The Hindu | Neither here nor there The Hindu On the flipside, most of our cloud servers promise security and let us own the virtual space, but users can never shake the thought of a security hack, the server going down, or the need to pay more as storage needs rise. Another aspect here is privacy ... |
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Neither here nor there - The Hindu
Could Salesforce Outshine Its Peers in the Cloud Space? PART 2 OF 19
Earlier in this series, we discussed Salesforce (CRM) opening adata center in Japan (EWJ) to cater to its expanding customer base in the Asia-Pacific region. Amazon (AMZN), Microsoft (MSFT), IBM (IBM), Alphabet (GOOG), Salesforce, and other cloud providers are competing in adding new data center facilities.
According to Cisco Systems (CSCO) Global Cloud Index, the global count ofhyperscale data centers is expected to grow from 259 in 2015 to 485 by 2020, which would amount to 47% of all installed data center servers by 2020. This growth could comprise 83% and 86% of the public cloud server installed base and public cloud workloads, respectively, in 2020. This trend explains tech giants billion-dollar investments towards data centers and IT (information technology) infrastructure.
In fiscal 4Q17, Salesforces revenue grew in all geographies, as the above presentation shows. Salesforce derives the bulk of its revenue from the Americas. However, it is the Asia-Pacific (FAX) region that grew the most, growing 35%, or 30% in constant currency, in 4Q17. The Americas region posted ~$1.7 billion in revenue, Europe (EFA) posted ~$361 million, and the Asia-Pacific region posted ~$215 million. Salesforces continued growth in the Asia-Pacific region indicates its success in and keenness on implementing its diversification plans.
President Donald Trumps proposed tax reductions are expected to bring in more than $2 trillion parked overseas by US companies. This move is likely to benefit Salesforce, which, unlike peers Microsoft, IBM, and Oracle (ORCL), generates a substantial portion of its revenue from the Americas.
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Why Salesforce's Focus on Japan Is Opportune - Market Realist
KENOSHA, Wis., April 25, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --OFFSITE, an innovative cloud computing and data center hosting company, is integrating Palo Alto Next Generation Security Platform and firewalls into its network and private cloud infrastructure. This security platform will offer the industry leading threat protection with deep visibility and predictive analytics for OFFSITE network infrastructure and all clients that utilize it.
"Our approach to IT is to provide the best and most innovative platforms to serve our clients. As network threats increase, the Palo Alto Security Platform was the clear choice to continue providing our clients with the very best infrastructure available," said OFFSITE president, Steve Borucki. He added, "We build highly customized solutions for each client and the rich feature set of the Palo Alto platform allows us to deliver customizable and unique security solutions one client at a time."
Anthony Portee, OFFSITE chief technology officer said, "The fully customized private cloud solutions being envisioned and commissioned by our client base demand a highly scalable and efficient NGFW solution which can satisfy a wide range of business and security needs. From application inspection and content enforcement to executive reporting and traffic visibility, the Palo Alto solution satisfies all of the unique and challenging technical requirements our customers look to OFFSITE to resolve. The high performance and tightly integrated ecosystem provided by the Palo Alto product family fulfills a critical role for OFFSITE's customers."
About OFFSITE
OFFSITE redefines the data center experience for mid-tier IT organizations with its high performing environment for managing data operations. Operating since 2001, OFFSITE offers private cloud services, IaaS, colocation services, disaster recovery services, network operations center (NOC) services, and hosted and managed solutions. OFFSITE's spacious facilities and customized services enable mid-market businesses to solve their IT challenges and discover new managed services, hosting and private cloud computing solutions. OFFSITE is a privately held company headquartered at its own 50,000 square foot facilities in Southeastern WI with redundant data center operations in Chicago, Illinois. For additional information about OFFSITE, call 262-564-6400, email info@off-site.com, or visit http://www.off-site.com
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/offsite-cloud-computing-and-data-center-operator-announces-integration-of-palo-alto-security-platform-to-its-private-cloud-infrastructure-300444593.html
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OFFSITE Cloud Computing And Data Center Operator Announces Integration Of Palo Alto Security Platform To Its ... - Yahoo Finance
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Three leading cloud services providers to the UK public sector give their response to techUKs new report calling for Cloud First to be more prominent on the government tech agenda.
As part of its new report Cloud First: Policy Not Aspiration technology industry association techUK calls for greater communication between public sector buy-side and cloud services vendors on the sell-side to support greater adoption of cloud computing in the UK public sector.
It also queries whether the Cloud First message of several years ago still resonates as strongly and is being pushed as hard as it was by central government policy makers.Sue Daley, head of cloud, data, analytics and artificial intelligence at techUK, says:
The next wave of our digital revolution is being powered by the internet of things, big data analytics and artificial intelligence cloud computing underpins all of these developments. Given the importance of this technology to the UKs digital future, it is vital that users understand the security benefits of the Cloud and that advice delivered today addresses the users concerns. We want to take away all the confusion around cloud and highlight that cloud services can actually offer much greater levels of security and resilience as required by users.
diginomica asked a number of UK public sector cloud providers for their own views on the techUK report and its conclusions, beginning with Simon Hansford, CEO of UKCloud, whos a big supporter of the Cloud First mantra:
Cloud First is a policy that has served us well and should not be dropped. It conveys a simple message one that with the right support can gain traction and act as a catalyst for transformation just as we have seen with exemplar projects from HMRC to DVLA. Theres a lot more to do though with thousands of workloads that are virtualised and would be cheaper and better run in the cloud.
Typically, you find poor leadership and oversight behind failures to implement cloud first. Without a champion or widespread support you can struggle to overcome resistance resulting from a lack of education to benefits of cloud. After all we still see people moving to Crown Hosting or issuing tenders to build data centres.
That said, Hansford is also supportive of the emergence of the Cloud Native message alongside Cloud First:
Cloud Native is equally important and becoming the new mantra for many, but its a much harder message to convey and requires a lot more education. Cloud Native means that the application is written for the cloud from the ground up its not a just a virtualised app. Knowing what is involved 12 Factor App, etc. requires enough understanding to see beyond the headline or sound bite. If youre not careful, you run the risk of ending up with a Cloud Native app that is locked in to a cloud vendors propriety technology stack and therefore falls foul of open government and government procurement policies.
Gavin Mee, Senior Vice President and Head of UK, Salesforce, picks up on the skills aspect of the techUK report:
The TechUK report highlights the issues government faces in rolling out cloud services and echoes theGovernment Digital Service Advisory Boardfinding that the internal skills of employees is a significant challenge to governmentsdesire to move away from legacy IT systems. Whatever the technology involved, culture and employee adoption are critical success factors for any tech project.
At Salesforce we recognise that a gap in digital skills is a key barrier to the adoption of cloud technology, in both the public and private sectors. This is why we believe that the education and upskilling of the entire workforce is of the upmost importance, not only for the success of each organisation, but more widely for the sake of innovation and the future of Britain.
Beyond giving employees the skills they need to succeed, its up to leadership to build a culture of innovation and cloud confidence where employeesat all levels and experience have the tools and culture to learnWe should be empowering all public sector workers, to feel confident using cloud and other technologies to better serve citizens. Its about putting the tools and resources in their hands to boost digital innovation in the public sector.
MeanwhileStuart Provan, Head of UK Public Sector, Oracle, points to the progress that the UK public sector has made in its cloud adoption to date, but adds:
To continue this strong momentum, public sector bodies must ensure that not only are they implementing cloud technologies, but also adapting their business models, processes and organisational culture alongside this change. In doing this, they will be able to fully realise the benefits of cloud particularly when it comes to leveraging cost savings, the latest technical updates and security patches.
Its also vital that the public sector is vocal about, and builds on, the successes it has already seen when using sloud. By highlighting the myriad of use cases for cloud, the benefits for other organisations within the sector will become clear and encourage more to adopt the technology take and advantage of it.
Its a small sample, but cloud services providers to the public sector are clearly supportive of the Public Cloud First message that was set down several years ago. Its up to the buy-side to engage in conversations with the sell-side to ensure that the promise of cloud computing is fully realised in public services delivery.
Image credit - freeimages.com
Disclosure - At time of writing, Oracle, Salesforce and UKCloud are partners of diginomica/government.
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The future for Cloud First industry reaction - Diginomica
Embedded within the curriculum for Notre Dame's new online Master of Science in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics: Data Science Specialization, Vocareum will be used for multiple aspects of student learning and assessments including: creating practice problems, hosting homework sets, recording grades in the Learning Management System (LMS), and communicating grades and feedback to students.
By using Vocareum, Notre Dame will be able to deploy its online classes much faster and more cost effectively until recently, the big challenge in supporting such classes has been the cost and complexity of setting up labs and compute clusters to meet the need for an up-to-date range of programming languages and analytics tools. Student work, big data sets, computation and visualization environments all present additional administrative burdens. Now with Vocareum, Notre Dame faculty and graduate students get everything in one place.
"We need learning solutions that are current, easy to use, and scalable across a large number of technical disciplines. Vocareum really fits the bill," says Elliott Visconsi, Chief Academic Digital Officer at the University of Notre Dame. Professor Steven Buechler, Faculty Director of Notre Dame's new online data science graduate program, adds that "we were attracted to Vocareum because it offers an extensive set of utilities built on top of AWS, giving us the flexibility to configure a cost-effective computing hub for the diverse tools we'll be teaching across our Data Science program."
About VocareumVocareum is a learning management system (LMS) built specifically for coding instruction. With capabilities like grading automation, plagiarism detection and learning analytics that are missing in horizontal LMS offerings, Vocareum significantly improves assessment efficiency, student engagement, collaboration strategies and learning analytics. By moving student work to the cloud and leveraging cloud computing resources, we make it possible to deliver cost-effective and current computing labs to our partners.
Learn more about Vocareum.
About Notre Dame's Online Masters of Data ScienceThe online Master of Science in Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics: Data Science Specialization program from the University of Notre Dame is designed to prepare graduates for immediate career growth and long-term success as data scientists. Shaped by Notre Dame's mission to be a force for good in the world, the 21-month degree program, offered at half-time pace to fit the schedule of working professionals, features the flexibility of online learning, small classes led by Notre Dame faculty and exclusive in-person weekend immersions with faculty, industry experts and thought leaders at Notre Dame and in Silicon Valley. In addition to essential foundation courses in statistics, mathematics and computer science, the multidisciplinary curriculum also features data science ethics, storytelling and communications; data science as a business process; behavioral data science; case studies; and practical applications drawn from industry. Offered by the Department of Applied and Computational Mathematics and Statistics, with the collaboration of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, the Mendoza College of Business and the Department of Psychology, this degree program is designed to prepare graduates for careers as data scientists in a wide range of industry fields including management, marketing, information technology, government policy, health care, finance, education and scientific research.
Learn more about Notre Dame's online data science graduate program.
Media Contact:David Lin VP Business Development david@vocareum.com +1.408.471.4114
To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/vocareum-deploys-cloud-based-online-learning-lab-with-university-of-notre-dame-to-educate-the-next-generation-of-data-scientists-300444775.html
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Vocareum Deploys Cloud-Based Online Learning Lab With University Of Notre Dame To Educate The Next Generation ... - PR Newswire (press release)
The benefits brought forth by digitisation surround us and have a positive impact on virtually every aspect of our modern lives. This progress is only set to expand further as connectivity proliferates and smart cities and Internet of Things environments abound.
This progress, however, comes at a cost, which is that increasingly interconnected, intelligent, and instrumented eco-systems are more open to cyber and other threats.
In much the same way as we believe the gains from digitisation far outweigh the negative consequences of a widening cyber threat surface, we also believe resilient encryptions serve a greater positive role in society than they do a negative or potentially menacing one.
There are by far more progressive things being protected by strong encryption than there are foreboding activities being perpetuated behind the protection offered by encrypted communications.
We advise the establishment of a good implementation of End-2-End Encryption (E2E), which means that nobody in between whether its the device manufacturer, the Internet Service Provider, the telecom companies nor any eavesdropper should be able to decrypt the data.
Such an encryption technique could be further improved with the use of Perfect and Future Forward Secrecy, where the encryption keys and the exchange keys are used only once, then destroyed forensically and never used again, and in which future keys cannot decrypt past messages.
In addition to encryption, we advise enterprises and governments to look at all the end points that might affect data in transit and at rest. It is just as critical to know who and what touches the data in the internal network, the storage network or cloud, as it is to secure the data in transit.
(By Leo Cole, Vice President of Marketing at DarkMatter. He may be contacted on Twitter @coleleoj)
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Gains from encryption continue to outweigh the pain - AMEinfo
Anuradha Shukla | April 24, 2017
Escalating threats accelerate encryption deployments: Thales Global Encryption Study
Enterprises have accelerated adoption of encryption strategies, according to the 2017 Global Encryption Trends Study.
The report, based on independent research by the Ponemon Institute and sponsored by Thales, indicates that 41 percent of organisations have an encryption strategy applied consistently across the enterprise.
Organizations continue to show a preference for control over encryption and key management when those activities migrate to the cloud, business unit leaders now enjoy a higher influence over encryption strategy than IT operations.
The accelerated growth of encryption strategies in business underscores the proliferation of mega breaches and cyberattacks, as well as the need to protect a broadening range of sensitive data types, said Dr Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of The Ponemon Institute.
He stressed the report found that the stakes were too high for organisations to stand by and wait for an attack to happen to them before introducing a sophisticated data protection strategy. Encryption and key management continue to play critical roles in these strategies.
Of the report highlights, 67 percent of respondents indicated they performed encryption on premise prior to sending data to the cloud, or encrypt in the cloud using keys they generate and manage on premises.
Reflecting wide adoption of cloud computing, 37 percent said their organisations turn over complete control of keys and encryption processes to cloud providers. And as many as 31 percent are currently using or planning to use Hardware Security Modules (HSMs) with Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) deployments.
Overall, usage of HSMs with Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASBs) is expected to double in the next 12 months (from 12 percent to 24 percent).
This years findings align with key trends demonstrating an increased reliance on the cloud, ever-evolving internal and external threats, and new data sources mandating stronger protection, said John Grimm, senior director of security strategy at Thales e-Security.
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Enterprises have accelerated adoption of encryption strategies - MIS Asia
When theSEC, last month, announced the proposal from Winklevoss Bitcoin Trust was declined, they made a clear statement to the cryptocurrency community: more security is needed.
In their terms, they did not "find the proposal to be consistent with Section 6(b)(5) of the Exchange Act, which requires, among other things, that the rules of a national securities exchange be designed to prevent fraudulent and manipulative acts and practices and to protect investors and the public interest."
Of course, that sent investors into a tizzy, serving up a 15% loss and sending Bitcoin down to $1050 from its recent high of nearly $1300. It lived to see a new day, of course, and since, the price of Bitcoin has recovered rather nicely. As of this writing, it sits at $1237. I wanted to give it some time before putting together a reaction on the news simply because Bitcoin, and cryptocurrencies in general, are highly volatile. Pricing isnt strictly subject to scarcity, and demand tends to lean towards the fickle. AnSECdecision sends investors on a rollercoaster ride, and many, seeing the immediate bottom, jumped back on board to nail down a nice short-term profit. In this way, Bitcoin is both volatile and resilient.
Cryptocurrencies will not die based on bad news out of theSEC. It is international in a way which transcends a single agency, even when that agency is theSEC. The threat to cryptocurrency is not external organizations, though such organizations, based on their acceptance, could certainly help it mainstream. The real threat to cryptocurrency is whats behind the rejection. The real threat is the lack of preparedness for external cybercrime. In order for Bitcoin, or other cryptocurrencies, to gain mainstream traction and transform the way the world transacts, outside of its niche community, the movement will need to find a way to lessen the exposure to external risk.
Winklevoss has been working on this proposal for several years, and along the way, they continue to restructure it. They, and others, will continue to work to gain approval for an ETF, and the best way to help their cause is to address the structural challenges associated with the concept. Until they do so, it is likely we will see more failed attempts. Such attempts shouldnt be taken as a reason to dump the currency. It should be taken in the context in which it exists: government agencies need more proof, more security, and more upside to mainstream a groundbreaking, innovative disrupter.
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Bitcoin ETF Bites the Dust, Needs More Security - Finextra (blog)
Bitcoin has existed for less than a decade, but it has achieved amazing popularity across the globe, and its value has risen along with its use. Shortly after its creation in 2009, one could buy the virtual currency for less than a penny per bitcoin. Now, a bitcoin is worth about $1,250, and many believe that the upward trend for bitcoin could continue indefinitely. Despite there being plenty of skepticism about the inherent value of bitcoin, the currency has survived dramatic volatility without losing favor among its core users.
During the first couple of years of its existence, bitcoin saw dramatic gains in price. From its penny valuation in 2009, bitcoin rose to $0.10 by 2010 and first hit the $1 mark in early 2011. That ignited a huge wave of new demand for bitcoin, sending the currency up to more than $10 by mid-2011.
Image source: Getty Images.
Yet at that point, bitcoin showed its propensity for big ups and downs. Within just a few months, bitcoin prices dropped 80%, punishing those who had gotten in at the top and were looking for quick gains. Still, those who stuck with bitcoin earned back their losses, with the currency reaching the $10 mark again in late 2012.
From there, the next wave of interest in bitcoin took the currency to the $100 mark and beyond, climbing to nearly $200 by early 2013. The bankruptcy of the Mt. Gox bitcoin exchange briefly took a big toll on prices, cutting bitcoin's value in half, but before the year was out, the digital currency climbed above $1,000 as market participants increasingly believed that bitcoin would achieve global currency status and prove to be a better alternative to traditional government-issued currency. The frequency of financial crises across the globe during the first several years of bitcoin's history certainly helped feed that theory and added to bitcoin's appeal.
Since then, bitcoin has remained volatile, but not to the same extent as it was earlier in its existence. Prices sank to around $200 in 2015, but the currency picked up steam again more recently. This year, bitcoin regained the $1,000 level and has climbed as high as nearly $1,300.
One concern that some have expressed about bitcoin is that the currency has no intrinsic value. Gold coins, by contrast, represent a given weight of an actual commodity with practical applications, and gold investors take comfort in the fact that their bullion is worth something beyond monetary terms. That's not true of bitcoin, which one receives as a reward for solving complex mathematical problems.
Yet bitcoin advocates note that the same is true of paper currency. It used to be that Federal Reserve notes were tied to the value of gold or silver, but those days are long gone. Just as a dollar bill only has whatever value a buyer and seller assign to it, so too does bitcoin have practical value to the extent that those who make exchanges of the digital currency agree on what it's worth.
One reason why bitcoin has become more valuable likely has to do with the fact that one can use it more widely now than early in its history. Many major technology and retail companies accept bitcoin in the same way they would older currencies, and small businesses have jumped on the bitcoin bandwagon as well. Moreover, with relatively low transaction fees for transfers, bitcoin has become a popular way to move money while avoiding the costly charges that banks and other financial institutions often impose.
Bitcoin has seen dramatic price increases recently, but the one thing investors in the currency can be certain of is that volatility in both directions will continue. With some calling for continued exponential growth in the value of bitcoin while others believe it's a bubble waiting to burst, the market for bitcoin is sure to be exciting for the foreseeable future.
The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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What Is a Bitcoin Worth? - Motley Fool
Bradenton Herald | Criminals who use Bitcoin targeted under proposed Florida law ... Bradenton Herald Florida lawmakers are poised to pass a bill that will add virtual currency to the state's money-laundering statute, a change hailed by law enforcement although ... Florida Lawmakers Want Bitcoin Covered Under Money Laundering ... New Florida Virtual Currency Bill to Target Bitcoin Money ... Florida Bill Aims To Add Virtual Currency To AML Statutes ... |
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Criminals who use Bitcoin targeted under proposed Florida law ... - Bradenton Herald