Cloud News: enStratus, CA Technologies, Interxion

Here’s a roundup of some of this week’s headlines from the cloud computing sector:

enStratus releases new version of cloud management solution. enStratus announced the latest release of its cloud management solution that extends its leadership in enterprise cloud management. This new release includes a new configuration management user interface, support for leading configuration management systems and extended on-premises capabilities. New features in the release include tighter integration with open source projects Chef and Puppet, a new configuration management user interface, and drag and drop configuration management. "In comparison to our competitor's proprietary configuration management systems, enStratus has always supported a variety of configuration management options, including both native Chef and Puppet," said James Urquhart, VP of Product Strategy. "With this release, we build upon that support with new capabilities aimed at making it even easier for enterprises to choose which configuration management tools are right for them. This approach, as well as expanded on-premises deployment options, will enable enterprises to better meet their cloud management needs across their private and public clouds."

CA releases new Erwin products.  CA Technologies (CA) announced new CA ERwin products and releases that help a wider audience of stakeholders accurately visualize data assets across the enterprise, from on-premise platforms to the cloud.  The new CA Erwin Data Modeler for SQL Azure manages and integrates Microsoft SQL cloud database environments. CA Erwin Web Portal gives full visibility into the metadata that describes the business context of data assets. CA Erwin Data Modeler r8.2 facilitates collaboration across the enterprise with new concurrent licensing and Active Model template functionality. “IT is under relentless pressure to rapidly deliver new business services across an ever-changing landscape of old and new platforms,” said Mike Crest, general manager, Data Management, CA Technologies.  “By providing essential data management capabilities to the full range of users who need them, CA ERwin empowers IT to meet its escalating challenges with a new level of control, reliability and efficiency.”

Interxion welcomes European Cloud Partnership. Interxion (INXN) announced that it welcomes and supports the invitation from Neelie Kroes at the World Economic Forum in Davos to create a European Cloud Partnership. Accomplished in a collaboration among cloud providers the first phase is to establish common requirements, the second, to build and deliver Proof of Concepts, and the third, to build reference implementations. With cloud hubs in 11 countries and 13 cities, Interxion facilitates the exchange of information between cloud environments. “There is a need for the European industry to start working together proactively and to make it easier for enterprises to benefit from cloud services.  The cloud provides an important opportunity to increase the efficiency of IT resources and lower their cost. Due to the fragmentation of the European market, the transition to cloud-based service and consumption models may be slower in Europe compared to other world economies. We see this initiative from the European Commission as a positive stimulation to the industry to speed up the IT transition process” says Kevin Dean, Chief Marketing Officer, Interxion. Interxion published its Cloud Survey 2011 last year, explaining how  decision-makers and influencers view cloud computing.