NelsonHall: Cloud & Server Management blog feed https://research.nelson-hall.com//sourcing-expertise/it-services/cloud-server-management/?avpage-views=blog Insightful Analysis to Drive Your Cloud Strategy. NelsonHall's Cloud & Server Management Program is a dedicated service for organizations evaluating, or actively engaged in, the outsourcing of all or part of their IT activities. <![CDATA[IBM Removes Major Inhibitor to Hybrid Cloud Adoption by Patenting Technique to Manage Location of Cloud Data]]> IBM has patented a technique to allow users to dynamically choose or change the location where public and private cloud data is stored.This is clearly a very important development in legitimizing cloud use for production applications, where country and industry regulators can take a very strong view on the geographies in which data, particularly customer data, can be stored.

Potentially this could have a major impact on the rate of hybrid cloud adoption in highly regulated industries such as financial services, utilities, and the government sector.

The technique allows companies to mark or tag their data and use an intelligent cloud management system to store files in the appropriate location. For example, if a business needs to ensure that all of its financial data is stored in a specific cloud data center, the associated files are tagged appropriately and the cloud management system ensures that the files are stored in the correct location(s).

]]> <![CDATA[CSC Expands Partnership with IBM to Enhance Capability as Cloud Service Integrator and Manager]]> CSC has expanded its partnership with IBM to enhance its ability to offer hybrid cloud and mobility services. In particular, the partnership emphasizes CSC's continuation and development of its role as a cloud service integrator and manager, rather than as a direct provider of capital-intensive IaaS services. CSC has a large client base for traditional data center management, frequently using IBM servers, and now needs to assist these organizations in moving to hybrid cloud and as-a-Service environments.

Indeed, CSC is looking to reduce its revenue contribution from traditional IT infrastructure management services and instead drive revenue growth from an increased ‘as a service’ orientation. ‘Emerging Services’ of importance to CSC include:

  • Cloud enablement
  • Cyber security
  • Mobility based platforms
  • Application rationalization and modernization: CSC is looking for growth here to offset the cannibalization of traditional IT IM revenues as IaaS activity takes off
  • Service integration & orchestration
  • Virtualization services/Unified Communications.

In particular, the latest extension to CSC's partnership with IBM builds on CSC's acquisition of ServiceMesh, its subsequent partnership with Microsoft to integrate its ServiceMesh Agility Platform with Microsoft Systems Center, and its global partnership with AT&T, and involves incorporating IBM's SoftLayer IaaS service and Bluemix web and mobile application development platform into CSC's ServiceMesh Agility Platform. In return, IBM will add CSC's ServiceMesh Agility Platform to the IBM Cloud Marketplace. In particular, the new partnership speeds up CSC's implementation of its strategy in a number of key areas, including:

  • Cloud enablement and service integration, within its CSC Center of Excellence for IBM Products and Solutions, CSC plans to certify up to 2,000 consultants, project managers, architects and developers over three years on selected IBM technologies such as SoftLayer and Bluemix cloud services, as well as IBM developer and integration tools such as WebSphere and Cast Iron
  • Mobility-based platforms, where CSC will offer elements of the IBM MobileFirst application development portfolio service, combining the IBM MobileFirst portfolio with CSC's mobility services to offer a mobile healthcare program for its Lorenzo healthcare software product, and similar mobile programs in the banking and insurance markets
  • Application management and testing, where CSC will extend app development service to IBM mainframe Z environments. Additionally, CSC will add a DevOps tools to its portfolio for app development, and establish a global testing practice for IBM Rational services virtualization.
]]>