OASIS to Present International Cloud Symposium on Portability, Interoperability, and Security Standards as Part of EuroCloud Congress

Luxembourg Event to Include First Public TOSCA Interoperability Demo by Fujitsu, HP, Huawei, IBM, SAP, and Zenoss
https://www.oasis-open.org/events/cloud/2013
ICS key topics include:
  • Gaps and overlaps in Cloud standards
  • Identity management
  • Models for Cloud in government, business, technology
  • Building data privacy into applications
  • Profiles for user authorization and entitlements
  • Standards for Big Data
  • Internet of Things (IoT)
"We are pleased to have OASIS as one of the leading global standardization bodies joining the EuroCloud Congress. Their International Cloud Symposium as a co-event will be a real enrichment for our EuroCloud Members, all Congress participants and the entire cloud industry," said Bernd Becker, President EuroCloud Europe. "The OASIS work on cloud standards is key for the provision of reliable cloud services and a prerequisite for a broad market acceptance. It also fits perfectly with the global EU Cloud strategy, where the identification of relevant cloud standards is also an important task."
In addition to the TOSCA demonstration, ICS will feature presentations on open standardization initiatives including Privacy by DesignPrivacy Management and Reference Model (PMRM), and IDCloud. ICS is sponsored by IBM and Microsoft.
ICS Speakers include:
  • Ken Ducatel, Head of Cloud, European Commission
  • Bob Bohn, Cloud Computing Program Manager, U.S. National Institute of Standards & Technology
  • James Kobielus, Big Data Evangelist, IBM
  • Carola Carstens, Project Officer, European Commission
  • Abdellatif Benjelloun Touimi, Huawei
  • Brian Spector, CEO, CertiVox
  • Frank Leymann, Director, University of Stuttgart Institute of Architecture of Application Systems
  • Yuri Demchenko, Cloud/Big Data Researcher, University of Amsterdam
  • Gershon Jansen, OASIS Board Director
ICS will be held concurrent with the first day of the EuroCloud Congress. Delegates may attend the full ICS program followed by a second day at EuroCloud or customize a schedule of ICS and EuroCloud sessions that match their interests. Registration is open to all. Press passes are available; 




Salesforce.com Delivers Salesforce Files—Now Companies Can Connect Any File to Business

Salesforce Files is the only enterprise file sharing system that connects any file seamlessly with sales, service, marketing and other business processes—from any device

For the first time ever, customer companies can unlock files from third-party repositories and make them mobile and social—all on a single, trusted platform

DenMat and Kelly Services join the Salesforce Files private beta to unleash the power of files in their businesses

Salesforce.com [NYSE: CRM], the world’s #1 CRM platform, today delivered Salesforce Files, enabling companies to connect any file to business. Salesforce Files is the only enterprise file system that connects any file seamlessly with sales, service, marketing and other business processes—from any device. For the first time ever, customer companies can unlock files from third-party repositories and make them mobile and social—all on a single, trusted platform. DenMat and Kelly Services have joined the Salesforce Files private beta to unleash the power of files in their businesses from anywhere.

● “Employees use a patchwork of disconnected file repositories trying to get work done,” said Nasi Jazayeri, EVP and GM, Salesforce Chatter. “Salesforce Files changes the game for our customers because they can now connect any file, no matter where it is stored, to their businesses and make it mobile and social, all on a single, trusted platform.”

● “The speed of innovation in the healthcare arena is picking up dramatically,” said Jonathan Green, VP of Information Technologies, DenMat. “DenMat’s adoption of Salesforce Files allows us to ensure that our customers, our employees and our partners all have access to the right file, at the right time in a highly secure and scalable manner. We can now spend more time innovating on new technologies and growing our business.”

● "Tools like salesforce.com's [Salesforce Files]...have revolutionized collaboration inside and outside the enterprise," said Liz Herbert, Forrester Forrester Research, Inc., in the May 2013 report “Sourcing Digital Disruption.”

Files are at the heart of every business process—they are the presentations given to customers, the FAQs that enable self-service, the pricing and product specifications distributed to partners. But files are scattered across disconnected systems, such as on-premise and cloud repositories or locally on devices, which are separated from sales, service, marketing and other critical business processes. To get work done, employees have to hunt for the right file or worse—recreate it. Until now. With Salesforce Files, companies can connect any file to their business. 
 >>Read More





BJSS is building NHS e-Referral Service


G-Cloud firm BJSS has won a contract to develop NHS e-referral service. The service is 
going to be on line late next year. BJSS was awarded a Framework Agreement in February 2012 to supply the UK Government via its G-Cloud procurement programme.

This development by chosen by NHS will help the British Government's determination
to create a paper free NHS by 2018. The new cloud project will replace NHS' s Choose and Book functionality in the new NHS e-referral service. The project is prepared in a way that will  prevent vendors-lockin, will be more flexible,  will  minimize operation costs. It will also have a set of API' s for greater integration with other products patients and users may want to use.

Mike Buke from BJSS Public Sector announced that they will be working closely with NHS team to deliver a working system with an open source and Agile technology. Mike Buke said that projects open technology will enable and facilitate third parties to improve and better the system for the benefit of the users within short space of time. >>Read More


Cloud Sherpas acquires Stoneburne 

Atlanta, Georgia — September 5, 2013 — Cloud Sherpas has acquired Stoneburn Software Services, a technology consulting and IT services firm based in London, in a cash and stock deal (specific terms not disclosed) that insinuates the market for cloud software and services in Western Europe is maturing rapidly.  The acquisition expands Cloud Sherpas’ presence in the UK, where it already had offices, dozens of enterprise clients and over 70 full-time employees — a total Cloud Sherpas expects will double in the next 12 months.  The deal also enhances Cloud Sherpas’ ability to serve regional clients, an important factor given a recent report from IDC that estimates companies in Western Europe will consume nearly $18 billion in public cloud services by 2016.

Cloud Sherpas is one of the world’s largest independent cloud services brokers and the two-time Google Enterprise Partner of the Year for Google Apps.  In just over six years, the Atlanta-based firm has grown from zero to nearly 700 employees with offices on three continents, several thousand customers, high-profile international partnerships with salesforce.com and ServiceNow, and is projected to exit 2013 on an annualized revenue run-rate above $150 million. While the acquisition of Stoneburn marks Cloud Sherpas’ eleventh acquisition in it’s combined corporate history, much of this growth has been organic. The firm anticipates its Google business unit that helps organizations migrate to and use a wide range of Google Enterprise products to grow over 70% in 2013.

The Stoneburn acquisition is strategic to Cloud Sherpas for a number of reasons:
  • First, it establishes Cloud Sherpas as a global deployment partner that is a Google Apps Premier Partner in North America, Asia-Pacific as well as Europe, Middle East & Africa. Cloud Sherpas can now more easily provide clients a large, multinational partner with whom to scale their businesses.

  • The acquisition also extends Cloud Sherpas’ reach into vertical markets.  Stoneburn has numerous enterprise customers in the retail, media, manufacturing and transportation/logistics industries.
  • Cloud Sherpas gains additional technical expertise. Stoneburn has consistently demonstrated its ability to develop and implement broad cloud initiatives for its clients.  Stoneburn is a Premier Google Apps partner in Europe, Middle East and Africa and a leading Google Search partner in the UK.

  • Finally, Stoneburn brings added local knowledge and experience.  Its leadership team has over 20 years’ experience delivering enterprise IT solutions in Europe.
“The UK and Western European cloud and Google Enterprise markets have very quickly transitioned from early adopter phase to established businesses,” said David Northington, CEO at Cloud Sherpas.  “The timing is right for Cloud Sherpas to expand its presence in the region.  Stoneburn has proven its ability to secure large enterprise clients, and we were very impressed with the team’s management and technical capabilities around Google Enterprise and cloud software in general.  Approximately 10% of Cloud Sherpas’ revenue comes from Western Europe today, and with Stoneburn in the fold I expect that number to increase significantly.”>>Read More