The top 10 Thoughts on Cloud articles of 2016

2016 has been a year of twists and turns.
The news of the year has often been surprising and occasionally been shocking. In the world of #cloud computing, the surprises have come in the form of innovative, clever ways cloud technology is being put to use. From facilitating live-streaming video from space missions to enabling medical professionals to engage with patients in unforeseen ways, cloud computing had a huge impact on the year.
And by all indications, there’s plenty more to come. Much of the cloud computing news of 2016 focused on exponential growth in need and demand, which will reach into the following year and beyond. That growth, along with integrating cloud computing into existing infrastructure, was clearly on the mind of many Thoughts on Cloud readers in 2016.
Here are the top 10 stories on Thoughts on Cloud for 2016:

Houston, we’re live streaming: Cloud video brings NASA missions to Earth
Why IBM is tripling its cloud data center capacity in the UK
IBM expands partner ecosystem for VMware users moving to the cloud
Hybrid cloud integration in 7 easy steps
Why VMware on IBM Cloud matters
Finding Tanmay Bakshi
How Cloud Foundry is helping Kaiser Permanente build “systems of engagement”
Keeping visibility, control and security simple with hybrid cloud
Daily highlights from IBM Interconnect 2016
Hybrid cloud facilitates big changes in a short time

If there any stories you would like us to cover in 2017, please let us know in the comments below.
The post The top 10 Thoughts on Cloud articles of 2016 appeared first on Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud

Dare to lead with streaming video at your next annual meeting

Most professionals place a premium on communication and transparency in the workplace.
More than half (52 percent) of workers who took part in a recent Society for Human Resource Management study indicated that management’s communication of the organization&8217;s goals and strategies was important to their job satisfaction. Many companies, in turn, pay a premium to facilitate communication, spending thousands transporting and accommodating an increasingly remote workforce for an annual, in-person, company-wide meeting.
The goal is to reunite the organization under common values and goals ahead of the new year. But in reality, 72 percent of employees report they don’t fully understand the strategies of the companies for which they work, according to a survey by Ustream, an IBM company.
The challenge of bringing the workforce together will only become more challenging to accomplish at scale. Based on the data, a company’s finances may be better allocated toward consistent communication of company goals than plane tickets. Streaming video can help fill the gap.
Shrinking the distance
Numerous companies are already required to institute new systems that unite their distributed employees. IDC projects that by 2020, mobile workers will account for 72 percent of the US workforce. As this shift occurs, the virtual meeting — supported by streaming video — will become the approach for companies of all sizes to shrink the distance between corporate headquarters and remote teams.
Rather than allocating thousands for face-to-face meetings, executives can use video to communicate effectively while cutting costs. According to the Ustream report, spending just $100 per employee on communication can yield a 50 to 1 return on investment. Compare that to the average expense for air travel, which ranges from $1,000 for domestic to $2,500 for international flights, compounded with additional transport to and from the site, refreshments and other expenses. What’s more, travel can drain employee productivity and create stress.
According Gallup’s State of the American Workplace report, re-engaging employees could make a dent in the $450 to $550 billion companies lose annually due to loss of productivity. Effective communication can help companies address the 58 percent of employees that report wanting better insight into the company’s next steps, according to Ustream’s survey. Another 63 percent of employees reported wishing they heard from company leadership more often.
Using data to hold meaningful meetings
Streaming video solutions can not only help organizations share important messages, but also ensure those messages resonate. In the near future, machine-learning technologies such as IBM Watson will enable management to gauge the social sentiment of attendees by analyzing their Q&A and social activity during a virtual meeting. They also will be able to conduct deep analysis of how employees engage with and share recorded video content from these events.
Companies can use these and other insights from Watson to refine how they share content with their workforces during virtual meetings. Over time, these efforts can help to ensure that no one within an organization is unaware of the company&8217;s performance and goals, or unsure of how they, as individual employees, are helping the business achieve those objectives.
Learn more about IBM Cloud Video.
The post Dare to lead with streaming video at your next annual meeting appeared first on #Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud

Tackling worldwide education challenges in the cognitive era

A seemingly intractable problem facing countries across the world is the mismatch between the education of young people and employment.
According, to the United Nations’ International Labor Organization, almost 75 million people ages 15-24 around the world, about 12.6 percent, are unemployed. High levels of youth unemployment and the shortage of critical work skills emphasize the need for solutions that can be scaled to fix the worldwide spread of this disconnect.
IBM recognizes that cloud and cognitive technology can help transform education and training for young people and ultimately help lower youth unemployment.
Kofi Appenteng, President of the Africa-America Institute (AAI) and member of the Ford Foundation Board of Trustees, recently visited IBM Austin as part of a ­tour with corporate partners to brainstorm how AAI can play an optimal role connecting public and private interests on a global scale to deal with the education and training challenge.
IBM partners with AAI through our corporate citizenship programs and received a Corporate Responsibility Award from the US-based international organization in 2015.
Appenteng’s visit was an opportunity to listen and to share expertise on the training of young people, as well as learn more about the work AAI does.
Some key takeaways from the discussion included:

How education and training can be used to drive improvement and advancement among young people, 11 percent of whom are non-literate.
Techniques and approaches for bringing various stakeholders together to make meaningful sustainable impacts.
The importance of infrastructure in transforming and enabling young people’s educational opportunities cannot be overemphasized.
Fostering engagement between stakeholders can positively impact education and training of young people.

The visit showcased one of the many ways IBM continues to play an important role in tackling some of the world’s most daunting challenges.
As Chalapathy Neti, Director of Education Transformation at the Thomas J. Watson Research Center wrote, “The challenge of providing a quality education to all students is a global one. Two out of every three adults have not received the equivalent of a high school education.”
Talent and talent development is, in the end, the driver of innovation. Cloud and cognitive solutions provide powerful tools that can dramatically lead to improvement in education and training of young people.
Learn more about how IBM is helping spur educational advancements with Cloud Academy and Watson.
The post Tackling worldwide education challenges in the cognitive era appeared first on #Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud

Fincantieri sets sail with IBM hybrid cloud

Fincantieri, one of the world’s largest shipbuilding groups, is looking to “improve the efficiency of designing, building and deploying new vessels,” InfoTechLead reports, and it has chosen an IBM hybrid cloud solution to help make that happen.
The Trieste, Italy-based shipbuilder selected IBM in part because there is an IBM Cloud Data Center in Milan. Fincantieri is looking to connect its own 13 private, distributed data centers with the IBM data center for &8220;high availability, fault tolerance and secure enterprise service levels.&8221;
Gianluca Zanutto, CIO of Fincantieri, explained the choice further: “When we needed to redesign our IT infrastructure for the future, we trusted IBM Cloud to deliver the highly secure and scalable solution we need to keep up with the sharp growth and complexity of the shipbuilding industry.”
Stefano Rebattoni, General Manager Global Technology Services, IBM Italy, added that IBM Cloud will help Fincantieri &8220;easily integrate other subsidiaries and new acquisitions as it continues to expand the company’s worldwide footprint.&8221;
Building cruise ships is part of a fast-growing industry. Demand for cruises has increased 68 percent over the past 10 years, according to Cruise Lines International Association, and cruise revenue is expected to grow from $37.1 billion in 2014 to $39.6 billion by the end of 2016.
Read more about Fincantieri&8217;s choice of hybrid cloud provider on InfoTechLead.
The post Fincantieri sets sail with IBM hybrid cloud appeared first on #Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud

5 game-changers coming to cloud in 2017

As 2016 winds down, let’s reflect on some age-old annual traditions. I’m not talking about trimming the tree or grandma’s holiday eggnog. ‘Tis the season for business predictions, when analysts, columnists and your boss tease out the trends destined to impact the way we work.
There’s no shortage of opinions on where #cloud computing is headed in 2017. But I see five gargantuan cloud trends right around the corner, the game-changers that companies cannot avoid. And there’s no question:  IBM Cloud uniquely addresses the challenges and opportunities they create.
Trend 1: Dude, where’s my data?
According to an IDG survey, the majority of IT infrastructures will be based entirely in the cloud in the next year and a half. That’s incredible. The efficiencies and opportunities the cloud brings are undeniable.
But take a look at the roadblocks: 43 percent of survey respondents have concerns about where data is stored, 41 percent cite data security and privacy issues.
It is critical to put businesses in control of their own data, workloads and services. You own your data. You shouldn’t have to pay to move it when your business needs change and you have to migrate across continents. You definitely shouldn’t be concerned about the security of your customers’ data sitting on the public cloud.
Trend 2: It&8217;s your business; it&8217;s your cloud
According to the same IDG survey, 21 percent are worried about vendor lock-in, which is understandable. The big public cloud providers offer one-size-fits-all cloud models that can orphan back-end systems or even require complete rewriting of critical business applications. Once you’re on their proprietary systems, it can be expensive — if not completely cost prohibitive — to move your workloads and data off their cloud.
Take a look at this ZDNET story detailing how American Airlines is migrating to the cloud and using IBM Bluemix to develop new services and business models. IBM and American are partnering to build cloud-based applications that solve specific problems unique to their business, workloads and data. It’s a cloud strategy shaped around American’s unique business model, not its public cloud provider’s.
Trend 3: The cognitive cloud changes everything
There’s huge opportunity to build cognitive capabilities into your cloud. Adding cognitive delivers machine-learning-based tools and features, smarter analytics, and new cognitive apps your customers will love. It’s the cognitive era, and it starts with your cloud strategy.
Here’s the problem. You don’t have a decade to make your cloud smarter. Your customers are ready. So are your competitors. You should be, too.
Take a look around at your options. Other cloud providers give you nameless, faceless and untested AI. IBM Watson offers proven cognitive capabilities that clients can trust and train with their data. We offer the most comprehensive and accessible cognitive capabilities for companies to build into their own apps. Check out how our partner Westfield is delivering the promise of the cognitive era through IBM Watson.
Trend 4:  Cloud Internet of Things
You’ve been hearing about the promise of Internet of Things (IoT) for years. Even your toaster needs your Wi-Fi password. But in 2017, IoT is less about the billions of “things” and far more about the macro analytics they can deliver to your business. A mountain of IoT data is worthless if you can’t turn it into insights and value.
The cloud is uniquely suited to address the scale and sprawl of IoT data. As IoT data grows by orders of magnitude, you need to address storage and compute needs. Any public cloud provider can deliver storage and compute, but you also need the tools to harvest value from that growing haystack. In 2017, your IoT strategy will need cognitive capabilities, automated workflows and integration tools that tie applications and clouds together. Then you can use the insights to build new experiences for clients like BMW aims to do.
Trend 5:  Hybrid cloud takes over
For most companies, the optimal cloud strategy is a hybrid approach. Not only can you harness the public cloud’s low-cost storage and app hosting, even at massive scales, but you can also use your local, private cloud to protect and use whatever data, processes, workflows and applications are important to you.
The public cloud cannot deliver the features that connect a company’s back-end systems and front-end applications. Why let your cloud provider decide how you run your IT department? You need flexibility and control across your public and private clouds.
Check out why Bernhardt Furniture Company turned to IBM to deliver new mobile applications to production in 10 weeks, boosting sales by 20 percent all while continuing to use existing back-end processes and workflows.
So how did I do? What trends do you see impacting your path to the cloud in 2017?
Weigh in with your thoughts by tweeting @IBMCloud or leave a comment below. Your feedback could become the focus of my next blog post. Happy holidays. Enjoy grandma’s eggnog. I sincerely hope you and your loved ones have a wonderful 2017.
The post 5 game-changers coming to cloud in 2017 appeared first on Cloud computing news.
Quelle: Thoughts on Cloud