You may be asking yourself, “What is cloud computing and what does it mean to me?” Cloud computing provides the method to which endusers can access computing infrastructure, applications, and even computing power on an as-needed basis over a network, such as the internet. Based on this definition, cloud computing can present tremendous opportunities to both service providers and endusers.

And it is evolving. We can’t say that we know everything about it or what it is capable of. But what Cloud Strategy Magazine aims to do is to keep you informed the best way we know how: by providing timely information from industry leaders and this issue leads the way: Tom Hobika of Earthlink provides a practical guide to IaaS in our cover story; Sushil Pramanick of The Big Data Institute writes about big data analytics and cloud computing; Jim Shanahan of ABB writes about managing cloud enterprises with data center automation; Phil Tee of Moogsoft cautions on preparing IT for the cloud; Chris Poelker of FalconStor Software provides an overview of cloud data storage; and Tim Hannibal of VaultLogic writes about cloud backup for small to medium-sized businesses. All in all, great content in a great inaugural issue.

And we are doing this from the ground up. As a brand new magazine, Cloud Strategy is aiming to build its audience. The magazine will be published four times a year, mainly as a digital edition, but we will appear in print at a couple of conferences throughout the year, such as Cloud Computing East being held May 13-14 in Washington.

Our next issue is scheduled for June 2014. Please email me at fritzc@bnpmedia.com for information on submitting your own article on a segment of the cloud universe. In addition, we will be launching our companion website at www.cloudstrategymag.com by the end of April 2014 and we are looking for content for the site as well. Please contact me at the above email address for more information.