Industry news

Ask 100 people at a cloud conference to define “cloud” and you’ll get 150 different answers. It’s a standard industry joke. So, at the risk of adding definition 151, how do we answer the question “what is cloud computing”?

In the simplest terms, cloud computing is the delivery of IT, over a network, in the form of a service. The network could be an internal company network, but when you’re talking about the cloud, it’s more usually the Internet.

IT is a pretty broad category, so immediately we must delve a bit further, at which point we encounter three bits of industry jargon you’ve probably come across: IaaS, PaaS and SaaS. Let’s look at each in turn.

IaaS - Infrastructure as a Service: This is the delivery of IT infrastructure in the form of a service, over the Internet. A service provider combines individual bits of IT infrastructure (servers and storage devices) into a single pool of IT resources – a “cloud” – which you can buy as units of computing and storage power. You can use this raw IT however you want: to run a website, e-commerce application, database, and so on. You don’t need to know which specific servers or disks will provide what you need, or even where they are.

While Amazon is probably the best-known IaaS provider, there is a rapidly-growing “cloud hosting” industry offering IT infrastructure as a service.

PaaS – Platform as a Service: This refers to the delivery of a computing platform as a service, and is most commonly used for software development. PaaS providers offer tools for application development, testing, deployment, database integration and so on. This gives developers building blocks they can use to develop software without having to worry about the underlying hardware infrastructure. The Google AppEngine is a well-known example.

SaaS – Software as a Service: This is where most people interact with cloud computing. As its name suggests, it involves the delivery of software applications as a service. Rather than installing software on your own PC or server, you access it over the Internet via a web browser. A Facebook app is SaaS. So are Microsoft Office 365 and Salesforce.com.

There are more comprehensive and technical explanations just a Google away, but in essence we’re talking about accessing different kinds of IT over the Internet.

“Hold on,” you might reasonably think. “Isn’t that just… the Internet?” Well, yes, at face value it is. Your servers, disks, data and applications live in one place, and you access them from another. Nothing new there.

The real difference with the cloud, however, lies in the way cloud-based IT works, how it is priced, and the different ways you can use it. To finish, let’s look at these three differences.

How it works: This is the real difference from traditional computing. In the cloud, you no longer talk in terms of physical computers. There is just a pool of hardware resources powering your website or applications. If you need more resources, you just grab more of the pool. When business is quiet, you can scale back your usage. And, if any individual IT component fails, the others take up the slack.

How it is priced and paid for: Instead of buying entire servers or software applications, you can pay only for the resources you need, on a utility basis. There are also economies of scale that providers can realise at the infrastructure level, by pooling their hardware resources, that tend to reduce the overall cost of cloud IT to end users.

How you access it: With cloud computing, the traditional link between applications, data and devices has been broken. IT is no longer tied to a specific server in a specific location: it’s presented to you as a service, and you can access the service from pretty much any Internet-capable device. It’s a much more flexible model that supports more flexible working methods. It gives businesses more choice, not just in the devices they use, but in where their applications and data live.

Next time, we’ll look at some of the different types of cloud, what they mean for your business, and how to choose between them.

The sun’s out, I’m just back from an excellent relaxing holiday, and there’s some great news for the UK IT sector. Happy Days!

I was positively delighted to hear that Google have taken out a building at the so called ‘Silicon Roundabout.’ Its plans to open up the 7 floors to organisations that support tech entrepreneurs, providing a launchpad for new London-based start-ups and developers. It’s great to see the big guy stick up for the little guy – corporate mentoring could be a fantastic way to negotiate out way into a period of growth.

In addition to providing space for other organisations that work with start-ups, the building will host a range of activities, such as speaker series, hackathons, training workshops and product demonstrations for engineers who could benefit from Google’s knowledge of building large scale online services. Bravo Google! Bravo!

Silicon Roundabout aka Tech City was a great idea to start with: a technology hub of this sort will help to encourage foreign investment and give the economy a welcome boost. Research and development is one area which will act as a key driver to helping the private sector pick up new contracts and create new jobs in the months and years ahead.

Indeed, a highly respected, cutting-edge technology centre in London can only help to cement the UK’s position as a top research and development destination. And following the UK’s stellar ranking as 5th most competitive offshoring destination in the WHOLE WORLD (Global IT Industry Competitiveness Index 2011 organised by the Business Software Alliance) we could soon see the work flooding in and that’s fantastic news for everyone in for UK PLC.

The whole world will begin recognise East London as an area with access to leading innovations and technology to outsource their work to. Tech City to will encourage business and investment. Of course, all of this is good news for the outsourcing industry, with the prospect of international businesses using the UK to source high level, fully trained technology professionals.

Mobile technology makes it possible for people to connect to the workplace at all times. The number of remote workers has already risen dramatically and is forecasted to grow further – by 2013, 1.2 billion people (or 35% of the workforce population) are expected to work from someplace other than their office desks.

At the same time, the adoption of smartphones and tablets is increasing at a phenomenal rate. IDC suggests these numbers will only get larger, with smartphone shipments reaching 982 million by 2015.

With the confluence of these dynamic trends, enterprise networks face significant new challenges - not least, ensuring users can print anytime, anywhere from mobile devices without needing to install print drivers, whilst maintaining the security of the corporate network.

IT departments have a further hurdle when it comes to mobile workers. Even though the company may have provided them with devices, many mobile workers are also interested in using their personal smartphones and tablets for work. That means IT departments must increasingly support this progressively mobile workforce by giving them access to business applications on the go.

So how does mobile print fit into this landscape? The first clue is in the name: mobile print makes life easier for workers on the go. Whether printing a boarding pass at a hotel, or printing documents at a new corporate location without IT assistance, mobile print provides the solution.

But there are other benefits that stream more directly to the business. For example, mobile print can extend an organisation’s control of print costs, allowing a company to save money by increasing visibility and management of remote workers’ print spend. And, the IT department can feel the upside of mobile print when automated tools and capabilities minimise IT incidents for the mobile workforce – and thereby reduce support costs.

There’s also an environmental benefit, which, as you might remember from my last post, is a focus of many businesses. Mobile print takes the mystery out of print usage and costs across the virtual enterprise, so companies can ensure remote workers adhere to enterprise sustainability initiatives.

Although “pre-announcements” about mobile printing pepper the news, real business solutions are only just starting to emerge. To my mind, so far no company has fulfilled on the promise of easy, seamless and ubiquitous mobile printing that fits the needs of all groups. CIOs should be enthusiastic about this technology, but they also should proceed with caution. They should look only at solutions delivered by trusted specialists who understand users' print requirements – especially those concerning security – and who can demonstrate their solution in action.

Xerox has a great partnership with Procter & Gamble (P&G) and our teams continue to put their heads together to improve the way both companies do business. P&G has been extensively involved in the launch and development of our mobile print solution which enables companies with a mobile workforce to print directly from their mobile phone.

The solution can be used from any smart phone and does not require users to load additional software or search for printer information. When the mobile worker wants to print a document, he or she is simply sent a specific job code that can be entered into a networked printer. Once the code is approved, the secure server releases the documents for printing.

Cisco is also using this mobile print solution as part of a new managed print services (MPS) strategy. Xerox will provide Cisco’s workforce with more cost-effective ways to produce and manage documents, improving the efficiency of Cisco’s print environment by 20 percent. Using the Xerox Enterprise Print Services (EPS) platform to support a new cloud-based mobile print solution, Cisco employees will be able to securely print from any device, anytime, anywhere without the hassle of downloading software or booting up their laptops.

As enterprise-level mobile printing becomes more widespread, I believe we will see the working environment become even more portable. For now, mobile workers generally have instant access to an electronic copy of most documents wherever they are, but if they need hard-copies they have to plan ahead. As a result, workers habitually carry laptops with them as ‘back-up’. In the future, the mobile worker will seldom be required to carry more than their smart phone when they leave the office – yet they will still maintain access to the printed word.

A financial sector company has said it is bringing more than 300 jobs to Belfast.

The expansion by Capita's life and pensions division at its centre in the north of the city will create 336 posts over the next four years.

Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster welcomed the announcement, following an offer to the firm of more than £1 million support by Invest NI.

The minister said: "These new jobs which will be created over the next four years are very welcome in the current economic climate and offer a wide variety of opportunities, including management and supervisory positions.

"The expansion will also open up new jobs to returners to work, people who are keen to develop valuable transferable skills and those who are seeking to get on the employment ladder for the first time.

"The salaries generated will eventually contribute over £5 million a year to the Northern Ireland economy."

The minister said the project is the first to be announced under Invest Northern Ireland's short-term employment scheme, set up earlier this year to try to stimulate job creation."

Engineering support services firm Babcock yesterday hailed "budgetary constraints" in the public and private sectors, which it said would lead to more outsourcing opportunities.

In a short pre-close statement released ahead of November's interim results, Babcock said its order book currently stands at around £12 billion.

Babcock said: "We remain confident the current economic climate will continue to create significant medium and long-term growth opportunities for our businesses where we are well placed to benefit from the scale of our operations, the breadth of our experience and our track record of delivering both operational and financial efficiencies."

Savvis has announced its cloud partnership agreement with Virgin Media Business.

Through the agreement, Virgin Media Business will use Savvis Symphony Virtual Private Data Centre (VPDC), an enterprise-class cloud computing solution. Combined with Virgin Media Business' nationwide fibre-optic network and philosophy of giving clients simple advice and superior support in the way that works best for them, the service will enable U.K. organisations to free themselves of traditional IT infrastructure constraints.

"We are truly delighted that Virgin Media Business chose Savvis' enterprise-class solutions for its client base," said Neil Cresswell, EMEA managing director at Savvis, a global provider of cloud infrastructure, hosted IT solutions and colocation. "We are excited to extend our reach to new markets with Virgin Media Business. Our joint success will hopefully allow Savvis to establish similar long-term partnerships in Europe."

The agreement is part of the cloud-focused global Savvis Alliances Programme.

Google has signed a lease for a seven-floor building in East London, the first step in its commitment to support the Tech City start-up community.

Google plans to open up the space to other organisations that support technology entrepreneurs, working together to provide a launchpad for new London-based start-ups and developers. This is the first initiative of its kind for Google anywhere in the world.

Securing a lease is the first stage in making Google’s commitment to Tech City a reality. The building, at 4-5 Bonhill Street, London EC2A 4BX, will now undergo a full refurbishment before being ready to open in 2012.

In addition to providing space for other organisations that work with start-ups, the building will host a range of activities, such as speaker series, hackathons, training workshops and product demonstrations for engineers who could benefit from Google’s knowledge of building large scale online services.

This is an entirely new initiative, and Google UK’s existing operations will remain in their current offices in central London.

The lease runs until at least 2022.

David Singleton, Engineering Director, Google UK said:

“We announced our involvement in the Tech City project last year, and we’ve been working hard to make this vision a reality. Finding a suitable building is the first major step, and we hope to announce more details about the organisations we’ll work with and how they will use the space in the coming months. East London is already home to hundreds of innovative British start-ups, and has huge potential for economic growth and new jobs over the coming years.”

Eric Van Der Kleij, CEO of the Tech City Investment Organisation, said:

“Google is a terrific example of a major technology business that understands the importance of nurturing as well as benefiting from the communities where they operate. This investment will pay dividends for them as well as contributing to the long-term success of the Tech City, and we are delighted to welcome them to the area.”

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is anticipating the faster deployment of new IT systems, major gains in productivity and significant cost savings with the award of a seven-year IT contract to Capgemini UK plc. The DWP is committed to effecting one of the biggest transformations ever undertaken in Britain’s welfare and benefits regime while simultaneously meeting stringent budget targets, and the Capgemini contract will have a key role in achieving both objectives.

Capgemini UK employs some 8,000 people at 17 sites across Britain and is part of the Capgemini Group, one of the world’s foremost providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services.

Bev D’Alessio, Vice President of Welfare Sector at Capgemini UK, said: “We are naturally delighted with this significant expansion of our successful relationship with the DWP, and look forward to demonstrating once again why we are the IT partner of choice for organisations seeking radical transformation carried out rapidly and effectively.”

The National Outsourcing Association are delighted to announce several new sponsors of the NOA Summit & Awards; ITIDA, KPMG, PromoMadrid and Value Shore.

On 9th & 10th November 2011, the outsourcing industry will come together to share knowledge and experiences, and celebrate best practice. The two-day event will take place at the Riverbank Park Plaza, in Central London.

Now in its 8th year, the revered National Outsourcing Association Awards (NOAAs) are firmly established as the highlight of the outsourcing industry calendar, attracting over 500 delegates annually. Combined with the respected NOA Summit, this makes for a must-attend event for outsourcing professionals in all sectors.

The Summit features conference sessions, roundtables and exhibitions, and culminates in the much-coveted NOA Awards, which recognise the efforts of companies and individuals demonstrating world-class outsourcing best practice.

The report, entitled Preparing the Ground: Stimulating Growth in the Digital Economy, states that although the coalition is right to explore the benefits of cloud computing, ministers must do much more to address issues around cloud security and data protection.

Cloud is riddled with risk "We recommend that as a matter of urgency, the government consider the security issues involved with cloud computing, particularly regarding data location and segregation" it says.

"Cloud computing is an area where, if left unchecked, there is serious potential for abuse – for example, large corporations taking control of enormous quantities of public or private data outside the reach of national law."