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This Week in Cloud, February 7, 2013: Dell’s cloud strategy, Netflix to open-source more of the Simian Army, Big year for big data. And more…

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Cloud News

  • Dell has been taken out of the public trading space in a buyout by Michael Dell, Silver Lake, and Microsoft, according to this Talkin’ Cloud article. The article offers predictions on what may happen to Dell’s cloud business, which could include a greater focus on Office 365.

  • Netflix told developers this week that they should expect to see more of the Simian Army open-sourced, according to this GigaOM article. The Simian Army tools are used to test and improve services run on AWS. The article details what tools developers can expect to see in the near future.

  • Cloud spending by SMBs in 2012 reached $45 billion with 6 million new SMBs purchasing cloud services, according to this Datamation article. The figures are based on a report by Parallels, a cloud tool vendor, which also predicts that the market will grow to $95 billion by 2015.

  • One-third of organizations polled in a recent KPMG survey reported that the cost of moving to the cloud was higher than they expected, according to this IT World Canada article. One of the reasons for the increased cost was due to required changes to the organizations' IT architecture.

Featured Article

Your Big Year for Big Data Starts Now

By Bruno Aziza, SiSense

Bruno Aziza

We’ve all heard the buzz about the big data explosion. According to a recent Gartner forecast report, big data was expected to drive $28 billion in worldwide IT spending in 2012, and more than $230 billion will be allocated to this new market through 2016.

A large part of this amount will help adapt infrastructures and processes to the demands caused by all types of data (unstructured and structured) as well as new device capabilities. If you haven’t investigated what the proliferation of big data means to your business by now, you might already be late. The Wall Street Journal reports that 85 percent of Fortune 1000 companies already have big data-related projects under way. Read the full article.

Cloud Views

  • Does the U.S. or the U.K. have a better understanding of the cloud? In this InformationWeek article, Gary Flood highlights a new survey that reveals that U.K. citizens may have a better understanding of the term “cloud” than their counterparts in the U.S.

  • How do you navigate the cloud security maze? In this Wired blog, Ryan Kean explains how cloud computing could potentially improve an organization's overall security.

Trend Watch

  • What are the five enterprise technology trends to watch in 2013? In this Forbes blog, Eric Savitz details the upcoming trends for 2013, including hybrid cloud, mobility, connect machines, smarter networks, and the security arms race.

  • How can you transform your IT infrastructure? In this Smart Enterprise blog, Jennifer Zaino identifies five tips for transforming your infrastructure, courtesy of Michael Sargent, General Manager of Enterprise Management at CA Technologies.

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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