Today's cloud computing environment is relatively complex - so complex in fact, that it has motivated Gartner’s Global IT Council for Cloud Services to identify the six key rights (and one responsibility) to serve as a best-practices guideline for enterprises looking to deploy cloud-based solutions. The ultimate goal: to help cloud providers and their customers establish successful business relationships.

The McAfee Cloud Secure program will use a combination of methods to help cloud vendors secure their products

McAfee has recently launched a program to help Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) providers strengthen the security around their cloud based offerings. The ‘McAfee Cloud Secure Program’ includes services such as cloud security certification, automated auditing, remediation and reporting.

Immer wieder entstehen Diskussionen über die Datensicherheit im Netz. Wer diese verfolgt, überlegt es sich zwei mal, was er online preisgibt. Auf Online Communities wird selbst die E-Mail-Adresse nur ungern weiter gegeben. Oft werden Zweit-Accounts angelegt, um sich mit ihnen in der Welt des Web zu bewegen und damit die Hauptadresse vor Spam-Mails zu bewahren. Wer seine Daten schützen will, schafft sich am besten einen Safe an und legt seine ganzen Passwörter und andere sensible Daten gedruckt darin ab. Mutige speichern diese verschlüsselt lokal auf dem eigenen Rechner. Aber so etwas online speichern? - Ein nahezu absurder Gedanke! Oder doch nicht?

Can't say I agree with all of these - do you? (Leave your comments)

Unter dem Namen "MessageLabs" bietet das Internet-Security-Unternehmen Symantec SaaS-Lösungen zum Schutz kleiner, mittelständiger und großer Unternehmen an.Im Vordergrund stehen dabei eine permanente Kontrolle der angewählten Webseiten sowie die Überwachung von E-Mail-Accounts. Diese Webservices funktionieren so, dass zwischen dem Unternehmensnetzwerk und dem World Wide Web ein MessageLabs-Server dazwischen geschaltet wird...

Cloud computing is starting to become real. I say that not because senior IT leaders at three of Computerworld's most recent conferences -- Premier 100, SaaScon and SNW -- couldn't stop talking about it, but because we're moving out of the "Why should I do this?" stage and into the "How can I do it?" phase.

What's more, the blind fervor is gone, replaced by healthy skepticism and active grappling with the frustratingly complex issues that need solving before CIOs will feel comfortable signing up with software-as-a-service, platform-as-a-service or infrastructure-as-a-service vendors. Many see the potential benefits of at least one of these cloud-based services for their organizations, but they need vendors to clear a number of hurdles before they will seriously consider adopting services-based IT.

In recent years, software-as-a-service (SaaS) has emerged as a viable application delivery method, and most enterprises are now including some SaaS software in their portfolios. SaaS saves IT infrastructure and maintenance costs, not to mention the hassle of initial deployment, integration and customization common with licensed software.