We had a long chat about the pilot projects that Capgemini is running for the government in relation to the G-cloud programme. I will be writing an analysis of this next week but thought I would get some of it out of my system.
The interview left me thinking that the next government, whoever it may be, could make big mistakes by targeting IT projects to meet cost cutting targets. If the wrong projects are canned the costs in the long term and loss could be huge.

http://www.computerweekly.com/blogs/inside-outsourcing/2010/04/could-cloud-computing-be-the-answer-to-cutting-billions-of-government-spending.html

Capgemini is building two full cloud infrastructures with one using Microsoft and the other the Cisco, EMC and VMware partnership. It is then building development platforms on top of these infrastructures. The final layer in the cloud will be software as a service.

EMC’s chief executive (CEO) has claimed the company is now positioned to lead the way in cloud computing following strong results for the fourth quarter of 2009.

The company reported record revenues breaking the $4 billion (£2.4 billion) mark, which although only a two per cent rise from the same period last year, was a 17 per cent jump from the previous quarter and $100 million higher than the company’s expectations.

http://www.itpro.co.uk/619846/emc-leads-the-cloud-with-strong-results

“With this positive momentum, EMC stands well positioned to continue to gain share in key markets and drive even greater profitability in 2010.”

Much like other cloud computing offerings, AT&T’s Synaptic Compute as a Service aims to give users scalable on-demand computing capacity that they can increase or decrease depending on their immediate needs and without the need to invest heavily in on-site infrastructure. The service’s key features include a Web portal for ordering and managing service capacity; disk capacity for every virtual server’s operating system; and 24-hour network monitoring and management by AT&T’s support staff.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2009/11/15/urnidgns852573C400693880002576700021FA74.DTL

AT&T upped its cloud portfolio Monday when announced it was working with VMware and Sun to develop its own cloud computing service.’

EMC is working with Intel on a more energy-efficient version of EMC’s Atmos cloud storage system. The new version should be available in the second half of next year, the companies say.

It’s one of several ways that Intel is working with other vendors to design more power-efficient systems for companies offering cloud computing services, Intel server platforms group general manager Jason Waxman told reporters at a joint briefing with EMC recently. The chip maker also announced a programme with software vendors to test software management stacks for use in large datacentres.

http://computerworld.co.nz/news.nsf/tech/0F5CD1565613B874CC257665007643D2

A greener version of EMC’s Atmos cloud storage platform is coming

In a direct challenge to computer giants IBM Corp. and Hewlett-Packard Co., data storage firm EMC Corp. of Hopkinton has allied with Cisco Systems Inc., the world’s leading computer networking company.

In a joint venture, EMC, its majority-owned subsidiary VMware Inc., and Cisco will sell prefabricated business computer systems. The new products will be built with computer servers from Cisco, data storage hardware and software from EMC, and server management software from VMware. “Wherever you touch any one of the three of us, we will look like one company,’’ said Cisco chief executive John Chambers.

http://www.boston.com/business/technology/articles/2009/11/04/emc_cisco_alliance_takes_on_computing_giants_ibm_hp/

Joint venture with VMware to offer complete systems