EDL Consulting - Novell to introduce cloud computing security service

For some businesses, questions of security have hampered their use of cloud computing, but a service from Novell aims at quelling some of those concerns with a product that it says will help companies meet security and compliance standards.

Novell says it will introduce its cloud computing security service - one it calls an industry first - at the Burton Group Catalyst Conference later this month.

The company indicates that its service, which is currently in limited beta testing, will allow companies doing business in the cloud to treat these systems as a "natural extension of their data center."

One benefit of the security service appears to be the ability to secure a portion of the cloud for a specific period of time and release it when the service is no longer needed.

Dipto Chakravarty, vice president of worldwide engineering at Novell, said the new security service should put an end to one of the top complaints from the enterprise.

"Security concerns are the number one inhibitor to enterprises adopting cloud computing," he said. "Any cloud assets used by an enterprise must be treated as an extension of the data center with the policies and procedures in place to enforce regulatory compliance and prudent business practices."