Always advancing in providing ways for enterprises to leverage the advantages of the cloud, Sprint has introduced a new IaaS solution that offers an appealing combination of security, flexibility, and simplicity on top of a truly cloud-aware network.

Sprint CloudCompute, announced Monday, integrates the power of CSC's virtualized utility-based computing solution in the cloud with a robust, reliable, and secure network. As a solution, CloudCompute enhances an organization's IT agility. It makes it possible to quickly turn up additional computing resources when needed, or dial them down just as quickly once particular missions are accomplished. More...

Besides the dawn of tablets and other Internet-related sensations, what else is poised to grow exponentially in the short term? The answer, says Gartner, is Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), expected to grow more than 40 percent in the next four years, reaching more than $72 billion in revenue (from less than $10 billion in 2012).

IaaS is one of three general pillars making up cloud computing services. The other two include Software-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service. Says Techtarget, IaaS is a “provision model in which an organization outsources the equipment used to support operations, including storage, hardware, servers and networking components. The service provider owns the equipment and is responsible for housing, running and maintaining it.”  More...

There was an interesting mini-debate in the March 25 Network World about whether the cloud is ready for mission-critical applications.

This side-by-side argumentation featured the "yes" position being argued by the CIO of IEEE, with the "no" position argued by the CTO of a financial trading company. You can take a look at the points each person made here.

After looking it over, we'd have to say that in many ways they are both right (do we have a future in politics, or what?). But we're not trying to just straddle the fence. For the vast majority of companies, with the right communications network in place, the answer is going to be yes. But specifically, for a financial trading company, we can understand why that type of organization would hold out for no at this time. More...

When your business depends on data and collaboration – and whose doesn't anymore? – it's understandable if you emphasize caution in how you change the way your people work with that data. That includes where it's kept, how you access it, and how you protect it.

So it's no surprise that a recent Forrester Wave white paper about cloud strategies found that even with online collaboration becoming much more appealing as business dynamics evolve, there is a certain amount of business customer uncertainty when it comes to committing to these collaboration solutions. More...

As the “cloud” concept arose, there was a lot of debate about whether cloud computing would really replace the client-server architectures of today’s enterprises. Now it’s clear that the answer is both “yes” and “no.”

Cloud computing isn’t an “either/or” proposition. What will happen at first is that CD and DVD-ROM drives on computers will start to disappear. “App stores” and the like are nothing more than cloud-based software management systems -- but they work really, really well. Few of the “apps” one downloads to a device or PC are actually cloud-based apps -- but as more and more applications are developed for cloud-based distribution, more and more cloud-based functionality is being written into these apps. More...

There is interest across most industries in hosted Unified Communications, but it is interesting that we at Cisco, as we work with Sprint in implementing these solutions, are seeing spikes of interest in certain vertical markets and sectors.

There is a high degree of interest in financial services and insurance, all professional services, manufacturing and packaged goods, and in every area of the public sector. Why these markets more than others? We think the answer is in a few key business and competitive pressures that seem to be more intense in these areas. Interest and activity will remain high here, while other verticals are quickly following this market transition. More...

Recently I told you about a positive cloud report from IDC Government Insights. The week this report was issued, a high profile technology professional came out that same time and "dissed" the cloud.

As reported by CNET, Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak clearly isn't a fan. He used terms such as "horrendous" to describe the future of storing data in the cloud, and predicted "a lot of horrible problems in the next five years." More...

The cloud got some thumbs-ups ... and a thumbs-down ... in a couple of recent news items. Because we accentuate the positive here, we'll focus on the good news today and address the other news in my next post.

According to a new report from IDC Government Insights,  government agencies are opening their eyes to the possibilities that the cloud offers. They may not be doing an awful lot in the cloud yet, but they're at least thinking about it. More...

XaaS = Anything as-a-Service (some refer to it as "everything-as-a-Service"). The term is not new; it’s just that it is tangible today. Like a movie trailer that is released far ahead of the movie, XaaS has been talked about for years. I even found reference to XaaS from 2008, long before much of anything was in the cloud. The reality is that just about anything today can be done in the cloud. Just take a look, says Networkworld: More...

Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) is one of the few IT technologies with a "multifaceted" value proposition, in that it not only can lower costs, but can help streamline processes and form new ones. You may start out with cost reduction in mind, but along the way, you find ways to change and improve how you do business.

That was a key point made by analyst Zeus Kerravala of ZK Consulting, during a recent webinar on the subject of hosted UC&C. Also participating were Sprint's own Joseph Martin and Mike Velder of Cisco. If you missed it, you can replay it here. More...