Cloud based tools for the arts

Cloud Computing is helping cultural organizations too. " In the past 12 months there has been a proliferation of web based tools which can offer cultural organisations more convenient ways of working at a cost which was previously unimaginable. Source

These tools, which are known as cloud based services can transform the way that those in the sector work, whether that is replacing Microsoft Office with Google’s free alternative, enabling staff to access files from home with Dropbox or ditching the notebook for Evernote. Here are three free web based tools that every Culture Geek should know about.

Evento:Accelerating My Startup with Microsoft Azure Accelerator

Ophir Zardok,  CEO and Co-Founder, Evento. of shares his experience on the role of cloud computing in building his enterprise sources
"I have spent the last decade of my professional career combining my two passions: sports (football, to be exact) and technology.

After working in global IT companies like Check Point, MIND CTI and others, I decided to do ‘a pivot’. I applied to, was accepted at, and graduated from theFIFA Master, a unique sports management course organized by FIFA. I joined the League of Ireland Champions Drogheda United FC as CEO and achieved my dream position as UEFA Venue Director, organizing Champions and Europa League matches all over Europe.

While I was making this pivot I couldn’t stop thinking about my other passion, technology. After spending over five successful years in Europe I returned to Israel wondering what to do next. Should I go back and work in global IT companies, or should I find my way into the Israeli sports scene. After couple of months I did the obvious, started a company that combines both. With my business partner Harel Shemer, Evento was born. Rest of story here 

NASDAQ Launches Cloud Computing App

On Tuesday, NASDAQ OMX Group Inc. ( NDAQ ) announced the launch of an Amazon Web Services-powered cloud computing platform - FinQloud. The platform has been created to assist the financial services industry in storing and managing financial data with a view to simplifying operations and helping companies meet regulatory requirements. Source

Global regulators are coming up with stringent regulatory requirements and gaining access to more in-depth data in order to boost transparency. This is increasing the pressure on financial services companies since they have to manage larger volumes of data, resulting in high data management costs.

FinQloud will help financial services companies to deal with the increased compliance requirements and enable them to focus resources on revenue-generating activities by providing a comprehensive solution with features such as infrastructure data management, virtualization and hosting. Initially the platform will offer Regulatory Records Retention - a storage and retrieval tool aimed at saving cost and simplifying the fulfillment of the record retention obligations of the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission Rule 17a-4 - and Self Service Reporting - a tool that allows swift on-demand analysis and reporting of stored trade data.

Cloud For A Competitive Advantage

Cloud is a comprehensive resource. It can help business gain competitive advantage. How is shown here in a article posted on CloudTweaks

Cloud computing is one of the best technologies of the century. It allows companies to leverage their computing functions on other company’s servers. When corporations, small businesses, or nonprofit organizations adopt this technology, they get many benefits. The common ones are streamlined costs, efficiency, and security. This article looks at ways businesses can boost their competitive advantage by adopting cloud computing services.

Cutting costs with cloud computing

Cloud computing allows a business to use other company’s hosted software and hardware at a lower price than the one for buying physical hardware and software. The maintenance costs are catered for by the hosting company. In the end, a business is able to benefit from optimized services at low costs, allowing it to increase its revenues. The extra revenues could be used to motivate its workers, finance expansions, and invest in marketing or other activities to boost their advantage in a competitive business environment.

Improving workflows and project management

Cloud computing can be used for project management. Most companies lack a synchronized project management system, in the detriment of their competitive advantage. This is because poor project management results in delays, rework, and higher costs. With a good project management system—provided by cloud computing—businesses can manage projects effectively. They can also communicate changes, monitor performance, and update schedules faster. All these will improve productivity and result in more revenues.

Fostering healthy working relationships and communication

Different expert reports have indicated that telecommuters are more efficient than office workers. Naturally, these workers spend less time in traffic, work at their own pace, and in an environment that motivates them. Cloud computing functions can be adapted to allow workers to telecommute. The revenues of the company will increase because they will spend less on electricity and office space and because its workers will improve their productivity. These will boost the competitive advantage of the business.

Saving valuable business time

Cloud computing can save businesses a lot of the time wasted in meetings because it offers e-mail solutions, online video conferences, voice and video calls. All these can be used instead of physical interactions to save business time. This means employees will spend more time in the work zones, which, in turn, results in better time management and productivity.

Piracy Drives Microsoft To The Cloud

Cloud comes to Microsoft's rescue says Peter Pham

Microsoft (MSFT) launched the Windows Server 2012 cloud operating system in China on Sept. 18. This is the first time that the Windows Server 2012 OS has taken up the cloud design. It is the successor to Windows Server 2008 and comes in time for the launch of Windows 8. Both Windows 8 and Windows Server 2012 will feature the new user interface.

Piracy is why Microsoft is focusing on tablets for the future over PCs, as the OS is shipped as a ROM with the device and you can't buy a blank tablet and load the OS on it, bypassing the license fee. The OS is married to the hardware, which destroys the opportunity for piracy and affords Microsoft the opportunity to capture that lost revenue in Windows 8/RT licenses. Bundling Office with all Windows 8/RT tablets lets the company ensure it monetizes both cash cows more effectively, albeit at a lower price.  more details here

An Introduction to Content Delivery Networks (CDN)

Content is both heart and blood of contemporary networks such as the Internet. Here is a wikipedia introduction to Content Delivery Networks - designed and deployed for managing the content.

A content delivery network (CDN) is a large distributed system of servers deployed in multiple data centers in the Internet. The goal of a CDN is to serve content to end-users with high availability and high performance. CDNs serve a large fraction of the Internet content today, including web objects (text, graphics, URLs and scripts), downloadable objects (media files, software, documents), applications (e-commerce, portals), live streamingmedia, on-demand streaming media, and social networks.

A CDN operator gets paid by content providers such as media companies and e-commerce vendors for delivering their content to their audience of end-users. In turn, a CDN pays ISPs, carriers, and network operators for hosting its servers in their data centers. Besides better performance and availability, CDNs also offload the traffic served directly from the content provider's origin infrastructure, resulting in cost savings for the content provider.^[1] In addition, CDNs provide the content provider a degree of protection from DoS attacks by using their large distributed server infrastructure to absorb the attack traffic. While most early CDNs served content using dedicated servers owned and operated by the CDN, there is a recent trend^[2] to use a hybrid model that uses P2Ptechnology. In the hybrid model, content is served using both dedicated servers and other peer-user-owned computers as applicable.

Cloud Computing Case Studies

Cloud Computing Case Studies from DACS

Cloud Computing Case Studies

Case Studies in Cloud Computing

White Paper by David Cearley and Gene Phifer.

http://www.gartner.com/it/content/1286700/1286717/march_4_case_studies_in_cloud_computing_dcearley_gphifer.pdf

Cloud Computing In the Government

As a second part to this report, is a case study written by Tom Kwasniewski, Software Engineer at Quanterion Solutions, Inc. that is a detailed account of migrating an existing application to the Microsoft Azure cloud environment. The actual implementation of the migration and the issues found are discussed.

http://sw.thecsiac.com/techs/abstract/518136

Cloud Migration: A Case Study of Migrating an Enterprise IT System to IaaS 

Khajeh-Hosseini, A.; Greenwood, D.; Sommerville, I.; This case study illustrates the potential benefits and risks associated with the migration of an IT system in the oil & gas industry from an in-house data center to Amazon EC2 from a broad variety of stakeholder perspectives across the enterprise, thus transcending the typical, yet narrow, financial and technical analysis offered by providers. Our results show that the system infrastructure in the case study would have cost 37% less over 5 years on EC2, and using cloud computing could have potentially eliminated 21% of the support calls for this system. These findings seem significant enough to call for a migration of the system to the cloud but our stakeholder impact analysis revealed that there are significant risks associated with this. Whilst the benefits of using the cloud are attractive, we argue that it is important that enterprise decision-makers consider the overall organizational implications of the changes brought about with cloud computing to avoid implementing local optimizations at the cost of organization-wide performance.

http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/xpl/freeabs_all.jsp?arnumber=5557962

Open Source Cloud Computing Tools: A Case Study with a Weather Application

Case Study by Manuel Rodriguez-Martinez, Jaime Seguel and Melvin Greer. Cloud Computing is a promising paradigm designed to harness the power of networks of computers and communications in a more cost effective way. Clouds provide elastic capacity to serve a wide and constantly expanding range of information processing needs, including government, military, business and education. The Cloud Computing paradigm is maturing rapidly and is being considered for adoption in government and business platforms. Open source systems refer to software systems whose source code is available, allowing for immediate incorporation of improvements and adaptations of the system by its users. This paper reports on an evaluation of open source development tools for Cloud Computing. The main tools examined are Eucalyptus, Apache Hadoop, and the Django-Python stack. These tools were used at different layers in the construction of a notional application for managing weather data. The results of our experience are reported in terms of a capability matrix that grades nine different aspects associated with the use of these tools in the development and deployment of applications in open source Cloud Computing environments.

http://www.computer.org/portal/web/csdl/doi/10.1109/CLOUD.2010.81

Public Sector Cloud Computing Case Study: DISA

Using cloud computing technology to provide on-demand virtual server space for development teams . Download the full report here.

http://www.cio.gov/pages.cfm/page/Public-Sector-Cloud-Computing-Case-Study-DISA

State and Local Cloud Computing Case Studies

Web site contains a list of case studies that provide recent examples of how state and local governments are using cloud computing technologies.

http://www.info.apps.gov/content/state-and-local-cloud-computing-case-studies

Cloud Computing get into Teaching in Philippines

The education department said on Sunday it planned to open cloud computing access, including electronic tools and mail, to more than 600,000 public school teachers nationwide and provide better communication and collaboration facilities to educators.

Education Assistant Secretary Reynaldo Laguda said the agency has collaborated with Google and would utilize its Google Application for Education, including its chat and calendar systems, to allow teachers to communicate and collaborate easily and efficiently.

“Engaging an E-mail or web-mail service will address many of these communication and collaboration challenges. With this collaboration with Google, we will significantly reduce our Information Technology costs,” Laguda said. Here is the complete story

Cloud Computing Certifications You Can Take

Here is a list of Certifications for You  courtsey

A cloud computing certification is a powerful tool to advance your career in IT. Since many organizations and professionals are shifting towards cloud computing, it is expected that they will need assistance as they adopt the new system. A cloud computing professional certificate proves that you have the necessary skills to assist a cloud computing user. This certification is also a proof that you are dedicated to continually improving your skills as an IT professional. This will increase your motivation, commitment, and responsibility towards your career, while making you eligible for new career opportunities in cloud computing. Some of the certification you can take are as follows.

The Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK) evaluates your competency in basic cloud security issues. It usually consists of 50 questions which must be answered within an hour, and the passing grade is 80 percent. The multiple-choice examination can be taken online and it costs US$295. Although the CCSK certificate has no expiry date, you may need to take updated exams because of changes in the body of knowledge in cloud computing.

The CloudU Certification, on the other hand, is for business leaders and IT professionals who want to enrich their knowledge on the basics of cloud computing. Advantages of acquiring a CloudU Certificate include an understanding of: cloud computing integration issues into an organization’s current regulations, risk, and compliance framework; an ability to build an economic importance inside the organization by implementing cloud innovations; understanding cloud computing integration into an organization’s IT infrastructure; a technical knowledge of cloud computing foundations; and a tool to demonstrate professional development. The certificate can be earned by successfully completing each of the ten CloudU quizzes and a final examination consisting of 50 questions. The passing grade is 80 percent.

An IBM Cloud Computing Certification allows you to become a Certified Solution Advisor for Cloud Computing Architecture V2, a professional who understands cloud computing concepts, benefits, design and architecture principles. This certification demonstrates that you are able to describe how cloud computing can help a user as well as map user requirements to IBM’s various cloud computing products and services.

Taking another IBM Cloud Computing Certification, you can become an IBM Certified Solution Architect for Cloud Computing Infrastructure V1, an expert in IBM’s cloud computing plan, management, design, and architecture principles. This certificate will demonstrate your proficiency in IBM’s cloud computing design principles and concepts and your ability to provide a user with a roadmap towards a cloud solution. You will also be able to design a complete solution using IBM’s design as well as blue principles in order to meet a user’s requirements. Finally, this certification demonstrates your skills in applyingIBM’s Cloud Management Principles.

Data Security - Research Findings

Data security consistently tops the laundry list of security priorities because it must. Organisations are collecting data, creating data, using data, and storing data in some way or another. Mishandle data or disregard privacy, and you’ve got a public relations fiasco on your hands with the potential to disrupt business operations or hurt the bottom line. Here is research report and findings from Forrester Analysis

Key findings include:

• Data security is a top priority and commands a sizable chunk of budget. A majority of organisations (91 percent) cite data security as a critical or high priority and allocate, on average, 16 percent of security technology budget to this area. Hot focus areas include database vulnerability assessment, monitoring, and auditing, with 24 percent of firms planning to invest here, and data leak prevention (DLP), with 22 percent of firms planning investments in this area.
  
• Consumerisation fuels data security concerns, but protection is lacking. Data loss and protection are top mobile security concerns. Most firms have policies to address consumerisation (85 percent have a smartphone security policy, and 76 percent have a tablet security policy), but enforcement tools are lacking. Despite high concerns, many firms are either doing nothing for mobile data protection (23 percent) or only implementing baseline device security policies (38 percent) like password entry and remote lock and wipe.
  
• Privacy responsibilities go beyond the security group. Data security is primarily a security group responsibility. Privacy responsibility cuts across various business units and groups, and privacy officers and third-party privacy support are also called in to help. Privacy professionals surveyed by the IAPP tell us that top drivers for funding privacy include meeting compliance (54 percent) and reducing risk of data breach notification and publicised data breaches (50 percent).

“Failure to embrace cloud-based services will lead to IT support companies beingleft behind

“Failure to embrace cloud-based services will lead to IT support companies beingleft behind,” asserts Simon Street, engineering manager at SRS Support in Bridgend in a report available here

IT support companies that don’t embrace cloud computing and include it in their portfolio of products and services are putting their businesses at risk, according to a client study done by Giacom, market leader in providing Hosted Exchange via the cloud.

Giacom has the largest Hosted Exchange reseller network in the UK of more than 1,200 IT support companies, and provides a white label platform to allow IT professionals to deliver Microsoft’s popular Exchange e-mail server and Share Point storage and collaboration server under their own brand. The service is operated by Giacom under its Message Stream brand. more details here 

Open Source Fuels Cloud computing innovation

Open Source is a new resource and playing an important role in the spread and adoption of cloud computing approach.  Here is one view on how Open source can fuel cloud computing innovation by Ignacio M. Llorente

• Why use open source for building and designing cloud? Because open-source software stacks offer a huge amount of customizeability so the cloud you build actually does what you need it to do — and without huge licensing fees.
• How can open-source cloud management tools like Eucalyptus, CloudStack, OpenStack and OpenNebula  impact the adoption of cloud technology?

GE to develop cloud-based ATM

GE has embarked on an 18-month project with the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to help bring NextGen air traffic management (ATM) technology into the Cloud. Cloud computing will enable airlines and air traffic controllers to perform their tasks by sharing not only real-time information but also data analysis and decision support tools to improve aircraft operations and airspace efficiency. Courtesy 

A key programme objective is to explore how air traffic controllers, airlines and aircraft can interact more efficiently in a cloud computing environment. Today ATM functionalities and capabilities are developed and hosted separately by each of these entities. The expectation is that this project can help accelerate the transition of NextGen ATM technology, which traditionally would take years or even over a decade to complete. For complete story read here 

Cloud Computing in aid of Telecommute

Cloud Computing in aid of Telecommuter courtesy 

Telecommuting is the new way of working. The days when people had to be physically present at work are far behind. Working from home is a more cost effective, efficient, and easy option. That is why many companies have adopted it fully or partially.Cloud computing helps telecommuting to be effective because there are so many applications hosted online you can use to work efficiently from home.

To know how cloud computing help a telecommuter in managing project, preparing invoice and more see here 

e-learning benefits from cloud computing

The newly developed cloud computing show great potential for relieving some of the burdens on supporting e-learning.  In a research paper titled " Overview of Cloud computing and its applications in e-learning "  Lee Chao shares some useful insights

Middle school using cloud computing for down-to-earth education

Cloud Computing Serves Schools Too  Courtesy 

Jessica Macias missed a day of school recently due to illness but she didn't miss her social studies class. Macias, a Hobart Middle School eighth-grader, was able to log into class from home using Google Apps, an online document system that allows people to use it just by logging on, much like the Web-based email services Hotmail and Gmail.

Called cloud computing, data is stored on servers at a remote location rather than in their laptops. It's also interactive, allowing teachers to post homework assignments and other information online for students.

The School City of Hobart is using the latest technology, with each student using a computer in the classroom and classrooms using social media like Facebook and Twitter. Several elementary and secondary teachers in the school district are using Google Apps and social media in their classrooms. For complete story read here 

Using Cloud Computing for Generating Large-Scale Cosmological Structures

Cloud computing meets Cosmology and helps researchers build structures 

The ΛCDM cosmological model makes accurate predictions about the fluctuations in the matter distribution of the Universe. By measuring the statistical properties of the galaxy distribution, predictions of different cosmological models can be tested. To achieve this computationally demanding goal, a huge amount of resources is needed both for the analysis of those large-scale structures as well as for the calculation of the sampled-point grid. In this paper, the experience harvested throughout the process of adapting the code to be executed on several platforms: the Venus-C cloud computing infrastructure and a traditional computer cluster, along with the corresponding results are described in detail. Here is research paper 

What Are the Benefits of Working in the Cloud?

Cloud Computing has potential to serve non-profits also. Courtesy 

• Little to no upfront costs, but watch out for recurring operating costs.
  From Wikipedia: "Cloud computing users can avoid capital expenditure (CapEx) on hardware, software, and services when they pay a provider only for what they use. Consumption is usually billed on a utility (for example, resources consumed, like electricity) or subscription (for example an annual subscription to a newspaper) basis with little or no upfront cost."

• No IT staff required: Ok, this might be an oversimplification, but many applications available in the cloud require much less in-house IT support because the hosting provider takes care of installs, upgrades, backups and standard maintenance for you.
• No servers need to be researched, purchased, maintained, or recycled.
• Rapid deployment: Often, accounts can be set up in minutes. More complicated pieces of software (CRM, accounting packages, donor management software) still require more set up and probably training of your staff.

For benefits like Green and other see here 

10 Industries That Will Gain From Adopting The Cloud

Cloud computing is as already said is a solution in search of a challenge. Here is how it can benefit 10 different industries courtesy 

Cloud computing, or ‘cloud’ as it is popularly known as, is the latest trend in the computer world. Everyone is talking about it and everyday new developments are coming in. Cloud computing is like a huge switchboard; when you need a power outlet, just plug in your device; and when you are done, remove it. You do not have to carry a switchboard or an adapter with you everywhere.

Therefore, the switchboard becomes a ‘service’ given to you at a cost or for free (depending on the vendor). Without doubt, cloud computing is here to stay, and more and more industries are joining the vast virtual world. Let us look at ten industries that will gain from adopting the cloud.

1. Education: It is one of the fastest-growing industries in the world. The need and demand of education never goes down. Cloud computing in education opens avenues for better research, discussion, and collaboration. It also provides a software desktop environment, which minimizes hardware problems. Cloud computing also enables classes to be run on remote locations..

2. Marketing Companies: Today’s world is all about marketing and cloud computing takes marketing to a whole new level. The seller can have a marketplace without the need of investing in extra hardware, software, license fees etc.; and the buyer has more options for products. For the rest of industries see here 

The Ethics of Cloud Computing for Lawyers

With the spread of cloud computing every profession is expected to benefit from its offering. But before taking a leap into cloud every professional must check its implications. Here is one for Lawyers courtesy 

• Can you legally use cloud computing in a law-firm environment?
• What are best practices if you use cloud computing?

Cloud computing, where your data and software are stored on servers owned and maintained by a third party, once an unfamiliar and foreign concept, is becoming increasingly commonplace. As a result, lawyers are seeking to take advantage of the many benefits of using cloud computing services in their law practices, including cost savings, flexibility, and agility. For complete story see here 

Cloud Computing: A Quiet Game Changer In Education?

The contribution of cloud computing to education from 

Cloud computing or simply ‘the cloud’ as is often referred to in IT circles, is increasingly changing the education landscape. Many classroom educators didn’t see this coming, safe of course for a selected few technology professors who have consistently sought to bring the light of cloud to the academia. But isn’t this the beauty of technology? It sneaks into hitherto organized systems, rips them apart, and creates new opportunities that only the wise can grab upfront and walk to the bank.

This is the exact kind of ‘harm’ that cloud computing is posing to traditional education systems. We have already witnessed the rise of virtual learning centers, personal learning, and the all-popular long-distance learning. Thanks to could computing, students from different locations around the world can collaborate on assignments, rendering them interactive among their peers in education. For complete story view this

Top 7 Cloud Tools that Lawyers Must Have

The use of cloud tools in creating an online office is no longer a new idea. Today, many lawyers have made mobile phone apps and online websites their go-to tools for the operation of their firm. In the process, some have found that there are certain options that are most preferable.  The following tools are the ones that lawyers love the most

Cloud Computing in the Supply Chain

The supply chains of today are highly fragmented with silos of information that make it impossible to share information with trading partners. Businesses need technology platforms that empower them to visualize a product in every stage of its lifecycle, in real time, from raw materials through delivery to end customer. Management must be able to make quick decisions to re-route shipments, locate containers, and collaborate with suppliers to meet customer demand.

In today’s fast-paced, highly competitive global environment, companies need supply chains that are agile, savvy, and adaptive. Customers, suppliers, and trading partners are demanding, want information now, and require the right products arrive at the right location at the right time. This can best be accomplished in the cloud environment. Here is how

Cloud Computing enables Indian Entrepreneurs

A majority of Indian start-ups in 2012 catered to individual customers, with most entrepreneurs adopting mobile and cloud computing technologies to build their businesses, according to a study by Yourstory.in—an online platform for start-ups and entrepreneurs.

“Entrepreneurs are realizing these products can work out well globally and cloud has been a big enabler,” she said. Nearly 34% of the start-ups surveyed said they were actively using the cloud (a metaphor for Internet-based computing that allows users to access content on demand and anywhere) to power their main product.

 

The “State of Indian Tech Start-ups” survey was based on responses from more than 400 enterprises across six cities—Ahmedabad, Mumbai, New Delhi, Hyderabad, Chennai and Bangalore. For complete story see here

Effective Ways Cloud Computing Can Contribute To Education Success

Cloud Computing Shape Educational aspects of coming days - from 

Cloud computing and education sounds ambiguous on the face of it. Naturally, it’s because, very few individuals, publishers and users alike come from the education sector. In most cases, cloud computing is only associated with businesses and how they can leverage their efficiencies.

Just to introduce how the cloud deserves a place in our current education institution, it’s important to reiterate the education philosophy. Its essence is knowledge. It’s this knowledge which brings advancement, achievement and success. However, there are several things which make these parameters unattainable. In blunt language, this is failure. Small classrooms, lack or resources, short-handed staff, lack of adequate teachers…the list is endless. One way or the other, cloud computing can be utilized to improve education standards and activities. The end result will be to curb the above problems and instead, boost performance.

Capitalizing on economies of scale

Problems like those in which students cram into a class room can be solved with virtualization of the class environment. Students can actually log onto a space online and attend classes outside of the ineffective class environment. As such, the lecturers do not have to stress themselves out with outflowing classes beaming with crammed students. Instead, they can focus their attention to creating content students will understand, develop their skills and pass their exams.

There are also other ways colleges can leverage on economies of scale outside the classroom. For instance, if the paper systems are replaced by distributed work management systems, the workload can be reduced substantially. This can boost the rate at which they achieve efficiency needed to work optimally, just to name but, a few. complete story here 

Cloud Computing in Translation

Cloud computing is becoming a general resource. Here is an interesting application from 

Cloud computing is a model that gradually transforms information technologies but its application has long extended beyond IT. The solutions in the form of online file storage and sharing represent an efficient method to deal with many social and professional requirements of modern age. The most important discussions are still related to enterprises but cloud computing is being implemented in many public fields. Healthcare and education are some of the fields that increasingly turn to the cloud technologies and so are many other industries including translation.

Translation being as old as it is, doesn’t seem like a field that would depend on technology. In the past translators spent long hours in the libraries researching different topics using different forms of print material. Their contemporary colleagues that heavily rely on Google Search often wonder about translation processes before this omniscient tool appeared. It was definitively much slower, but the quality was the same. However, the modern life is much faster and most of the industries require solutions that would speed up the processes that once used to be slowed down because of the complicated paperwork. for complete information check here

Beligian startup ComodIT-unveils tool to manage your Clouds

ComodIT, a tiny startup out of Liege, Belgium, has big plans to help you manage your IT infrastructure in the cloud. The company’s new Synapse Agent, a step towards that goal, lets you manage multiple hosts or instances from a single command-line interface.

The company describes Synapse as a “universal API for remote system administration” that lets users — the target audience is devops pros — manage multiple cloud instances or hosts from a single command line interface using a REST API.
“It brings together the features of configuration management and orchestration in a lightweight framework,” said ComodIT CEO Daniel Bartz. The code– written in Python and using the advanced message queueing protocol (AMQP) for messaging–was posted to Github Tuesday so people can kick the tires. More info is here

Cloud initiative starting in India

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers is starting an initiative in India that will focus on the opportunities and challenges cloud computing solutions can help with across the country. IEEE said they are in a unique position to help the development of the cloud globally and in India.

“The primary driver behind choosing India for the first ever conference from IEEE focused on cloud computing is the rapid and significant deployment of cloud computing products and services here," according to Kathy L Grise, Future Directions senior program director for the IEEE Cloud Computing Initiative. "We also see India as a hotbed of innovation in this area."

Grise said IEEE has provided a platform for the cloud for years, so they believe they can garner increased participation from engineers in India and help develop the technology spread throughout the country.

InformationWeek reported earlier this year that the cloud based services market in India is expected to grow significantly over the next few years. The industry is worth $535 million now, and analysts predicted it will grow 50 percent over the next three years.