Cloud storage and sharing firm Box has announced that its service is now ISO 27001 compliant.

The company said that its enterprise service now meets the security standard for data protection and has earned approval for information security management standards. The certification verifies that the service is now able to provide a high standard of security for customers using Box.

The company hopes that the certification, along with its compliance with other standards, will help to build customer confidence and bring further enterprise business.

“This certification demonstrates our commitment not only to the security and control of our customers’ data, but also our commitment to our global customer base,” said Box enterprise group product marketing manager Grant Shirk.

“We started down this path last year and our compliance efforts are gaining steam – we received our SOC-1/SSAE16 Type II, SOC-2 Type II report and announced our support for HIPAA compliance in just the past quarter.”

The lack of confidence in security and compliance has long been seen as a major hurdle in the uptake of enterprise cloud storage platforms.

Box, however, believes that by adding ISO 27001 and other security compliance credentials it can restore user confidence as well as press its business into new international markets.

“While this is an important certification for Box, it’s just one more step along our long-term roadmap and commitment to providing the highest level of transparency and assurance to our customers about the quality and security of our platform, top to bottom,” Shirk explained.

“It’s also a critical component of our ability to serve our international customers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia – where we’ve seen our customer growth more than double in the past year.”

Oracle has announced a new UK data centre plan, which will be focused on the G-Cloud initiative.

The new data centre will be located in Thames Valley and will be designed to comply with standards for government cloud hosting. In addition to security considerations, the facilities will allow the government to ensure that the data is not being hosted on foreign soil.

Such a facility would then be able to provide cloud services for public sector departments under the UK’s G-Cloud guidelines. The framework, designed to cut IT spending and improve efficiency, pushes government departments to work with approved cloud service providers. Oracle is just one of the hundreds of IT suppliers now on the framework.

Oracle president Mark Hurd said, “We applaud the G-Cloud program and believe it represents a significant step in the provision of public sector IT services. We are delighted to bring our technology, applications and experience to the initiative and to make significant investments in the new data centre and infrastructure that will be dedicated to the UK government’s G-Cloud initiative.”

In total, the G-Cloud includes some 708 suppliers of cloud services, many of which are small and medium enterprises. Earlier this month, the framework was expanded with 368 additional providers.

In addition to serving as a means for cutting IT spending and improving efficiency, the G-Cloud initiative has been hailed as a possible boon for data security. By moving data into the cloud and off dated or obsolete hardware, government agencies can help to make sure private data is secured.

Despite its advantages, even G-Cloud’s biggest backers have admitted that the platform has had problems gaining traction with public agencies.

Software AG has launched Live, a platform-as-a-service (PaaS) suite that will allow application developers to easily create and deploy agile and cloud-based software.

The platform’s core component, AgileApps Live, is available now and allows developers to build applications that can instantly be deployed on mobile devices and that come with pre-built integration across social networks.

AgileApps Live is the same technology the firm acquired from its purchase of online app platform LongJump in April. Darren Roos, Software AG chief operating officer, told V3 that the LongJump application had not been altered since the acquisition, but had just been rebranded as the AgileApps Live component.

“Developers these days need to easily be able to integrate business applications they create with any social network, whether it be Twitter or LinkedIn, or an internal social network. LongJump does all of those things natively. So an application developer could create an order application that would quickly respond to customers on Twitter about delays in their orders,” said Roos.

Roos said other applications that developers could create using Software AG Live include loan applications or HR onboarding applications. “The suite will be useful in any instance a business needs to quickly deploy an application. Developers can take data from existing business systems and create agile apps within days. There is no code writing involved, just configuration,” he added.

Another component of the Live suite is the Process Live collaboration platform, which will allow developers in different departments and locations to easily work together on business process modelling. This capability will be available in the coming months.

“For Process Live, we are using the technology we acquired with the IDS Scheer acquisition in 2009. ARIS was the company’s core product and allows developers to model processes when designing business processes applications. Now a developer in Sydney could easily work with a developer in London and discuss whether to add in particular stops to the model, such as whether to link to data in an SAP app,” said Roos.

Roos said while Software AG allows developers to easily automate business process models on-premise, this capability would not be offered in the Software AG Live release. “We’ll introduce this in the future but there are technology reasons why this automation capability is not available in the cloud yet,” said Roos.

Additionally an Integration Live component of Software AG Live will allow developers to integrate cloud-based software with other cloud software, or with private cloud or on-premise installations, such as SAP or Salesforce applications.

Finally, Roos said Software AG would be announcing Dynamic Cloud Scaling later this year, which will allow Software AG Live customers to easily scale applications they develop. “So when application usage peaks, we can offer them more cloud to take that extra load,” he said.

SAN JOSE: NetSuite has updated its manufacturing offering to offer a set of features for companies producing goods that want embrace the benefits of operating in the cloud.

The update to the NetSuite for Manufacturing Edition includes a number of key features designed primarily for manufacturers in a evolution from its existing products that were designed for firms working with manufactureres.

NetSuite chief executive Zach Nelson claimed that “manufacturing is the final industry to come to the cloud” and that the functionalities on offer, such as standard costs, work-in-process tracking and routings, will all help make it easier for firms to operate online.

In particular, he said new manufacturing processes set to revolutionise the industry will ramp up the demand for cloud-hosted tools.

“We’ve had this product in development in stealth mode for about two years and there’s a sea change coming in manufacturing. Not everything will be outsourced anymore. You’ll see people coming back onshore driven by new capabilities like 3D printing,” said Nelson.

“Every company is becoming a cloud company and the cloud is going to transform how manufacturers operate. We are getting to the market place at the right time with the right product.”

As part of this announcement NetSuite also announced an integration with CAD manufacturing firm Autodesk, between Netsuite’s ERP services and Autodesk’s Product Life Management (PLM) service PLM 360, as design services also move to the cloud.

This is designed to help customers run their design, manufacturing and sales channels through a single portal as well as integrating customer feedback and internal social tools, such as Netsuite’s own SuiteSocial.

“It’s a pure web base environment – this is something dramatically different from anything done before in the PLM world,” added Autodesk’s senior vice president of manufacturing Buzz Kross, speaking at the event.

SAN JOSE: NetsSuite chief executive Zach Nelson wasted no time in laying into rival SAP during his SuiteWorld keynote on Tuesday, mocking the German firm for its approach to the cloud, and taking a potshot at Microsoft too.

Kicking off his presentation, Nelson said the fact both NetSuite and SAP, with its Sapphire conference in Orlando, are having their user conferences at the same time is a chance for the industry to assess the state of each firm’s offerings.

“SAP talks a lot about cloud but they’re having their user group conference at same time we are and while we’ll spend a lot of time introducing a new product, NetSuite for manufacturing, SAP are talking about databases in the cloud,” he said.

“Talking with customers not a single one asked us for databases in the cloud – they want new features and new app capabilities, but not databases. I think it’s a telling week to see what we’re delivering this week and what SAP are doing.”

Nelson also touched on research from analyst house Gartner that pegged SAP’s growth in the ERP market at minus three percent as further proof the firm is failing to meet business’s needs.

This same data was also used these to slight Microsoft’s own ERP offering, Dynamics.

“I was talking ‘to a partner and they said they shouldn’t call it Dynamics, they should call it Static, and that’s pretty darn accurate. There’s nothing going on in the Microsoft cloud, particularly in the ERP space.”

Despite Nelson’s withering criticism, SAP looks to be a strong player in the cloud space. The company recently unveiled its HANA Enterprise Cloud service, a move which analysts believe could bring big dividends for SAP.

SAN JOSE: Cloud computing is now such a central part of the IT enterprise landscape that firms cannot ignore its benefits any longer, according to the chief information officer of mobile chip giant Qualcomm.

Speaking at NetSuite’s Suiteworld event on Tuesday Norm Fjeldheim (pictured left) said that the firm has been a keen adopter of the cloud, including products from NetSuite, and that IT teams are now accepting that the cloud is a key part of the future of enterprise IT.

“We were an early adopter of SaaS applications – we liked it as a solution for our business and I see this trend continuing,” he said, explaining that the firm had used NetSuite for the launch of a new division in Mexico due to the speed of getting services live in the cloud.

“Even security guys are now saying, ‘alright, the cloud is here to stay and I’m going to have to deal with this’.”

Fjeldheim also believes firms that have been slow to embrace the cloud, and remain sceptical of its benefits, risk being left behind. “Cloud is a positive force and I think it’s a big change for the industry – if I were Oracle or SAP I’d be really worried.”

The comments on cloud from NetSuite and Qualcomm come in the same month V3 launched the May edition of the V3 tablet app focused on cloud computing, which is available now for download from the iTunes store.

It can be downloaded free by registering on the V3 website and then using the same credentials when prompted to get the app for free. It costs only £1.99 if you do not want to register.

Google is now offering 15GB of free storage on its Drive cloud storage platform, in a move to entice more customers to its services by merging the data storage offered between Gmail and Drive.

Google users were previously offered 5GB of free storage for Drive and another 10GB for Gmail, but now users will get 15GB of storage across both services.

Google’s director of product management Clay Bavor wrote: “With this new combined storage space, you won’t have to worry about how much you’re storing and where.

“Maybe you’re a heavy Gmail user but light on photos, or perhaps you were bumping up against your Drive storage limit but were only using 2GB in Gmail. Now it doesn’t matter, because you can use your storage the way you want.”

Google is also giving Google App users a larger amount of storage. Companies that pay to use the firm’s apps will now be granted a total of 30GB storage.

Storage of files created with Google Apps will not count against the cap. Instead, only emails and attachments filed in the cloud will be included as part of the 30GB limit.

Google has been ramping up its cloud storage offering since introducing it early last year. Drive launched in April 2012, allowing Google users to store files and data in a public cloud controlled by the firm.

Drive has seen much convergence with Google’s other software in recent months. Last November, Drive became integrated with Google+ to offer file sharing and Google launched its preview tool earlier this year.

The announcement comes just ahead of the Google I/O developer conference, where the firm may reveal more numbers on users of its Drive and Gmail products.

Choosing the right web hosting partner and package can be difficult, especially if you’re a beginner, and you aren’t quite sure what you’re looking for.

To help make sure you don’t come away with regrets, we’re putting a quick list together to make sure you get the right deal for your business’s needs.

• Building a website starts with a domain, and it’s vital to know who owns the domain, because you don’t want to be stuck with one company for the rest of your life.
• Find out the renewal charge. The first year might be free, but there could be a costly renewal. It’s also important to check when the renewal is though it’s usually annually.
• Don’t fall for the convenience trap. Most Web-hosting companies would prefer to have your domain registered with them, and don’t get us wrong, this could be beneficial, they could be a good company, but if they go down, your hosting and domain will both together.
• Try to use PayPal, it’s quicker and it’s much easier to track transactions, meaning your webhosting company is less likely going to cause you problems along the way.
• Don’t pay costs up front. Like many services online, you can get renewal charges cheaper if you pay a lot up front, but with web hosting companies make sure you don’t’ fall for the trap.

Finally, make sure your web hosting provider is experienced, and check reviews, Google them, find out who’s been saying what various things about their company. For truthful opinions you could search their company name through social media networks. Building a website takes time and finding the right hosting provider is the first step. Make sure it’s a step forward and start your journey to the top.

Microsoft has lined up a series of customers to dismiss the enterprise credentials of Google’s Apps as the battle for businesses between the two heavyweights rumbles on.

Both firms have been taking pot shots at one another for a while, with Microsoft’s infamous ‘Scroogled’ campaign warning firms of the limitations of Google’s software. However, Google was able to bask in the glow of the city of Boston’s decision to ditch Microsoft’s software for its Apps services.

In a blog post on the eve of the Google I/O conference, Microsoft presented a series of customers that have been unhappy with Google to let them voice their frustrations.

Arysta Lifescience, an agrochemical company with 3,400 employees in 125 countries, had been a Google Apps customer, but staff were unhappy with its services and so it switched to Redmond.

Dustin Collins, global head of IT infrastructure at Arysta LifeScience, said: “Google Apps was difficult to use and lacked the capabilities our employees had grown accustomed to in Office. With Office 365 we’re able to interact and engage with each other more, allowing us to efficiently and quickly respond to new opportunities. As a result, we’re a more agile, competitive organisation.”

Microsoft also highlighted Office 365’s compliance with security standards like ISO 27001 as another reason customers are ditching Google for its offerings. One such customer it cited is human development organisation FHI 360, which has 4,000 staff.

Douglas Wilkins, director of IT infrastructure at FHI 360, said: “As a non-profit organisation, we work on educational and public health issues and must comply with privacy regulations related to the U.S. federal government. Not only did Office 365 have privacy features in line with our requirements, but we know where our data is stored – it’s essential for us to have control and set parameters on who views it. That was not possible with Google.”

In a bid to make it enterprise offering more attractive to customers, Google has this week increased the amount of Apps storage on offer to 30GB.

SAP has jumped into the mobile security space with the launch of Mobile Secure software, designed to secure customers accessing their business applications from mobile devices.

Mobile Secure will also be offered as a software as a service (SaaS) edition, which will be integrated with the firm’s mobile device management cloud software Afaria to help businesses manage multiple mobile devices. The most recent cloud edition of Afaria is bundled with analytic dashboards from SAP’s business intelligence Business Objects portfolio to give customers insight into device compliance usage.

SAP said Mobile Secure will work on today’s most popular devices including iOS, Windows and Android operating systems.

SAP president of technology solutions and the mobile division Sanjay Poonen said the increasing number of mobile operating systems and the influx of bring-your-own device (BYOD) programmes for employees has meant enterprise-level security is a priority for many companies.

“With SAP Mobile Secure, we want to make it easy for CIOs to bring comprehensive mobile security to all layers of their mobile infrastructure at the lowest total cost of ownership (TCO) possible,” he said. “The SAP Mobile Secure solution portfolio is integrated with the SAP Mobile Platform, allowing developers to build in security at the right time. SAP Mobile Secure is designed to scale to millions of devices.”

The Mobile Secure software will allow customers to quickly add security and usage policies to iOS and Android apps without having to write any code. Such capabilities are due to a partnership SAP has secured with mobile security firm Mocana, which will see the firm resell Mocana’s Mobile App Protection software as part of the SAP Mobile Secure offering.

SAP has had recent success with its mobile offering, inking a deal with CA Technologies for the software management firm to licence Afaria for mobile device management.

SAP is this week holding its annual Sapphire US event in Orlando, which V3 will be attending.

Last week SAP made a bold move in both its big data and strategy, announcing that its HANA database platform would be offered as an enterprise cloud service. The HANA Enterprise Cloud will allow users to analyse data from SAP Business Suite applications in the cloud. SAP said that the HANA as a cloud service will reduce the cost for customers wanting to perform big data analytics, as well as offering them increased flexibility.