Cloud tops state priority list

Virtualisation and cloud computing are the first and second highest priority technologies that state chief information officers say they will have to deal with in the coming year, says Fierce Government IT.

This is according to the result of an annual survey conducted by the National Association of State Chief Information Officers.

Also listed in the top 10 is security enhancement tools at number seven; and social media, which barely makes the list and number 10.

IBM has unveiled a new initiative to make cloud computing more secure with a number of service offerings to both clients and providers as a study shows worrying concerns over the technology, reveals inLatest.

IBM says it will offer cloud security planning, assessment services and some new technological innovations that have been developed in its global labs.

According to a recent IBM study of IT risk, participants were very concerned about the security of cloud computing and access to data.

Offshoring votary and technology strategist John McCarthy says newer technologies like cloud computing will cause a bigger dent in the offshoring business model than any anti-outsourcing moves - real or rhetorical - coming out of the US, writes the Economic Times.

“With the IT expectation gap - technology use is growing, but IT budgets are flat - rising, businesses are looking at instant, pay-per-use, on-demand models. The cloud will impact IT service providers in a big way.

“It may not replace jobs, but cloud computing, with its ease of set-up and cost benefits, could become the politically correct alternative to offshoring,” says McCarthy, VP and principal analyst at IT research firm Forrester.