RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK Googles digital advertising network has shifted back into high gear, with its corporate parent reporting profit that more than doubled after an unprecedented setback during the early stages of the pandemic. Plus, cloud computing from Google is helping customers capitalize on digitalization, triggered in part by responses to the pandemic.

Sundar Pichai, CEO of Google and Alphabet, noted the trends in his summary of Tuesdays earnings report: Over the last year, people have turned to Google Search and many online services to stay informed, connected and entertained. Weve continued our focus on delivering trusted services to help people around the world. Our cloud services are helping businesses, big and small, accelerate their digital transformations.

From Sundar Pichals earnings conference call:

When I last spoke with you in early February, no one could have imagined how much the world would change, and how suddenly. Our thoughts are with everyone who has been impacted by COVID-19, especially those whove lost loved ones or their livelihoods. Its a challenging moment for the world.

Through it all, were incredibly grateful for all of the essential workers on the front-lines of this crisis, from health care workers and first-responders, to the grocery store clerks and delivery workers, to teachers grappling with new technology to help children learn remotely, to all of the scientists and researchers working hard to develop vaccines and treatments, and many others who are leading through these difficult times. Thank you. These people fill us with hope and show us the power of human resilience. Well need that energy andresolve in the months and years ahead.

Today, there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding the path to recovery. But there are some things that we can understand better with the patterns we are seeing. For example, its clear from data that people are being more cautious and are seeking authoritative advice and guidance to protect their families health and safety. A return to normal economic activity depends on how effectively societies manage the spread of the virus. Theres no one size fits all and the timing and pace of recovery will vary from location to location. This is a long-term effort.

Its also clear that this is the first major pandemic taking place in a digital world.

Read full transcript online.

The clouds growing importance to Google is reflected by the fact the tech giant expanding its cloud efforts with a new engineering center in Durham where it expects to employ 1,000 people.

Added Chief Financial Officer Ruth Porat:Total revenues of $55.3 billion in the first quarter reflect elevated consumer activity online and broad based growth in advertiser revenue. Were very pleased with the ongoing momentum in Google Cloud, with revenues of $4.0 billion in the quarter reflecting strength and opportunity in both GCP and Workspace.

The robust first-quarter advertising growth provides the latest sign that advertisers are expecting the economy to roar back to life as more people get vaccinated against COVID-19 and burst out of their pandemic cocoons.

That is particularly true in the travel industry, a key part of the ad market that drastically curtailed its spending last year after governments around the world imposed lockdowns to prevent the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Google picks Durham for engineering hub, aims to create 1,000 jobs

Google vast digital ad empire is now benefiting from that recovery, although company executives warned in a conference call that another wrong turn in the pandemic could discourage recent consumer splurging thats also spurring advertisers to spend more.

Its too early to say how durable this consumer behavior will be as economies recover and restrictions on mobility are lifted,Porat.

Googles sales surged 32% from the same time last year to nearly $45 billion during the January-March period. Its the third consecutive quarter of accelerating ad growth for Google following an 8% decline during last years April-June period. That marked the first time Googles quarterly ad revenue had fallen from the previous year since the company went public in 2004.

The resurgence enabled Alphabet to easily surpass the analyst estimates that help set investor expectations.

The Mountain View, California, company earned $17.9 billion, or $26.29 per share, more than double what it reported the same time last year. The profit was inflated by an accounting change of $650 million, or 97 cents per share.

Total revenue, which also includes Googles cloud-hosting service and device sales, climbed 34% from last year.

Analysts had projected earnings of $15.76 per share on revenue of $51.5 billion, according to FactSet. The performance pleased investors, who drove up Alphabets stock by 4% in extended trading after the numbers came out.

Aside from the one-quarter downturn in ad revenue, Google has mostly thrived throughout the pandemic as people became more dependent on its services a phenomenon that has strengthened other technology stalwarts such as Apple, Amazon, Microsoft, Facebook and Netflix.

Alphabets stock is trading above $2,300, nearly double its price when the pandemic was declared 13 months ago. Alphabets market value is now nearly $1.6 trillion. And if Alphabets shares follow the same trajectory during Wednesdays regular trading session, the stock will hit a new peak.

Googles critics contend much of its success has come through anti-competitive practices tied to the dominance of its search engine, which has become the de facto gateway into the digital world. Those complaints culminated in a series of lawsuits filed by U.S. regulators last year in cases aimed at reining in Googles ability to expand, if not forcing a break of its services.

But the main lawsuit filed by the U.S. Justice Department isnt scheduled to go to trial until September 2023, leaving Google ample time to extend its tentacles even further while fighting a case that it contends is unfounded.

Googles YouTube video site remains one of the companys fastest rising stars, with ad revenue increasing 49% from last year to $6 billion. The companys cloud-computing service is also rapidly expanding; its revenue shot up 46% from last year.

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Inside Google's soaring earnings: 'Our cloud services are helping businesses, big and small, accelerate their digital transformations'" - WRAL...

To understand whether S/4HANA Cloud extended edition offers the right balance of control and ease, it's important to start with an overview of this ERP system.

Although SAP has been urging its users to migrate to the cloud, it offers cloud, on-premises and hybrid deployment options for S/4HANA. Software flexibility and functionality varies among these. S/4HANA Cloud is the entry-level offering. It's designed for users with relatively simple needs and for subsidiaries of larger enterprises that are running SAP systems. The S/4HANA Cloud extended edition (EX) is one step up in terms of cost, complexity and flexibility.

SAP frequently changes its product offerings' nomenclature and, to that point, previously called S/4HANA Cloud EX the S/4HANA single-tenant edition. As its former name suggests, extended edition is offered on a dedicated cloud landscape.

S/4HANA Cloud EX offers much of the entry-level S/4HANA Cloud version's simplicity and standardization. However, S/4HANA users have much greater control over their SAP environment because the software offers more customization capabilities and third-party integrations.

The extended edition also has a wider range of user interface options and expanded functionality compared to the multi-tenant version. This comes with a cost, of course. SAP requires a higher user count for EX, and the software's increased complexity makes it more expensive to operate.

S/4HANA Cloud EX is appropriate for midsize and large enterprises that don't want to manage an IT infrastructure but want more options and flexibility than the entry-level version offers.

The extended edition provides the complete range of SAP features, including localization and best practices for 64 countries. It's available in 39 different languages and offers vertical functionality for 25 industries. By contrast, the multi-tenant S/4HANA Cloud ERP functionality is more limited.

Organizations can integrate S/4HANA Cloud EX with SAP SuccessFactors Employee Central, which handles HR; Fieldglass, which handles vendor management; Hybris, which handles e-commerce and CRM; and Ariba Network, which handles procurement and supply chain management.

One of the primary drawbacks of SAP's entry-level S/4HANA Cloud version is its limited customization and enhancement options. The extended edition offers a bit more flexibility but is still limited compared to the more complex "Any Premise" versions.

S/4HANA Cloud EX is likely best for new SAP users who need a bit more flexibility and functionality than the multi-tenant S/4HANA Cloud version can provide, but who are still willing to embrace SAP's standard processes and best practices.

S/4HANA Cloud EX allows ABAP extensions, but modifications that alter SAP's existing functionality are not permitted. As with the basic Cloud version, developers can opt for side-by-side development and create cloud-based apps that run alongside S/4HANA. This approach is likely new for many veteran SAP programmers but can extend S/4HANA functionality to very good effect.

Power users can take advantage of the product's in-app extensibility features to create new fields and add business logic, among other functions.

Like the entry-level product, S/4HANA Cloud EX supports the use of partner-developed content, but partners must add those configurations manually.

Although some of the more complex S/4HANA configurations offer a perpetual license option, S/4HANA Cloud EX is available on a subscription basis only and is only available as a SaaS product.

Hosting and infrastructure management are included in S/4HANA Cloud EX's monthly fees, and companies usually sign up for multiyear contracts.

S/4HANA Cloud EX users have a few new cloud platform options that aren't available for multi-tenant users. Although SAP manages the environment and it runs on the SAP Cloud Platform (SCP), one of the SAP-approved hyperscalers -- such as Microsoft Azure, AWS or the Google Cloud Platform -- may host the environment.

Unlike the multi-tenant version, the S/4HANA Cloud EX ERP option provides a dedicated environment, so organizations don't share with other users. However, the environment is still highly standardized. It offers a common set of infrastructure processes, services and service-level agreements for every user running this version of S/4HANA. Because of that standardization, S/4HANA Cloud EX users have less flexibility and fewer extensibility options than those using the more complex variations of SAP's latest ERP product.

S/4HANA Cloud is limited to new -- that is, greenfield -- implementations. Companies performing a direct migration from an older SAP version will need to select one of S/4HANA's higher-end versions. Users planning a move from SAP R/3 will need to implement a new system from scratch.

Many of SAP's existing users will likely be dissatisfied with the extended edition because it's built for standardization.

S/4HANA Cloud EX's upgrades offer a bit more flexibility than the basic Cloud version. Upgrades occur twice a year, and users have some control over their timing. For many companies, this offers the best of both worlds: They get fast access to new innovations, but they can also postpone the potential disruptions associated with an upgrade process. Companies facing high-volume seasonal fluctuations or other events will likely value that flexibility.

S/4HANA Cloud EX is likely best for new SAP users who need a bit more flexibility and functionality than the multi-tenant S/4HANA Cloud version can provide, but who are still willing to embrace SAP's standard processes and best practices.

Extended edition users may be advised to rework their existing business processes to fit S/4HANA's recommended approach rather than tailoring the software. In this respect, EX offers a move away from S/4HANA Cloud's high degree of standardization.

Continued here:
S/4HANA Cloud extended edition (EX): Buying team overview - TechTarget

Application Hosting market report provides a comprehensive analysis of the business models, key market dynamics, which includes the drivers, restraints, trends, and opportunities, key strategies, and respective market shares of some of the major key players in the Application Hosting landscape. Along with an in-depth interpretation on the key influencing factors, market information in terms of revenues, segment-wise data, region-wise data, and country-wise data is offered in the full report. The main aim of the Application Hosting market report is to present exclusive information about how the market will perform during the forecast period of 2020-2026.TheApplication Hosting Market sizewas valued atUS$ XX Mn in 2018 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of11.8%for the forecast period ending2026 reaching a Market value of US$ XX Mn.

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Finding The Right Approach Identity Management In The Pandemic And Beyond

Over the past year, companies have had to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic and how it has affected their operations. From new digital services through to security, the response to more hybrid and remote working showed some of the assumptions that we have made over the years, and it required companies to innovate and fill those gaps.Physical and IT security was no exception to this. In the rush to support home working, many IT security teams realised how much they rely on physical security to help with their identity management approaches. To adapt to what is taking place now, identity management has to evolve too.Challenging our assumptions around identity managementIdentity management involves ensuring that authorized and authenticated individuals can get access to the tools and data they need to work, and restricting access from those that dont. Identification is establishing who a user is, and then authentication verifies someone is who they say they are through a combination of different methods or factors linked to who they are, what device they are using, what they know, and what they have.Physical security provides an identity perimeter by restricting device access to only those that are allowed to enter a location, whether this is through using technology like smart cards or biometrics through to people managing who can enter the building at reception. With this boundary in place, using a combination of username and password is enough to meet security requirements. A more zero trust approach is needed where we trust nothing and verify everythingHowever, the pandemic took this away. For many IT security teams, this showed how much they had taken physical security for granted in their security planning. Alongside having to provide remote access that is secure, these teams had to think about how to manage identities securely as well. The default approach of username and password is not enough when everyone can be working on any device and from essentially any location. Instead, identity has become the new perimeter. The new office is wherever a user and device are, and authentication must change that we can prove people are who they say they are.A more zero trust approach is needed where we trust nothing and verify everything. The mindset behind zero trust security is to regard all sources of network traffic, both external and internal, as potential routes for attacks. Therefore, all users and resources must be verified and authenticated wherever they come from, system data must be collected and analyzed for risks, and network access and traffic must be limited and monitored. While it may seem a bit paranoid, zero-trust security is rooted in the realities of the cloud computing age.Multi-factor authentication or MFA can be used to add more types and factors for authentication. So, in addition to something you know like a password, you can use something you have as well. This would typically be a one time password sent to the users phone or from a cellphone authenticator app, which fills the role of something they have. Managing this at any scale requires work. For large companies with established processes and identity management strategies, this would be something they could add on as part of that remote working implementation. However, for many smaller businesses that dont have established IT directories or that have a wide range of different and new applications in place to support, it is more challenging.Everything is differentOne reason for this is the sheer variety of IT assets, devices, and applications that now have to be supported. Rather than the IT-designed network of machines that is standardized and fully controlled, we today have a far wider range of devices, operating systems and locations in play. Alongside this, there is the issue of controlling access to cloud-based services and Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) applications, which have also grown in popularity.The traditional IT directory that is normally used as the starting point for identity management is not normally equipped to manage the modern identity landscape. Looking at cloud-based directories is therefore a worthwhile step, as these are built to manage Identities, SaaS applications and VPNs and also support both multiple operating systems and the wide range of different devices that todays users have.From a physical security perspective, identity and access management can be an area to develop. While the need for building access is reduced at the moment, it will return when the pandemic ends. In these circumstances, new approaches may also be needed. For example, fingerprint biometric security processes are popular to fill the requirement around verifying that someone is who they say they are. However, traditional approaches like fingerprint scanners may be less popular as they require users to touch the readers. For high traffic locations with lots of people, that will be a risk.Instead, combining access and identity can be made easier through approaches that take advantage of the new flexibility that pandemic responses needed. For example, using the physical access control support in todays smartphones can enable organizations to use biometric fingerprint readers or face recognition without having to enforce everyone using the same biometric reader. By linking to phone applications that employees have on their devices, fingerprints or other forms of biometric data can be used to grant access.Thinking about contextLooking into the future, many of us are looking forward to things going back to the way that they were before the pandemic. However, there are a lot of things that we had to adapt and use to keep operations running and secure during lockdown that we should continue to make use of. Rather than simply going back, we should look ahead at a more hybrid approach to everything, including security.This includes looking at context for identity and access management. Rather than simple approaches that are either too insecure or overkill for employees, we can set out situations that match the most common working situations and then enforce some rules on when access is granted. For this, we can look at how to use authentication and access control more effectively alongside other security factors. As we move to a more hybrid way of working, this flexibility of approach will be necessary to cope with all the different scenarios that employees will be inThe first element here is the devices that users have. Trusted devices can be their own factor for authentication, where a device trust can be set up with a specific user account and linked to a specific device like a PC, laptop or tablet. If the user is not using one of those devices, then they can have an additional factor for authentication used, such as entering a one-time password from their cellphone or a cellphone push authentication. This approach does not restrict users that may need to work from other devices occasionally, but it does protect against theft of passwords or dictionary attacks on credentials.The second element is location. When users connect, they will use an IP address that connects them to a network either in the office, to their home provider, or to a public network. Depending on the circumstances, you can put rules in place on how you manage those connections. For a user that is in the office, they may get access automatically in the same way they used to.With conditional access based on geolocation, user access can be allowed or blocked based on a users physical location or challenged with a step-up authentication. For example, your business may be based in the UK and with offices in Europe. Getting an access request from India or China may not be legitimate, so IP addresses from those countries can be automatically blocked. Alternatively, if you do have staff that will travel to those countries, then access can be dependent on using a known device and authentication step before signing in.The approach here is to use conditional access based on identity, location, and device and make access as simple as possible for the user and without causing excess risk to the organization. By looking at specific circumstances and context, you can design your access management approach to fit the user. As we move to a more hybrid way of working, this flexibility of approach will be necessary to cope with all the different scenarios that employees will be in.

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Using IBM Cloud As Host, Ocucon Introduces Pixelate In The US Market - SecurityInformed

Cenmax, One of Indias leading web-hosting providers, has introduced a new location of their Cloud service in Tokyo, Japan.

In the official statement, Mr. Kavin Raj, the founder of Cenmax, stated that Cenmax expands rapidly to meet our clients requirements. Even though we have operational locations near Japan, like in Hong Kong, it was a long time request that we introduce a location in Japan by many clients. Today, we have our users long time request, the inclusion of a Japanese location in our CloudCenmax service.

Our Japan VPS Servers are much more powerful they are directly connected with almost all leading network operators in Japan, which makes our servers latency for Japanese users very low and faster response time. Which makes our Japan VPS the best option for any use-cases, including for CDN nodes, Forex, Application Edge Node, and the Website hosting, he added.

Kaviya Priya, the CTO of Cenmax, said, All Japan VPS that people can get from Cenmax is housed in a redundant TIER 3+ Datacenter Facility. With extensive reliability and redundancy, We guarantee that youll never experience even 0.1% downtime.

We have built a highly resilient network to power up your Japan VPS, which is backed by the industrys most advanced and new generation technology. As a result, your Japan VPS from Cenmax will be faster, reliable, and our Japan Servers will always be online for you.

About Cenmax:

Cenmax is a customer-centric data center and web hosting service provider based in India. Cenmax is trusted by more than 3000 enterprises across the globe and is a hosting partner of choice for many. Cenmax offers cost-effective Dedicated servers, WordPress Hosting, Cloud Hosting, VPS, Cloud instances, Private Cloud solutions to their clients from over 80 countries.

Media ContactCompany Name: CenmaxContact Person: Neeraj KumarEmail: Send EmailPhone: +91 9444126281Country: IndiaWebsite: cenmax.in

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Cenmax added a new Japan Location to its Cloud Service - Virtual-Strategy Magazine