An article published earlier this week by Forbes.com outlines how cloud computing is effectively changing the business operation model worldwide.

One of the main reasons that Forbes describes as having a major effect on how business is conducted are the employees themselves. In recent years, more focus has been placed on the distributed workforce and how it can reduce on-site company expenses while also giving workers the luxury of performing tasks from their own home office or mobile device. While the remotely stored data concept is certainly not new, it has forced somewhat of a novel solution between companies and their workforce talent who are unable to commute or unwilling to leave the comfort of their home on a full time basis.

Distributed Workforce

Despite the Yahoo! corporate policy mandated by Marissa Mayer that is officially doing away with the distributed workforce (which could have more to do with getting employees to quit instead of having to dole out severance packages), many companies are coming to realize that employees can be much more productive when working remotely if the circumstances are right. For one, cloud computing has made it possible for project collaborators to share ideas and even update documents in real time, virtually from anywhere on the planet with a reliable Internet connection.

The result has been the ability for everyone from corporate execs to individual freelancers to communicate overseas and even work together as if they were in the same physical location due to tools such as Google Docs, Skype, and other real time collaboration software. Local data storage hasn’t become an inconvenience so much as it has become irrelevant in a virtual world where practically anything of importance can be accessed, stored, revised, and edited non-locally via the cloud.

Forbes.com contributor Michael Goodenough wrote, “For employees that do decide to come into the office, many want to bring their own devices because they prefer or are more familiar with them. Cloud computing is also accelerating the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend, allowing employees to virtually ‘dial into’ their corporate systems with their own computers or tablets Cloud computing gives employees these freedoms without IT having to worry about these different machines or the remote access overloading and crashing their on-site infrastructure.”

Traditional IT Business Model

Goodenough went on to explain that “cloud computing has unburdened businesses from the traditional IT business model, giving them more options when it comes to their IT infrastructure. In the past, the business/IT model was very straightforward: Businesses hired IT professionals to run their computer hardware and software. The IT staff had to forecast business needs as far out as 5 or 10 years, and make purchases accordingly.

With cloud computing, you never have to worry about running out of storage or server capacity, resulting in major cost savings. While you still need to forecast the amount of storage or server capacity that you may need, you no longer have to be overly concerned about the capital expense of scaling up your needs if you do require more space or capacity. It’s far less expensive and less of a hassle to increase cloud storage and cloud server needs than on-site infrastructure. You still need IT for many functions, but cloud computing may actually result in less of a need for a full-blown IT staff. You’ll be outsourcing most of your activity to a cloud vendor.”

It is indeed true that cloud computing continues to revolutionize the way firms conduct business; even leading to virtual meetings at the top executive level in many cases in which corporate heads often use the technology to share data in the same way that lower level employees do.

A recent article published by ZDNet.com highlighted the potential of cloud computing in Chinese classrooms, where a new system is poised to modernize school training within certain regions within the country by the end of 2015.

The article, written by ZDNet contributor Liu Jiayi, stated that “Chinese cloud services provider 3Tcloud is implementing the country’s biggest education cloud project, enabling the local authority to optimize resource allocation and cut maintenance cost. According to a report last week on Chinese tech site CCIDNet.com, the city of Zhuji in Zhejiang–one of China’s most developed provinces – has installed over 6,000 3Tcloud computing terminal devices in 118 schools. The terminals are supported by 28 pieces of blade servers and a 60TB HDD storage installed in the city’s information center.” When fully implemented, the project would take the place of current hardware that is obsolete.

Cloud Computing In The Classroom

In the Western Hemisphere, computer labs throughout school districts are slowly but surely integrating into the cloud. This trend is also gathering an enormous amount of momentum thanks to the private networking capabilities of themes and other software that lets professors interact with students, faculty and parents like never before. Everything from homework assignments to grades can be carefully uploaded, secured and sent to the appropriate groups of authorized individuals plus there is the ability to communicate in real-time while amalgamating several processes that used to take days to perform.

However, some privacy issues remain as parents, children, and administrators struggle to find updated solutions to doing business in a virtual world that has quickly morphed into a technological free for all. Although it is highly convenient to create private social networks, project details, and bulletins within a real-time cloud, there is still a considerable amount of adaptation required on behalf of all involved in order to make the process smoother and more reliable.

Chen Xikun, Director of the Information Technology center at Zhuji’s education bureau was quoted in the ZDNet article as saying, “By using such a system, we could effectively push forward the development of the city’s teaching, resources, research, and evaluation – all of which is done on the cloud. Take teaching on the cloud, for example, students in different courses have full access to all resources available, and it helps the elementary and secondary education of Zhuji develop in a balanced way.”

Streamlining Resources

One of the main arguments for promoting cloud computing in the classroom is the fact that it is almost guaranteed to preserve resources in the long run. Units seldom consume as much energy as outdated hardware; not to mention the fact that pooled resources will ultimately lead to fewer individuals being able to produce more thanks to the amount of information that is accessible at one time from various locations.

Still, the move could potentially lead to a higher unemployment rate among currently qualified personnel that are no longer needed once cloud computing-savvy instructors are able to interact within the cloud. On-site teaching assistants could be replaced by computer interfaces that simply require a few clicks of a mouse to answer frequently asked questions on homework assignments or projects.

“Since the project’s commencement in April 2012, Shanghai-based 3Tcloud has been replacing PCs in the schools in Zhuji with X900 cloud computing terminals, a device that supports virtual machine under CHP protocol and is no bigger than a ADSL modem,” states the ZDNet article.

Here at OnlineStorage, we enjoy keeping our readers up to date on current events that involve data storage and cloud computing. Be sure to check back frequently for more blog entries and feel free to leave a comment if you would like to provide feedback on our articles.

All through the Internet realm, there are news stories covering the continued growth of Cloud Computing that highlight everything from the need for qualified personnel to work in firms scattered across the globe to op-eds that give insight into the future needs of firms within the industry. One such article was recently published by Technorati.com; and focused on the industry’s growth as well as outlining where the concept is headed in upcoming years.

It’s no secret that a growing number of businesses as well as government entities are seeking out ways to better safeguard, manage and access sensitive data. The threat of loss or damage due to hardware failure and lack of security in locally-stored data is very real, and has prompted a trend towards non-locally stored information that can be accessed anywhere in the world provided the user has legitimate login credentials along with an Internet connection.

Cloud Computing News

Technorati’s May 1st article opened by stating, “Cloud computing is getting another boost thanks to Arista Networks’ announcement of a new data switch. The New York Times reports on May 1 that the updated technology will allow for 10 gigabits of data to be moved per second. The switch could lead to better computing centers and is positive news considering the immense growth of cloud computing in recent years. It is being heralded as another step forward for the future of enterprise cloud services.”

The acceleration in the cloud computing industry has been noted in dozens of news stories over the past year, with some going as far as outlining the six-figure annual salary average that is being offered on many job listing websites for qualified management level personnel. Although the highest paying of these opportunities are generally located in the Silicon Valley region, there are also a large number of offers from Asia; which is seeing exponential growth in its remote data storage needs.

Of course, the cloud computing concept is not new by any stretch of the imagination. Although the most common form of remotely stored data a decade ago was third party email providers, Online Storage’s Chuck Romano published a story earlier this week related to Megaupload, and how it paved the way for remotely stored data by offering file sharing services in which users could download popular files such as music .mp3s and documents.

Lag In Cloud Education

Technocrati contributor Lana Bandoim pointed out this week that “more companies are beginning to recognize the benefits of the cloud, but there is still a lag in education. However, the growing interest in cloud computing and cloud ERP software is leading to more businesses offering courses for training. Acumatica, a provider of cloud ERP software, recently revealed it has started the Acumatica University learning system. The company offers courses, videos, exams and surveys that are accessible from any computer or mobile device. Acumatica University has 65 courses that provide training about cloud ERP products.”

Recently, we also brought our readers a story on how there is a noticeable lack of talented individuals available to head cloud computing divisions within companies; especially in Asia, where some firms are actually offering to finance training courses as well as guarantee jobs for those who pass and receive certification.

With billions of dollars at stake annually along with a high level of demand from every major continent on the planet, it looks like the trend toward the cloud will continue to accelerate; at least for the near future. Some firms have gone as far as planning for potential revenue all the way up to the end of this decade.

For the latest news stories related to the cloud computing industry, be sure to check back frequently here at OnlineStorage.com.

If you’re a person who keeps up with technology and how it has been quickly moving to consumer use over the past few decades, then you’re likely aware of Google Glass; a relatively new concept which allows end users to connect to wireless services while producing images, video and other data in real time. The new device has triggered questions about how much data storage will eventually be needed to secure, maintain and grant access to that information once the technology catches on and is released to more consumers.

In a recent blog post published by Robert Scoble, the tech specialist wrote, “Google Glass is going to need a new kind of cloud computing and Google won’t be able to satisfy all the demand,” Scoble wrote in a widely-linked Google+ post. ”If Google Glass is as big a deal as I think it will be, humans will generate much more data than they do today. Either because of sensor tracking to do things like play location-based games, or do health tracking, or more. Think about Waze, a traffic app, on Google Glass. The new developers will need new cloud computing. Plus, I see Glass as part of a contextual system, one that uses an Internet of Things, but also brings data from your own businesses in along with big data computation that will find new patterns to display on our glass.”

Google Glass

Google Glass may revolutionize the way people worldwide upload and store information; not to mention the slew of similar devices that could come onto the market in short order. According to Wikipedia, “Google Glass is a wearable computer with a head-mounted display (HMD) that is being developed by Google in the Project Glass research and development project, with the mission of producing a mass-market ubiquitous computer. Google Glass displays information in a smartphone-like hands-free format,that can interact with the Internet via natural language voice commands. While the frames do not currently have lenses fitted to them, Google is considering partnering with sunglass retailers such as Ray-Ban or Warby Parker, and may also open retail stores to allow customers to try on the device. The Explorer Edition cannot be used by people who wear prescription glasses, but Google has confirmed that Glass will eventually work with frames and lenses that match the wearer’s prescription; the glasses will be modular and therefore possibly attachable to normal prescription glasses.”

By using voice commands, the traditional mouse clicking or tapping methods of giving commands through a desktop or mobile device interface could eventually go by the wayside; allowing users to create data at a much faster rate than ever before.

Cloud Computing

Since the beginning of our blog here at OnlineStorage, we’ve brought our readers a large number of articles that revolve around the growing demand for cloud computing as the amount of information increases exponentially along with the need to save it remotely. The concept is definitely not new (users of third party mail services such as Yahoo! and Google have been remotely storing their data for years), but exactly how the information will be used and accessed has definitely caught on in recent years as service providers target a growing market of governments and corporations who have a seemingly insatiable need to warehouse everything from hospital records to photos and video content.

Cloud computing training is currently being provided by many firms as they look to hire qualified personnel to help them maintain and attract customers, while IaaS continues to spread globally. Whether Google Glass will become an intricate part of cloud storage remains to be seen, but the technology itself unquestionably could alter the way companies market the cloud.

Business software producer SAP reported its First Quarter 2013 Earnings Friday; announcing that its Cloud Subscription services are generating a massive amount of corporate revenue and are expected to continue doing so for the foreseeable future. Non-IFRS Software and Cloud Subscription Revenue Increased 25% at Constant Currencies according to the official financial report, which can be viewed here. Net profit overall was up a whopping 17 percent in the first quarter compared to 4Q 2012, with the firm’s remote cloud computing business complimenting its long-standing company software sales.

SAP, based in Germany, reported Fourth Quarter profits of €520 million (approximately $680 million US Dollars) as total revenue jumped to €3.6 billion throughout the company. SAP’s earnings report stated that “the Americas region delivered a strong first quarter, with non-IFRS software and cloud subscription revenue growing by 49% (51% at constant currencies), driven by excellent software revenue performance in Latin America and strong cloud subscription and support revenue growth in North America. The EMEA region saw solid growth of 13% (15% at constant currencies) in non-IFRS software and cloud subscription revenue, which is impressive in light of continued market uncertainty. Strong year-on-year software revenue growth rates in many markets including Russia, Switzerland, and the UK contributed to this performance. Non-IFRS software and cloud subscription revenue in the Asia Pacific Japan (APJ) region declined, as several markets in APJ started more slowly in 2013 after a record fourth quarter in 2012 and new leadership in some markets. The company expects the APJ region to be back on track in the second quarter.”

Cloud Computing Outlook

The outlook for cloud computing firms worldwide is extremely optimistic currently, with a growing number of corporations seeking out qualified individuals to pave the way to the future within the cloud that could continue to thrive through 2020 and beyond. As large firms, corporations and governments look for a safe and secure method for storing, maintaining and accessing sensitive data, cloud subscription services similar to those offered by SAP are expected to increase in demand; up to a point where revenue generated from these services could account for more than half of the entire corporation’s income.

“Our industry is at a fundamental transformation point, driven by the convergence of mobile, cloud and big data. SAP’s 25% growth shows that we are not only leading this change but also gaining significant worldwide market share,” said SAP Co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe Friday. “Customers continue to choose our innovations to help them run better, and SAP HANA is the next-generation platform for all companies to innovate their business, drive speed across the entire enterprise and reduce costs. SAP’s pipeline is strong, and we are confident that we will achieve our full-year outlook.”

The report coincides with other financial statements released by cloud computing firms which show an increasing percentage of revenue being received from subscription services in which businesses are aiming to secure sensitive data and access expanded server space.

Long Term Profitability

SAP CFO Werner Brandt added, “Non-IFRS software and cloud subscription revenue exceeded €800 million for the first time in a first quarter. We saw very strong revenue contribution from SAP HANA and continued growth in the cloud. The solid top line performance and continued cost discipline resulted in double-digit growth in Non-IFRS operating profit at constant currencies. We are on track to deliver on our 2015 goals and our overall financial objective of profitable growth over the long term.”

Just how far the cloud computing boom will take certain companies remains to be seen, but it is clear that the industry’s momentum is building and demand is far from waning. For future reports on cloud computing and data storage, be sure to check back frequently here at OnlineStorage.com.

Earlier this week, long-standing PC maker Hewlett Packard (NYSE:HPQ) its all new HP Moonshot system, an attempt to deliver a reworked infrastructure by using significantly less energy and space; resulting in massive cost reduction compared to traditional servers.

Meg Whitman, president and chief executive officer of Hewlett Packard stated, “With nearly 10 billion devices connected to the internet and predictions for exponential growth, we’ve reached a point where the space, power and cost demands of traditional technology are no longer sustainable. HP Moonshot marks the beginning of a new style of IT that will change the infrastructure economics and lay the foundation for the next 20 billion devices.”

Declining PC Market

HP once dedicated nearly all its resources toward the sale and maintenance of the personal computer market, which dominated to home technology scene around the turn of the century. However, that market has received an enormous amount of competition in recent years not only from Macintosh desktops along with laptops, but also from mobile devices such as the iPhone, Blackberry and Android. Throw in a growing number of individuals worldwide who are using tap screens to navigate the Internet from a tablet computer such as the Samsung Galaxy and iPad, and you have a law of diminishing returns for the once dominant company.

HP’s shares peaked with the dot-com bubble in early 2000 at $75 per share; consistently declining ever since. Although the stock is currently priced at $20.90, shares have dipped as low as $11.35 over the past 12 months due to an overall lack of investor confidence in the firm. With the move to cloud computing, HP is looking to shore up confidence and enter an extremely expanding market.

HP Moonshot

According to HP’s official news release on its Investor Relations website, “HP has continued to push the boundaries of technology and innovation by ushering in a paradigm shift that paved the way for the first “software defined” server that enables enterprises to optimize their servers based on specific workload needs. Built from HP’s industry-leading server intellectual property (IP) and 10 years of extensive research from HP Labs, the company’s central research arm, HP Moonshot delivers a significant improvement in energy, space, cost and simplicity.

The new HP Moonshot system is the second-generation server from HP’s Project Moonshot. This new class of server is engineered to address the IT challenges created by social, cloud, mobile and big data. HP Moonshot servers are built from chips more commonly found in smartphones and tablets, which allow the servers to deliver reduced energy use and a high-density footprint, all at a significantly lower cost.”

Cloud Computing Industry

The cloud computing industry has surged since the turn of the decade as more and more governments as well as corporate entities seek out ways to store, access and maintain big data. Local municipalities have been turning to remote storage methods for some time as they seek ways to amalgamate data ranging from personal information to statistics.

In fact, there appears to be a shortage of qualified personnel available to fill certain cloud industry positions; especially overseas in the Asia region. Some companies are offering paid courses for trainees with the promise of a follow-up job. Add the concept of a distributed workforce to the mix, and you have a combination that could see the continuance of a trend that has seen a growing amount of individuals working remotely from a home office for firms located across the globe.

HP also has other plans when it comes to streamlining its infrastructure. “HP also announced a comprehensive roadmap of workload-optimized HP ProLiant Moonshot servers incorporating processors from a broad ecosystem of HP partners including AMD, AppliedMicro, Calxeda, Intel and Texas Instruments Incorporated,” the firm stated Wednesday. “Scheduled to be released in the second half of 2013, the new HP ProLiant Moonshot servers will support emerging web, cloud and massive scale environments, as well as analytics and telecommunications. Future servers will be delivered for big data, high-performance computing, gaming, financial services, genomics, facial recognition, video analysis and other applications.”

For updated news stories on the cloud computing industry, be sure to check back frequently here at OnlineStorage.com.

In an official public document released April 1st, 2013, U.S Department of Navy Chief Information Officer Terry A. Halvorsen released a statement outlining the Navy’s new policy regarding cloud computing. The memorandum’s subject, Department of Navy Approach to Cloud Computing, refers to policies that will be enacted under the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) in coordination with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and Committee on National Security Systems Instruction (CNSSI).

Cost Savings

In the document, DON proposes several information technology changes that will assist the department in accumulating, storing and accessing data remotely. Halvorsen states that “as a first step, DON low-impact information systems and mission functions will move to commercial CSPs that meet mission and security requirements, unless a more cost effective DoD solution is identified. This enables compliance with reference (b) while achieving necessary cost savings. A low-impact system is defined in references (e) and (f) as an information system in which the loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability could be expected to have limited adverse effect. DON organizations are to categorize as low-impact those publicly accessible information systems, applications, and web sites that contain only information previously approved for public release.”

Cloud computing has been cited as a cost effective method for data storage for more than five years by many private companies, and the DON’s move to issue a new policy regarding remote information comes as no surprise. The issue was discussed back in February at an Information Technology Conference in San Diego in which the CIO and his deputy, Janice Haith, expressed a need for cutting costs within the department.

Certification Process

Halvorsen added last week that he “will use the DON’s initial implementations of commercial and governmental cloud hosting services to define the DON security documentation and certification standards and processes unique to cloud systems. Reciprocity of accreditation decisions and the artifacts supporting those decisions will be used to significantly reduce the time and expense of the DoD and Federal certification processes. This approach will also identify the need for additional security controls or verification testing.”

Working side by side, the two will be responsible for ensuring that all systems are properly certified and formally approved by the appropriate Designated Approval Authority, verifying that required entries are made in the DON IT Portfolio Repository (DITPR-DON) and DON Applications and Database Management System (DADMS), and making sure that commercial CSPs are used to support low-impact systems and mission functions, unless a more cost effective DoD solution is identified.

They will also establish a governance process to adjudicate requested exceptions to the policy and analyze alternatives to identify the most cost effective hosting environment available for medium impact systems, as they are defined in references. The analysis will evaluate commercial, Federal, and DoD solutions.

Forbes News Coverage

Forbes Magazine ran a story on Monday, April 8th, which alluded to the new policy and gave an opinion on how the department will adjust to the realities of cloud computing.

Forbes contributor Reuven Cohen wrote that the “latest announcement continues the Navy on a path toward greater and more efficient usage of cloud computing as a central part of its IT strategy. A major part of the proposal focuses on the concept of an Enterprise Cloud Service Broker which is assigned to the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA). The memo does note that the broker concept is still being developed by DoD and is not fully in place and is pending further guidance from the DoD CIO.”

For the latest news and articles related to cloud computing and online data storage, be sure to check back frequently here at OnlineStorage.com.

A recent article by CNBC outlined several important tax considerations that cloud computing companies and customers should contemplate in upcoming years as their businesses grow and expand. As more and more brick and mortar firms make use of the cloud to reduce infrastructure and information technology costs, and more providers pop up to offer those services, the lack of tax clarity in several major regions across the globe means that future revenue streams could be significantly affected.

The article, authored by Channing Flynn, Partner at Ernst & Young LLP, looks at a number of factors that many Chief Executive Officers have yet to take into account when it comes to how a region’s tax structures could alter a firm’s bottom line; especially when making use of cloud services.

“Many CEOs have not grasped the full impact of this trend on their organizations,” writes Flynn. “One important area of oversight is the potential impact on the global tax position of the company. The promise of cloud computing technologies is to help fill companies’ insatiable need to increase capacity and manage information in a way that’s scalable. It can save companies from building out significant, new infrastructure and processes as their businesses grow. Many of the largest technology companies today are working to acquire or develop the critical cloud technologies they need to stay competitive.”

Cloud Growth

The growth of cloud services has been well documented since the turn of the decade. In fact, we recently brought our readers a story on the influx of Data Centers in the Asian region in which employers are scrambling to find qualified personnel to fill key positions. There is also the statistic showing a wide range of six-figure salary offers from tech firms looking to hire mid to upper level management with cloud computing experience.

Flynn added, ” As this trend grows and companies continue to expand their cloud footprints globally, they need to be aware of a new breed of tax challenges and consider how tax laws around the world should factor into their decisions about cloud computing.

In working on this topic for our clients, a common theme is the need to obtain certainty and reduce risk as new business models emerge seemingly daily that are global in their reach. The three key areas of tax uncertainty in today’s environment are (i) assessment of global withholding taxes on cross-border payments, (ii) creation of taxable nexus in one jurisdiction when conducting business via the cloud from another jurisdiction, and (iii) the broad area of indirect taxation (global VAT, US sales and use taxation, etc.).”

Revenue Characterization

At the heart of adapting to current and future tax laws, Flynn suggests that Cloud Service Providers (CSPs) characterize revenue as being derived either from a service or something completely different; such as a product sale, royalty license or lease agreement. This designation could have a major impact on whether sales, withholding or indirect taxes might be applied.

She also explains that CEOs should be reminded that the end consumer will ultimately be burdened with compliance responsibility. “For end-user companies, using a CSP means inviting another party to all of your business’ regulatory compliance activities, ranging from tax requirements to internal controls policies to privacy statutes, industry-specific requirements and other legal considerations,” Flynn offers.

There have been several private studies published on the concerns that cloud computing firms have when it comes to regulatory status. Several states with the U.S. have actually adopted zero percent tax bases for cloud services provided, but it remains unclear how the structures will affect end-users. There are other states that have adopted varying brackets as high as 6 percent on cloud services.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE:IBM) earned a 10 year, $267 million cloud computing contract with Ohio earlier this week; a move that the state estimated will save as much as $150 million over the next five years. The corporation’s stock price is near an all-time high as the firm seeks to take full advantage of its market capitalization of $236 billion and Price to Equity Ratio of 14.72.

The contract, which is a continuance of work that has been ongoing since 2008, allows IBM to cut the number of machines, consumption of power and overall expenses that are associated with managing and maintaining the state’s secure data center (SOCC). The IT of public agencies has moved into a state-owned Cloud in which various agencies are able to maintain their data in a large, shared database without the information actually bleeding over.

Data Center Improvement

Ohio’s Chief Information Officer Stu Davis said Thursday, “We are working with IBM to significantly reduce the complexity of our infrastructure, improve data center operations and increase service delivery for state agencies and the constituents they serve. This is a foundational component of Ohio’s IT Optimization efforts that will result in savings and culminate in the consolidation of the state’s IT assets into a primary state data center. This provides agencies with services they require and ensures we are spending taxpayers’ dollars once.”

The State of Ohio Computing Center (SOCC) is four stories high and encompasses more than 350,000 square feet of space. IBM Client Executive for Ohio Kevin Hill remarked Thursday that “Many of our clients have looked to IBM to assist them in identifying ways of reducing their overall technology footprint, while improving their ability to serve their stakeholders. The approach the State of Ohio is taking will not only address the State’s need to reduce costs, but it will also provide its workers and all Ohioans with the resources they deserve thorough a unique collaboration that is based on leveraging the best that our two organizations can offer.”

Cloud Computing Trends

Ohio isn’t the only state looking to control expenses while at the same time improving data center operations for its public agencies. Across the world, municipalities, states and countries, are scrambling to improve data security and coordination as a larger amount of information becomes available to them.

As big data storage becomes a growing demand in areas such as China, executives are fervently training individuals to handle the needs of an exponentially growing cloud computing market. There are many companies overseas that offer hands-on training as part of their entry-level salary packages as the industry projects growth through 2018.

SOCC Details

According to an official press release published by IBM on Thursday, Ohio’s “cloud computing environment will be designed to provide a secure, high-performance and dependable foundation for computing, while costing the State less than its current infrastructure. The goal of the State’s IT consolidation is to substantially reduce IT infrastructure services spend, and reallocate those funds to applications and services that support the citizens and businesses of Ohio.”

The actual data center “houses infrastructure for several State agencies that support more than 1,600 applications executing on over 2,700 servers in a complex network environment via an annual $108 million budget for these resources. By working with IBM, the State will be able to focus on meeting application demands that underpin the services it provides to the citizens of Ohio. The program will also lay the groundwork for future opportunities including the State’s drive toward private, secure cloud computing.”

Be sure to check back frequently here at OnlineStorage.com for the latest news stories surrounding cloud computing and big data storage during the 2013 calendar year.

The globally popular online video streaming website Netflix announced this week that it is offering $100,000 in prize money as part of a contest that is encouraging developers to improve features, functionality, reliability and security for computing resources delivered over the Internet. The Cloud Computing submissions will be available for free use once the contest had ended.

Netflix Service

For our readers who routinely use the Netflix service to stream video content, you are well aware of just how popular and useful the site has become over the last few years. Millions of users worldwide spend billions of hours watching TV shows, movies and documentaries that can be integrated with any computing device as well as video game consoles such as the XBOX 360.

Streamers generally pay a monthly fee of approximately $12 US Dollars to gain full access to Netflix’s entire catalog, which in turn can be watched at the customer’s convenience and even replayed without any additional charge. Earlier this year, Netflix even released its own original television series titled House Of Cards (starring Kevin Spacey) which has received rave reviews. By launching the program as an all-in-one show that allowed users to view all of Season One’s 13 episodes instantaneously, those who had enough time on their hands were able to witness the series’ events unfold in a matter of a weekend marathon rather than the traditional week-by-week viewing format.

Cloud Technology Still Emerging

Netflix Chief Product Officer Neil Hunt stated Thursday that “cloud computing has become a hot topic recently, but the technology is still just emerging. No doubt many of the key ideas that will take it to the next level have yet to be conceived, explored, and developed. The Netflix Cloud Prize is designed to attract and focus the attention of the most innovative minds to create the advances that will take cloud to the next level.”

Hunt added, “We’re laying railroad tracks for cloud adoption and usage. The Netflix Cloud Prize is designed to improve understanding of what it takes to build native applications for the cloud that take full advantage of the opportunities for scalable computing.”

Prize Details

The $100,000 in prize money will be divvied out in 10 total categories and evaluated by an independent panel of judges: Amazon.com Chief Technology Officer (CTO) Werner Vogels , Thoughtworks Chief Scientist Martin Fowler , Strategist Simon Wardley, Telx Senior Vice President and author of Cloudonomics Joe Weinman, University of Aarhus Developer Training Expert Aino Corry and Netflix Cloud Vice President Yury Izrailevsky.

The contest will run from Wednesday March 13th through September 15th, 2013. Winners will be announced in October and prizes will be awarded at the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Re:Invent conference in November. All winners will be invited to attend the conference in Las Vegas as guests of Netflix.

Increased Influence

Although Amazon experienced major hiccups in its brand loyalty in 2011 (when it unadvisedly decided to implement a higher premium service charge), the stock has recovered to $188 per share in recent days; after falling all the way down to $54 six months ago.

The stock’s volatility has revolved around subscriber loyalty and the sometimes awkward process of entering new markets in Latin America and Europe. Although other websites are dedicated to providing streaming of TV Shows and Movies, none have yet to offer the same vast catalog to customers for such as low price.

The contest should bring a lot of top talent to the table, especially when it comes to integrating cloud technology into viable features for the video streaming giant. There is already a large list of improvements that current Netflix customers would like to see from the site over the next year, and the new ideas presented along with the submissions should shed quite a bit of light on what direction Netflix will eventually take when it comes to cloud computing.