Colt, Europe’s leading information delivery platform, has highlighted the growing concerns of CIOs about cloud privacy in a new study conducted by Forrester Consulting on behalf of Colt. This study, “Building A Roadmap To Cloud Computing” examines cloud computing adoption across Europe and reveals that CIOs are increasingly concerned about the location and privacy of data.

Deltek, a global provider of enterprise software and information solutions, has released a new research report that provides a five- year forecast of federal government IT spending. Titled "Federal Information Technology Market, 2011-2016", the research report - available now - predicts moderate growth in a limited number of high-priority areas while federal IT spending in aggregate is expected to grow at less than two percent per year over the next five years.

Bill Gates' former strategy assistant Steven VanRoekel succeeds Vivek Kundra as US government's chief information officer. The former strategy assistant to Microsoft boss Bill Gates will take over as CIO of the US government later this year, the New York Times reports.

CoreSite Realty Corporation, a US provider of powerful, network-rich data centres, has announced the company has completed a SSAE 16 Type 2 audit covering eleven operational data centres. SSAE 16 is designed to provide CoreSite data centre customers with a level of assurance of corporate controls and will replace existing SAS 70 Type 1 and Type 2 audit reports.

BrightLine, a licensed CPA firm, conducted the CoreSite SSAE 16 audit over the twelve-month period ending June 30, 2011.

Almost half (47%) of insurance company CIOs are expecting to increase IT spending next year, focusing on investment in customer relationship management and private cloud deployments, according to research. The latest report from analyst firm Ovum shows some insurance CIOs expect budgets to increase by "significant amounts". As a result, two-thirds of insurance CIOs plan to invest in CRM systems in 2012.

"While the CIOs we surveyed had mixed feelings about their IT budgets in 2011, confidence for 2012 is much higher," said Barry Rabkin, Ovum insurance technology principal analyst.

Colocation provider Horizon Data Center Solutions has announced it has completed SSAE 16 Type II audits for its three data centres. The company has two data centres in Dallas and one in Manassas, Virginia. 

"We're continuing our momentum as we grow the business and enhance our IaaS offering for commercial and US Federal Government customers," said David MacGrandle, COO of Horizon. "Our customers trust us with important data and mission critical applications. They need clear confidence in the credibility of our corporate controls."

GE Appliances & Lighting has announced the opening of a revolutionary new data centre at its Louisville, Kentucky, Appliance Park headquarters. GE approached the design, construction and operation of this facility with the intent of reducing data center energy consumption and lowering environmental impact, while providing tremendous computing power to support major product and infrastructure investments now and well into the future.

Investors in DataCenter and cloud markets will meet with operating companies, firms seeking funding, datapark owners and government representatives at the first Finance and Investment forum for datacenters which takes place in Hong Kong 26^th October (www.datacentresasia.com)

Momentum behind the cloud computing movement continues to accelerate as organizations move from limited deployments to more comprehensive cloud solutions, according to new research published today by CompTIA, the non-profit trade association for the information technology industry.

Invest in France Agency (IFA) has announced that it has supported 26 data-centre investment projects in France since 2006. Major multinational companies, including IBM and Equinix, have made investments in the French market worth an estimated €1 billion per year, and the digital economy now accounts for nearly 5% of France’s GDP.

Digital Realty Trust, a leading global wholesale data centre provider, has launched an initiative to adopt the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants' new SOC2 reporting standards. Digital Realty Trust has engaged KPMG to lead the adoption and compliance effort, which is intended to ensure the security of the Company's physical and environmental control systems according to the new standards established by the AICPA.