February 22, 2010
Dell’s profits shrink as revenue goes
The Register
Austin Modine writes about Dell’s falling profits during its fourth fiscal quarter.
“Profits for Dell – the world’s third-largest computer seller by shipments – declined 4.8 per cent during its fiscal fourth quarter despite an increase in sales for each of its business units. Steeper component costs were part of the problem. Plus, cheaper consumer PCs accounted for a larger percentage of sales. Dell’s net income slipped to $334 million in the quarter ended January 29, compared to $351 million a year ago.”
Cloud = Borderless Network
Network World
Robin Gareiss writes about the cloud infrastructure space.
“The ultimate borderless network is the cloud: Private, hybrid or public. Currently, security and compliance concerns are holding back adoption of cloud computing (Infrastructure-as-a-Service and Platform-as-a-Service) to less than one per cent of organizations. A major issue is a full risk assessment is impossible due to a lack of transparency for Cloud Service Provider (CSP) security controls and procedures. To address issues like this the Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), a consortium of vendors and end-users provides ‘Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing.’ Recent updates provide more detail on security control recommendations, still promoting a risk-based approach to cloud computing. CSA holds the promise of a common security lexicon and a baseline security requirement to better align enterprise and CSP security practice.
Google Launches Solutions Provider Marketplace
The VAR Guy
Matthew Weinberger writes about the new Google Solutions Marketplace.
“Google has quietly launched the Google Solutions Marketplace, a kind of Craigslist that helps enterprise customers find Google App solutions from a range of companies. Here’s the scoop. In Google’s own words, this marketplace ‘links customers to vendors whose solutions integrate and extend Google’s communication, collaboration, and enterprise search products.’ VARs and MSPs willing to do anything from helping a business migrate to Google Apps to servicing the Google Mini search appliance to administering Google Analytics, take note, since that means you now have a place to advertise your services.”
