CCH Releases a Series of New Software Enhancements

July 17th, 2012 admin No comments

CCH, a Wolters Kluwer business, has released a number of software enhancements today in efforts to help tax and accounting professionals streamline their workflow processes and increase profitability and productivity.

“By listening to our customers and understanding their business needs, we’re able to deliver the focused product enhancements they want to boost efficiency and profitability,” said Sam High, CCH Vice President & General Manager of Accounting, Audit & Workflow. “These new integration and navigation solution upgrades really put the industry’s most advanced workflow tools in the hands of tax, accounting and audit professionals.”

CCH released updates to CCH KnowledgeConnect, ProSystem fx Engagement, ProSystem fx Knowledge Coach and CCH Accounting Research Manager.

Enhancements for each product include:

  • CCH KnowledgeConnect – Integration with SharePoint; formal Q&A Manager with discussion threads; Best Practices creation; Expert Locator; Communities of Practice; business rules
  • ProSystem fx Engagement – Binder portfolio sharing capability; integration with ProSystem fx Portal to send files and link clients; Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word and Excel compatibility; integration with ProSystem fx Workstream to track engagements

CCH Releases a Series of New Software Enhancements

The Latest Entries

July 17th, 2012 admin No comments

JULY 17, 2012, 2:17 a.M. new York local time — Google’s 1 year-old social networking site more popular than Facebook with consumers more satisfied, says new survey.

Who cares if Facebook is bigger?

A survey conducted by Foresee finds that consumers are more satisfied with Google Plus than users with Facebook citing the lowest satisfaction rating of Facebook to date.

According to the survey, 61 on a 100 score was obtained by Facebook, down from its 66 score last year and 64 in 2010. meanwhile, Google Plus or Google+ debuts with a high satisfaction rating of 78 out of 100.

Google Plus was launched last year, and became the first successful social networking service of the search engine giant following Google Buzz and Google Wave flops. To lure customers, Google Plus is a default app in Google’s popular mobile platform, Android.

Meanwhile, Facebook offers its own apps for Android and iPhone, and similar to its native web browser site, customers are not happy with the service. In Google Play Store, Android’s application market place, Facebook scores three and a half star general rating with a popular comment saying that the app “is confusing and worthless.”

Meanwhile, Google’s social network shows strength in mobile. according to Google’s SVP for Engineering, Vic Gundotra, more users access Google Plus using their mobile devices. Last month, the search giant launched a new app for the iPhone, iPad and a slew of Android devices.

The Latest Entries

Hands On: Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365

July 17th, 2012 admin No comments

Microsoft today announced the next generation of its Office suite: Microsoft Office 2013, the desktop version, and Office 365, a subscription-based version of the same product that comes with more frequent updates and tight integration with SkyDrive, Microsoft’s cloud service for document storage.

The suite includes new versions of Microsoft Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint, OneNote, and a few other applications, all of which have been redesigned and, thankfully, look much smarter.

The biggest changes implemented in Office 2013 are that it integrates with SkyDrive and works across a multitude of devices. The new Office works on PCs and tablets running Windows 8, as well as Windows Phones. Microsoft has not yet announced when the software will be available for purchase, nor what it will cost. A Mac version will be available at launch as well, according to company representatives.

PCMag received an early preview copy of Office 365, running on a Samsung Series 7 Slate with the Windows 8 operating system to get a feel for the new apps.

Office 2013 First Impressions First impressions don’t come with second chances, and, luckily for Microsoft, the new Office looks much smarter than its predecessors. All the apps have a more streamlined appearance, particularly because menu bars and other options collapse neatly when you don’t need them. Microsoft Word and PowerPoint in particular, go to much greater lengths to help you focus on your text or slides without dozens of distracting buttons that you weren’t planning to use anyway.

Fewer color gradations and more right angles (rather than beveled edges) in menu bars also contribute to the modernized look. Outlook looks so drastically different, you might mistake it for Web mail.

Setting up the preview copy of Microsoft Office 365 (again, that’s the name of the subscription-based service, while Office 2013 is the locally installed desktop version) requires signing into a Windows Live account, which authenticates the connection between the apps and your SkyDrive account.

SkyDrive is Microsoft’s own cloud storage solution, similar in many ways to Google Docs (which is in the process of being expanded and rebranded as Google Drive). With SkyDrive, you can upload documents to your Web account so that you have access to them from any Internet-connected device. and like Google Docs, SkyDrive has Web versions of some common apps, like Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. So if you’re on a computer that doesn’t have Microsoft Word installed, you can still read and edit your Word documents—provided you’ve saved them to SkyDrive—as well as create new Word docs.

The 2013 version of Microsoft Office integrates much more tightly with SkyDrive. SkyDrive becomes the default location for saving new files, though you always have the opportunity to override the suggestion and save your files where ever you want. The option to save files locally rather than to SkyDrive is the kind of thing that some Windows users probably just assumed would be the case, but it’s quite different than what Apple users have grown to expect. for example, if you use Apple’s office apps, such as Pages or Numbers, to create a new document on an iPad, you never once have the ability to choose where to save the file. Apple automatically saves it to your Apple iCloud account (the nearest equivalent of Microsoft’s SkyDrive). I was pleasantly surprised to be able to save files wherever I wanted on the Samsung Series 7 Slate tablet running Windows 8. Mac users working on a laptop or desktop have better ability to save files locally, even with the next Mac OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion, though integration with iCloud is still tight there.

For each app, you can customize a subtle graphic design that decorates the upper right corner of the screen—I liked “straws” and “tree rings”—to give your apps a hint of personalization.

As with any long-standing, standard-issue business software, Microsoft Office cannot change too radically from one version to the next. People rely on these apps for business, and too much change can throw off their ability to get work done. Remember the wrath longtime Office users unleashed when Microsoft forced The Ribbon on them?  It’s critical that Microsoft roll out new features, functionality, and other changes to Office carefully and strategically. With Office 2013 and Office 365, the additions are few but noteworthy, which was the right balance for Microsoft to strike in this release. Here are a few of my favorite new features.

Continue Reading: Word 2013 and PowerPoint 2013>

Hands On: Microsoft Office 2013 and Office 365

Pageflip Pdf Converter(freeware) download 3.78MB – The main feature is to support you batch convert PDF to word

July 17th, 2012 admin No comments

PageFlip PDF Converter(freeware)Support converting PDF to word for unlimited editing.Support converting PDF to PowerPoint for presentation directly.Support converting PDF to animated Flash with vivid effect.Support converting PDF pages to flipping images for convenient use.three conversion mode to choose (Barch Convert, Hot Directories, Command Line)Enable further setting for all output file with right quality.100% free PageFlip PDF software for PDF conversion.PageFlip PDF Converter is a 100% free tool offered online. the main feature is to support you batch convert PDF to word, PPT, Flash and images. There are three conversion options in PageFlip PDF Converter which enable you to use PDF file smartly. Since PDF is difficult to edit, you can change it to word format for freely editing and modification. Get a PowerPoint from PDF will save you lot of time because you would never need composing if you want to make a presentation file with PDF content. Convert PDF to Flash mode will help you display PDF file with animated effect. you can publish the flash file online to share your PDF file. with stunning flash mode, people will get a whole view of your PDF content. this is because the PDF page will flip one by one in every period of time. the Image mode will help you get pieces of images from PDF page. in this case, you can extract any page of PDF for any use instead of using the whole PDF file all the time. this is very convenient for big size PDF file. How comprehensive and humanizing software it is for everyday using! Doenload this 100% free PageFlip PDF Converter to have a try!

Pageflip Pdf Converter(freeware) download 3.78MB – The main feature is to support you batch convert PDF to word

Symantec Makes Cloud Backup Play Amid Evolving Storage Market

July 17th, 2012 admin No comments

Symantec (NASDAQ:SYMC), the maker of Norton anti-virus software has joined Backupify’s $9 million Series C funding round by investing in the cloud backup company. Backupify is a startup providing backup, search and restore solutions for online services like Google Applications, Salesforce, Facebook and Twitter. the third round of funding included funding from existing investors such as Avalon Ventures, General Catalyst and Lowercase Capital and a new investor Symantec. Symantec’s investment is touted as a strategic investment and described relationship as “new and young.” the financial details of Symantecs investment was not revealed. [1]

Check out our complete analysis of Symantec

Backupify has ~5,000 paying business customers and its Google Apps Backup service is at the core of its offerings. It charges by the seat making it affordable to small business and costs as little as $3/month/seat. Backupify currently hosts around 350 TB of data. the company launches its Salesforce.com backup service out of beta next month and this is likely to be a bigger business opportunity than Google Apps.

Opportunity for Symantec

Storage software is the biggest division of Symantec and this investment into Backupify is most likely to benefit this division of Symantec. Another possible outcome of this strategic investment is that Symantec may offer anti-virus solutions deployed on the cloud to scan the backups when they are uploaded to or downloaded from Backupify’s systems.  The storage market is evolving and currently the trend is towards offering Storage-as-a-Service and this is the space Backupify operates in. Storage Software constitutes ~40% of its current Trefis price estimate.

We have a $22.42 Trefis price estimate for Symantec, which is about ~65% above the current market price.

Understand how a Company’s Products Impact its Stock Price at Trefis

Notes:

Symantec Makes Cloud Backup Play Amid Evolving Storage Market

OpenStack Cloud Platform Gains Momentum, But Rivals Circle

July 17th, 2012 admin No comments

Page 1 of 3 this week marks the second anniversary of the founding of the OpenStack cloud computing platform, and it will be an occasion for celebration in the open-source community. after all, OpenStack is leading a movement in cloud computing, garnering the label of the “Linux of cloud computing,” a reference to the hugely successful open-source operating system.

OpenStack started as an Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) cloud computing project by Rackspace and NASA, and has grown at a rapid pace with more than 150 companies participating in the project. on Wednesday at the OSCON open-source convention in Portland, Ore., an expected 3,000 attendees will salute OpenStack.

[Related: This Week in The Cloud: New CumuLogic Java PaaS, GFI Security For SMBs]

OpenStack is supported by many tech stalwarts, including Dell, HP, IBM, NetApp and Red Hat, all endorsing the OpenStack commitment to open-source development and the use of nonproprietary technologies within cloud stacks. in April, Rackspace turned control of the project over to the OpenStack Foundation, which will continue to develop the platform.

But despite the fanfare surrounding OpenStack, its future isn’t completely assured. Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2), with its automated cloud services model and commonly used APIs (application program interfaces), remains the largest cloud services provider. in addition, other cloud standards have emerged this year to challenge OpenStack. in April, Citrix ended support for OpenStack and instead turned its own cloud platform, CloudStack, over to the Apache Software Foundation, in effect creating a rival open-source cloud service provider.

And if that weren’t enough competition, Eucalyptus, a private cloud stack provider with API compatibility with EC2, in March teamed with Amazon to help its customers transfer workloads between private clouds and Amazon Web Services.

Still, OpenStack proponents say the platform is stronger than ever.

Jonathan Bryce, co-founder of Rackspace Cloud and another member of the OpenStack project policy board, said Rackspace is on a steeper growth curve than Linux at a comparable time, referring to statistics that show OpenStack had 166 companies contributing to OpenStack by the 84th week, while Linux had 180 companies contributing by the 828th week.

“We really see OpenStack as the right way to approach the cloud,” Bryce said. “It creates an open ecosystem.”

NEXT: OpenStack vs. Amazon 1 | 2 | 3 | Next >>

OpenStack Cloud Platform Gains Momentum, But Rivals Circle

The 4 Primary Cloud Deployment Models

July 16th, 2012 admin No comments

The 4 Primary Cloud Deployment Models

With most organizations focusing on leveraging the cloud in order to cut capital expenditure and control operating costs, there is aggressive growth in business for cloud adoption. However, the cloud can bring security risks and challenges for IT Management, which can be more expensive  for the organization to deal with, even considering the cost saving achieved by moving to the cloud. therefore, it is very important for businesses to understand their requirements before opting for various deployment models available on the cloud.

There are primarily four cloud deployment models, which are discussed below, along with scenarios in which a business could opt for each. These models have been recommended by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).

The Private Cloud

This model doesn’t bring much in terms of cost efficiency: it is comparable to buying, building and managing your own infrastructure. Still, it brings in tremendous value from a security point of view. During their initial adaptation to the cloud, many organizations face challenges and have concerns related to data security. These concerns are taken care of by this model, in which hosting is built and maintained for a specific client. the infrastructure required for hosting can be on-premises or at a third-party location.

Security concerns are addressed through secure-access VPN or by the physical location within the client’s firewall system.

Furthermore, for mission-critical applications we need to consider downtime in terms of internet availability, quality and performance. hence, hosting the application with an on-premises private cloud is the suggested approach.

In addition to security reasons, this model is adopted by organizations in cases where data or applications are required to conform to various regulatory standards such as SOX, HIPAA, or SAS 70, which may require data to be managed for privacy and audits that govern the corporation. for example, for the healthcare and pharmaceutical industries, moving data to the cloud may violate the norms. Similarly, different countries have different laws and regulations for managing and handling data, which can impede the business if cloud is under different jurisdiction.

Several SaaS applications, such as SugarCRM, provide options to their clients to maintain their data on their own premises to ensure data privacyis maintained according to the requirements of the particular business. Amazon also provides the option of a virtual private cloud.

The Public Cloud

The public cloud deployment model represents true cloud hosting. In this deployment model, services and infrastructure are provided to various clients. Google is an example of a public cloud. this service can be provided by a vendor free of charge or on the basis of a pay-per-user license policy.

This model is best suited for business requirements wherein it is required to manage load spikes, host SaaS applications, utilize interim infrastructure for developing and testing applications, and manage applications which are consumed by many users that would otherwise require large investment in infrastructure from businesses.

This model helps to reduce capital expenditure and bring down operational IT costs.

The Hybrid Cloud

This deployment model helps businesses to take advantage of secured applications and data hosting on a private cloud, while still enjoying cost benefits by keeping shared data and applications on the public cloud. this model is also used for handling cloud bursting, which refers to a scenario where the existing private cloud infrastructure is not able to handle load spikes and requires a fallback option to support the load. hence, the cloud migrates workloads between public and private hosting without any inconvenience to the users.

Many PaaS deployments expose their APIs, which can be further integrated with internal applications or applications hosted on a private cloud, while still maintaining the security aspects. Microsoft Azure and Force.com are two examples of this model.

The Community Cloud

In the community deployment model, the cloud infrastructure is shared by several organizations with the same policy and compliance considerations. this helps to further reduce costs as compared to a private cloud, as it is shared by larger group.

Various state-level government departments requiring access to the same data relating to the local population or information related to infrastructure, such as hospitals, roads, electrical stations, etc., can utilize a community cloud to manage applications and data.

Cloud computing is not a “silver–bullet” technology; hence, investment in any deployment model should be made based on business requirements, the criticality of the application and the level of support required.

The 4 Primary Cloud Deployment Models

Free Offer from Halfpricesoft.com Opens Check Writing Software to Daycare Providers

July 16th, 2012 admin No comments

Louisville, KY — (SBWIRE) — 07/16/2012 — Small business accounting software provider, Halfpricesoft.com (http://www.halfpricesoft.com), announces the new version of ezCheckPrinting software, which allows users to print unlimited personalized checks on the blank check stock. This new feature eliminates the need to purchase expensive pre-printed checks and speeds up check writing and bill paying. and the best of all, Halfpricesoft.com also announces that daycare providers can get this new improved check writing software or blank check stock for free when they check out through TrialPay offer from halfpricesoft.com site. “In a down economy, companies need to streamline and increase efficiency, so they can be more productive with every minute and every dollar,” said Halfpricesoft.com founder Dr. Ge. “ezCheckPrinting lets managers and business owners spend as little time as possible on check management, so they can focus on the income-earning aspects of their business.”With ezCheckPrinting check writer, writing a check is really easy! All user have to do is to enter the date, payee’s name and amount payable to the payee. This check writer will automatically convert numbers to words. User can write and print a check with just a few clicks. EzCheckPrinting also allows users to print the personalized checks with logo and signature images in house on the blank check stock.Current customers can download this new version for free. new customers can download the free trial version of ezCheckPrinting, online at http://www.halfpricesoft.com/check_printing_software_download.asp and sample all of the software’s features at no charge.the main features include:- Add a company logo and other customizable design features for a professional, corporate look to company checks- Easy to use and learn, even for people who don’t have an accounting or IT background- No limit to the number of accounts that can be used- Write an unlimited number of checks – Prints MICR characters accepted by most banks (for use with laser printers) — no need to order expensive checks pre-printed with bank information- Use blank check stock or pre-printed checks in check-on-top, check-in-middle, or check-on-bottom formats- Include signature image on checks to save time signing checks- Customizable report features that are easy to use- Save time by printing multiple checks with one click- Export and import of check data for use with ezTimeSheet, Excel file, QuickBooks, Microsoft Money, and other accounting software. Priced from $39 (FREE through online special offers), ezCheckPrinting is affordable for any business. There is no frustrating learning curve, and checks can be printed as soon as a business owner installs the check printing application. One of the main goals of ezCheckPrinting software designers is to make sure that the product is easy to use – even for people who may not have much experience. Customers can make sure the check software is right for their company without obligation before purchasing. To start the free test drive, please visit http://www.halfpricesoft.com/product_ezCheck.aspAbout halfpricesoft.comHalfpricesoft.com is a leading provider of innovative 1099, W2 and Payroll Software solutions for accountants and small to medium size businesses. and its popular business and personal Check printing software can save user both time and money.

Free Offer from Halfpricesoft.com Opens Check Writing Software to Daycare Providers

iPad for musicians

July 16th, 2012 admin No comments

Musicians love the iPad. not for playing tunes or watching music videos as most users do, but for composing with musical notation or guitar tablature, multi-track recording, and perhaps coolest of all, remote-controlling recording software or DJ gear. the best part is, while the iPad isn’t cheap, the incredibly low price of its apps compared to PC or Mac software puts far more power in the hands of the average cash-challenged musician than ever before. If you’re a musician with an iPad, you’ll want to check out these apps and accessories.

Notion’s onscreen notation is appealing, and you can enter notes via a virtual piano and guitar.

Apologies to the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra, MTT, and PBS for that pun, but what sold yours truly (an inveterate PC user) on the iPad was the existence of not one, but two great musical notation apps: Notion and Symphony Pro. the latter is more mature, makes entering notes a bit easier, and has the basic appearance and workflow of the PC/Mac programs Finale or Sibelius. It also includes more instruments.

Notion formats music onscreen more organically and allows you to enter and see music on guitar and piano grids. Unlike Symphony Pro, however, you can’t enter notes directly onto the score; you must use the in-app piano or guitar. Notion’s selection of included instruments is basic, but they sound excellent (they were recorded by the London Symphony Orchestra). You’ll have to make in-app purchases for some of the less-used instruments such as jazz guitar and non-mainstream percussion.

Guitar Pro is a handy tablature and practice tool for, you guessed it, guitarists.

Both Symphony Pro and Notion have their strengths (and a couple of bugs), but at only $15 each you can buy both and transfer compositions back and forth as Music XML files attached to emails. You’re still better off with a full PC or Mac for final arrangements and tweaking, but the programs are surprisingly facile for quick compositions on the road.

Guitar Pro is similar to Symphony Pro and Notion in that it displays notation, but specializes in guitar tablature (a kind of easier notation specific to guitar and bass) and practice features for guitarists. There’s no editing of scores as with the PC/Mac version, but is still a great app for guitarists to have around.

Anyone who’s ever recorded music alone knows that by far the biggest hassle is manipulating the recording equipment and/or software. You’re tethered to the recording gear or computer and constantly leaning over to grab the mouse or press keys. It’s annoying, and worst of all, it interrupts the creative flow.

TouchOSC’s interface is impressively Tron-like. User templates let it control virtually any piece of MIDI or OSC software or hardware.

The iPad is a first class control surface and in conjunction with apps such as eyoControl, Lemur, LiveControl, ProRemote, V-Control Pro, and TouchOSC lets you operate your recording software remotely– wirelessly via an ad hoc network, or using a MIDI interface such as the Line 6 MIDI Mobilizer II or IK Multimedia’s iRig MIDI. Which app you choose depends largely on what software you wish to control. eyoControl and V-Control Pro work with many DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations), ProRemote is slanted towards Avid’s Pro Tools but works with other DAWs, and LiveControl is tailored for Ableton Live. There are more in the App store, and most provide demos.

Lemur (a $50 iPad rendition of a very expensive hardware controller) and the $5 TouchOSC are the most versatile, allowing you to create your own control layouts for virtually anything using editors that run on the PC or Mac. They both serve up eye-catching interfaces as well.

TrakProDJ is a dedicated controller for Traktor.

eyoControl, Lemur, and TouchOSC also provide virtual drum pads and keyboards to enter notes into your recording software. the latter two may also be used to control DJ software such as Traktor Pro and MIXXX. TrakProDJ is a DJ remote control app dedicated to Traktor. For accurate real time device control and note input Wi-Fi may suffer too much latency (lag) so a MIDI interface may be in order.

Though it’s strictly a roll-your-own-controller, MIDI Designer Pro deserves a shout-out. It’s the only app that allows you to create your control templates on the iPad itself. It also has some unique features for interfacing with effects pedal boards, though you can use it to control virtually anything.

Apple’s own GarageBand is a decent little iPad app for sketching musical ideas. once you’re done sketching, you can export the GarageBand file to a Mac.

Music Studio’s multitrack layout is reminiscent of GarageBand.

A better app for musicians is Music Studio. with multi-track recording, virtual instruments, and FX, it’s nearly as easy to use as GarageBand, has a lot more features, and best of all, it lets you export your creations as music XML or MIDI files for further refinement on your computer. If you don’t want to actually record audio but to compose using only virtual software instruments (drums, synths, pianos), there are also great options such as FLStudio Mobile and Akai Pro SynthStation.

Plugging a jury-rigged cable into the iPad’s headphone jack or the integrated mic generally won’t cut it for recording audio. A good interface is required. these run the gamut from the IK Multimedia iRig and other inexpensive devices that use the headphone jack to pricier interfaces such as the Alesis iO Dock that leverage the docking port’s USB connection. There’s no line-level audio support in the iPad as there is in the iPod and iPhone, so those accessories won’t work.

Note: If you have a USB interface that’s USB audio class-compliant, you may be able to use it with the iPad using Apple’s own Camera Connection Kit and its USB port. Search around; some users have done it.

There are tons of other musical uses for the iPad.

Guitar amp: IK Multimedia’s AmpliTube allows you to plug in and shred to your heart’s delight.

Synthesizer/Virtual Instrument: There are literally dozens of software synthesizers, virtual basses, guitars, pianos, etc. available.

Practice companion: several nice metronomes for keeping your beat steady are available. I use the free version of Metronome Touch. I also use Slow Down Music Trainer from Santa Cruz Integration to reduce playback speed and loop passages so I can pick out tricky guitar licks.

Training: Numerous ear and sight training apps are also available. my personal favorites are Rhythm and Rhythm 2 by Ludek Dolejsky which let you test yourself by tapping along with notated rhythms (they’re actually iPod/iPhone apps). There are also tons of sight trainers, ear trainers, and musical games available.

Sheet music: not only are there quite a few programs that interface with online sheet music stores and the like, there are also sheet music display programs that performers can use in lieu of normal sheet music. If you have great eyes, they’re doable, but for myself and many others the iPad’s screen is a tad too small for reading from as far away as a music stand.

Remote Desktop: If the remote software discussed above don’t give you all the control you need over your DAW, you can use one of several remote desktop programs for complete access to your software or PC. 2X is my favorite freebie, but there are others.

I’ve really only scratched the surface of the iPad’s musical universe. the iPad is a great control device and display, offers cheap apps and accessories, and there are hordes of developers working on affordable musical applications. Indeed, half a dozen interesting new apps have shown up since I started this article and I’ve omitted many existing ones.

[Updated 7/16 11:42 a.m. to correct information about GarageBand, which is able to export GarageBand files.]

iPad for musicians

Cloud spending challenging traditional software and hardware sales

July 16th, 2012 admin No comments

Enterprise spending on cloud computing growing at a faster rate than overall IT spending will pose a challenge to legacy hardware and software vendors, Gartner cloud forecaster Ed Anderson believes.

Cloud computing is expected to grow 19% in 2012, becoming a $109 billion industry compared to a $91 billion market last year. by 2016, it’s expected to be a $207 billion industry, according to Anderson’s latest findings. that compares to the 3% growth expected in the overall global IT market. while it’s true that the $109 billion cloud market represents just a 3% chunk of the overall $3.6 trillion spent on IT globally, Anderson says it’s still responsible, in part, for a slowdown in growth for traditional on-premise hardware and software sales.

Software delivery is shifting from a traditional licence sale to install an application on-premise, to a per-user cloud-based software-as-a-services (SaaS) model. Meanwhile, hardware is shifting from on-premise capital expenditures to off-premise operational expenditures.

In the long term, Anderson says, the cloud model will create new IT spending opportunities. Integration, customisation, hybrid cloud and on-premise cloud installations will all grow in significance as cloud adoption continues. “There will be some short-term decline, but in the long term, it will level out,” he says.

In Gartner’s latest quarterly IT spending report, the research firm for the first time broke out cloud computing as a separate forecast category, providing an in-depth analysis of current and future cloud spending trends. The hottest growth in the cloud market in the coming year will be in infrastructure as a service (IaaS), which is expected to grow by 41%. Management and security is the second-hottest cloud growth area, expected to rise 27.2%, with platform as a service (26.6%), SaaS (17.4%) and business process as a service (15%) rounding out the top five. “The cloud market is growing at a pretty rapid clip,” Anderson says. “Cloud services within the broader IT spending market are still small, but the growth rate looks promising.”

Meanwhile, computing hardware sales are expected to rise only 3.4% this year to $420 billion, which compares to 7.4% growth last year. Enterprise software, after increasing 9.8% last year, is expected to reach $281 billion this year, a 4.3% growth clip.

Examples of Anderson’s predictions about cloud’s promise can be seen across the market. some startup e-commerce sites, like Coupa, don’t own any infrastructure and have decided to run their entire company from the Amazon Web Services cloud. other companies are taking a more measured approach to embracing the cloud.

GFI Software, which provides a range of IT service management software products, including infrastructure, security and email services, recently announced a plan to transition all of its software offerings to a cloud-based SaaS delivery model. “We have to do it, it’s the wave of the future,” says CEO Walter Scott. “Customers want simplicity, and the cloud is the simplest way to deliver a software service.” The cloud offers faster deployment for consumers and easier management. in a cloud-based model GFI will be able to automatically install security patches or other updates from a central point and have those distributed to all of the application’s users.

It’s still a transition for the market though, Scott says, and not all customers are ready to fully embrace the cloud. Many European companies are adopting the technology at a slower pace than US counterparts. GFI will continue to offer on-premise installations as well as cloud-based services as the company transitions its dozens of applications to a hosted model.

Cloud spending challenging traditional software and hardware sales