Autodesk issues WEB the version AutoCAD series software cloud computation start

# AutoCAD 2010
# Autodesk Inventor 2010
# Autodesk Revit Architecture 2010
# Maya coming soon.

Quote

There is no doubt the future holds even more opportunities than the present, but it also contains critical challenges that we must address now if we want to take full advantage of the potential of cloud computing."
--Brad Smith, general counsel at Microsoft, as quoted by InformationWeek.

20% of businesses will get rid of all IT assets as they move to cloud, Gartner predicts

The shift toward cloud services hosted outside the enterprise's firewall will necessitate a major shift in the IT hardware markets, and shrink IT staff, Gartner said.
"The need for computing hardware, either in a data center or on an employee's desk, will not go away," Gartner said. "However, if the ownership of hardware shifts to third parties, then there will be major shifts throughout every facet of the IT hardware industry. For example, enterprise IT budgets will either be shrunk or reallocated to more-strategic projects; enterprise IT staff will either be reduced or reskilled to meet new requirements, and/or hardware distribution will have to change radically to meet the requirements of the new IT hardware buying points."


If Gartner is correct, the shift will have serious implications for IT professionals, but presumably many new jobs would be created in order to build the next wave of cloud services.
But it's not just cloud computing that is driving a movement toward "decreased IT hardware assets," in Gartner's words. Virtualization and employees running personal desktops and laptops on corporate networks are also reducing the need for company-owned hardware.Gartner's prediction was part of arelease Wednesday that highlights nine key predictions that will affect IT organizations and users this year and beyond.

Mr. Venkatesan, chairman of Microsoft Corp.'s Microsoft Corp. (India) Pvt. Ltd. unit,

Cloud computing, which refers to the delivery of computing services over the internet as an alternative to running software and hardware on your own premises, is a once-in-decade disruption in the computing industry. Customers -- businesses, governments, consumers -- are very excited about cloud computing because it holds the promise of reducing IT costs, converting capital expenditure into operating expenditure and "outsourcing" complexity. Like most disruptive innovations, it represents both an opportunity and a threat. As a leader in the industry, Microsoft has embraced cloud computing with vigor and our CEO, Steve Ballmer, likes to talk about our strategy as "three screens and the cloud" -- a scenario where people access rich experiences seamlessly across small screens (like the mobile phone), midsize screens (PC or more specialized devices like e-book readers) and large screens such as the TV -- all powered by services delivered over the Web. Microsoft is investing billions of dollars in R&D and capex to create the global infrastructure required to deliver cloud computing and to give customers a choice of using all our software on premise (as they currently do), partner hosted or as a service (such as Microsoft Online Services, Windows Azure) from Microsoft for an affordable monthly fee. Cloud computing is one of our biggest bets as a company and an essential one to retain our industry leadership.
Cloud computing is likely to be adopted very fast in India -- perhaps even faster than in developed countries -- because of low levels of IT usage and lack of legacy IT systems. This means businesses and governments have the opportunity to leapfrog directly to cloud computing just as India leapfrogged landlines directly to mobile phones. The ability to pay for IT on an affordable monthly charge per user, the abstraction of all hassles and complexity and the ability to defeat software piracy, all make cloud computing a very attractive model for India. We've found small and midsize businesses particularly excited about our cloud computing services and in just a few months over 1,800 businesses have become trial users of our Microsoft Online Services. I expect cloud computing to also find favor with government as an effective way to deliver all types of citizen services reliably and affordably. Our partners like Infosys, Wipro and HCL are eagerly embracing cloud computing as a way of extending their leadership in the global IT services arena. It's a very exciting time indeed.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB126012590544978989.html?mod=dist_smartbrief

48-core cloud computing Intel chip

1. Single-chip Cloud Computer (SCC),
2. 1.3 billion transistors.
3. More details on 8 February, 2010.
4. Intel and rival AMD will both launch new six-core devices in 2010.
5. Nvidia has previewed its next-generation processor that has 512 cores.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/8392392.stm

ref

http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/virtualization/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221901198

How Cloud Computing Changes IT Organizations

http://www.informationweek.com/news/storage/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=221901163

Understanding Private Cloud Storage

http://blogs.zdnet.com/BTL/?p=27829&tag=wrapper;col1

SaaS and cloud computing: A look at the due diligence

Advantages of a Cloud Computing Approach

Low start-up costs make cloud computing especially attractive to
small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Low cost for sporadic use. TurboTax online is free for “standard”
taxpayers. Similarly, some cloud-based business services, such as
Google Apps, do not need to be purchased for one-time or
infrequent computing.
Ease of management. No need to worry about keeping licenses
current or purchasing additional hardware.
Scalability. High-growth companies can easily expand the
number of users and locations at modest cost.
Device and location independence. The way you access a cloud
could be your desktop. It could be someone else's computer. It
could be a smart phone.
Rapid innovation. Because vendors are able to roll out new
features incrementally, they can respond to user needs more
rapidly.