Ubuntu and Dell have come up with a scheme to make it easier for Amazon EC2 customers to shift workloads to and from the cloud -- by shipping Dell servers preloaded with Ubuntu Enterprise Cloud software, or UEC.

By Lydia Leoung

I’ve now seen a number of press reports and some related writing, about the Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastrucure as a Service and Web Hosting, that I feel mischaracterize statements made on the MQ in ways that they were certainly not intended to be taken, and in some cases, mischaracterize the nature of a Magic Quadrant itself. I feel compelled to try to attempt to make some things explicitly clear. Specifically:

Now that the Magic Quadrant for Cloud Infrastructure as a Service and Web Hosting, 2010 has been published, we’re going to be getting started on the mid-year update almost immediately (in February). The mid-year version will be cloud-only, specifically the self-provisioned “virtual data center” segment of the market. Since I have been deluged with questions about what it takes to be included (and there’s been some interesting fud on Quora), I thought I’d explain in public.

Millions of Skype users have been unable to make voice or video calls over the VoIP service since Wednesday.

Department of Veterans Affairs staff have been using Google and Yahoo tools without the agency's knowledge, raising privacy, security concerns.

Rackspace has bought cloud management Cloudkick

Oracle rolled out Cloud Office, an effort to grab a piece of the online productivity suite pie. If successful, Oracle’s Cloud Office could compete with Google and Microsoft among others. Oracle also launched Open Office 3.3.

The computer upgrade cycle could slow significantly as Chrome OS netbooks proliferate, at least in the lower end of the market.

Redmond slams rival's e-mail offering after GSA rejects Outlook in favor of Google's cloud-based service.

The first major federal agency to move its email to the cloud agency-wide offers the latest evidence of the emerging cloud email market.