Ensuring that e-mails and documents can only be sent and received by authorised individuals with a full audit trail, is becoming an essential requirement for these organisations.

M7 has partnered with security specialists Deep Secure to deliver a range of high-assurance data sharing solutions that enable public and private sector organisations to effectively and securely share information whilst maintaining its integrity and confidentiality when it is sensitive.

Deep Secure products are designed and engineered to meet the exacting standards set by clients such as the UK Ministry of Defence, Her Majesty’s Government and NATO, whose data sharing requirements face a wide range of threats amid the need to communicate in security-hardened environments.

For more information on the range of secure solutions appropriate for your organisation contact us at M7, http://www.m7ms.co.uk/

http://www.scmagazineuk.com/largest-ico-fine-issued-to-powys-county-council-for-two-breaches-of-sensitive-data/article/218221/?DCMP=EMC-SCUK_Newswire

When you contract with a cloud computing provider do you stipulate where your data can and cannot be? With the global purveyors of cloud solutions your data travels over the internet to and from one or more externally managed data centres. It may be in, or processed by servers in multiple locations around the world.

A variety of legal issues can arise when data resides in a cloud provider’s data centre in a different country than the one in which either the customer or the customer’s clients reside. Different countries, and in some cases in the US different states, have different laws applying to the data.

It was recently revealed that  US based cloud providers may have to comply to the Patriot Act requests for data that’s located in a provider’s European data centres, even though this conflicts with the EU’s 1995 Data Protection Directive.

In response to that the EU announced that it will propose reforms to the EU directive in 2012.

The question: “Which law applies to my organization’s data in the cloud: The law where I’m located, the law where my data’s located, or the law where the data subject is located?”

As yet there is yet no international agreement on the answer.

At M7 we discuss the issue with our customers and software vendors before we propose a cloud solution.

Many of our UK customers want their data hosted and backed up in the UK and only in the UK. Pressure or directives from government, auditors or their supply chain may dictate this. Some International customers may want a public cloud solution using cloud technologies to provide application solutions where the data itself is not sensitive to location. They may already hold it in several countries within their own data centres.

More common now are the hybrid solutions where some data is held in the UK and other data is held in a public cloud. With public cloud solutions often being procurred by line of business executives, management and security within this environment become key issues along with a disaster recovery plan that is appropriate for this new computing model.

“Almost three-quarters of firms and public sector organisations across nine European countries may not fully recover their computer systems or data after an IT failure, a survey suggests.

A total 1,750 IT bosses in countries including the UK were questioned. Its report found that the most common cause of data loss and downtime was hardware failure, followed by power outage and software malfunction”

The role of IT in business continuity is already under pressure, with the new dimension added by line of business managers buying cloud based solutions, with little thought about how these would fit within an overall disaster recovery plan, there is now a real need for leadership from IT in this area.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15866885

On Thursday I presented at the Cloud and Factory Automation event at the Waterton Centre and tomorrow the focus is on the housing sector; alongside IBM I am presenting ‘Saving your Business in the Cloud’.

The growth in Cloud Computing presents both an opportunity and a threat to Business Continuity planning.

The ability to replicate not just your applications and data but your server images to a virtual second site, at a fraction of the cost of traditional IT DR contracts, means no one needs to be without a credible IT DR plan.

However, the cloud has also enabled users to purchase their applications without the knowledge of their IT department. Applications and data are now sitting in the cloud somewhere, without anyone considering the implications of back-up or how this fits into an overall Business Continuity Plan.

Businesses need to understand the impact Cloud Computing will have; both in increasing their flexibility and speed to market as well as the increasing risk through reliance on a new and often little understood supply chain for the delivery of these new applications.

M7 will be supporting IBM on Stand 5 at the event tomorrow. Please visit the stand or join us for the Disaster Recovery presentation in the afternoon.

Along with an informed debate and a range of partner solutions such as Sprint and Glamex on show, we can also offer stand visitors freshly baked Welsh Cakes!

http://www.visioncommunity.co.uk/index.php/2011/are-you-covered

M7 will be presenting with IBM on disaster recovery at the forthcoming IT in Housing Event, November 22nd at Olympia.

The theme of the conference is Developing the Productivity of SyteLine through software enhancement and the integration of partner products.

The agenda for the conference can be found:

http://www.sytelineusers.co.uk/docs/oct11conference/agenda_oct11.pdf

Companies presenting include Herman Miller and Centrax. There is also an update on Infor 10.

It is 4 years since the formation of the user group and this months conference wlecomes a new Chairman, Darren Taylor from PPE. With over 40 UK members, the user group continues to attract companies who are SyteLine users and welcomes both existing and prospective users.

With an active committee, the user group runs a wide range of Special Interest Groups (SIGs) in addition to the 2 conferences which are held in March and October.

IBM is extending their SmartCloud portfolio with two new public cloud services, SmartCloud Enterprise+ and SmartCloud Application Services.
SmartCloud Enterprise+ will provide infrastructure as a service and it will be available, via qualified IBM business partners in the first half of 2012.

SmartCloud Application Services will enable enterprise applications as a cloud service using a set of secure tools. ISVs interested in enabling their solutions for SmartCloud can join the SmartCloud Application Service program.

In addition, IBM is launching SmartCloud Foundation, a family of private cloud solutions to help small to medium-size businesses (SMBs). SmartCloud Entry offers the building blocks to create private clouds on virtualized IBM System x and Power Systems hardware.

To help companies analyze their cloud readiness and identify challenges they need to address before moving forward with their cloud solutions, IBM is also offering a Cloud Assessment tool.

For more information on any of the announcement details or to understand how cloud technologies and services could benefit your business please contact us at M7.

The exhibition, which forms the focal point of the National Housing Federation’s IT in Housing Conference, is now in it’s 11th year, and offers delegates and visitors a one-stop opportunity to explore the latest innovations, products and services from 80 leading ICT suppliers to the housing sector

The M7 team, exhibiting with IBM, will be showing a number of cloud based technology solutions including intelligent pen applications and CCTV solutions that can be remotely controlled using your mobile phone.

There will also be workshops and presentations on how to use cloud and virtualisation technologies to safeguard your business in the event of a disaster.

For more information on M7 participation or to arrange a meeting at the show please contact Julian Norton: Jnorton@m7ms.co.uk

The findings of a new survey of 900 executives released by KPMG International and Forbes Insight show a majority, 81%, believe their organizations have already moved some business activities to the cloud and expect 2012 investment “to skyrocket, with some companies planning to spend more than a fifth of their IT budget on cloud next year,” the study finds.

Eighty-seven percent of executives said that the changes delivered by cloud will be “significant.” This view is consistent among companies of all sizes and whether the respondents work within IT functions or business units.

The survey also finds that most cloud adopters get their feet wet with Software as a Service (SaaS) implementations. Of the respondents, 46% of planned implementations are in a SaaS environment.

The results of this survey demonstrate that the implications for cloud computing reach far beyond the walls of IT departments and into boardrooms. Cloud projects often occur as tactical arrangements, either prompted by IT for greater access to tools and platforms, or by lines of business to acquire services or capabilities as needed, and often off-budget. The time has come, however, where cloud needs to be considered as a strategic investment.

Extract from Forbes article, details at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/joemckendrick/2011/10/04/cloud-computing-set-to-skyrocket-driven-by-economy-survey/

On Tuesday 1st November 2011, M7 will be attending a one day Summit of business leaders hosted by IBM, with the challenge of identifying new ways to engage and influence consumers to achieve sustainable behaviour change.

For more information and the chance to participate follow the link: http://www-05.ibm.com/uk/start-sustainable-future/index.html