The cloud storage and collaboration space is more competitive than ever before. Google recently rolled out its new cloud-based document and storage solution and faces competition not just from cloud companies such as Box and Dropbox, but from Apple, Microsoft and Amazon as well. Here’s a brief comparison of the big players:

Amazon Cloud Drive: 

• Storage: 5GB free (purchases from the Amazon MP3 Store don’t count towards storage limit)
• Mobile Integration: Cloud Player for Android, no official iOS app
• Desktop Integration: Amazon MP3 Uploader/Downloader for music
• Pricing: $1 a gigabyte per year
• Collaborative Editing: No
• File Size Limitations: 2GB

iCloud:

• Storage: 5GB free, 20GB is $40 a year, 50GB is $100 a year
• Mobile Integration: Built into iOS 5
• Desktop Integration: Mac OS X 10.7.x and Windows 7
• Pricing: $40/$100 a year
• Collaborative Editing: No
• File Size Limitations: No

Box:

• Storage: 5GB free, up to 50GB for personal accounts, 1TB for business and unlimited for eneterprise
• Mobile Integration: iOS, Android, and BlackBerry
• Desktop Integration: Mac, Windows, web
• Pricing: Personal accounts start at $9.99 a month for 25GB, business plans start at $15 a month (at least 3 users required)
• Collaborative Editing: Yes, more robust editing for business accounts
• File Size Limitations: 25MB – 100MB for free accounts, up to 2GB for business accounts, up to 2GB for business accounts

Dropbox:

• Storage: 2GB free and 500MB per referral, paid plans up to 100GB
• Mobile Integration: Android, iOS, BlackBerry
• Desktop Integration: Windows, Mac, Linux, web
• Pricing: $100 a year for 50GB, $200 a year for 100GB
• Collaborative Editing: No, but many cloud document services integrate with Dropbox
• File Size Limitations: None for desktop, 300MB for web uploads

Microsoft SkyDrive:

• Storage: 7GB free (25GB for users who signed up before April 22, 2012), Up to 100GB
• Mobile Integration: Official apps for Windows Phone 7 and iOS, unofficial Android apps, mobile web access
• Desktop Integration: Windows, Mac and web
• Pricing: Additional storage available for $0.50 a gigabyte, 100GB of additional storage is $50 a year.
• Collaborative Editing: Yes, with Office Live Web Apps
• File Size Limitations: 2GB (300 megabytes for web uploads)

Google Drive:

• Storage: 5GB free, up to 16TB
• Mobile Integration: Android, iOS (coming soon)
• Desktop Integration: Windows, Mac, web
• Pricing: $30 a year for 25GB, $60 a year for $100GB
• Collaborative Editing: Yes with Google Docs
• File Size Limitations: 10GB

“Enterprise software player SAP has unveiled aggressive plans to grow its presence in the database software and mobile apps markets…” read the full post on siliconrepublic.

Talentopoly is a community for programmers, designers, developers, and IT professionals. The site provides a great platform for sharing resources, links, code samples, or networking online. The elevator pitch: “where talented people go to share their best links. No longer do you have to manage lists on Twitter, likes on Facebook or bookmarking in your browser. Talentopoly is about sharing information…” Read a review about talentopoly on www.mostinspired.com.

A great majority of the worldwide companies has identified the cloud as an effective medium to reduce their costs. However, after the implementation, disillusionment often follows.

Cloud computing is fundamentally changing the IT and the delivery methods of IT-services. The first step into the cloud is the virtualisation – the technical base. A recent study showed that virtualisation projects are already realised extensively and that expected goals like more efficiency and a better scalability can mostly be reached. The survey by Symantec among 3,700 companies worldwide also proved that a lot of cloud projects end up with results far away from the expectations.

Figure: Half of the targets at cloud projects are not reached.

Companies have the most of experience with server virtualisation – the technology is used by 45 percent. Additionally, 75 percent of the companies think about deploying private and hybrid clouds.

By taking a look at the expectations and the actual results of virtualisation- and cloud-implementations, you can see that there are some large differences between them: projects with server-virtualisation were the most successful, with a averaged lack of four percent between goal and result. The respondents had hoped for a higher scalability and lower running and investigation costs from the virtualisation technology. With similarly high expectations, cloud projects disappointed throughout: on an average, half of the expectations were not reached. The difference at the initialisation of extra resources is striking, too. While 76 percent of the respondents hoped for an easement of their workload by cloud technologies, better services could only be reached by 37 percent.

Now it´s your turn: What do you think would be the reasons for these circumstances? We are looking forward to a lot of comments.

Found at: http://www.computerworld.ch/news/it-branche/artikel/cloud-projekte-verfehlen-ziele-56965/

The Cloud :: Developer Convention is the chance for any developer to get in touch with the best developers across europe. They should attend, network and become a part of the great community and take their chance to create an awesome application within a team during the Cloud Hackathon!

Developers, programmers and designers from all over Europe are invited to come to the design hotel EAST Hamburg for a two day convention on 13./14. of October 2011 to hack awesome applications and services on top of the worlds leading and most popular cloud computing infrastructures. During the whole event mentors from the worlds leading cloud infrastructure providers support them to implement their ideas.

At the end of the Cloud Hackathon, the results will be presented in front of the audience and the jury of leading developers and software architects from around the world. Attend and enjoy two days of meeting new people, learn new stuff and build apps and services on top of worlds leading cloud computing infrastructures with other talented developers from across Europe. They can win a prize from a pool of gifts sponsored by the cloud infrastructure providers. And of course party, party, party in the Upper East of the EAST Hotel Hamburg.

Of course anybody is a winner. They will become a part of a great community, meet new people, learn new stuff and much more.

But three categories will be awarded:
- The most creative application!
- The most cloudable application!
- The most portable application!

Each cloud provider who is a partner of the Cloud :: Developer Convention ’11 commits to sponsor the prices.

More information and the charded registration are at http://cloud-devcon.com

In 2010, 83 percent of the German enterprises were affected by data loss. Most common was customer data loss.

That is the result of the study “Understanding Security Complexity in 21^st Century IT Environments” by the security service provider “Check Point Software Technologies” and the market research company “Ponemon”.

Worldwide, more than three quarters of the companies affected
At least 77 percent of the surveyed organisations in the USA, the United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan were concerned by the data loss.

In German companies, the following data was pertained most commonly:

1. customer information and generic consumer data (both about 50%)
2. other intellectual property, e.g. source codes (29 percent)
3. employee data (28 percent)
4. business plans or strategies (20 percent)

Why?
According to the respondents, the main reasons for the data loss were stealing of IT equipment or the simple, unintended loss of it.

Other causes were network attacks, unsecured mobile terminals, web 2.0 and file-sharing-appliances – and of course the accidental email-dispatch to a wrong receiver.

The companies do not think that their employees handle their data carefully enough: The respondents said that, on average, not even half of their employees have the awareness to think about terms like data security, compliance or security-guidelines.

The solution: Inform your staff and create transparent processes

The term of data security always has to rank first on the priority list of all IT-security officers, Jörg Kurowski from “Check Point Software Technologies” opines. But if one takes a look at the causes of data loss, it becomes clear that the biggest part of the incidents happen unintentionally. Companies should rely on a stronger awareness and a stronger involvement of their employees and at the same time establish associated processes in order to not just recognize the data loss, but to avoid it pro-actively. Like this, databases will become more transparent and easier to control, Kurowski continues.

Source:
http://www.mittelstanddirekt.de/c184/m187/um226/d7278/default.html

Last week we wrote about the study conducted by the university of Hagen dealing with similarities and differences between freelance and permanent employees.  The scientists came to the conclusion that freelancers are not less content with their working life than permanent employees.

In the second part of the survey of the university of Hagen the reserchers analyzed where the differences between freelancers and permanent employees are. Therefore in the second part 103 freelancers and permanent employees working in IT, media,training and journalism were surveyed. In the following you will find the most significant points regarding the general level of satisfaction.

Freelancers are less satisfied when it comes to:
1. their work life balance

2. their general life situation

3. their order/booking situation

However freelancers seem to be more content about:
1. their choice of employment

2. their career

3. their salaries

Particularly striking is the difference in how the quality of their activities is viewed by freelancers and permanent employees: freelancers tend to be extraordinarily satisfied in this point.

What are the most important factors motivating freelancers as well as permanent employees?
“Varying tasks” are a motivational factor which is valued higher by permanent employees than by freelancers. Important motivational factors for both groups were “personal responsibility”,  “independence” and “creative work”, the “autonomous time management” as well as the “task itself”. “Status”, “recognition “and “income” seem to be less important.

What is your experience – do you agree with the scientists main results? If you don’t agree what is your point of view?

Based on: elektronikpraxis.vogel.de

In Germany, there are currently about two million people working in a freelance employment – the trend is rising. Is freelance work a higher requirement regarding professional and personal life? The study conducted by psychologists from the University of Hagen is dealing with motivational factors and the question how both handle uncertainty and strain.  Among others the scientists also focused on  IT freelancers. According to the study, freelancers in general and IT freelancers i.e. are mostly contented with their working situation.

Here are some further results of the study:

IT freelancers pursuit economic goals. They are  satisfied with their income and see the flexibility that is required rather as a challenge than as a burden.

The acquisition of projects is not viewed as problematic. The concept of self-promotion is valued highly by the respondents.

None could identify with the stereotype of the lonely freelancer. They can quickly identify with the companies they are working for and see the permanent employees as colleagues. Therefore social skills are very important.

Also freelancers are those who are the ones who could distinguish best between private and professional life.

All in all the researchers came to the conclusion that freelancers are generally satisfied with their working life – still freelancers are confronted with different aspects/obstacles than permanent employees.

What are the differences you have encountered in your freelance working life? In your opinion are freelancers generally more or less content than permanent employees? We are looking forward to your comments.

Based on: elektronikpraxis.vogel.de

A survey of the Center for european economic research (ZEW) in cooperation with Creditreform came to find that e-commerce is used rather for buying purposes than for sales. The survey concentrated on the association for sourcing of payment in advance.

Usually the term e-commerce refers to the selling and buying processes that are conducted via the internet.

The imbalance of selling and buying processes is especially apparent in the software and IT sector:

Nearly 64% of the companies working in the IT- and software sector say that they have ordered products and services on the internet last year. In contrast to that just 29% of these companies sold their products or services online. Mirna Sarbu, scientist at the ZEW announces: “The companies of the software- and IT-service branch are with 81% leading in buying via the internet.”

Considering the usage of e-commerce for selling products, providers of telecommunication services are leading. Nearly 58% of these corporations offer opportunities for their customers to buy their products online.

Generally the e-commerce processes peaked out in 2010. Market-leading companies like amazon, facebook, google or ebay as well as younger online-shops like zalando.de shape the online trading.

What experiences have you made regarding e-commerce? Feel free to leave a reply!

Based on: www.marktundmittelstand.de

projektwerk Osteraktion:  Wo hat sich Ihr letzter Projektpartner versteckt?
Erhalten Sie eine Laufzeitverlängerung auf Ihre projektwerk Mitgliedschaft.

Es ist mal wieder so weit: Die Ostertage stehen vor der Tür, die Sonne scheint und nicht nur die Kleinsten dürfen nach ihren Ostergeschenken suchen.

projektwerk schenkt Ihnen bei Abschluss einer Premium-Mitgliedschaft einen Osterbonus:
Auf die Buchung einer 3-Monats-Mitgliedschaft erhalten Sie 14 Tage Premium-Mitgliedschaft geschenkt. Auf eine 6-Monats-Buchung bekommen Sie 30 Tage extra. Und auf eine 12-Monats-Mitgliedschaft gibt es ganze 60 Tage geschenkt.

So einfach geht’s:
Nach der Registrierung buchen Sie den von Ihnen gewählten Zeitraum und teilen uns per E-Mail an feedback@projektwerk.de mit in welchem Versteck Sie Ihren letzten Projektpartner gefunden haben (bspw. über eine Projektbörse oder über einen privaten Kontakt). Wir schalten Ihnen dann schnellstmöglich Ihre persönliche Laufzeitverlängerung frei.

Die Aktion läuft ab sofort bis einschließlich Ostermontag, dem 25.04.2011 VERLÄNGERT BIS 30.04.2011.

Wir freuen uns von Ihren „Verstecken“ zu hören und wünschen Ihnen ein schönes Osterfest!