Tag Archives: cloud

Cloud saves money, boosts profits

cloud computing savingsPropaganda, sorry research, commissioned by cloud company Rackspace and given respectability by Manchester Business School says 88% of companies who moved to the cloud saved money.

That’s impressive number, but considering cloud companies sell their service on the promise of saving money, that means one in eight companies hasn’t saved money.

And 60% of companies said moving to the cloud meant they need fewer IT staff to support infrastructure – that gives them resources for dealing with strategic matters.

Most impressive are the 56% of companies who say cloud computing has helped boost profits.

Although this kind of research is often of dubious value – do you think Rackspace would trumpet its survey if it found cloud customers weren’t saving money – there’s an important big picture. Forget Rackspace’s numbers, forget the spin. Here’s what matters:

  • Cloud computing saves money
  • Cloud improves profits
  • Cloud free resources for more productive tasks

88 per cent of cloud users point to cost savings, according to Rackspace Survey | Rackspace UK Blog.

Chromebook Pixel, just jewellery really

Lifehacker Australia gets a sneak preview of the Chromebook Pixel

Lifehacker Australia gets a sneak preview of the Chromebook Pixel

Lifehacker Australia takes a quick look at Google’s Chromebook Pixel. From the review I see it described as expensive and pointless. It may be useful for people who work for Google or resell Google products for everyone else it is just a fancy adornment.

This reminds of the prominent New Zealand technology executive who years ago told me Compaq was an expensive brand that only existed to make people look good – a fancy adornment. In other word’s high-tech jewellery. That description suits the Chromebook well.

Chromebook Pixel Hands-On: Pretty, Pretty Pricey, Pretty Pointless | Lifehacker Australia.

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Google’s Chromebook Pixel pushes boundaries

Chromebook Pixel

Chromebook Pixel

Google’s new flagship device is the Chromebook Pixel: a US$1,300 laptop with a Retina-like high-resolution touch screen and a 32GB SSD. It uses Google’s Chrome OS which means applications run in the browser, not as native apps. Two models are on sale in the US, one is Wi-Fi only, the other has 4G mobile networking.

The specification is quite a turnaround from earlier Chromebooks. Only last week I wrote about the unappetising cheap, low-end laptops sporting ordinary specifications. The Chromebook Pixel turns that description on its head. There’s enough power for demanding users thanks to a 1.8Ghz Intel Core i5, integrated graphics and 4GB of Ram.

Most of the extra money pays for the screen, which is a 12.85 inch display with a whopping 2560×1700 pixels – that’s more pixels per inch than Apple’s 13 inch MacBook Pro. It should much smoother, easier-to-read text and make graphics sharper – although users will only get the full access with specially updated web pages.

The other highlight is the touch screen, which paves the way for a ChromeOS tablet – that sounds more interesting to me than an Android tablet.

For now high density displays are still something of a freak-show. Google’s move suggests they will quickly become mainstream.

Google’s move is strategically interesting, the company is aiming for high-end users, not those worried about budgets. I suspect it’ll be taken seriously in corporate IT shops, especially those committed to the cloud and Google apps.

Cloud computing privacy advice

Privacy Commissioner Cloud Computing guideWhile New Zealand privacy commissioner Marie Shroff is right when she warns small business owners they risk privacy breaches when using cloud computing, the problem is not just about moving data to remote datacentres.

As Shroff points out privacy laws apply whether a company stores information in its own computers or in a cloud datacentre in New Zealand or on the other side of the world. She reminds business owners they legal obligations and they need to keep their clients’ trust if they don’t want to lose customers.

Shroff’s comments come as her office releases a ten-step check-list and a downloadable PDF guide for companies using cloud computing. Both contain the same information. And although written for New Zealand companies, it is useful anywhere in the world. 

The check-list advice is straightforward and puts matters in perspective. For example, it tells businesses that cloud computing isn’t necessarily riskier than storing information locally – especially if when data is kept on a poorly secured server.

And it makes clear where responsibility for cloud privacy lies:

All cloud services involve trusting someone else with your clients’ personal information to some extent. Your cloud provider might have some responsibility for handling the information safely – check the contract. But if you’re putting client information in the cloud, you’re still responsible for it. The buck stops with you. Period.

Can Kim Dotcom’s cloud be trusted?

This time Kim Dotcom has gone to great lengths to build a respectable business.

Dotcom and his lawyers have hit on a formula that looks squeaky clean. If anything naughty is stored on his Mega servers employees can legitimately hold up their hands and say “it wasn’t me”.

Hiring high profile InternetNZ boss Vikram Kumar to head the new operation was a public relations masterstroke, at least in New Zealand.

Months of writing about cloud computing from a business perspective have taught me cloud provider must be trustworthy. The same logic applies for personal data as for business data. As Dotcom’s Megaupload customers discovered, if a cloud operation is suddenly stopped, data cannot be retrieved.

On the surface the 50GB of free file storage looks like too good a deal to pass. But can we trust Dotcom and his new Mega organisation with our data?

In this case, that question is almost irrelevant. Dotcom’s business may or may not be trustworthy. It may even be financially stable*. Mega may respect the law. The problem is governments in Washington, Wellington and elsewhere don’t.

Last year’s raid was, at best, legally questionable. The indictments are also questionable. That didn’t stop governments closing Dotcom’s earlier cloud service and confiscating his assets.

Your data security is more dependent on the whim of the US government than it is on the integrity of Kim Dotcom and Mega.

For now at least, The US government appears happy for you to store the same files on Amazon, Apple, Microsoft, Dropbox or any of dozens of other cloud services.

In this case the question of trust isn’t about Mega but the US government.

* Mega may be financially sound, but if I was doing real due diligence, that’s where I’d look first when assessing the risks.

Chromebook envy? No, me neither

Acer Chromebook

Google promotes Acer’s Chromebook

Given the importance of everything cloud, you might ask yourself why haven’t Google Chromebooks taken off in New Zealand.

This is partly because they haven’t been officially launched here.

Chromebooks are low-cost laptops designed for use with cloud applications. Think of them as  thin clients.

Physically most Chromebooks sit somewhere between the traditional laptop and the Ultrabook format. Typically they have low-end processors and small SSDs. Many have built-in 3G data modems.

Chromebooks run Google’s lightweight Chrome OS. The operating system is effectively a swept-up version of Google’s Chrome browser. That makes it idea to use with cloud applications, especially Google Apps. They can’t realistically run anything other than cloud apps.

So why bother?

Because they make life simple. There’s nothing to maintain or setup, Google does all that for you.

You switch on and go. It takes just 8 seconds to boot. Any updating happens automatically in the background. All your data is stored in the cloud. You don’t have to worry about making back-ups. And their design makes them secure when compared to other small computers.

This makes them great for businesses run by people who can’t or don’t want to bother with traditional computers and all the support they need.

But then so are tablets. And that’s why I’m not in the market for a Chromebook. Are you?

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