Category Archives: Cloud Computing

Court filing shows Microsoft Azure generated lower-than-expected $34B in revenue in 2022 – SiliconANGLE News

Documents filed by antitrust regulators in a U.S. court this week have finally shed some light on one of the cloud computing industrys biggest secrets: the true size of Microsoft Corp.s Azure cloud business unit.

A report today from The Information revealed that internal documents were briefly posted by federal antitrust regulators on a court website, showing that Azure generated about half of the revenue of Microsofts primary rival, Amazon Web Services Inc., in the 12 months ended June 2022. The documents were later removed from the court website.

Microsoft has kept the true size of its Azure cloud business unit as a closely held secret for years, preventing investors from understanding just how well it stacks up against AWS, which is widely considered to be the industry leader.

However, the unredacted documents showed that Azure generated $34 billion in revenue over that 12-month period, compared with $72 billion by AWS over the same time frame.

The revelation may come as a shock to some investors, as it means Azures market share in the cloud computing infrastructure business is several percentage points smaller than what most analyst firms had estimated. The Information says that the number may change investors perceptions of Microsofts cloud success, the implication being that officials have claimed it is more successful than it really is.

Unlike AWS and Google Cloud, which is believed to be the industrys No. 3 operator, Microsoft has always refused to disclose Azures true revenue. Instead, Microsoft reports Azures numbers within its Intelligent Cloud business segment, bundled together with its Enterprise Services, Windows Server and SQL Server revenue.

In its most recent third quarter fiscal 2023 earnings report, revenue from Intelligent Cloud came to $22.08 billion, up 16% from a year earlier and above Wall Streets forecast of $21.94 billion. But investors had no way of knowing how much of that figure was generated by Azure.

Constellation Research Inc. analyst Holger Mueller called on Microsoft to consider finally disclosing Azures revenue to clear up investors concerns regarding any creative revenue attribution it might be doing. Large software vendors have been found to be doing this more than once in the past, and while theres no suggestion Microsoft is involved in any funny business, the only way to stay above such concerns is with greater transparency, he said. Microsoft is not obliged to share Azure revenue, but such transparency would be appreciated by customers and investors alike.

Increased transparency would also shed more light on the profitability of the Azure business. Although the court filing reveals Azures revenue, theres still no evidence to say whether or not the Azure business was profitable over the period ending June 2022. AWS has posted big profits from its cloud business since 2014, but Google Cloud has been far less successful, though in May it finally managed to post its first-ever profit.

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Court filing shows Microsoft Azure generated lower-than-expected $34B in revenue in 2022 - SiliconANGLE News

Applications running like clunkers in the cloud? 3 options to consider – InfoWorld

If your applications running on public clouds are not meeting expectations, youre not alone. These are typically applications that were lifted and shifted to the cloud with little or no modernization or refactoring. This means they are not leveraging cloud-native services, such as infrastructure as code, serverless compute, cloud-native security, and cloud-native operations services.

During the massive push to the cloud in recent years, especially during the pandemic, thinking and planning went out the window. Moving fast was the order of the day, generally with the perception that just shifting apps to a public cloud provider would make many of the application issues go away. On the contrary, they mostly just amplified problems we had on-premises.

So, we are here. Our applications are costing three times as much as expected to operate. Performance is an issue with some, security and governance are issues with others. Many of these lifted and shifted applications now must be retrofitted with the security and governance features that emerging regulations will soon require. So, what are your options?

Do nothing. Doing nothing means were kicking the can down the road because doing something about these applications means incurring additional cost and risk. So why not delay?

While many will pick this path, this is not being responsible. The end state will be millions of dollars youll need to spend, with absolutely no value being returned to the business in the meantime.

Partial modernization. This means that we will only upgrade and update some of the applications capabilities to leverage the services within a public cloud much better than they are doing now. For example, we could convert some systems to cloud-native architecture approaches, such as containers and container orchestration (Kubernetes).

The pros are many here since you can focus on fixing the most annoying and expensive problems, such as overuse of cloud resources, inadequate I/O systems, and lousy application behaviors that have existed for many years.

The cons would be the cost and the risk. You will need some expensive human resources to figure out how to do this correctly. Each application will have unique issues that must be addressed differently. There is no one-size-fixes-all approach to be found here.

However, Ive found that partial modernization is often the best approach given that were still attempting to cheap out but are doing so with the maximum positive effect. Were spending money but getting a great deal back for the money were spending.

Full modernization. This is setting up remote offices for a large set of developers working off-site, hiring the best cloud architects, and working on redoing the applications from the frame up. Of course, each group of applications is different, but this typically means rebuilding using containers and container orchestration, and taking advantage of serverless, cloud-native security, cloud-native operations services, etc. In other words, leveraging the cloud platform to an optimal effect and putting in the work needed to accomplish this.

The downside, of course, is cost. Its huge. Indeed, I would say that I may advise some enterprises not to take this path, considering that the value returned to the business from this investment would likely be less beneficial than many partial modernization projects. But, again, you may have unique goals or requirements that make a full modernization more optimal.

All of these options have huge downsides that need to be considered with the upsides. But every day you allow sub-optimized applications to run on a platform that charges for the resources they waste is a day youre not serving the business as well as you should be. You wont be in business long doing that.

Happy 4th of July!

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Applications running like clunkers in the cloud? 3 options to consider - InfoWorld

Open-source technologies and cloud computing will continue to power Indias digital economy, says Karmendr – Economic Times

India has recently surpassed the UK and has become the fifth largest economy in the world. So, that clearly indicates the potential of the Indian economy and I strongly believe that cloud technology can contribute in terms of innovation, and innovation can drive and can add to the economy of India, says Karmendra Trivedi, Sales Director, Canonical India, the company behind Ubuntu. Canonical provides enterprise security, support and services for a wide range of open source technologies, covering every part of the stack from infrastructure to applications. . Indeed, India wants to be a $1 trillion digital economy by 2026, and cloud computing is critical to support and enable this growth. In a conversation with Miloni Bhatt, editor - digitalbroadcast, economictimes.com, Trivedi maps the direct and indirect impact of cloud technology on the Indian economy, reiterating that the National Association of Software and Service Companies (NASSCOM) predicted that by 2026 clouds contribution towards the gross domestic product (GDP) will be anywhere between $315 to $375 billion and will, directly and indirectly, create 14 million jobs. Decoding the Indian economys cloud map, Trivedi highlights four components that he believes would be impacted by cloud computing. If I talk about it in a nutshell, there are four things that are going to be impacted by the adoption of cloud technology, one is the GDP, second is employment, third is innovation and entrepreneurship and finally technology progress. Trivedi stresses that open-source technologies and cloud computing support Indias digital journey and will continue to do so as the technology keeps evolving. Inside the boundless world of cloud computingNo longer confined by physical infrastructure, computing now exists ubiquitously in a virtual reality brimming with untapped potential. Cloud computing is the linchpin of the digital revolution, where technology allows for the storage, precession and management of data across a network of servers around the world, rendering geographical boundaries and hardware limitations obsolete. The cloud offers unparalleled flexibility, scalability and cost efficiency. In this digital age, businesses must embrace cloud computing as an essential part of their operations. The agility and resilience offered by cloud technologies have not only emerged as beneficial but fundamental to the survival and success of any business. The scalability it offers enables businesses to easily adjust their computing power on demand, mitigating the risk of overprovisioning or under-utilising resources. It helps businesses save costs by turning capital expenses into operational ones. The tools and platforms that are provided to teams offer seamless communication promoting collaboration. Additionally, advanced artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and analytics available on the cloud ensures higher business resilience.

Barriers in adopting cloud technologiesThere is an opportunity cost for the Indian economy in terms of it lagging behind in adopting cloud technology. Trivedi states that this gap will reduce Indias competitiveness and slow down its entire digital transformation journey. So, what are some of the barriers hindering the adoption of cloud? Trivedi outlines that the primary barrier to adoption is simply the lack of organisational understanding of the benefits of the cloud. It is crucial for organisations to enhance their knowledge and keep themselves aware of the innovations that are taking place in the tech space and how these advancements are driving growth.

Canonical India provides organisations with the long-term support they need, whether it is security-based or other enterprise-level support, effectively integrating with the cloud. Trivedi talks about how Ubuntu works in different scenarios of cloud computing, such as hybrid cloud, private cloud, in telecommunication, network functions virtualization (NFV), and more.

Ubuntu is secure by design, and Canonical ensures that any vulnerabilities that arise are resolved with speed and skill. Ubuntu offers automatic critical updates and committed security maintenance as part of its LTS model, which covers Ubuntu for 5 years from its release date.

Furthermore, Trivedi throws light on the spectrum of innovation and some of the innovative use cases of Ubuntu. For instance, Trivedi states that ChatGPTone of the hottest technologies right nowis nurtured on the cloud, and the underlying technology that they are using is from the open-source world, and Ubuntu is part of the journey.

Despite transitioning shifts in an ever-evolving ecosystem, India is one of the primary adopters of open-source technologies, even when compared to the mature markets, emphasises Trivedi, and the dynamic world of open-source technologies will likely continue to power the countrys next leap of digital transformation.

Watch the full interview.

By 2026 clouds contribution towards the gross domestic product (GDP) will be anywhere between $315 to $375 billion, directly and indirectly creating 14 million jobs in India. With Canonical India's offerings, including Ubuntu, providing essential support for Indias digital transformation, Karmendra Trivedi, Sales Director, Canonical India, emphasises the critical role of open-source technologies and cloud computing in powering India's dream of becoming a $1 trillion digital economy by 2026. Despite the challenges of adoption, Trivedi stresses cloud technology can fuel innovation, and innovation can drive Indias digital economy.

(This article is generated and published by ET Spotlight team. You can get in touch with them on etspotlight@timesinternet.in)

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Open-source technologies and cloud computing will continue to power Indias digital economy, says Karmendr - Economic Times

How is Cloud Computing Revolutionizing the IT Infrastructure? – Analytics Insight

Cloud computing will likely continue to be a cornerstone of the IT sector as technology develops

The distribution of computer services through the internet is called cloud computing. Users can access and use different computing resources, such as storage, processing power, and software programs, using remote servers hosted by third-party providers rather than depending on local servers or personal PCs. These resources are created on-demand and accessed over a network connection, enabling distant businesses with cloud services that let consumers scale up or down their consumption based on their needs.

The IT environment has undergone a revolution thanks to the emergence of cloud computing as a revolutionary technology. It has completely changed how organizations and people use and manage their computing resources. By allowing on-demand access to a shared pool of programmable computer resources, cloud computing has made it possible to scale up operations with unprecedented flexibility and reduce costs.

These and other ways cloud computing has transformed the IT industry are covered below.

1. Accessibility and Teamwork: Access and cooperation obstacles have been removed via cloud computing. It permits seamless file sharing, real-time collaboration on shared documents, and remote access to software and information. This has changed how organizations run since it makes it possible for teams spread out geographically to collaborate well, increasing production and efficiency.

2. Exploration and Innovation: The cloud offers a flexible and affordable environment for invention and experimentation. Businesses must make a substantial upfront expenditure to quickly spin up instances, test novel concepts, and iterate on their goods or services. This has sped up innovation and given startups and small enterprises the ability to compete on an even playing field.

3. Scalability and International Expansion: IT businesses international expansion has been helped by cloud computing. Because cloud providers have data centers worldwide, companies may swiftly launch their services in new markets and deliver low-latency services to clients in diverse locations. Additionally, cloud scalability enables enterprises to seamlessly accommodate unexpected customer demand increases.

4. Processing Big Data Scalably: Big data processing has revolutionized thanks to the scalable and economical options offered by cloud computing. IT organizations may process and analyze enormous volumes of data without needing costly on-premises hardware by utilizing cloud-based technologies like Amazon Elastic MapReduce and Google BigQuery. With a more excellent grasp of cloud computing terminology and commercial applications, sophisticated analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence applications have opened doors.

5. Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity: Cloud computing provides reliable v. IT businesses can replicate their data and applications across many geographical locations to provide data resilience and lower the risk of data loss. Cloud-based backups and failover techniques enable quick recovery in the case of a disaster, minimizing downtime and sustaining corporate operations.

6. Cost reduction and increased productivity: Cloud computing makes These possible for IT businesses. Businesses may rapidly scale resources up or down in response to demand using cloud-based infrastructure, preventing overprovisioning and reducing idle resources. Cloud providers often provide cost-cutting choices like reserved or spot instances as part of their ongoing efforts to improve their services.

7. Improvements in Security and Compliance: To secure client data, cloud service companies invest significantly in cloud security solutions. They use cutting-edge encryption, access restrictions, and monitoring systems to protect sensitive information. Cloud compliance standards, like HIPAA or GDPR, assist IT organizations in adhering to legal obligations and guaranteeing the security and privacy of their customers data.

8. Integrated Ecosystems: IT organizations may now use and interact with various cloud-based services thanks to the collaborative environment that cloud computing has created. Companies may include third-party APIs, use pre-built software components, and use cloud markets to improve their offers. Such environments encourage creativity, collaboration, and quick development cycles.

9. IT that is Sustainable and Green: Cloud computing helps with sustainability and green IT initiatives. Instead of using separate on-premises infrastructure, cloud providers may increase energy efficiency by combining computer resources in data centers. Dynamically scaling resources also enable more significant resource usage, which lowers energy waste and carbon emissions.

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How is Cloud Computing Revolutionizing the IT Infrastructure? - Analytics Insight

Amazon is investing another $7.8B in Ohio-based cloud computing … – Wilmington News Journal, OH

Amazon is investing another $7.8B in Ohio-based cloud computing operations, state leaders say

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) Amazons profitable cloud business will invest roughly $7.8 billion by the end of 2029 to expand its data center operations in central Ohio, state leaders announced Monday, further advancing the states efforts to establish itself as the Midwests technology hub.

The new investments by Amazon Web Services, or AWS, were announced by Republican Gov. Mike DeWine and Lt. Gov. Jon Husted, who leads the governors technology office. The financial outlay further cements Ohio as the heart of our nations technology and innovation, the governor said in a statement.

AWS launched its first data centers in the region in 2016 and currently operates campuses in two counties in central Ohio, home to the capital city of Columbus. The administration said numerous locations are being considered as sites for the new data centers, in a selection to be announced later this year.

The cloud computing company is now responsible for the second largest private sector investment in the states history, behind only the $20 billion chip plant announced by Intel last year. Facebook and Google also operate Ohio data centers.

Also underway in the region are a $3.5 billion battery plant being built by Honda and LG Energy Solution of South Korea and a new $110 million Center for Software Innovation at Ohio State University. A chemical research clearinghouse headquartered in Columbus has long been a leader in big data storage and processing.

Once a reliable cash cow for Amazon, AWS has recently begun to feel pressure, as companies trim cloud computing expenses in the face of high inflation and fears of a recession. The tech giants first quarter earnings report showed its cloud unit generated $21.4 billion and was growing at 16% in the first three months of this year, down from the 37% growth rate a year earlier.

Still, Roger Wehner, economic development director for AWS, said the company has a long-term commitment to Ohio, having invested more than $6 billion in the state since 2015. He said Mondays investment will include new workforce development and educational programs that support the next generation of talent by emphasizing collaborative, long-term public and private partnerships across the state.

The new AWS data centers will contain computer servers, data storage drives, networking equipment and other technology infrastructure for cloud computing. As of last year, the existing operation employed roughly 1,000 people across the state. JP Nauseef, president and CEO of JobsOhio, the states privatized economic development office, said the newest investment will create 230 direct new jobs and an estimated 1,000 support jobs.

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Amazon is investing another $7.8B in Ohio-based cloud computing ... - Wilmington News Journal, OH

Cloud Computing Market Data and Acquisition Research Study with … – Taiwan News

This market research study on Cloud Computing Market offers a thorough assessment and improvement of important producers, rivals, international suppliers, and risks. Additionally, this paper makes an aggressive appraisal of current innovations, technology, and future scope. It also looks at dangers and obstacles to access.

The healthcare sector is vital to both national economies and people all across the world. One of the industries with the fastest growth rates is this one. There is a correlation between income levels and healthcare spending across nations because healthcare spending accounts for more than 10% of the GDP of the majority of developed countries.

Key Players[Google, Adobe Inc., Workday, Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., SAP SE, Amazon Inc., Salesforce Inc., International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Databricks, Uptake Technologies Inc., Vlocity Inc., DigitalOcean, Inc., Box, Inc., Okta, Inc., Penguin Computing, Sabalcore Computing, Univa Corporation

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Report Ocean, revealed that the global cloud computing market was worth USD 390 billion in the year 2021 and it is projected to grow at a CAGR of around 11%, earning revenues of around USD 852 billion by the end of 2028.The global cloud computing market is flourishing at a high rate owing to the increasing adoption of advanced technologies including AI, IoT, machine learning, big data, etc., to improve business efficiency. Increasing number of small and medium-sized enterprises significantly investing towards cloud computing adoption to keep up with changing market scenario is anticipated to drive the market growth during the forecast period. However, a lack of sufficient human resources equipped with cybersecurity skills may act as a huge restraint for the cloud computing market.

Rising Adoption of Cloud Computing in SMEs is Offering Lucrative Growth Opportunities to the Market

Cloud computing is gaining significant traction among small and medium enterprises. The SMEs are utilizing cloud computing to expand their business along with keeping the cost low and boosting the overall productivity. Furthermore, cloud computing is also helpful in offering advanced data security, reduced downtime, flexible storage, better CRM management, etc. Cloud computing also proves to be cost efficient for SMEs as they only pay according to their size and financial capability. This is anticipated to drive the growth of the cloud computing market in the forecast period.

Surging Demand for Cloud Computing in BFSI Sector is Driving Market Growth

Based on verticals, the global cloud computing market is segmented into banking, financial services, and insurance, telecommunications, IT and ITES, government and public sector, retail and consumer goods, manufacturing, energy and utilities, media and entertainment, healthcare and life sciences, others. The banking, financial services, and insurance (BFSI) sector hold the largest market share owing to the increasing adoption of cloud services for offering financial services such as money transfer, real-time transaction details, digital wallets, etc. The manufacturing sector is also growing at a high rate owing to the adoption of advanced technologies such as AI and IoT to boost operational efficiency.

Cloud Computing Market By Deployment Model

Based on the deployment model, the global cloud computing market is segmented into public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid. The private cloud segment accounts for the largest market share as it is predominantly used by large organizations. This deployment model offers maximum data protection compared to its counterparts, which acts as a major driving factor for this segment. The hybrid deployment is anticipated to register the highest growth rate during the forecast period due to the growing adoption among both SMEs and large organizations alike.

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Cloud Computing Market Regional Insights

Geographically, the cloud computing market is segmented into North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, Latin America, Middle East & Africa. North America dominates the cloud computing market. However, the Asia-Pacific region is projected to register the highest CAGR during the forecast period. The emergence of various multinational as well as cloud services startups such as Alibaba, Tata Consultancy, etc., acts as a major driving factor for its market growth. Furthermore, increasing penetration of established players such as Microsoft, Google, AWS, etc., in emerging economies due to expanding growth potential is anticipated to provide lucrative growth opportunities to the cloud computing market in the Asia-Pacific region.

Market Segment:

Impact of COVID-19 on Cloud Computing Market

The cloud computing market significantly proliferated after the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The rapid shift towards work from home (WFH) culture, increasing demand for online payment platforms and tremendous surge in the internet traffic significantly boosted the growth of the cloud computing market. Furthermore, the rising demand for entertainment and media platforms such as YouTube, Twitch, Hulu, Amazon Prime, etc., during the quarantine period and post the lockdown upliftment also proved to be favorable for the market growth.

Competitive Landscape

The leading market players of the cloud computing market are Google, Adobe Inc., Workday, Inc., Alibaba Group Holding Ltd., SAP SE, Amazon Inc., Salesforce Inc., International Business Machines Corporation (IBM), Oracle Corporation, Microsoft Corporation, Databricks, Uptake Technologies Inc., Vlocity Inc., DigitalOcean, Inc., Box, Inc., Okta, Inc., Penguin Computing, Sabalcore Computing, Univa Corporation, and other prominent players.

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By Service Model(Infrastructure As A Service (Iaas), Platform As A Service (Paas), Software As A Service (Saas))

By Deployment Model (Public Cloud, Private Cloud, Hybrid)

By Organization Size(Small And Medium-Sized Enterprises, Large Enterprises)

By Vertical (Banking, Financial Services, And Insurance, Telecommunications, It And Ites, Government And Public Sector, Retail And Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, Energy And Utilities, Media And Entertainment, Healthcare And Life Sciences, Others)

By Region(North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific (APAC), Latin America (LATAM), Middle-East & Africa (MEA)

The market is highly consolidated and dominated by multinational corporations such as Google Inc. and Amazon. The companies constantly launch new cloud offerings to expand their product portfolio and increase their product penetration. They also customize their offerings according to the size and needs of the organizations. Furthermore, the adoption of competitive strategies such as partnerships, mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, etc., is also prominent in this market.

Dont miss the business opportunity of the cloud computing market. Consult our analysts to gain crucial insights and facilitate your business growth.

The in-depth analysis of the report provides information about growth potential, upcoming trends, and statistics of the cloud computing market. It also highlights the factors driving forecasts of total market size. The report promises to provide recent technology trends of the cloud computing market and industry insights to help decision-makers make sound strategic decisions. Furthermore, the report also analyzes the growth drivers, challenges, and competitive dynamics of the market.

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Cloud Computing Market Data and Acquisition Research Study with ... - Taiwan News

13 Executives Making Waves in Cloud Computing for 2023 – Executive Gov

Storing and organizing data and spreading information within organizations are crucial functions of many industries. Modern technology brought advancements such as cloud computing services, making it possible for various sectors to store, secure, back up, and disseminate information efficiently.

Today, cloud computing is available and suitable for other industries to fulfill various missions and operations. Here is a rundown of the executives who were key playersin no particular orderin the cloud computing industry in 2023.

Greg Bateman has been the Regional Vice President of Defense at Salesforce since March 2022. He is responsible for the companys business with the US Department of Defenses (DOD) 4th Estate, the division that covers organizations outside the military and intelligence community agencies.

Bateman also takes charge of establishing trust with customers that rely on Salesforces cloud computing services. Proof of this commitment is Salesforce IL4 for the DoD. IL4 is a designation that covers controlled unclassified information (CUI), non-CUI, export-controlled data, personally identifiable information (PII), non-national security systems, and other mission-critical information.

Bateman brings nearly ten years of professional experience in cloud computing services to Salesforce. Previously, he has engineered new cloud reseller programs, established cloud-focused systems to bolster business growth, and led federal agencies to adopt cloud platforms effectively.

Lillian Chang is the Senior Vice President of Product Strategy at SAP National Security Services (NS2). Since 2021, Chang has been responsible for the companys cloud portfolio and partnership relations. She also manages SAP NS2s physical cloud environment, including its software and hardware services to bolster cost optimization.

Chang has 10 years of experience working on cloud computing solutions at SAP NS2. Prior to her current role, Chang served as GTM Director and GTM Vice President of NS2 Cloud. She leverages her past experience to engineer cloud platforms and cloud-based solutions that meet critical infrastructure industry requirements.

On March 22, 2023, the Federal Risk and Authorization Management Program (FedRamp) granted certification for SAP NS2s cloud-based enterprise resource planning program. Under Changs leadership, this program enables federal clients to deploy the cloud platform as a software-as-a-service application within SAP NS2s Cloud Intelligent Enterprise.

Steve Derr has been the Vice President of Oracle Corporations Cloud Operations & Engineering division since 2017. In his current role, Derr leads teams specializing in cloud operations and engineering services to cater to the demands of National Security clients.

At Oracle, Derr accumulates over ten years of experience working on cloud computing and hardware solutions for federal intelligence agencies. He led teams and developed the know-how to utilize Oracles storage solutions, high-performance computing, and Engineered Systems to deploy mission-critical capabilities for different segments of the federal government.

Kathleen Flynn is the Vice President of Cross-Cutting Capabilities at Capgemini Government Solutions, a subsidiary of Capgemini SE. Flynn has been vice president since 2015 and oversees the distribution of all capabilities for the companys portfolio of client partners.

Flynn focuses on defining practical applications and accessing Capgeminis resources for intelligence, cloud migration, and portfolio rationalization on behalf of the companys clients.

Toby Haertl has been part of CyrusOne since 2017 and is currently the companys Enterprise and Federal Segments Global Business Development Manager.

Haertl possesses ten years of professional experience in cloud computing services and draws from his previous work to innovate cloud-based applications. He leveraged his expertise in CyrusOnes cloud computing services as the National Channel Manager of Solution Providers. He specialized in delivering advanced data centers to support clients managed services and cloud infrastructure businesses and forge strategic and stronger client relationships.

Brian Keith is the General Manager, Azure Data and AI Leader, and National Intelligence Specialist at Microsoft Federal, the missions-focused arm of Microsoft Corporation.

Keith is focused on integrating data and artificial intelligence into federal and business organizations and workflows through agile data, AI solutions, and cloud strategies. With decades of developing solutions for the federal government, Keith is an expert in deploying AI and intelligence strategies to support critical missions.

Michael Mike Miller is Vice President of Enterprise Sales and the North America Public Sector of Red Hat. He has 25 years of experience in cybersecurity, analytics, data protection, DevOps, and code-free developments.

At Red Hat, Miller leads teams with innovative members that deliver cloud-based solutions, high-performing Linux applications, container, and Kubernetes technologies to help solve complicated problems in different domains.

Drew Schnabel is the Vice President of Federal at Zscaler. Schnabel has years of experience developing software and information systems that support different missions and projects for the US government. His expertise includes service delivery, enterprise software, enterprise architecture, SaaS, and storage area network (SAN).

Schnabel is committed to ensuring that Zscalers zero-trust cloud security platforms are accessible to federal clients, regardless of device, network, or location. In 2021, Schnabel was involved in developing the Secure Cloud Management (SCM) prototype for the Department of Defense.

Kaus Phaltankar co-founded Caveonix in 2017 and is the companys current President and Chief Executive Officer. He has a 25-year professional background in cybersecurity and enterprise managementdomains he integrated with the cloud computing system of Caveonix.

In a panel discussion on cloud security in 2018, Phaltankar offered insight into businesses growing demand for control and visibility among hybrid cloud environments to support employees, resources, business partners, and crucial IT assets. The panel and Phaltankars expertise resulted in the development of Caveonix Cloud, the first-of-its-kind cloud digital risk platform designed for hybrid clouds.

Brad Scyrkels is the Vice President of the Public Sector and General Manager of Cyxtera Federal Group. He was chosen for these roles in 2021 and is in charge of the sales, marketing, channels, infosec, and GRC efforts of Cyxteras Public Sector.

Scyrkels leads a team of cloud experts that work on FedRamp, Cyxteras hybrid cloud security services for the federal government. They work on integrating the speed and scale of the cloud with the performance, accuracy, and cost benefits of data centers.

Brian Pickerall is the current Senior Vice President of Changeis, Inc. He has 25 years of professional experience in project management, large-scale software development, and transportation operations systems.

Pickerall is responsible for the companys initiatives, such as business development and business growth plans. He is also in charge of Changeis Enterprise Technology Solutions, which covers data analytics, hybrid cloud services, and domain expertise.

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13 Executives Making Waves in Cloud Computing for 2023 - Executive Gov

Top 5 challenges when migrating to the cloud – Open Access Government

Cloud computing is seeing an inexorable rise as organisations worldwide continue to transition more services online.

The trend towards hybrid working, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has resulted in a huge increase in migrating to the cloud. Gartner research and consulting services firm recently forecast worldwide public cloud end-user spending to grow 21.7% to $597.3 billion in 2023.

While cloud adoption has its challenges, it is vital to protect against cybercrime. Experts like Firstserv can guide organisations through the process, ensuring a smooth transition.

At Firstserv, we have enabled many organisations to realise their cloud ambitions using our Cloud Adoption Framework. We springboard workloads safely from legacy on-premises data centres to cutting-edge public, private and hybrid cloud environments.

Using the Cloud Adoption Framework, Firstserv seamlessly navigates the challenges faced by organisations taking the plunge.

Data security and regulatory compliance are major concerns as organisations move to the cloud. Data and applications hosted on the cloud must be secured at the same level as on-premises data centres. Some cloud deployment models are better suited to this than others.

For example, a company shares servers and other infrastructure with other cloud customers in public cloud deployments. Vulnerabilities in the underlying servers or the isolation of the virtual machines (VMs) hosted on these servers could result in data leakage or other security incidents.

Additionally, an organisation may not have visibility into where its data and applications are hosted, which can be problematic for some data privacy laws, such as the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR).

In addition to managing these risks, Firstserv will carry out a Cloud Assessment to evaluate redundant workloads that can be merged, ensuring more optimised costs in the future. Migrating to the cloud is more cost-effective than maintaining and managing a legacy on-premises infrastructure.

The most common mistake preventing organisations from fully reaping the benefits of the cloud is the lack of clear business objectives behind the move and/or a good migration plan.

Clients approach us after attempting cloud migration in-house, having already undertaken a great deal of work. In these cases, we often must go back to square one, helping formulate business goals and rebuild migration strategies from scratch.

A solid strategic plan ensures that you can easily navigate the transition and avoid analysis paralysis during later stages. This is especially important given the variety of choices along the way, starting from whether you opt for private, public, or hybrid cloud infrastructure to choosing between Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), or Software as a Service (SaaS) models.

Carefully planning each phase of the migration ensures that companies make the right choices, arrive at their target, and avoid unnecessary spending.

One of the primary challenges of migrating to the cloud is finding people with the skills to manage an effective migration. Despite the many benefits of cloud computing, the projects complexity stops many organisations in their tracks.

Competition for migration experts has intensified. Unfortunately, the demand for cloud experts exceeds the supply, at least for now.

Firstservs team fills an organisations skills gap, enabling a seamless transition to the cloud without having to upskill, increase, and potentially decrease the current headcount.

Cloud migration involves moving data storage and applications from on-premises environments to cloud infrastructure. Often, this is accomplished in stages to ensure that one step is completed entirely successfully before moving on.

If an organisation has a complex IT architecture, developing and executing a cloud migration strategy may be difficult.

Certain systems may need to be collocated, and a complex architecture may make it challenging to identify and document interdependencies and develop a phased strategy for moving specific components or systems to the cloud.

Firstservs experience in providing managed solutions and secure cloud hosting, including disaster recovery, managed backups, and server monitoring, ensures the security of an organisations system during the migration project and beyond.

Regarding cloud adoption, the biggest challenge is not technology but people. We all tend to resist change, and migrating to the cloud brings a lot of change and disruption. Teams need to adapt and change their working processes.

Good people management is extremely important to ensure a successful migration. A properly thought-out change management plan can assist in this transitional journey.

Buy-in from the top level is crucial, heavily influencing employee engagement and adoption. By demonstrating support, excitement, and value for the new project, the leadership team will help disseminate these values to the rest of the team.

Constant communication encourages the workforce to adapt and progress. Investing in a strong onboarding programme and employing experts like Firstserv to train and support employees will ensure employee acceptance faster.

Moving to the cloud is not a challenge but rather an opportunity to make existing business processes more agile and innovative.

Firstly, they can take stock of all the infrastructure components, business processes and in-house expertise at their disposal. Then, build a strategy that encompasses their organisations needs on their cloud migration journey. Firstserv can help develop and execute a cloud migration strategy that makes the most sense from the standpoint of businesses own objectives.

Based on an organisations actual and target digital maturity levels, our experts customise the migration programme for the organisations processes, people, and technologies.

Book a free one-hour consultation to see how Firstserv can help you migrate to the cloud faster and achieve scale optimisation.

Helping you grow your business, increase efficiency and deliver the future. Formed in 1998, we have over 25 years of experience of the hosting business, and have developed a large body of knowledge, procedures and accreditations. We are UK based, with UK support and UK data centres and our best of breed []

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Top 5 challenges when migrating to the cloud - Open Access Government

Cloud security: Sometimes the risks may outweigh the rewards – Help Net Security

Threat actors are well-aware of the vulnerability of our cloud infrastructure. The internet we have today is not equipped to serve the data needs of the future. When data is stored in the cloud, it can end up across several servers anywhere in the world. If one of these computers is compromised, your data can be stolen or misused.

Therefore, when you create an information system, either on-premises or in the cloud, one of the first things you need to do is identify where your sensitive information is stored. When you store your data in the cloud, securing your information is a shared responsibility between you and your cloud provider.

Since cloud security implies a shared responsibility between the customers and the cloud provider, IT teams and decision-leaders must have a clear understanding of the types of cloud services more vulnerable to cyberattacks. Another security consideration that emerges when businesses are moving their information system to the cloud is identifying the cases where the risks outweigh the rewards.

The cloud gives an opportunity to create large amounts of infrastructure quickly and easily, which leaves it exposed to the possibility of substandard security configurations being applied to it. Because of the ease of use of cloud services, companies might become negligent in terms of their security.

How a cloud infrastructure is configured impacts its cybersecurity risk. This stage of your cloud deployment is where cloud security posture management (CSPM) is needed: this tool looks at the configurations of your cloud estate to spot common mistakes. A product such as CWPP cloud workload protection platform is also recommended so you can look at the internal security aspects of your cloud platform.

Together these tools are often referred to as CNAPP cloud-native application protection platform.

Common security lapses such as security teams leaving remote desktop protocols open to the internet can also cause security issues. For example, the wormable BlueKeep vulnerability affecting Microsoft Windows (CVE-2019-0708) led to the remote execution of random code in remote desktop services, without any user doing anything, which increased the risk of malware propagating itself between vulnerable systems.

Overall, as cloud infrastructures rely more heavily on the internet, they need protection that might differ from your on-prem security requirements.

The UK National Cyber Security Centre set out 14 cloud security principles to help businesses of different sizes balance their needs to configure cloud services securely.

Vendor lock-in can be a common issue for businesses. Cloud vendors will give you all the tools to make your life easier, but getting out of their systems if you decide to stop working with them will be really difficult if you rely too much on their infrastructure.

Beyond the technological risks, another deciding factor is the general trust toward cloud providers and the hyperscalers such as AWS or Google, who can provide public and hybrid cloud services to large enterprise networks.

Flexibility and the ability to configure your set-up to your specific needs could be lost on the cloud. If you are running on-premises, you have more flexibility to reconfigure things. Your commercial relationship with your cloud provider will dictate how flexible you can be with your cloud infrastructure, which can prevent you from fixing unsafe issues as they come. How much control and flexibility you want on your data storage should impact your cloud set-up.

One advantage of cloud services is that they are very easy to deploy, but this can create a multitude of problems for security professionals. So many nodes are open within the cloud infrastructure, which can increase the threat surface. A few strategies can alleviate this risk, such as encryption, security authentication, and access control policy.

Another issue is making sure that customer data is safe within a cloud environment. Storage security in cloud computing involves data isolation and recovery. Storing your customer data in the cloud does not relieve you of all responsibilities: while the cloud provider is responsible for the security of their infrastructure, businesses must be responsible for the monitoring and auditing of the data.

Who controls what and who is responsible for what is often a point of contention. To solve this, organizations need to have clear responsibilities and accountability structures.

Without careful planning, it can be easy to duplicate efforts when it comes to your cloud infrastructure. For instance, I came across a lot of businesses that individually built web application firewalls and next-gen firewall policies for each cloud provider. This aproach risks leaving gaps in the security policy, as different platforms may not offer equal levels of protection.

Cloud computing has often been heralded as a cost-cutting and convenient solution, enabling organizations to store, collect, and retrieve large volumes of data. However, the convenience provided by cloud computing depends on the risk exposure your organization is willing to accept.

Chief among these risks is the reliance on a third-party provider to store business data, which enhances privacy and security concerns.

Understanding your cloud infrastructure and where your data is stored is the first step towards enjoying the myriad benefits of cloud computing while balancing the risks.

When implementing a multi-cloud infrastructure, retaining an element of security and control of all your cloud services will be key to mitigating your risk exposure.

The cloud environment has fewer constraining perimeters, and this has many benefits for organizations, but also increases the complexity of understanding what is covered by your infrastructure. Building a good appreciation of what parts of your organization are exposed to the internet is essential in your efforts to secure your data.

Other cloud security strategies include data security, administration and control, network security, zero trust principles, and compliance all of which should make cloud environments more secure and robust.

By carefully planning and considering your cloud infrastructure as part of your organizations overall security posture, implementing appropriate policies and controls, and working with cloud providers that prioritize security as standard, your business can safely enjoy the benefits of cloud computing.

From the customers perspective, regardless of the cloud model that you are using, you are never without some responsibility for securing your data. Being aware of the varying level of vulnerability is essential in balancing the convenience of the cloud with your cybersecurity defenses.

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Cloud security: Sometimes the risks may outweigh the rewards - Help Net Security

The Power of Cloud Computing: Revolutionizing Business and IT … – Tech Critter

When you build software, storing, analyzing, and processing data can become challenging as your business scale. Fortunately, introducing cloud computing has helped enterprises and businesses tackle this scaling problem. Especially for IT infrastructure, cloud computing has been pivotal in empowering companies with remote capabilities.

Cloud computing offers internet computing services, allowing companies to access apps and databases remotely from any device. It reduces businesses reliance on the on premise IT infrastructure, which requires high investment and resources.

Further, cloud computing allows businesses to scale on demand and reduce costs by a pay-as-you-go model. Therefore, you do not need to pay for idle resources and spend only on what resources you use. Such benefits have encouraged businesses to invest heavily in cloud computing, boosting the market, which may reach $600 billion by the end of 2023.

However, is it just cost efficiency that is driving cloud-computing adoption?

Cloud computing provides many benefits beyond scalability and cost efficiency, making it a compelling investment for businesses. We will focus on the benefits of cloud computing and discuss how it is revolutionizing the IT infrastructure.

Cloud computing uses remote infrastructure hosted on the Internet to store, manage, and process data. It allows businesses to access data from any location and device using a secure network.

Some key characteristics of cloud computing are

The concept of cloud computing has come a long way since its inception. It presents new possibilities for businesses of every scale and sector. Some advantages of cloud computing are,

Cloud computing is transforming business operations in many ways, such as

Cloud services enable businesses to be flexible regarding resource allocation and data access. For example, an e-commerce business can leverage cloud services to cope with peak traffic during holiday sales. At the same time, cloud services allow these businesses to terminate instances and save costs if their load is lower.

It also allows companies remote data access, improving employees flexibility. Therefore, there are better collaborations, increased productivity, and ROI.

With cloud computing, you do not buy, install, and maintain expensive IT infrastructure. It offers a pricing structure where you pay only for instances you use. This leads to cost optimization and reduces any overhead expense.

Using cloud-computing services, you can optimize resource allocation and improve utilization. Cloud computing services provide access to a vast pool of resources, including higher processing power, storage, and memory. Most cloud services come with automated resource allocation features making it easy for businesses to manage resources.

Cloud computing enables accessible information sharing between employees, improving consistency and collaboration. Especially if specific employees in an organization are, working remotely and others are employed on-site, cloud computing enables remote access to data improving real-time collaborations and productivity.

Businesses can applications from any location with an internet connection thanks to cloud computing. This technology provides flexibility and improves security and reliability with backup, recovery, and encryption services.

For example, you can leverage cloud services and secure your data through encryption. Many certificate authorities offer SSL certificates to secure your data on the cloud like Comodo SSL, Sectigo SSL, GeoTrust SSL certificate. Therefore, you can install an SSL certificate to secure the communication between a cloud server and a web browser to prevent cyber-attacks while accessing information remotely.

Cloud computing is a transformative technology reshaping IT infrastructure for enterprises, small businesses, and startups. By adopting cloud computing, you can reduce costs, improve reliability, enhance security, simplify maintenance, and access cutting-edge technologies.

Cloud computing eliminates the need for buying and maintaining expensive IT infrastructure. Traditional on premise data centers require higher investments in hardware and software to manage resources. Cloud services reduce overhead expenditure through resource management features and a pay-as-you-go model.

Source

According to research, the difference between the costs of operation on cloud versus on premise infrastructure is almost 200%. Therefore, there is no denying that cloud-based infrastructure is cost-efficient compared to on premise infrastructure.

Cloud service providers often deploy their services across several data centers with copies of user data and apps. This redundancy enables faster disaster recovery for businesses and ensures that outage or failure does not affect user experience.

Cloud computing services have automatic failover systems that switch to backup if any primary system fails. Apart from the failover systems and backups, cloud devices also offer service-level agreements ensuring the high availability of resources.

Cloud services offer several security features, including support for encryptions, identity and data access management (IAM). For encryption, you can find SSL certificates at low price from online stores like CheapSSLShop and many others. Further, you can configure IAM and deploy role-based data access (RBAC) policies for enhanced security.

Cloud computing also ensures your systems are secure against key cybersecurity threats like DDOS, XSS, and MITM.

With cloud computing, you can easily access the latest versions of your favorite software and applications without the hassle of manual installations or updates. They take care of everything for you, so you always have the latest and safest software available. It saves you time! Therefore, you can focus on what you do the best, without worrying about the technical details.

Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) can benefit from cloud computing with access to a high-level IT infrastructure without the hefty price tag.

Cloud computing allows SMEs to access sophisticated software and services which is otherwise too expensive for such companies. SMEs automate several business tasks using cloud-based tools and software, which include CRM, ERP, and more.

Similarly, SMEs can leverage cloud services to quickly scale their operations without spending a fortune on IT infrastructure.

SMEs often have limited budgets, so the economics of scale is essential for them. This is where cloud computing services help SMEs overcome budget constraints by providing access to advanced tools and resource optimizations.

Apart from the resource optimizations, the cost of operations is also lower because SMEs need to pay only for the cloud infrastructure and resources they use.

Cloud computing services offer access to advanced technologies inaccessible for SMEs on their budget. Especially innovations like artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, and machine learning algorithms are not easy to access for SMEs.

However, cloud services have made it possible for SMEs to not only access such innovations but also integrate them into their existing systems.

Like every other technology, cloud computing has challenges and concerns. Right from concerns of security to vendor lock-ins and reliability issues, you need to consider multiple factors to overcome them.

Confidentiality of user data and privacy issues are common even in cloud-based applications. Businesses must comply with critical data protection regulations like General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and others.

Therefore, choosing a cloud service provider needs security features and policies that help your business comply with critical data regulations. Cloud computing services must ensure user data is secure and no data leaks.

Many cloud computing services like AWS, GCP, and others come with several in-built features, which are operational only in specific environments.

Further, these tools and features may not be compatible with other third-party services, and this is where vendor lock-ins only tie businesses to specific services. Therefore, choosing cloud-computing services that offer higher interoperability with third-party services and tools is crucial.

Cloud computing services do ensure high availability, but they are not foolproof. For example, on June 13, 2023, AWS systems faced a massive failure due to issues in the subsystem responsible for capacity management for AWS Lambda.

Similarly, any cloud computing system can face failure, so it is crucial to ensure that you choose a service that offers SLAs for higher availability.

Impact of cloud computing has been massive on different industries and businesses across domains. Here are some of the essential examples of how companies use cloud computing.

SimScale is a simulation tool for engineers created by five co-founders who were students with a small budget. They launched it on Amazon Web Services and were the first simulation product. AWS helped them save money on hardware, personnel, and IT maintenance. Despite limited resources, technology can help people and businesses achieve their goals.

DriveTime, a used car and finance company in Tempe, Arizona, improved customer experience and reduced downtime by moving its legacy systems to Microsoft Azure. The cloud platforms services, including Azure SQL Database and Azure DevOps, helped cut infrastructure expenses by 50%, improve application performance by 40%, and enhance security and compliance measures.

Many industries have been adopting cloud-computing services, and the impact has been significant. For example, Minna Bank, Japans first fully cloud-based digital bank, uses the AWS cloud platform for services like EC2, S3, RDS, DynamoDB, Kinesis, and SageMaker.

AWS enabled Minna Bank to launch fast, adjust to demand, and offer advanced features like biometric authentication and voice banking.

Similarly, educational institutions and media companies are also using cloud-based infrastructure. For example, Sanoma, a European education and media company, adopted a multi-cloud approach integrating AWS and GCP to boost innovation and expansion.

Machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies improved efficiency, reliability, and performance.

Cloud computing eliminates the need for startups to invest high amounts of money in hardware and IT infrastructure. Startups can use cloud computing to launch their products faster and securely across platforms.

It also ensures that startups deliver enhanced user experience by providing higher availability of systems. One of the most famous examples of a startup using cloud computing successfully is Amperity.

A Seattle-based startup leverages artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and cloud computing to create comprehensive 360-degree customer profiles. Companies can use this data for their business operations to enhance sales and CRM.

Cloud computings future will emphasize edge computing, IoT integration, AI, and machine learning for better decision-making and automation. Hybrid and multi-cloud environments, serverless computing, and containerization will provide greater flexibility and scalability. Exciting times are ahead for cloud computings evolution.

Edge computing helps process data close to the source like IoT devices. This can reduce the latency of data transmission, improve real-time processing and enhance the entire experience of using IoT systems.

Advancements in edge computing architectures will enable IoT systems with advanced autonomous decision-making functionalities.

Cloud services provide higher computational power required for AI and ML deployments. With further advancements in cloud computing power, scaling AI-based applications and use cases will be easier.

A recent example is Open AIs ChatGPT, which uses Microsoft Azure services for its generative capabilities. Similarly, in the future, cloud-based infrastructure will be key for AI-based applications.

Hybrid cloud combines public and private cloud services to offer enhanced flexibility. In the future, businesses will use multiple cloud providers for better risk management. There will be tools to manage applications across different cloud environments, improving businesses scalability.

Multi-cloud environments will boost cloud computing use cases as it offers businesses an opportunity to leverage multiple features at the same time.

Serverless computing, also known as Function-as-a-Service (FaaS), allows organizations to write code without worrying about the underlying infrastructure. In the future, serverless architectures will empower companies to scale their offerings on-demand without spending more on infrastructure.

Containerization will continue to be a key trend in cloud computing. Containers are a lightweight and portable approach to package applications. It makes deployment and application management consistent across platforms. Containerization also offers process isolation, which makes error detection easier.

Cloud computing has become synonymous with flexibility, reduced costs, and higher processing capabilities. However, like any other technology, it has challenges and concerns you must consider before moving to the cloud.

However, there is no denying that future trends in cloud computing services, like the use of containers, IoT, AI, and ML, will dominate how businesses will operate. One aspect of cloud computing which is most significant is its customizations. You can customize it according to your project requirements and improve customer experience.

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The Power of Cloud Computing: Revolutionizing Business and IT ... - Tech Critter