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• Snowflake Computing opens data warehouse to the masses

  Snowflake Computing announced Tuesday that its cloud-based data warehouse service is available to all users.

• IBM plugs OpenPower servers into SoftLayer cloud

  IBM will roll out a cloud computing service next quarter using OpenPower-based servers, continuing an effort to expand the market for Power processors and challenge Intel in hyperscale data centers.

• NTT buys Germany's biggest datacentre provider for $US840 million

  Japan's NTT Group is buying a majority stake in Germany's biggest provider of datacentre services, the latest sign of convergence in a competitive European market.

• French newspapers go offline, but hosting company rules out DDoS as cause

  High-profile French media websites went offline for a few hours Friday morning, prompting frenzied speculation about "unprecedented" cyberattacks -- but the hosting company behind the sites soon dismissed talk of a massive distributed denial-of-service attack.

• HP's BYOD service protects mobile devices and PCs

  Hewlett-Packard wants to make BYOD easier for small businesses through a new cloud-based service to manage and protect mobile devices and PCs.

• IBM customizes cloud services for the enterprise

  Hoping to jump out in front of providers of generic cloud services, IBM has launched a portfolio of cloud packages, called IBM Cloud Business Solutions, designed to run specific business processes such as asset management and customer care.

• Ellison: Facebook the new model for business applications

  Modern business applications need a social network at their core and should be so easy to use that even a CEO can figure them out.

• Yahoo to reinvent small-business services unit

  Yahoo, in its crusade to reinvent itself, is adding another item to the agenda: revamping its small-business Web hosting unit.

• Microsoft offers Azure discounts in renewed cloud push

  Microsoft will offer discounts on its Azure cloud service next month as part of a cloud computing push that also includes new releases of its Windows Server and Systems Center software.

• Lenovo to open up consumer Cloud service this quarter

  Lenovo will open its Reach consumer Cloud service beta to anyone who wants to sign up later this quarter in North America, which could boost the Chinese company's hardware sales by tying that portfolio to the cloud service.

• CIOs bemoan lock-in and the 'false flexibility' of the Cloud

  Despite the promise of portability from service providers, the reality of the Cloud for big customers is a similar type of lock-in as they experience with on-premise apps vendors such as Oracle and SAP, two CIOs said Tuesday.

• Possibly related DDoS attacks cause DNS hosting outages

  Distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks that could be related have in the past few days slammed the DNS servers of at least three providers of domain name management and DNS hosting services.

• Microsoft boosts Japan Azure offering, adds data centers in two regions

  Microsoft will boost its Azure cloud offering in Japan, adding two domestic data centers to speed response times and improve reliability in the face of natural disasters.

• Cloud indexing software extends its reach to Box

  SearchYourCloud, which provides a single search interface to find documents stored on a desktop or several cloud-based services, expanded on Tuesday to include Box.

• Microsoft promises Surface Pro in European stores next quarter

  Microsoft's Surface Pro tablet will go on sale in Europe in the second quarter priced somewhere around €899, while a local telco is now reselling the latest editions of its Office 365 hosted productivity suite, the company announced ahead of the Cebit trade show on Monday.