Cloud stirring mobile demand, and vice versa
Anyone with an eye on the technology industry can see that cloud computing and mobile devices are two of the biggest trends unfolding in the enterprise space right now. Separately, the two are making waves. But combined, the impact of cloud computing and mobile technology has the potential to be enormous.
The flexibility benefits of both technologies are clear. The cloud affords businesses the ability to access data, applications, storage, and resources from virtually anywhere. This has tremendous advantages in terms of increase productivity and business efficiency.
The cloud and MDM: Helping businesses help themselves
For businesses, mobility is the gold rush of today, with many looking to get smartphones into the hands of their employees as quickly as possible. By now, we’ve all heard about the inevitable risks of consumerization of IT, and the importance of mobile device management to get the most value out of enterprise mobility.
So now, businesses are preparing for the technology, putting most of their efforts toward weighing their options on smartphones. Sure, mobile device management is a consideration, and many believe that as long as they have any MDM solution in place, they’ve covered all the bases.
Virtela Felt Right at Home at Cloud Computing Expo
We just got done unpacking our booth from last week’s Cloud Expo in New York City. Cloud Expo is one of the biggest conventions focused on cloud computing and services, and the event proved to be a great place to meet with other cloud enthusiasts.
The hype around cloud computing has been snowballing and is evident in the exponential attendance growth since Cloud Expo’s inception in 2007. Many attendees who stopped by our booth were curious about the next steps of cloud development – how will the cloud move forward? Well, that’s a topic that deserves its own blog post.
Webinar: Developing a profitable cloud services strategy
I’m excited to participate in this Thursday’s FierceTelecom webinar, Developing a profitable cloud services strategy. It’s rare nowadays to sit (virtually) alongside service providers with different business models to engage in a healthy debate and discuss how each can craft profitable cloud strategies.
Level 3 will be represented by my former colleague, Carolyn Reuss, as a data center/co-location company. Qwest will share the views of a traditional telco. And I’ll cover how Virtela, a managed services company, has developed its global cloud strategy from years of serving multinational Fortune 500 and midmarket customers. I love this panel because, although we may compete with each other at some level, we are successful partners in many cases when it comes to cloud.
Welcome from Virtela’s new CEO
Hello Virtela Viewpoint readers. I am truly pleased to be making my first post since joining Virtela in fall 2010.
We saved the announcement of my joining until the start of 2011, because I feel this is going to be a milestone year for IT and its leaders as companies across the world take advantage of the flexibility, savings and agility offered by cloud- and network-based services and their associated providers.
Welcome to Virtela Viewpoint
Welcome to Virtela Viewpoint – our blog about Managed and Cloud IT Services.
As we start a new – and hopefully economically more vibrant – year of 2011, we look forward to sharing what Virtela, our customers, and our partners see in way of IT trends, best practices and things to watch out for. If Gartner has anything to say about 2011, it starts with moderate budget growth of 5.1% to $3.6 trillion (not so moderate, in terms of aggregate spend).
From Virtela’s Viewpoint, CIOs and their IT teams have some clear and consistent goals for 2011 and beyond, including how to:
