Cloud Computing: The Wave of the Future
Research and Markets has announced the addition of the "Cloud Computing: The Wave of the Future" report to their offering.
The essence of cloud computing services is the utilization of the Internet as the primary vehicle for computer applications and data storage. Since cloud-based services provide access to computing resources over the Internet, they obviate the need for deploying and maintaining expensive data centers.
The cloud represents a fundamental shift in computing, providing a platform for agile and cost effective business applications and IT infrastructure. This platform stems from the convergence of relatively inexpensive computing, pervasive mobility and virtualization technologies. While creating the need for best practices in security program governance, the cloud offers enormous potential to simplify many difficult security problems.
The cloud is being aggressively adopted by small and medium sized companies, but several major enterprises have also entered the fray, particularly for applications where existing corporate data centers are running out of capacity. Nevertheless, the services being offered via cloud computing require careful analysis to understand the risks, and appropriate risk mitigation strategies need to be adopted.
The cloud computing services market will have a significant but not extraordinary growth over the next seven years. The market will generate $45.5 billion in revenue by 2015, a growth that will be tempered by the reluctance of a significant segment of the user community to embrace the technology.
Most of the current implementations of cloud computing are based on proprietary protocols. However, as technology becomes more mature and confidence in the technology grows, the growth rate will pick up.
The cloud computing services are initially being deployed in situations where call centers are unable to support peak loads. Notwithstanding concerns about the reliability of these services, cloud computing is finding acceptance for non-critical tasks. The primary driver of cloud computing is the low cost of the service, coupled with the fact that it allows customers to use it wherever they want, and to pay only for what they use.
The aggressive pricing of cloud-based products by Amazon.com has set new benchmarks that other vendors are striving to match. Despite the low barriers to entry in the market, many service providers will find it challenging to survive, given the highly competitive environment.
While cloud computing offerings are primarily being launched in the industrialized world, the main engine of growth in the mid-term will be the emerging markets. Cloud computing is particularly beneficial to small and medium sized companies.
This report examines emerging developments in cloud computing and forecasts its future growth. With a measured tone on the growth of cloud computing, it forecasts cloud computing by market segments, by service delivery models, and by applications. The report projects seven-year revenue potential for cloud computing.
NetSuite and Fujitsu to Bring SaaS ERP Suite to Mid-Market Companies in Japan
NetSuite, Inc. has partnered with Fujitsu Limited and Fujitsu Business Systems Ltd. to distribute, resell and support NetSuite in Japan, enabling Japanese companies to run the core aspects of their businesses in the cloud. NetSuite Release J is Japan's first and only fully-localized, Software as a Service (SaaS) business management suite available to Japanese businesses to date.
Partnering with NetSuite gives Fujitsu an immediate presence in the rapidly expanding cloud computing industry as well as a cloud-based Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) offering for small to mid-sized enterprises. Fujitsu's internal experts will specialize in promoting NetSuite to mid-market manufacturing companies, while Fujitsu Business Systems Ltd. (FJB) and its external partners focus on targeting SMEs in the industry-specific verticals such as services, wholesale and distribution.
"Fujitsu is confident that the alliance between NetSuite and Fujitsu Group creates a new leader in the Japanese SaaS ERP market, powered by NetSuite Release J," said Taro Mizuno, president of Manufacturing and Distribution Solution Unit at Fujitsu Limited. "Together, we can deliver valuable and effective cloud computing software solutions to small and mid-sized enterprises, enabling them to realize cost-savings, productivity gains and speed-to-implementation benefits."
ClickSoftware Announces Closure of AST Assets Acquisition
ClickSoftware Technologies Ltd., a provider of mobile workforce management and service optimization solutions, has successfully closed the acquisition of the assets of AST. ClickSoftware acquired all the assets of AST including its technology, customers and employees for a total consideration of about $1.6 million paid in cash, and an additional $0.2 million to be paid contingent upon the achievement of certain targets. This acquisition will provide ClickSoftware with Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) capability to address the needs of small service businesses.
"In addition to having large blue-chip customers, and announcing the IMRS initiative for the mid market about two years ago, this acquisition, which is aimed at the low end market, will provide us with field service management solutions for every size of service business from five technicians to 50,000 technicians", said Dr. Moshe BenBassat, ClickSoftware's chairman and CEO.
ClickSoftware is a provider of mobile workforce management and service optimization solutions that create business value for service operations through higher levels of productivity, customer satisfaction and cost effectiveness. Combining educational, implementation and support services with best practices and its industry-leading solutions, ClickSoftware drives service decision making across all levels of the organization.
CA and Acxiom Announce Partnership to Provide Cloud-Delivered Information Governance Solution
CA, Inc. and Acxiom Corp. have announced a partnership to deliver enterprise-class on-demand Information Governance solutions. The new service is immediately available.
Organizations today face significant risks and challenges managing, controlling and discovering a rapidly growing volume of enterprise content. Faced with an ever-increasing demand for transparency, accountability and defensibility, companies are looking for innovative and cost-effective ways to address these challenges. The new cloud-based, hosted solution from CA and Acxiom offers customers an alternative to on-premise software deployments, while providing a single portal view to better manage email, archiving, litigation holds, search, records declaration, retention and disposition. Legal compliance and IT professionals will be able to conduct eDiscovery tasks directly from their desktops without a service provider intermediary, helping to achieve Lean IT by reducing overall costs, complexity and risk.
"CA is delighted to partner with Acxiom on a solution that will offer organizations the ability to gain control over enterprise information while also leveraging the benefits of the cloud," said Galina Datskovsky, Ph.D., CRM, senior vice president and general manager of Information Governance at CA. "Acxiom has the expertise and experience in providing the secure, robust infrastructure required for cloud and hosted implementations."
"In today's business environment, IT professionals are under pressure to decrease costs and increase profitability while maintaining the ability to quickly respond to business demands," said John Costanza, Acxiom vice president for global infrastructure management. "Our partnership with CA gives businesses the ability to securely access a robust, cloud delivered information governance solution that is managed by an industry leader. The Acxiom and CA solution delivers a cost effective, flexible and secure approach for meeting the growing demands around e-mail archiving, compliance and eDiscovery."
Google to Acquire On2 Technologies
On2 Technologies, Inc. and Google, Inc. have entered into a definitive agreement under which Google will acquire On2, a developer of video compression technology. Under the terms of the agreement, each outstanding share of On2 common stock will be converted into $0.60 worth of Google class A common stock in a stock-for-stock transaction. The transaction is valued at approximately $106.5 million.
“Today video is an essential part of the web experience, and we believe high-quality video compression technology should be a part of the web platform,” said Sundar Pichai, vice president, Product Management, Google. “We are committed to innovation in video quality on the web, and we believe that On2’s team and technology will help us further that goal.”
The transaction, which is subject to On2 stockholder approval, regulatory clearances and other closing conditions, is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2009.
Cloud-Based Email Archiving Provider LiveOffice Continues to Deliver Record Revenue
LiveOffice, a provider of (SaaS) email archiving, email hosting and email continuity solutions, has reported record-setting revenue for the second quarter of 2009. The strong financial results were driven by increased demand for cloud-based technologies, the launch of proprietary automated migration technology and expansion into new channels.
“We are extremely excited about our continued growth and the leadership role we have taken in the rapidly expanding, highly competitive SaaS archiving industry. As more organizations look to offload IT tasks to the cloud, archiving via the SaaS model is becoming a hot topic,” said Nick Mehta, CEO of LiveOffice. Highlights of the second quarters include the launch of the company’s CloudMerge, a partnership with Mimosa Systems and entering new business channels.
Until now, a major barrier to adopting a cloud-based archiving service has been migrating data from existing stores. The LiveOffice CloudMerge tools, a suite of user friendly applications and connectors, fully automate the migration, ingestion and consolidation of legacy data. These tools help organizations of all sizes capture data from a variety of mailbox sources, including on-premise email stores, hosted email stores, legacy email archives and personal archives.
LiveOffice and Mimosa Systems forged the first partnership between on-premise and cloud-based email archiving providers. The companies joined forces to develop a beta version of LiveOffice CloudMerge for Mimosa NearPoint, which connects Mimosa’s on-premise archive with LiveOffice’s cloud-based archive. The tool delivers cost-effective, long-term storage and expedited external e-discovery for on-premise Microsoft Exchange Server environments.
During the second quarter, LiveOffice pioneered the first-ever email archiving plugin for the Spiceworks IT management portal, enabling companies to implement a fully featured cloud-based email archiving solution with a simple, five-click installation process. This development effort puts the company’s technology at the fingertips of the Spiceworks community, with a membership including more than 700,000 information technology professionals.
McAfee, Inc. to Acquire MX Logic and Provide Comprehensive Security-as-a-Service Portfolio
McAfee, Inc. has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately owned MX Logic, Inc. for approximately $140 million in cash at closing, with an earn-out of up to an additional $30 million in cash if certain performance targets are met. MX Logic is a leading global provider of cloud-based email and Web security and email archiving and continuity services. Adding MX Logic’s technologies and services will provide McAfee with a comprehensive cloud-based security portfolio, one that combines leading global threat intelligence technologies from McAfee with its Security-as-a-Service solutions.
“The acquisition of MX Logic will reinforce our position as a leader in Security-as-a-Service, and brings world-class email and Web defense, including archiving and business continuity services, extending our proven expertise in providing cloud-based services to our customers,” said Dave DeWalt, president and CEO, McAfee. “MX Logic aligns with the McAfee vision to lead Security SaaS by bringing industry-leading technologies and a strong partner ecosystem.”
Following completion of the proposed acquisition, McAfee will offer a comprehensive and dedicated security portfolio in the market with the broadest set of delivery options including appliances, software, in the cloud or hybrid deployments. This approach will give businesses in all market segments the flexibility to purchase these solutions as standalone offerings or to mix and match these deployment choices to meet their exact needs.
The acquisition is expected to close in the third quarter of 2009, contingent upon regulatory approval and other customary closing conditions. |
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