud Platform, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and Microsoft Azure.
Other customers included the Aerospace Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Pursue University, JP Morgan Chase, Pfizer, and NASA. Application include genomics, machine learning, simulation, and scientific computation workflows, to name a few.
In a blog post on their website, CEO and founder Jason Stowe described starting the company in 2005 with a $8,000 credit card bill. Unlike most startups, Cycle Computing bootstrapped itself into success. It received no investor or venture capital money. As a result, this would be an exit purely for the founders and employees, who own 100% of the company.
Microsoft hasn't disclosed the amount it would pay for Cycle Computing. Public companies have to disclose the acquisition amount only if "the magnitude of the item [here, the acquisition] is such that it is probable that the judgment of a reasonable person relying upon the report would have been changed or influenced [by it]," according to FASB Statement of Concepts #2. In my experience, acquisitions valued at less than 5% of the market cap of the acquiring company are not considered material. This might follow the rule that 5% stock ownership has to be reported. Given that Microsoft's market cap at the time of writing this article is over half trillion dollars, 5% would represent $28 billion. It's probably safe to say that the acquisition price was below that, and it is at Microsoft's discretion whether they would disclose the amount or not.
Cycle Computing is the founding member of CNCF (Cloud Native Computing Foundation), which both Microsoft and Amazon joined last week. Google has joined before them. Other notable members include Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu, Intel, Huawei, Samsung, RedHat, AT&T, Goldman Sachs, ebay, and many more.
To me, this bring back flashes of memories from the founding of the Wi-Fi Alliance, and many of the IEEE standards. Often, a founding company (such as Cycle Computing here) creates an industry trade organization around its own, proprietary core technology, turning it into an industry standard (or specification), while controlling everything around it (compatibility, interoperability, certification, etc.). Great examples include Intel with USB, and Silicon Image with DVI and later HDMI. This made Cycle Computing all the more powerful in the area of cloud computing.
In the same blog post, CEO Stowe describes the acquisition: "Now, we see amazing opportunities in joining forces with Microsoft. Its global cloud footprint and unique hybrid offering is built with enterprises in mind, and its Big Compute/HPC team has already delivered pivotal technologies such as InfiniBand and next generation GPUs. The Cycle team can't wait to combine CycleCloud's technology for managing Linux and Windows compute & data workloads, with Microsoft Azure's Big Compute infrastructure roadmap and global market reach."
However, the big question is how will the acquisition affect Amazon and Google. Microsoft has several options. It is safe to assume that the Microsoft Azure platform will continue to use the Cycle Computing software. It is reasonable to assume that it will turn most of the other Cycle Computing's customers into Microsoft customers and increase revenue. However, will it allow Microsoft's biggest competitors, Google Cloud Platform and Amazon Web Services, to continue and have access to this software? And if not--would that result in an FTC intervention?
I guess time will tell.
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Microsoft Acquires A Cloud Technology Company From Right Under Google And Amazon's Noses - Inc.com
Microsoft acquires cloud-computing orchestration vendor Cycle Computing – ZDNet
Microsoft announced intentions to buy cloud-computing orchestration vendor Cycle Computing for an undisclosed amount.
Microsoft is positioning the deal, announced on August 15, as a way for it to enable its customers to use high-performance computing and other "Big Computing" capabilities in the public cloud.
From Microsoft's blog post about the acquisition of Cycle Computing from Azure corporate vice president Jason Zander:
Cycle Computing's CEO Jason Stowe, in his own blog post announcing the deal, noted that the company has customers across the manufacturing, life insurance, pharmaceutical and biotech, media and entertainment, financial services, startup, and government agency segments.
"We see amazing opportunities in joining forces with Microsoft. Its global cloud footprint and unique hybrid offering is built with enterprises in mind, and its Big Compute/HPC team has already delivered pivotal technologies such as InfiniBand and next generation GPUs. The Cycle team can't wait to combine CycleCloud's technology for managing Linux and Windows compute & data workloads, with Microsoft Azure's Big Compute infrastructure roadmap and global market reach," Stowe said in his note.
According to Cycle Computing's web site, Cycle's software currently works with not just Azure, but also Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. Cycle's software orchestrates workflows, manages data, and "balances cloud options," in the company's words and works with both public and private clouds from other vendors.
I've asked Microsoft if it intends to continue to support AWS and Google Cloud -- not just Azure -- with Cycle's technology moving forward. So far, no word back.
Update: A Microsoft spokesperson said: "We will continue to support Cycle Computing clients using AWS and/or Google Cloud. Future Microsoft versions released will be Azure focused. We are committed to providing customers a seamless migration experience to Azure if and when they choose to migrate."
Since 2005, Cycle's software has been used to "deploy virtual clusters and storage and run cutting-edge genomics, machine learning, simulation, and scientific computation workflows for Government, Universities, Fortune 500s, and all sizes of data driven, innovative companies like The Aerospace Corporation, Lockheed Martin, Purdue University, JP Morgan Chase, and Pfizer leveraging millions of hours of cloud based computation," its site says.
Neither Microsoft's nor Cycle's blog posts today provide details about how or when Cycle's software will be incorporated into Microsoft's Azure services platform.
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Microsoft acquires cloud-computing orchestration vendor Cycle Computing - ZDNet
Cloud computing decision guide: Breaking down 7 top solutions for healthcare – Healthcare IT News
To help with your planning, this Healthcare IT News Cloud Computing Buyers guide looks at the top four IaaS providers, Amazon, Microsoft, Google and IBM. A report from Synergy Research Group found that these platforms have over 60 percent of the public cloud market. (Amazon has the lions share with 33 percent share; the other three divide 27 percent of the market.) The market is far from stable, however; Microsoft and Google each achieved an annualized growth rate of 80 percent in the first quarter of 2017.
We also look at services from three companies who specialize in supporting healthcare providers with managed services: ClearData, CDW and VMware.
Shop carefully. Read the fine print and really make sure you ask a lot of questions, Snedaker says. Dont take a sales reps word for anything. Not to disparage sales reps, but if its not in the contract, it really doesnt matter what the salesperson said.
She also advises stress testing. Get your team to think up all the very worst case scenarios they can think of and bounce them against the contract. Does it still hold up?
Cloud computing has a clear advantage on the cost side. But healthcare IT managers know that cost is not the only priority. They have a special responsibility to deliver data reliably. And while cloud computing offers many advantages, its a big step and adequate planning is essential to ensure success.
As Snedaker says, Take your time in understanding the solution before you drop your data off at someone elses house.
Amazon Web Services
Amazon was the pioneer in Infrastructure-as-a-Service, with the first public cloud offering in 2006 and it has built on that headstart. One reason it keeps that lead is pricing. Amazon Web Services (AWS) is very aggressive in pricing: it has already made two reductions just since the start of the year for storage and the Amazon Elastic Computer Cloud (EC2) which offers virtual computers for rent.
AWS also innovates at a fast pace. Many cloud platforms go weeks or months between service updates. AWS posts several service updates on its Whats New page almost every day.
To support healthcare providers, AWS recently removed the dedicated instance requirement from its HIPAA business associate agreement (BAA), and added 13 new services to the BAA since January 2017. The HIPAA eligible services that have been added this year include Amazon WorkSpaces, AWS Microsoft AD, and Amazon Cloud Directory.
It also created a new feature to simplify management of BA addendums. Using the AWS self-service Business Associate Addendum, a cloud account admin can instantly designate an AWS account as a HIPAA Account for use with PHI. Users can then sign in to AWS Artifact to confirm that the account is designated as a HIPAA Account, and review the terms of the BAA for that account.
One of AWSs new directions is the AWS Healthcare Competency Partners program for vendors who are offering services through AWS. PracticeFusion, Infor and Phillips are among the partners.
Learn more about AWS
CDW Cloud Solutions
The same company that provides IT departments with a deep inventory of hardware, software and specialized medical equipment also offers cloud management services. This option will be especially appealing to HIT departments that find themselves stretched. CDWs services include migration planning, project scoping and ongoing support. CDWs managed IT services include proactive maintenance, monitoring, notifications and reporting.
CDW has six data centers hosting cloud infrastucture and it can provide more IaaS support through partnerships with AWS, Microsoft and others. The offering helps clients find the right mix of services to map against their clients requirements. And CDW is not necessarily biased in favor of a cloud solution. It also operates and provides managed support for data center solutions.
Learn more about CDW Cloud Solutions
ClearDATA
ClearDATA has only one focus: cloud computing for healthcare. It says that it employs a team that is trained in health IT operations and capable of supporting interoperability, patient engagement, data analytics and other health IT priorities. The environment is a HITRUST certified managed cloud infrastructure that adheres to HIPAA Privacy and Security Rules and the HITECH Act.
The companys solutions include backup, disaster recovery, data privacy, business continuity services and security risk assessment and remediation services. They also offer support for BYOD security; secure email; collaboration tools; security Risk Assessment and Remediation Services; desktop-as-a-service and archive-as-a-service.
End-to-end deployment services are available, reducing the workload on a providers IT staff during migration and deployment, and speeding up the process of moving into the cloud.
Learn more about ClearData
Google Cloud Platform
Since the last time we wrote about its cloud platform, Google added more support for healthcare applications. At HIMSS17 in February, Google announced support for the HL7 FHIR Foundation to help advance development of data interoperability standards.
Googles public network takes advantage of more than 100 global points of presence to reduce latency. To provide enterprise-grade connections with higher availability and lower latency than existing Internet connections, the company offers Google Cloud Interconnect and supports direct network peering for customers that can meet Google at one of many peering locations.To enhance security, Google developed its own hardware, Titan, to authenticate legitimate access at the hardware level. Titan uses a hardware random number generator, performs cryptographic operations in the isolated memory, and has a dedicated on-chip secure process.
For application security, Google provides a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) API to find and redact sensitive data stored in your cloud environment. The API makes it possible to inject data-sensing intelligence into legacy applications or build predefined detectors into your new apps.
To reinforce support for HIPAA standards, Google is providing a guide to HIPAA Compliance on GCP which offers best practices for healthcare security on Google cloud. Google will enter into Business Associate Agreements with its customers and notes that it has a 700-person security engineering team and regular independent third-party audits to provide external verification. Among the standards for which it has been audited are SSAE16 / ISAE 3402 Type II, ISO 27001, ISO 27017 Cloud Security, ISO 27019 Cloud Privacy, FedRAMP ATO for the Google App Engine and PCDI DSS v 3.1.
Learn more about Google Cloud PlatformIBM Cloud
IBM Cloud provides a full range of infrastructure-as-a-service options starting with basic block storage, public virtual servers and bare metal servers that compete with the cloud-only vendors. Big Blue also provides a range of more advanced platforms that directly support application development in a number of areas including big health data, analytics, and cognitive capabilities.
Its Bluemix platform is based on an implementation of the Cloud Foundry, an open-source application development platform that supports Java, Python, Ruby, custom frameworks and a range of applications including MySQL, PostgreSQL and more. The IBM Cloud is integrated with the Watson Platform for Health, which provides solutions for collecting, normalizing, and analyzing data from diverse sources. Watson IoT Platform Connect supports device management and the new Blockchain-as-a-Service platform enables the creation of a dynamic distributed network that functions according to logic embedded to define assets and manage transactions.
Security includes end-to-end encryption, role-based access, event monitoring and alerting. The HIPAA-enabled cloud foundation is supported by IBM SoftLayer. Data governance tools are available for managing patient consent and identity masking.
Learn more about IBM Cloud
Microsoft Azure
Microsoft Azure has supported healthcare through its cloud infrastructure platform since 2011. Today it has 40 data centers and the company says it now has over 25,000 health organizations on its cloud services in the U.S.
One of Microsofts selling points is flexibility. It claims that its architecture simplifies the process of moving resources out of data centers and onto Azure to meet peak demands, and that it maintains more data centers in more regions than any other cloud provider. It also has the benefit of supporting Microsoft Office applications through its Office 365 cloud platform, which is provided in a Software-as-a-Service offering.
Microsoft claims more security certifications than its competitors with ISO/IEC, CSA, CCM, ITAR, HITRUST, HIPAA/HITECH and CIS certifications. And more BAA-covered services with agreements available for Microsoft Office 365, Dynamics 365, Power BI, Azure, Intune and Microsoft Visual Studio Team Services. And it offers a site recovery program.
It also claims an advantage with a $1 billion annual budget for security research and development. The companys cyber threat intelligence is based on over 450 billion authentications processed per month and 400 billion emails scanned. The company says this results in quick detection of emerging threats and delivery of responses.
Learn more about Microsoft Azure
VMware Cross Cloud Architecture
VMware is in a transition with its support for cloud infrastructure. It recently sold its VCloud Air service to OVH, one of the largest hosting providers in Europe. VMware, part of Dell Technologies, is now focused on providing Cross-Cloud Services to work through any cloud platform. The strategy is designed to provide a simplified operational management structure for IT managers who can use the same set of VMware tools theyve used at their data centers in managing their cloud platforms.
VMwares partners, who include AWS and Microsoft Azure, will run the VMware software stack in their cloud to provide a platform that supports a VCloud network.
VMware will manage the operational layer, including security, so customers can concentrate on managing their own application layer. The strategy will allow healthcare IT teams to extend into public cloud providers using the same tools and operational processes they use on premises in their data center.
Learn more about VMware Cross Cloud Architecture
Comparing cloud services: Understanding your options
Cloud solutions arent a one-size-fits all product. In fact, there some key technical and pricing details to consider. Below is a primer on the key elements of cloud architecture:
Block Level Storage: Raw disk space formatted to support a required file system, typically deployed in a SAN (storage area network) environment. Useful to support a specific application.
File Level Storage: Generally less expensive to maintain than Block Level Storage, files are stored in a hierarchical structure (ie, folders) such as Unixs Network File Storage (NFS) or Windows Server Message Block (SMB).
Desktop as a Service: A virtualization service in which a cloud service provider supports desktop applications remotely.
Infrastructure-as-a-Service: A cloud platform that provides a hosted environment that can be used to deploy applications or data transfer. Examples are AWS, Google Cloud Platform, IBM Cloud and Microsoft Azure.
Hybrid cloud: A platform providing infrastucture-as-a-service that combines cloud services hosted at the clients data center and remotely at the vendors data center.
Hyper-scalars: A cloud platform that can dynamically provide more computing resources as demand increases.
Latency: The delay between the time a data request is made and the data is delivered.Platform-as-a-Service: A cloud environment that provides services to run specific applications, development kits, database tools, and application management tools. Examples are IBM BlueMix, Oracle Cloud Platform-as-a-Service and SalesForce App Cloud.
Public cloud: Hosted remotely at a vendors data center, a public cloud provides service to all of the vendors clients. Your applications and data will be hosted on servers shared by other enterprises.
Private cloud: Your enterprise is provided with a dedicated space providing cloud infrastructure that can be used for running your applications and data transferred. Your space is dedicated to your enterprise and is not shared with others.
Software-as-a-Service: Applications are provided remotely in a cloud environment that is maintained by the vendor. Examples are athenaClinicals, Salesforce Health Cloud, and PracticeFusion.
Throughput: The amount of data that a system can support in a specified time period.
Twitter:@GusVendittoEmail the writer: gus.venditto@himssmedia.com
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Cloud computing decision guide: Breaking down 7 top solutions for healthcare - Healthcare IT News
Amazon: Earnings Are Not The Holy Grail – Seeking Alpha
Amazon (AMZN) is a company that has made quite a name for itself in the area of cloud computing, after having come to dominate the e-commerce space. Its AWS (Amazon Web Services) platform is currently seen as the leader in the area of big data storage and cloud computing, and its other offerings in this space have also proven competitive to rivals such as Microsoft (MSFT).
Despite this, that didn't stop earnings from falling 77% in the most recent quarter. The more important question to be asked, are such lower earnings a concern?
In the long-term, clearly a drop in earnings is not a good thing. However, it's important to put such lower earnings into context. Amazon has become heavily cloud-focused in its business model, and maintaining the servers and IT infrastructure for such technology requires large amounts of capital investment. Moreover, software is subject to high levels of depreciation due to upfront investment which results in depreciation lowering earnings over time.
According to Amazon's Q2 2017 Financial Results, while operating income decreased to $628 in Q2 2017 (down 51% from the same quarter last year), net sales increased by 25% to $38 billion over the same period. With higher operating expenses having placed pressure on net income, it is understandable why earnings are lower under this circumstance.
Part of Amazon's competitive advantage is that it maintains the largest cloud ecosystem of all technology providers. According to Gartner, Amazon Web Services has maintained its lead in the "Leaders" quadrant of Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) for the seventh year in a row, in recognition of the size and technological capabilities of AWS compared to its rivals:
Source: Gartner (June 2017)
The general takeaway from this is that Amazon is a company that you buy with expectation of growth - looking at valuations becomes virtually meaningless for this company. The idea is that if sales continue to grow, the revenue from sales will eventually outweigh the large amounts of capital expenditure needed to maintain Amazon's technological infrastructure.
On the other side of the fence, there are those investors who argue that Amazon is a company that is ultimately set for failure since large amounts of capital expenditure are preventing the company from ultimately turning a profit. Amazon is ultimately pursuing a market share strategy in cloud computing, aiming to further increase its dominance as a major provider in this space.
Admittedly, I am long Microsoft (MSFT) myself - the reason being that Microsoft is less of a "risky" stock that pays a good dividend - but that's more to do with factors such as my own individual appetite for risk, and is out of the scope of this article. A company like Microsoft has focused its Azure offering on a more focused corporate market in particular, and are not particularly targeting a maximum level of market share for its offering.
However, Amazon by contrast does not pay a dividend and is "going all in" by reinvesting heavily into upgrading its cloud computing infrastructure. Granted, there is more risk in holding a company like Amazon, but the potential payoff in terms of growth is far greater.
To conclude, earnings are not the holy grail when it comes to a company like Amazon. Amazon is reinvesting heavily to maintain its lead in the cloud computing space, and for investors who are willing to take more risk in terms of banking on such future growth, the rewards have the potential to be significant.
Disclosure: I am/we are long MSFT.
I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from Seeking Alpha). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.
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Amazon: Earnings Are Not The Holy Grail - Seeking Alpha