Humio: On the challenges of traditional data logging, a changing landscape, and container security

As cloud migrations become more widespread and complex, IT security has never been more difficult. 

Enterprise workloads today are rapidly changing to a hybrid mix of on-premise, private cloud and public cloud - not to mention the increasing interest in containers. Getting a handle on it all requires deep visibility, from both the data and device side.

One relatively traditional way of doing this is through log management. The promise, of real-time auditing and...

By | 26 May 2020 | Containers

Google Cloud wins Department of Defense contract for secure cloud management

As Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft's war of words continues over the JEDI government cloud contract, Google Cloud has secured a separate deal with the Department of Defense (DoD) for cloud management in what will be seen as a major coup for application platform Anthos.

The Defense Innovation Unit (DIU), an arm of the DoD, will build a 'secure cloud management solution' running on Anthos. This means services and applications will be run across AWS and Azure - Google...

By | 22 May 2020 | Google

Microsoft launches healthcare cloud, says more industry clouds will follow

Microsoft has launched its first industry-specific cloud offering aimed at healthcare, with the promise of more industry clouds to follow.

The announcement was made as part of the now-virtual Microsoft Build event. While the major headlines of the developer jamboree have focused around big investments in artificial intelligence, as sister publication AI News has reported, Azure has often featured peripherally underpinning the projects. The partnership with OpenAI - to whom...

By | 20 May 2020 | Collaboration

Why moving to the cloud requires a ‘change of business philosophy’: How to get it right

There's no escaping it: to get ahead today, you need to have a hybrid, multi-cloud environment. Companies have long since noted the benefits of public cloud - and indeed, more than one public cloud for greater efficiency and optimisation. Yet it is not an easy process.

An entire industry, from consulting to monitoring, has grown around this complexity. Alongside this, some smaller IT providers see an opportunity. Comarch argues that when moving to the cloud, many organisations...

By | 15 May 2020 | Adoption

Microsoft to acquire Metaswitch Networks, ramping up Azure 5G push

Microsoft is to acquire Metaswitch Networks, a provider of virtualised network software, as the company's strategy towards binding cloud and communications continues.

The rationale is straightforward: leading cloud vendors are looking to enable telecom operators in deploying and maintaining 5G networks more efficiently. Technologies such as those which Metaswitch builds will be invested into Azure to provide its infrastructure with 'specialised software required to run virtualised...

By | 14 May 2020 | Industry

Q&A, Simon Cuthbert, Tenfold: On the problem of over-privilege and IAM best practices

To misquote Benjamin Franklin, in this world nothing can be certain except death, taxes, and security being the biggest concern for cloud migration. Flexera's most recent State of the Cloud report last month laid it bare; more than four in five (81%) enterprises said security was the main challenge, ahead of managing spend and governance.

The latter two areas are, naturally, also linked to security. But as cloud workloads become increasingly complex, and as multi-cloud moves from...

By | 12 May 2020 | Data Management

AWS and Microsoft ramp up war of words in JEDI cloud contract row

Amazon Web Services (AWS) has said it 'won't back down' in its appeal process for the $10 billion JEDI government cloud computing contract - as the war of words between AWS and Microsoft escalates.

The contract for the Department of Defense has long courted rumour and conjecture around alleged potential intervention by President Trump, whose relationship with Jeff Bezos, Amazon CEO and owner of the Washington Post, is known to be antipathic.

Following the initial award...

By | 11 May 2020 | Amazon

Microsoft unveils $1 billion Poland cloud and digital investment plan

Where one hyperscaler goes, another shall follow. Microsoft has announced a $1 billion cloud and digital transformation plan for Poland - almost nine months after Google Cloud opened up its facilities in the country.

Microsoft's initiative includes the launch of a new data centre region in Poland, as well as an agreement with Chmura Krajowa - literally 'national cloud' - to 'provide digital transformation expertise and broad access to cloud solutions across all industries and...

By | 5 May 2020 | Europe

Hyperscaler earnings: AWS’ $10bn takes plaudits, but Microsoft and Google solid as cloud unaffected by Covid-19

Analysis Amazon Web Services (AWS) broke the $10 billion quarterly revenue mark for the first time as the highlight of three more strong quarters for the cloud hyperscalers - with industry analyst Synergy Research reiterating that cloud services will do just fine amid Covid-19.

The Seattle giant, which according to the latest Synergy figures is pegged at holding just under a third (32%) of the cloud infrastructure market, posted $10.21bn (£8.2bn) in revenues for its most recent...

By | 4 May 2020 | Amazon

Flexera’s State of the Cloud report affirms enterprise multi-cloud – but warns over wasted spend

One in five enterprises are spending upwards of $12 million (£9.6m) per year on public cloud - yet around a quarter of that is surplus budget.

That's according to the latest State of the Cloud report, published by IT management software provider Flexera.

The study, which many will recall as the industry-leading RightScale State of the Cloud report - Flexera having acquired RightScale in 2018 - polled 750 global cloud decision-makers and users around their adoption...

By | 28 April 2020 | Containers