Virtual Global Relaunches Cloudipedia.com to Help Cloud Computing Newbies

Online, December 21, 2010 (Newswire.com) - Virtual Global, a top provider of software systems for business, announces the relaunch of its comprehensive cloud computing portal, Cloudipedia.com, with a broader range of coverage; offering more news, more links and resources, including a free download of "Cloud Computing Made Easy" for cloud computing newbies.

A recent White House report has recommended instituting a "cloud-first" approach to help federal agencies make smart IT choices, help the US government get a handle on its astronomical IT expenditures, and to better handle the business of data security. But most agencies are still in the dark regarding this rapidly-evolving movement into the clouds, which represents the future of IT. The new website intends to demystify the marketing buzz.

As the eBook points out, we are experiencing the type of radical shift in the computing industry that only occurs about once every 30 years, and we need to pay close attention because nearly everyone has become a stakeholder. The site also explains that cloud computing is inherently difficult to grasp for three main reasons: First, cloud computing is an extremely broad term. Second, you can't touch the cloud. And third, the term is tainted by the "me too" marketing buzz. The term "cloud computing", for a variety of very good reasons, has become very popular, and there are plenty of new and established IT companies that want to jump on the bandwagon.

The website is edited by Cary Landis and industry analyst Dan Blacharski. Initially, Cloudipedia focused on the eBook, whereas the relaunch focuses more on news and trends. "It's nearly impossible for people to keep track of everything going on," says Landis. "It seems like something big happens every day that will affect computer users for the next 20 years."

Cloudipedia provides a resource for both techies and non-techies. Landis, whose company also provides the TeamHost™ online tools and platform as a service for creating SaaS applications, uses real-time and real-world examples to paint a picture of a computing platform in which efficiency is increased to such an extent that major players - such as Google and Amazon - are now making their moves firmly into the cloud computing arena. Additionally, Landis said, there is overwhelming misconception when it comes to safety and security within cloud computing.

In the book Landis and Blacharski also explain how cloud computing offers new solutions and possibilities when it comes to outsourcing and telecommuting, and dispel the myth that corporations need to exhibit pinpoint, razor-sharp and direct control over every facet within their modes of IT management. "In the book Dan and I call it the 'fallacy of direct control,'" said Landis. "In cloud computing you have to understand that it's not always, in fact, a wise thing to feel you need to control everything directly. There's a section in the book where we talk about opportunity costs, and I think that example goes a long way in explaining what it is, exactly, that businesses and organizations lose by trying to control everything." In the chapter, the authors compare a company that micromanages its in-house IT dominion to a homeowner who, in lieu of hiring a professional plumber, decides to fix the old pipes in his house by himself: "The guy who fixes his own plumbing suffers an opportunity cost, because he must make multiple trips to the hardware store, invest time and money, purchase hundreds of dollars' worth of tools, and miss his favorite television show. And just like the guy who fixes his own plumbing, the company that insists on hosting absolutely everything in-house is losing out."

For a free download of Virtual Global's timely and comprehensive eBook, "Cloud Computing Made Easy," visit http://www.cloudipedia.com/.

Discussions on cloud computing can also be viewed on the Linkedin "Cloudipedia - Cloud computing made easy (http://www.linkedin.com/e/vgh/2513457/)" discussion group.

Virtual Global is provider of cloud-enabled software platform solutions for commercial and federal organizations and has implemented enterprise IT solutions for the likes of NASA and NIST. Products include the TeamHost™ cloud platform, for building SaaS applications without programming; TeamLeader™, a project management 2.0 software for tracking and reporting on virtual teams in real-time; HIT PLATFORM™, a Health IT cloud based platform; and Cloudipedia, a website that brings cloud computing information to entrepreneurs. Since 1995, Virtual Global's technologies have served commercial and federal customers worldwide with enterprise-class IT needs.