By Robert Daigneault, Fiberlink.

The cloud can be a confusing place for most people, even those in IT.  The “what” is still being defined even as people are starting to use it.   We’ve talking about cloud computing plenty of times on this blog in the past, but let me put my definition out there simply: Cloud computing is the use of servers outside the LAN to host information and resources which can be accessed from anyplace on the Internet.  In our business, we use cloud computing to help businesses better serve and secure their mobile workers (which is pretty much all of them these days) by putting their management and monitoring of their mobile devices in the cloud where their mobile workers live.

Like many people today, I am away from my office on a regular basis, often visiting with customers and industry analysts.   Though travel is by no means a glamorous event these days, it does create the opportunity to discuss the “issues of the day” with senior IT and security management from companies around the world. 

Every year, like Christmas to some, companies push out their new corporate PC image. It’s chock full of updates – security patches, an Office upgrade, updates to other software, perhaps even a totally new project management module.  To keep from overextending people’s joy in December, this event is often times done in the summer time when business is slower.

The other day, I was locked in conversation with a man who has been a long-time customer.  He’s a particularly bright individual and his company is extraordinarily well-respected as an authority on many subjects.  Normally, I look forward to any exchange of ideas with him, but on this occasion, I found him particularly perplexing.

How healthy are your laptops?  It’s not a question people regularly ask themselves.  They assume that as long as the end user isn’t calling the Help Desk, everything is fine.  But this is rarely the case. 

TJ Maxx once had 46 million credit card numbers stolen from them, costing the company millions in fines, payments to customers, and lost reputation.  How did this happen?  Well, there was a hacker involved, of course, but also, the company was out of compliance with the Payment Card Industry’s (PCI) Data Security Standards. 

A With government pumping hundreds of billions into the U.S. economy this year and last in an attempt to save the country from total economic disaster, more and more people are asking where and how that money is being spent.  An article in the Washington Post last week outlines the problem the Obama administration “tech-savvy as it is,” according to Rep. Brad Miller (D-N.C.), will have ensuring transparency.