Cloud Computing is a significant part of the overall market for information technology and services and is now one of the fastest growing segments of the market with worldwide revenues expected to be as high as $148 billion US dollars by 2014 according to a recent report from Gartner. Global College Malta has partnered with Wharfedale Technologies in the United States to deliver one of the most innovative Master degrees yet attempted in the ICT field, an MSc Cloud Technology with Business Management giving a new type of graduate comfortable with the specific nuances of cloud computing. A number of scholarship options are available for the course.
Dr Ashok Srivastava, Registrar at Global College Malta says that MSc Cloud Technology with Business Management "is a unique programme of its kind and it provides critical inputs in Cloud Technology along with strategy and enterprising perspective so as to equip the high tech Cloud Technology experts with sound environment scanning ability and thought leadership in order to take appropriate business decisions and to set up their own business operations in this field."
Global College Malta's new Cloud Computing course is intended for students who have a business or computing-related undergraduate degree and who wish to pursue a specific pathway in cloud computing and commerce. Participants on this programme will develop knowledge and expertise in the principles, technologies, services, applications, challenges and benefits of cloud computing. It is delivered using resources and teaching staff from Wharfdale Technologies in the United States, a technology consulting firm specializing in SAP infrastructure integration and private/public/hybrid Cloud solutions for small and medium level enterprises.
Through the virtual approach of cloud computing, software can be operated significantly faster, in a more performance-oriented way and more in line with demand than is possible in a hardware environment based on fixed allocation. This reduces hardware and software acquisition costs as well as lowers implementation expenses as a result of the less-intensive planning and design requirements. On the basis of Wharfdale's experience, applications can be adapted rapidly to changing business requirements, and is also ideal if a company wants to test a system or add additional functions at short notice. In short, higher performance at lower capital cost.
Cloud computing allows a considerable reduction in the size of computer systems in use. The flexible assignment of software helps ensure considerably improved utilization of the hardware available. This helps conserve resources, while lower power and cooling requirements also reduce emissions. Wharfdale expects a marked reduction in carbon dioxide output and states categorically that: "Cloud computing is a major step towards green IT."
Global College Malta's MSc Cloud Technology with Business Management is a busy and intensive programme which runs for 12 months from January 2014. This course also covers professional certifications from the ICT industry directly, including NetApp or VMware amongst others, and is one of the key features of this new MSc Cloud Computing programme. NetApp is a leading company in the data-storage devices industry, employing more than 12,000 employees in over 150 offices around the world. NetApp’s products and solutions are currently powering 96% of 'Fortune 100' companies, VMware is a top global software company that provides cloud and virtualization software and services. In addition, VMware software provides a completely virtualized set of hardware to the guest operating system central to cloud computing technology.
Mahesh Reddy, Chief Technology Officer, Wharfdale, is one of the Faculty for this programme and will be spending time in Malta with the students enrolled in the MSc Cloud Technology.
Mr. Reddy maintains that, “Moving to the cloud is the next big thing which the IT world is talking about. There was a time when every business wanted to have the latest infrastructure in place for it to provide the best-in-class IT services. With the progression of time, these industries have started to realize that upgrading or replacing obsolete IT infrastructure is a much more herculean task, than building one from scratch. The only feasible option therefore is "Moving to the Cloud".
The Cloud offers flexibility in terms of Infrastructure (IaaS), Software (SaaS), Platform (Paas) and much more. More than 85% of the Software available in market today cannot adopt to a cloud platform to make maximum use of cloud based infrastructure. A recent Gartner survey projects a global demand of 14 million jobs by the end of 2016 with an expected market value of about $75 billion. With such a huge demand, cloud technicians and cloud savvy entrepreneurs are already much sought after. Wharfedale Technologies strongly believes that, by creating technically skilled professionals and placing them in the market, both the students and Wharfedale as a whole will have a strong hand in promoting the Cloud Technology as well as creating new rooms for R&D to bring up Cloud Computing to a whole new level.
Global College Malta was founded with an aim to educate and train its students to face the current market needs with strong technical and real-world experience. Wharfedale Technologies' views of creating young professionals who are willing to face the challenges of the IT market, also lies in-line with Global College of Malta's views. Considering the infrastructural superiority and strategic global placement of Global College Malta, Wharfedale is sure that the fruits of this collaborative effort can not only bring success to both partners with this programme, but also shape strong technical Managers and Entrepreneurial heads to lead the evolution of IT into its next big phase – Cloud Computing.”
“Cloud computing as a technology has evolved in the past few years and has become a mainstream option which has the potential to transform enterprise IT environment. Multiple surveys have highlighted the growing adoption of this technology and the shortage of resources skilled in this area. We are excited to partner with Global College Malta which maintains international standards in imparting education and has a diverse student body, to educate students in this technology and make them better prepared to face challenges in future.”
Located at SmartCity, Global College Malta offers a sophisticated state-of the art learning environment and gives students the opportunity to study alongside and share cross-cultural insights with people from diverse countries. In this environment students will be trained to become leaders and managers in a variety of business and IT sectors, for both global and local markets. Global College Malta is the first European College offering university degrees according to British standards at SmartCity. Together, Global College and SmartCity aim to create a dedicated education cluster where international students, institutes in various education fields and hiring companies all operate within a synergetic business environment thereby creating a network of opportunities.
Global College Malta is collaborating and representing highly respected international universities to act as an important education hub. Through Global College Malta’s services, cutting-edge institutions such as Wharfdale Technologies will have the opportunity of teaching and adding to the knowledge-base on the Islands, which is set to become one of the top destinations for students due to its strategic position and its high level of proficiency in English language, becoming a high-value-added education hub at the centre of the Mediterranean with Global College focused on British style education in key sectors such as Oil & Gas, Management and IT (Cloud Computing).