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This Week in Cloud, January 31, 2013: AWS Startup Challenge winners, IBM SmartCloud, Cloud increases DDoS attacks. And more…

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Cloud News

  • Amazon announced the winners of its Global Startup Challenge this week, according to this InformationWeek article. The winners of the challenge included Grand Cru, LogMyCalls, MortarData, and TraceLink. You can read more about the contest and the winners on Amazon.

  • IBM announced a global expansion of SmartCloud Enterprise+, its enterprise-grade Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), and IBM SmartCloud for SAP Applications, according to this Data Center Knowledge article. SmartCloud Enterprise+ is now available in the U.S., Germany, Canada, France, Brazil, Japan, and Australia.

  • Cloud computing data centers are increasingly being target by denial-of-service attacks, according to this CloudTech article. A recent survey by Arbor Networks that included 130 respondents in the enterprise and network operator fields revealed that 76% reported denial of service (DDoS) attacks that targeted their customers in 2012.

  • A recent survey by OneLogin that questioned 200 IT and business professionals revealed that 71% of respondents admitted to using unsanctioned cloud apps, according to this Talkin’ Cloud article.

Featured Article

The Rogue Cloud Runaround

By Bob Scheier, Independent Writer

Bob Scheier

There's a quiet crisis brewing in how organizations are adopting the cloud. Cloud services and apps are getting more popular by the day, but instead of driving enterprise innovation, they're stifling it. The use of cloud services outside the control or knowledge of IT has led to the emergence of what technology leaders increasingly refer to as "the rogue cloud." This bona-fide platform is growing fast and taking hold in many global organizations, yet it lacks the proper security, technical, and financial controls any IT leader would demand.

It's a problem hiding in plain sight. Just look around at the cloud deployments popping up in your own organization, or look to research reports. Gatepoint Research's SimplyDIRECT September 2012 Cloud Pulse Report found four out of ten responders interested in cloud computing initiatives, with the following month's report finding nearly eight out of ten complaining their organizations "only occasionally" deliver new services quickly enough. Read the full article.

Cloud Views

  • Did you miss the #CloudViews tweetchat on the future of BYOD? You can read the full transcript in the cloud group on Smart Enterprise.

  • Are cloud contracts negotiable? In this InfoWorld blog, David Linthicum discusses how the “take it or leave it” contracts that many cloud providers offer their customers are pushing enterprises away from cloud adoption.

  • What cloud computing job skills are in demand? In the Baseline presentation, Dennis McCafferty outlines the positions with increased demand due to the cloud, including project managers, business analysts, app developers and more.

  • Are there cloud computing myths? In this BizJournal blog, Heinan Landa outlines the top 4 cloud computing myths and details why they should be dispelled.

Trend Watch

  • Stanford researchers recently ran a jet-engine-noise simulation application across 1.5 million cores simultaneously, according to this GigaOM article. Creating code that is optimized for multi-core processors will improve the types of applications that can run on future laptops, smartphones, and tablets.

  • How is big data benefiting you? In this Wired blog, Jake Weatherly provides an introduction to big data and reveals how you might be benefiting from the trend.

Upcoming Cloud Events

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More Stories By CloudCommons 2012

CloudCommons is an independent online community of IT professionals, analysts, technology providers, and industry experts. Members can ask questions, learn from experts, and find the latest cloud-related news. Cloud Commons offers a forum to contribute and discuss best practices and successes, as well as research vendor solutions. Sponsored by CA Technologies, Cloud Commons has been growing steadily since its launch in May of 2010.

Hosted on Cloud Commons is the Service Measurement Index (SMI). Led by Carnegie Mellon University, SMI encompasses a growing consortium of members. SMI compiles user-submitted ratings of cloud services and scores them relative to other services of the same type. Ratings include metrics such as: quality, agility, risk, cost, capability, and security.

ThisWeekInCloud is Cloud Commons weekly newsletter listing the industry events we felt worthwhile reading about. Read them here or subscribe to have it delivered to you inbox as email or as RSS Feed.

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