Cloud computing is fast becoming one of the most widely adopted IT trends of recent years. Lured by the offer of flexible, low-cost and easily scalable IT, many businesses are relying more and more heavily on cloud-based applications, storage and security. However, as highlighted by Gartner and many others, big questions remain over the security of cloud computing. Clearswift’s Peter Croft* explains how the big security questions should be answered.

Business process management (BPM) was unheard of just a few years ago, but the concept has now taken centre stage to become one of today’s most discussed business and technology management trends. Software AG’s Stephen Keys outlines the genesis of BPM and how it has evolved.

Enterprises and equipment vendors are learning the value of a complete readiness assessment before deploying voice over internet protocol (VoIP) across an organisation. The assessments are a critical step to a successful VoIP deployment, but many enterprises do not perform an assessment because of cost or because, after performing a baseline on network utilisation, they assume that their network has enough bandwidth to accommodate the voice traffic. Fluke Networks’ Wayne Allen* reports on the importance of assessment and the consequences of not assessing the network correctly.

While the demand for storage virtualisation has opened up sales opportunities for vendors, it has also created numerous myths about it. Hitachi’s Simon Elisha sets out to quash these myths in order to distinguish the facts from the hype.

With the world running out of energy and the concomitant need to conserve energy, measuring the amount of energy used in data centres and the whole enterprise is critical. Merri Mack looks at proposed ways energy is to be measured and some of the small steps being made to implement a standard metric.

There is no doubt that the once humble data centre is at the zenith of recognition with interest unabated this year. We look at all aspects of design of the data centre right down to finding the best site and why the push for a green data centre is more about conserving power and costs rather than really being green. Merri Mack reports.

The days of the permanent office cubicle are almost over: users are exploding outwards into the world and taking their data with them. But how do you secure user access in a distributed world, one in which foreign governments are said to be hacking their way into individuals’ machines? Andrew Collins looks for answers.

The NetEvents APAC conference second day in Singapore promises to be just as interesting as the first day. The last debate will really encompass everything that has been analysed over the two days. [ + ]

A two-day conference on 19 and 20 November in Singapore on advances in networking and telecoms is being run by the UK NetEvents team. The first day's agenda is outlined here and will be followed tomorrow by the second day's proceedings. [ + ]

With video becoming just another data type and gaining a strong foothold on the internet, it is fitting that video media executive Ian Gardiner has won the prestigious 2009 NSW Pearcey award for ICT leadership. [ + ]

Clive Gold, the Marketing CTO for EMC Australia and New Zealand, has been appointed the new Chairman of the Storage Networking Industry Association’s (SNIA) International Steering Committee. Gold is also the Vice-Chair of SNIA ANZ. [ + ]

For the second year in a row, Dell is the only technology company to make the finalist list for the the Advancement of Women by the Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA) at the 2009 Business Achievement Awards. [ + ]

CSIRO’s Dr John O’Sullivan has been  recognised with the nation's pre-eminent science award - the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science. [ + ]

Futurist Ross Dawson accurately described the networked world of today, anticipating social networks, twitter, corporate blogging, crowdsourcing, personalised advertising and virtual personal assistants. Dawson has now predicted what the technology world will deliver in 2016. [ + ]

According to Vmware fans, agent-based backup tools aren't able to sufficiently handle virtual environments. Some have reported success using snapshots, instead.