Ellen Rubin

Security concerns about the public cloud have always been a top priority here at CloudSwitch. Moving to the public cloud is fraught with potential risks and security managers have legitimate concerns about data integrity, an opaque security model in the cloud and unauthorized access by cloud administrators.  The question is: how can you protect information in a shared multi-tenant environment just as you would within the secure confines of your data center?  With that question in mind, I thought it would be useful to review CloudSwitch’s security model while also discussing an exciting new feature we’ve just released: integration with Microsoft Active Directory (AD) 2003 and 2008. The CloudSwitch Security Model Our customers have stringent requirements not only to protect their data in the cloud but also to protect communication paths from the data center to the cl... (more)

Amazon’s VPC Opens the Door for Innovation and Enterprise Cloud Adoption

The recent announcement from Amazon of the Virtual Private Cloud (VPC) represents the next big advance in the evolution chain for cloud computing. Enterprises can now integrate their IT infrastructure with Amazon's vast computing and storage resources, using a VPN connection from their data center to their own virtual private cloud which then looks like part of their internal network. Until the release of VPC, companies were left to build applications and utilize the cloud as a separate and somewhat siloed portion of their computing environment. In addition to the VPN connection... (more)

Show Report: Reality Check at 4th Cloud Expo

Cloud Computing Expo on Ulitzer The talk at the 4th Cloud Expo this week in Santa Clara was all about enterprise cloud adoption. Is it real? Is it already happening? If so, who’s doing it, which applications are they running and which clouds are being tested? To a large extent, cloud computing is a victim of its own somewhat out-of-control hype cycle. Since so much has been written and discussed about the cloud in 2009, there is now a growing impatience for actual results. The fact that 2000 people showed up at the Cloud Expo in Santa Clara this week (double the number from las... (more)

What Does Enterprise IT Really Want from Cloud Computing?

Cloud Expo 2010 Analysts, bloggers and mainstream media have spent 2009 promoting cloud computing as “the next big thing” that will revolutionize the way companies buy and use computing power. But beyond the hype and the C-level interest in an exciting trend, there’s value to the cloud that appeals to the pragmatic, “show me” nature of enterprise IT. The two main drivers for cloud computing are the same ones that have always motivated enterprise IT: save money (do more with less) and be more responsive to business needs. These goals are typically in conflict with each other, s... (more)

New CloudSwitch Blog for Enterprise Cloud Computing

Welcome to our enterprise cloud computing blog where we'll share our perspectives on cloud computing trends and best practices for the enterprise. We're a team with extensive experience in IT software and systems (learn more about us), and we're passionate about the opportunity that cloud computing offers for fundamentally improving enterprise IT. However, we believe that before the cloud can reach its potential, some innovation needs to take place within the enterprise data center to make cloud computing simple, secure and tightly integrated with existing IT infrastructure. Our ... (more)