October 02, 2013

Enterprise architecture: The key to cybersecurity
A fundamental axiom of security is that we can never drive risk to zero. In other words, perfect security is infinitely expensive. We must therefore understand our tolerance for risk and our budget for addressing security, and ensure these two factors are in balance across the organization. Fundamentally, it is essential to build threats into your business model, and do so consistently.


Introducing SQL Server 2014's New Clustered Columnstore Indexes
Just like a normal clustered index, a clustered columnstore index defines how the data is physically stored on the disc. A columnstore backed table is initially organized into segments known as row groups. Each rowgroup holds from 102,400 to 1,048,576 rows. Once a rowgroup is identified it is broken up into column segments, which are then compressed and inserted into the actual columnstore.


Future Technologies
Dr. William Lafontaine shared aspects of the company’s Global Technology Outlook 2013, naming the top trends that the company is keeping top of mind, starting with a confluence of social, mobile analytics and cloud. According to Lafontaine and his colleagues, businesses must prepare for not “mobile also” but “mobile first.” In fact, there will be companies that will exist in a mobile-only environment.


Seagate, TDK show off HAMR to jam more data into hard drives
HAMR (heat-assisted magnetic recording) uses heat delivered by a laser to help write data onto the surface of HDDs (hard disk drives). This allows drives to write bits of data closer together so more information can be stored in a given amount of space on a disk platter. At this week's huge electronics show in Tokyo, in partner TDK's booth, Seagate will demonstrate HAMR on a 2.5-inch, 10,000-rpm HDD designed for enterprise blade servers.


Healthcare orgs turn to AWS as a HIPAA cloud provider
Amazon Web Services (AWS) has been marketed as a good fit for HIPPA cloud workloads over the last year, but it wasn't until June that it began signing BAAs for select organizations, according to Glenn Grant, CEO of G2 Technology Group Inc., an AWS advanced partner based in Boston. There are some design requirements for customers who want to be HIPAA-compliant while using AWS; IT pros at healthcare organizations say they are required to use dedicated instances


Bank of the West's CIO Is on a Quest for Real-Time Analytics
The bank does have real-time data for all normal banking transactions; brokerage transactions are logged in near real time. "Everything has a slight sub-second lag time," Garen observes. For the small business segment, that real-time, cross-channel data is not fully available yet. Regulation has been a big driver for many of Garen's analytics projects. But she sees this as, at least in part, a good thing. "It's one of these mixed blessings," she says. "Because we're part of a holding company here in the U.S., there are regulatory requirements that require us to do massive investment in CCAR."


Does a lack of diversity among business leaders hinder innovation?
When senior leaders have both inherent and acquired diversity ("two-dimensional" diversity), the entire chain of command tends to be more effective, we find, at both eliciting innovative ideas and securing the support and funding to develop and implement them. The top sets the tone: at companies where executives have two-dimensional diversity, leaders at all levels are 74% more likely to exhibit the inclusive behaviours that foster a speak-up culture, unlocking innovation.


FPC gives banks a year to create cyber attack plan
The FPC stressed that it wants the issue addressed by directors at the very top of the banks, rather then left to IT departments. “It was important that boards of financial firms and infrastructure providers recognised their responsibility for responding to those threats, which required a combination of continuous vigilance and investment to strengthen operational resilience,” the minutes said. Underlining the scale of concern, it stressed that the message was “a priority” and that banks would need to be able to “adapt to evolving threats”.


Gartner tells IT shops that it's 'game over' for BlackBerry
Many large companies, including some U.S. government agencies, have already replaced BlackBerry devices with Apple iPhones and iPads or Android smartphones. The trend toward BlackBerry smartphone alternatives, underway for some four years, has increased steadily in the last year. Though BlackBerry indicated Friday in its second quarter results an uptick of organizations installing or testing the latest BES 10 servers, analysts have noted a large number of organizations are also abandoning earlier versions of BlackBerry management software.


"What if the data tells you something you don't like?" Three potential big data pitfalls
As Rohit Killam, CTO at Masan Group points out: "The real bottleneck is conceptualising a value-driven big data programme with [the] right stakeholders," while Duncan James, infrastructure manager at Clarion Solicitors notes: "Understanding what the business requires is the hardest part, especially if the business can't articulate what it wants in the first place." In many organisations, whenever you want to do any project there has to be a business case before there can be any budget, says Frank Buytendijk, research vice president at Gartner.



Quote for the day:

"Success is determined by those whom prove the impossible, possible." -- James W. Pence

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