Talkin’ Cloud at the end of each day pulls out five must-read cloud computing stories from the news cycle for its readers to review in the morning. Today’s column features Catbird, Equinix (EQIX) and ServiceNow (NOW).

Some of these stories have been gathered from Talkin’ Cloud’s article database, while others have been collected from elsewhere. If we missed something, feel free to leave a comment below. We might just add it into the mix.

Here’s today’s list of must-read cloud computing stories.

Top 7 Cloud Services Providers (CSPs) In Georgia. Which cloud services providers (CSPs), aggregators and brokers on the 2014 Talkin’ Cloud 100 call Georgia home? Here’s a closer look at the top Talkin’ Cloud 100 companies that are based out of the Peach State.

Catbird, Mirantis Partner For OpenStack Security. Catbird announced that its software-defined security suite is now fully certified for the Mirantis OpenStack open source cloud computing platform. Additionally, Catbird has joined the Mirantis Partner Program. Chris Tamblyn, Catbird’s senior vice president of business development and product management, told Talkin’ Cloud that his company plans to focus on finding ways to work with OpenStack customers.

Click here for Talkin’ Cloud’s Top 100 CSP list

Equinix Extends Global Data Center Footprint. With cloud computing leading to the deployment of distributed applications on a global basis, the location of data centers is often just as important as how much compute power it can provide. After all, the major bottleneck when it comes to deploying these applications is network latency. To rise to that challenge Equinix, a provider of hosting and network services, has already made $7 billion in IT infrastructure; including $227 million announced today that was used to build additional data center facilities in Secaucus, N.J., Singapore, Melbourne, London and Toronto.

ServiceNow Extends Cloud Application Footprint. There’s no doubt that service applications of all types are a significant IT opportunity when it comes to cloud computing applications. Historically, most of these applications have been custom endeavors that internal IT organizations often cobbled together. Worse yet, because they usually automated some internal function, those applications frequently get deployed on hand-me-down servers versus the latest and greatest IT infrastructure. For those reasons, ServiceNow has gained a significant following over the years both inside and out of the channel. Many internal and IT services firms have standardized their IT management processes on a ServiceNow cloud application that among other things provides a turnkey platform that embodies the best practices as defined by, for example, the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework.

Red Hat Adds Cloud Consultation Service to Portfolio. Red Hat (RHT) entered the cloud consultation and support services market in a major way this week with the launch of its Cloud Innovation Practice, which introduces cloud setup and architecting solutions that go far beyond those provided with the open source giant’s software products.

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