Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing

The Cloud Security Alliance has released it's inaugural whitepaper called "Security Guidance for Critical Areas of Focus in Cloud Computing". The whitepaper is being presented today at RSA, outlines key issues and provides advice for both Cloud Computing customers and providers within 15 strategic domains.  It is now available on the Cloud Security Alliance website at www.cloudsecurityalliance.org/guidance.

Qualcomm to pay Broadcom $891 million to settle litigation

Wireless chip supplier Qualcomm Inc agreed to pay smaller rival Broadcom Corp $891 million over four years to settle long-standing and increasingly bitter legal battles over technology patents.

Qualcomm, which has lost several key battles in patent infringement cases with Irvine, California based Broadcom in the last few years, said on Sunday it would make its first payment of $200 million to Broadcom in the current quarter.

On Thursday, Qualcomm had rescheduled its quarterly earnings call at the last minute saying it was in advanced settlement talks with Broadcom, with which it had been fighting since 2005 in a battle spanning three continents.

Charter Equity Research analyst Ed Snyder said it made sense for Qualcomm to end the legal uncertainty even though this was a big payout for Qualcomm, which analysts expect to report quarterly revenue of $2.35 billion on April 27.

"It's clearly costing Qualcomm a lot but it's best for both companies to move on." said Snyder. "It's a win for Broadcom."

The settlement will result in the dismissal of all litigation between the companies, including patent infringement claims Broadcom brought against Qualcomm at the International Trade Commission and a court in Santa Ana, California.

The companies also agreed not to assert patents against each other for their respective chip products and certain other products and services. And Broadcom said it will withdraw its complaints against Qualcomm to the European Commission and the Korea Fair Trade Commission as part of the deal.

The settlement does not necessarily mean that the Korean and European regulators drop their investigations. But Qualcomm general counsel Donald Rosenberg told Reuters in a interview he hoped they would look favorably on the Broadcom deal and on Qualcomm's settlement last year with leading cellphone maker Nokia after their drawn out legal fight.

Telstra launches T-Suite without Salesforce

Aimed at small to medium sized businesses low on cash reserves, T-Suite will offer a range of software-as-a-service (SAAS) products, such as email, customer relationship management, collaboration, financial applications and security products, as well as online storage, for a subscription fee starting from $4 a month.

Telstra has been trialling T-Suite since late last year with select customers but is now ready with the full launch which will see the telco offer nine online applications including Microsoft's Exchange Mail and Sharepoint programs, security products from MessageLabs and McAfee and Workforce Guardian , an industrial relations tool to help manage human resources.

Although SaaS-style software has been around for a while in Australia from outlets such as Salesforce.com, SAP and local operators such as PK Business Advantage, it has yet achieved mass penetration.

But as the global financial crisis continues to wreak havoc on financial markets, the tide for SaaS has started to turn as businesses look to cut capital costs in favour of relying more on outsourced computer and telecommunications services.

Leading the charge in SaaS popularity has been Salesforce.com which was surprisingly absent from Telstra's raft of T-Suite launch partners.

Although Telstra has been in discussions with Salesforce since October last year, but no deal has yet emerged from the talks.

A Telstra spokesperson said there was no plan to include Salesforce products into T-Suite but that discussions were continuing with the company.

Telstra Business group managing director Deena Shiff also said Telstra was in discussions with more than 50 local and multinational software developers who could offer their technology through T-Suite.

Ms Shiff said Telstra was positioning T-Suite as an affordable service for businesses eager to avoid laying down big investments for new hardware and upfront software licensing fees.

"It's something that can help you stay in front without burning your balance sheet ," Ms Shiff said.

"In the current economic climate, those small businesses are looking for ways to improve cash flow and better manage risks and compliance obligations and we believe the T-Suite service provides a cost effective answer at the right time.

"We didn't foresee the global economic crisis and now is a difficult time for all business owners specifically and especially small business. It's become terribly relevant to use tools with no or very low up front costs."

Telstra said it would be engaging in a revenue sharing model with its T-Suite partners