Cloud

Relating to cloud-based technologies or services, or offsite data storage with access from anywhere.


Kroger Pilots New Smart Grocery Stores

Kroger, a large player in the American grocery chain market, recently launched a trial of smart technology to make shopping easier for consumers and managing stock easier on store employees.  This technology, developed by Microsoft on their Azure cloud platform, utilizes digital displays located on shelves in place of paper price tags as well as the customer's smartphone or a store-supplied device.

AirAsia Embracing the Cloud to Improve Passenger Experience

AirAsia, a Malaysia-based low cost airline, recently revealed insight on how it's utilizing Google Cloud services and a "data-first" attitude to help passenger experiences be "more personal and less friction-filled" across their network.  These insights were shared at the Google Cloud Next '18 conference in London by AirAsia CEO Tony Fernandes.

M-Files Introduces M-Files Online

PaperFree partner M-Files recently announced the next generation of their content management solution - M-Files Online.  M-Files Online is a hybrid cloud solution that builds on the features and usability of their original product, but adds another layer of ease by being a subscription-based product.  This means that there's less software to install and maintain - in fact, M-Files Online is always up to date, automatically.

M-Files Online also includes the following features:

OpenText Announces Release 16 Enhancement Pack 4

PaperFree partner OpenText recently announced OpenText Release 16 Enhancement Pack 4, a update that addresses security, artificial intelligence, and Internet of Things, and cloud capabilities of their core EIM platform.  This newly-available release eases the transition to hybrid or fully managed cloud environments for enterprises and features cloud connectors to fully integrate OpenText solutions at the core of the workflow, even while working seamlessly with other technology solutions.  

Enhancement Pack 4 includes the following features:

Microsoft Adds Ransomware Protections to OneDrive and Outlook

Ransomware is a menace to data security - locking up a user's files and throwing away the key until a ransom is paid - and it's now showing up in the cloud.  Microsoft is working to remedy this with new protections for business and personal OneDrive accounts, including the ability to revert back to previous images of a user's account, up to a month in the past.  This is a measure that helps users easily recover from compromises without the need of professionals, however it does require users to act before that month's time is up.  Helpfully, Microsoft is also installing monitoring utilities

Los Angeles Public Transport Going Digital to Improve Your Commute

Los Angeles is known for its soul-crushing commutes, but strangely enough, its residents largely don't rely on public transportation to ease the crunch.  This is likely because gas prices are still low, and the fact that busses sit in the very same traffic as everyone else.  And, light rail and underground metro systems in the area can't hold a candle to the more accessible systems of other large cities like London and Tokyo.  Given this, it's easy to see why the average Angelino still reaches for the car keys every morning.

Amazon Cloud Services Hacked to Mine Cryptocurrency

Tesla, the manufacturer of popular electric vehicles and an even more popular orbiting Roadster, recently announced that its Amazon Web Services account was hacked and used to mine cryptocurrency.  The company was first informed of the breach by cybersecurity firm RedLock, who found the compromise while simply surveying Tesla's platform for vulnerabilities as part of Tesla's bug bounty program (RedLock was compensated for their find).  The breach was sourced to a simple IT administrative console that didn't have a password, though Tesla has not been able to determine who was behind the atta

Are You Backing Up Your Cloud...to the Cloud?

Cloud services and applications - often touted as stable processing and storage systems - still have a hiccup once in a while.  What's a company to do when their cloud services go belly up?  Funny enough, the answer is to back up your cloud data to other cloud services ahead of time.  While most cloud services offer some degree of guaranteed uptime, many don't guarantee against data loss, and that's on the client to make accommodations for.  In fact, most instances of data loss are caused by human error, simply by accidentally overwriting a field or wiping a dataset.  And, plenty of data is