A cloud application provider should be able to offer excellent security and data privacy better than its customers can do on their own, and at no additional cost. Processes and policies should encompass physical, network, application, and data-level security, as well as full backup and disaster recovery. The provider should be compliant with security-oriented laws […]
At last month’s carbon allowance auction, the fourth ever held, the California cap-and-trade program reached an important milestone. The auction of “current year allowances”, or permits that companies can use for this year’s carbon pollution, have sold out at every auction thus far- but this was the first time the auction completely sold out of […]
How many times has water played a part in your routine activities today? Maybe you have taken a shower, made coffee, flushed a toilet, or washed your hands. Chances are you’ve already counted on water multiple times today, and probably didn’t think twice about it. As we count down the last few days of National […]
Cloud computing applications should be configurable, so your IT organization is freed from costly customizations, and business people can configure processes that meet the specific needs of the organization. The greatest self-inflicted wound customers make is allowing too much customization to software they run on premises. It gets down to how customer balances freedom versus […]
A cloud application provider worth doing business with will share the burden of integration with its customers versus leaving them on their own. Cloud providers should make an integration infrastructure and integration tools available, assist its customers with integrations, and develop a partner ecosystem that includes consultants, integrators, and other software and SaaS companies. At […]
According to analysis from Carbon Disclosure Project (CDP) and Eurizon Capital, metals and mining companies that take action now to manage their water risks will be much better off financially in the future. The research findings state that water stress is the most reported risk to operations- being identified as so by more than two-thirds […]
A cloud application is a single version of software that is regularly updated, often several times a year, for all customers. To realize the true cost benefits of SaaS, the provider should be managing all of those elements to adopt the latest capabilities in the updates on their own timelines. Software that has to be […]
There is considerable debate in the marketplace about whether organizations should know or even care about multi-tenancy. The truth is that multi-tenancy is the only proven SaaS delivery architecture that eliminates many of the problems created by the traditional software licensing and upgrade model, so it is extremely valuable to know whether a provider uses […]
Environmental, sustainability, compliance, CIOs, CTOs, and other business technology managers can free up valuable resources for strategic activities by deploying cloud applications that are less costly and complex, yet more intelligent and user-friendly, than on-premises applications. Tech managers can miss this opportunity, however, if CIOs are unable to differentiate real cloud providers and applications from […]
A recent federal study on hydraulic fracking has brought a small victory to the natural gas industry. The study, conducted by the National Energy Technology Laboratory in Pittsburgh, shows no evidence of chemicals from the natural gas drilling process contaminating drinking water aquifers at a western Pennsylvania drilling site. After one year of monitoring, researchers […]