Big data security is a big mess

Given the pace at which big data software is released, coupled with the sheer volume of data under management, the big data market is ripe for massive security breaches. It’s only a matter of time.

In fact, as a Gartner survey last year uncovered, very few companies have taken security seriously for essential infrastructure like Hadoop. At that time, a mere 2 percent of respondents cited Hadoop security as a significant concern, causing Gartner analyst Merv Adrian to exclaim, “The nearly non-existent response to the security issue is shocking.”

CIOs, in other words, may be willing to close their eyes and pray for big data security, but until they make it a priority, such “prayers” are vain.

What, me worry?

For years enterprises have taken a somewhat blase approach to security in big data infrastructure such as Hadoop, despite the size of big data leading to “origins [that] are not consistently monitored and tracked.” In early 2014, Adrian, noting a lack of interest in Hadoop security, queried, “Can it be that people believe Hadoop is secure? Because it certainly is not. At every layer of the stack, vulnerabilities exist, and at the level of the data itself there numerous concerns.”

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Source: InfoWorld Big Data

Ytel Partners With Zoho CRM

Ytel has announced its new partnership with Zoho CRM. With over 3,500 employees and six locations worldwide, Zoho is recognized as one of the leading CRMs on the market. Now available to Zoho customers is text messaging functionality through a native integration with message360°. A Ytel solution, message360° is a Cloud Communications API that integrates voice, text, email, and direct mail functionality into any web-based application.

“Zoho was the perfect partner for us because of their customers’ needs,” said Nick Newsom, CEO at Ytel. “Communication is, and will always be, high priority for businesses and we are helping Zoho provide multi-channel capabilities to their customers.”

“We want our customers to get the most out of Zoho, which is why we launched Zoho Marketplace. Here, businesses can choose from a broad range of powerful extensions that increase the capabilities of Zoho products and help businesses be more efficient and productive,” said Raju Vegesna, chief evangelist at Zoho. “Extensions such as message360° connect seamlessly with Zoho products, ensuring a smooth user experience. We are happy to feature message360° on Zoho Marketplace, and believe that it would be valuable for our customers.”

Found in the Zoho marketplace, the message360° extension will allow customers to engage in more personal, two-way conversations through text messaging. Key features of this extension include:

• The ability to send text messages to contacts
• Creation and management of custom text message templates
• History tracking and scheduling of  bulk text message campaigns

Source: CloudStrategyMag

CloudJumper Announces MSP Strategies For Telcos

CloudJumper has announced strategies for managed service providers (MSPs) to help in successfully competing against the growing number of telecommunication firms transitioning to managed services. These strategies include activities as simple as expanding one’s knowledge base to leveraging innovative product/service licensing models that differentiate the organization against new market entrants. With the right mix of business strategies and solutions, established MSPs can enhance their positions for increased market share.

According to a forecast* from independent global analyst firm Ovum, “Telecom service providers will grow their revenues from global services to enterprise customers to more than US$297 billion by 2020. The biggest contribution will come from new strategic ICT services revenues at nearly US$173 billion, which will increase at a CAGR of 9.9% over the period 2015-2020. Telcos overall have taken more than 14% of the global ICT services market in the last couple of years, and should reach more than 18% by 2020.”¹

Many telcos are actively trying to make use of their existing scale and IT savvy to move beyond basic voice and data services in order to begin selling a managed service or growing their portfolio of managed services. While horizontal services such as email, backup, disaster recovery, and security are typically at the top of the adoption pecking order, Software as a Service and Workspaces as a Service² are enabling businesses to benefit from applications previously unaffordable using a cloud-based computing infrastructure that offers the promise of greater efficiency and productivity.

Ubiquitous availability of broadband for business and mobile computing users has provided an opportunity for organizations to change the way communications and productivity are measured. With cloud computing and the maturity of mobile computing infrastructure, businesses are maintaining their move toward a more decentralized operational structure. While this has increased the demand for cloud services, it has also resulted in increased competitive pressure from telecommunication providers that operate their own networks as they move toward managed services.

According to Max Pruger, chief sales officer for CloudJumper, “MSPs are awakening to increasingly intense competition from telco providers. Therefore, they will need to arm themselves with the proper tools and strategies to outmaneuver this growing class of competitors entering the market. As an organization that is focused on supporting MSPs globally, CloudJumper is spotlighting several business strategies and solutions that will help these IT service providers retain and profitably grow their operations.”

Five Strategies for MSPs to Stay Ahead in an Increasingly Competitive Market:

1. Expand your knowledge base: Leverage the network of people you are connected to whose expertise you can draw from, and whose ideas and actions you respect. There are organizations, publications, and social networks focused on the MSP space that are excellent educational resources. Additionally, MSP focused vendors often have significant partner ecosystems that allow knowledge transfers among partners. Capitalize on this and build your own network from these sources.

2. Strengthen the portfolio of offerings with high demand cloud applications: Almost 60% of large and small scale enterprises have deployed some kind managed service as part of their overall IT strategy.3 Among these high demand applications are Software as a Service, Office365, managed communications, remote monitoring, mobile device management, disaster management, managed network security, and Workspaces as a Service.

3. Explore the use of innovative licensing strategies as a competitive differentiator: A great licensing model passes three tests: First, it is easy for the customer to understand. Second, it is aligned to where the customer receives value in the product. Third, it grows with the customer’s usage of that value. MSPs that separate themselves from others in their category using licensing better align to their prospective customers’ needs.

4. Grow profit margins through automation: Selecting technologies with a high degree of automation support the MSPs ability to meet and exceed service level agreements (SLAs) as automation workflows can be implemented to expedite activities and enhance service levels. This means improved operational efficiency across the board.

5. Stay focused: Lack of focus leads to scattered resources. Devoting time, energy, and money to multiple strategies and marketing channels at the same time leads to a reduced ability to execute as well as they otherwise could be. Experts recommend staying focused on the organization’s overall business strategy which is the big picture and ultimate direction and purpose of the organization. This should not change unless there is a major market shift. Next, campaigns and initiatives support the overall strategy and goal so a lack of focus in this area can lead to wasted time and money. Finally, at the tactical level, follow the Pareto Principal (80/20 Rule) which states that 20% of one’s actions and inputs will create 80% of the desired outcome. The key is identifying and focusing on the 20% that is actually achieving the 80% of desired outcomes.

“Both competition and opportunity for our business is strong. Our belief is that a combination of strong operational disciplines with a keen eye on the future is essential,” said Frank Picarello, chief operating officer for managed services provider, TeamLogicIT. “With more than 10 years of success in the managed services space, we are in close agreement with the strategies and technologies presented here as our organization has grown significantly over the last several years, in large part by following such strategies.”

The competitive environment for MSPs is no longer “business as usual” as it has been replaced by a broader and more complex playing field that now includes well-funded telcos. With a thorough understanding of the technologies and market opportunities, managed service providers have the tools and talent at their disposal to compete effectively in this changing environment. The insights provided here are only the first step in strengthening an organization’s competitive position, thereby increasing revenue and generating greater profitability for established market participants.

¹ Ovum Research, Telco-Managed Global Services Revenues to Reach US$297 Billion by 2020, http://www.fiercetelecom.com/press-releases/telco-managed-global-services-revenues-reach-us297bn-2020

² Markets & Markets, Workspace as a Service Market by Solutions (VDI, Applications, DaaS, Hosted Applications, Security Solutions), Services (Managed Service, System Integration, Consulting) – Global Forecast to 2019, http://www.marketsandmarkets.com/Market-Reports/workspace-as-a-service-market-250917058.html

³ Infinit Consulting, The 10 Biggest Managed Services Trends to Watch in 2016, March, 2016

Source: CloudStrategyMag

IBM Named A Leader in Gartner Magic Quadrant

IBM has announced that Gartner, Inc. has positioned IBM as a leader in the July 2016 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing and Infrastructure Utility Services, North America. This year, IBM was positioned the highest in ability to execute.

IBM points to these results as reflective of the company’s continued leadership in a rapidly changing environment. IBM’s shift from a systems integrator to a services integrator is the future of services across the industry. The integrated and unified management of services and underlying IT infrastructure provides support for clients’ wide-ranging hybrid cloud needs. Hybrid cloud, cognitive computing, and other data and analytics offerings continue to deliver differentiation and growth for companies of all sizes and industries.

Greater IT efficiency saves clients and customers time and money, and allows for smarter distribution of resources to conduct business in today’s IT landscape. These service offerings are making it easier for clients to tap into the wealth of available data for new insights and do business like never before, driving innovation and a competitive edge in the marketplace.

“We believe IBM’s recognition in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Data Center Outsourcing and Infrastructure Utility Services, NA report is proof of the scope of our services portfolio and ability to bring those services to life for our clients every day,” said Philip Guido, general manager, IBM Services, North America. “The investments we have made in cloud, cognitive, and other areas are propelling our shift from a systems integrator to a services integrator, and redefining the role and capacity of IT services to help organizations accelerate into the future.”

To view the full report, visit http://gtnr.it/2as5UZn.

Source: CloudStrategyMag

Report: Amazon Leads In Worldwide Cloud Infrastructure Service Market

New Q2 data from Synergy Research Group shows that Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft, IBM, and Google combined control well over half of the worldwide cloud infrastructure service market. They also continue to grow more rapidly than their smaller competitors. In aggregate the big four grew their cloud infrastructure service revenues 68% in Q2, while the next 20 largest cloud providers grew by 41% and all other smaller providers grew by 27%. The market as a whole grew by 51%. Amazon remains in a league of its own, almost three times the size of its nearest competitor and with a clear lead in all major regions and most segments of the market. Meanwhile Microsoft and Google can point to substantially higher growth rates, while IBM continues to feature strongly thanks primarily to its leadership in the hosted private cloud segment.

With most of the major operators having now released their earnings data for Q2, Synergy estimates that quarterly cloud infrastructure service revenues (including IaaS, PaaS and hosted private cloud) have now reached the $8 billion milestone, while trailing twelve-month revenues are close to $28 billion. North America continues to account for over half of the worldwide market. The EMEA and APAC regions are similar in size, though APAC has a somewhat higher growth rate.

“In a variety of ways Amazon and the other big three players have distanced themselves from the competition in this market and continue to widen the gap,” said John Dinsdale, a chief analyst and research director at Synergy Research Group. “What marks them out as different is their global presence, marketing muscle, ability to fund huge investments in hyperscale data centers and, in most cases, a determination to succeed in the market. The ranking of the next 20 largest cloud providers features some interesting companies, with Alibaba and Oracle growing particularly strongly, but they are all starting from a long way behind Google, which is itself growing by well over 100% per year and yet remains only a sixth the size of Amazon.”

Source: CloudStrategyMag

IBM Named Leader In Private Cloud Adoption By Market Research Firm

IBM has announced that it has been named number one in private cloud by independent technology market research firm Technology Business Research, Inc. (TBR). In TBR’s semi-annual Cloud Customer Research survey of more than 1,800 enterprises around the world, respondents identified IBM as a global private cloud leader for the breadth of its cloud portfolio and expertise in cloud migration.

“A footprint in legacy IT solutions and management is a strong predictor of private cloud vendor success, as private cloud solutions are typically the first step toward hybrid IT environments,” said Cassandra Mooshian, cloud senior analyst, TBR. “Private clouds appeals to enterprises looking to extend their legacy infrastructure and applications to the cloud while helping to optimize past investments.”

IBM leads in overall vendor adoption for private cloud and in select private cloud segments due to its broad cloud and IT services portfolio, variety of deployment options and integration and optimization support. IBM’s expertise and knowledge of both cloud and legacy technology make it easy for customers to develop a migration path to a private cloud model.

Other report findings name IBM as the number one private cloud vendor in:

• Both hosted and self-built cloud for its comprehensive portfolio of cloud and hardware assets, such as security
• Cloud professional services for providing comprehensive solutions that span customers’ entire IT environments
• Adoption across most industries, due to IBM’s vertical approach to cloud and cutting-edge Watson technology
• Self-built hardware and cloud software for the ease of running complete private cloud ecosystems
• Self-built enterprise test and development for its wide variety of options, including behind-the-firewall development with Bluemix Local
• Business intelligence and analytics for leveraging IBM analytics and cognitive capabilities to create tailored BI applications for vertical customers
• E-commerce for IBM’s Commerce on Cloud offering, which was recently expanded to include Watson capabilities

“Being named a top vendor for private cloud by TBR reinforces the importance we place on having choice with consistency across cloud environments,” said Jim Comfort, chief technology officer for IBM Cloud. “For customers needing private cloud environments, whether for security or compliance reasons, IBM provides the necessary connectivity tools, security capabilities and global data center locations that allow us to meet our customers’ needs while safely managing a multitude of cloud connections.”

Source: CloudStrategyMag

Skyscape Cloud Services Relaunches As UKCloud

Skyscape Cloud Services Limited has renamed and relaunched as UKCloud Ltd to reinforce the company’s exclusive focus on supporting the UK public sector in the digital transformation of services.

“In a very short space of time, as Skyscape Cloud Services, we have experienced rapid growth and have established our company as the leading player in the market,” said Simon Hansford, CEO of UKCloud. “We’re very proud to have helped save millions of pounds of public money by delivering more agile, lower cost IT solutions throughout high-profile Government departments, including the DVLA, Home Office and MOD. Our new name — UKCloud — reflects our unwavering commitment to serving the UK public sector and supporting the digital transformation of citizen-facing services.”

“The Company has taken the decision to relaunch the company on the latest iteration of G-Cloud, G-Cloud 8, with a new name that best portrays the company’s unequivocal focus on the UK public sector and reaffirms its commitment to the market. With the imminent arrival of G-Cloud 8, this was an opportune moment to refresh our brand. At UKCloud, we remain steadfastly focused on working with the public sector, helping to digitise services with our agile, assured and cost-effective cloud services,” said Hansford.

Over the past year, UKCloud has experienced unprecedented growth, significantly expanding its customer base, market share and channel partner programme. In terms of number of employees, the company has grown more than ten-fold in four years, with expectations to double its headcount by the end of 2016. UKCloud has also received widespread industry recognition to date, recently winning the Communications category of the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 EMEA Award.

Committed to continually evolving its platform, UKCloud recently became the first cloud services provider to offer OpenStack compatible services exclusively for the UK public sector and is the first cloud provider focused on the UK public sector to offer a platform based on Oracle technology. It is also set to announce further support options in the coming months.

“Our sole focus on the UK public sector gives us unparalleled insight into the evolving needs of our customers and partners. Over the past year, we have continued to develop and improve our pioneering assured cloud platform in a number of ways. Additionally, we’ve focussed attention on customer service with new recruits specifically dedicated to ensuring customer satisfaction and a new online portal designed to encourage end-user feedback, ensuring this influences our product development roadmap going forward. For us, these developments and this re-brand provide the perfect launch pad for our business as we continue to grow and innovate enabling our customers and partners to deliver better outcomes for citizens and taxpayers,” said Hansford.

There will be no changes to the company’s legal entity, services, security protocols, organisation structure, governance, or shareholdings.

Source: CloudStrategyMag

Unitas Global Announces Acquisition Of AOS Cloud

Unitas Global has announced its acquisition of AOS Cloud. Unitas Global’s acquisition of AOS Cloud will provide the company with significant engineering resources and technology to expand and strengthen the delivery of its Enterprise Cloud Solutions globally. In addition to enhancing the engineering and optimization teams, the acquisition expands the Unitas Global client base and creates a go-to-market partnership that strengthens its channel presence and market reach throughout the Midwest U.S., including Kansas, Nebraska, Texas and Missouri. Unitas, with an already impressive performance at 118% CAGR over the past 24 months, will experience immediate growth and improvement in financial performance from this acquisition and relationship with AOS, a leading technology consultative partner in the Midwest.

“Unitas Global is very excited about this strategic acquisition that enriches key technology expertise, expands the services we can offer our enterprise clients, and creates a key go-to-market partnership with AOS,” comments Patrick Shutt, CEO of Unitas Global. “The integration of AOS’ Cloud Management Center brings a proven and capable platform and a solid team of experts into Unitas, expanding our set of solutions and broadening the reach of our hybrid cloud solutions to the enterprise market. Additionally, due to the complementary nature of each company’s client base, AOS becomes a key channel and delivery partner in enterprise-class cloud solutions.”

“This acquisition enables Unitas to significantly enhance the development and delivery of hybrid cloud solutions within the enterprise IT provider space across broader geographic and vertical markets,” adds Grant Kirkwood, founder and CTO of Unitas Global. “Moreover, the move will immediately elevate the Unitas engineering team and Cloud Management Center (CMC) with an infusion of talent that possesses high level expertise operating multi-tenant virtualization as well as expanded skills in other disciplines.”

“This opportunity puts AOS in the unique position to be able to leverage the proven Cloud Management Platform and key technology expertise of our existing engineering team, while enabling us to provide customers access to Unitas’ Enterprise Grade Cloud Solutions,” comments Grant Cynor, CEO at AOS.

Along with the growth of its engineering team and general experts, the addition of AOS Cloud enables Unitas Global to expand its provisioning and monitoring tools as well as its global support structure. The strategic acquisition of AOS Cloud will also provide tools to further simplify customer cloud consumption and expand its managed hosting and services portfolio.

Source: CloudStrategyMag

Clinton Campaign Says Hackers Accessed Data Program It Used

By Chris Strohm and Margaret Talev

(Bloomberg) — Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign confirmed that one of its data programs was accessed by hackers, the latest development in what cybersecurity experts call a broad operation by Russian operatives to infiltrate U.S. political organizations.

“An analytics data program maintained by the DNC, and used by our campaign and a number of other entities, was accessed as part of” a previously disclosed attack on the Democratic National Committee, campaign spokesman Nick Merrill said Friday in an e-mailed statement. “Our campaign computer system has been under review by outside cyber security experts. To date, they have found no evidence that our internal systems have been compromised.”