Plenty of drivers to craft a hybrid cloud strategy, but caveats too
Unless an organization's systems of record and systems of engagement are fully on-premises or completely in the cloud -- and few are strictly one or the other at this point -- that organization is operating in an environment that requires a hybrid cloud strategy. Hybrid cloud management -- a balancing act that combines the safety of keeping sensitive data on-premises and taking advantage of scalability and agility -- is becoming increasingly important to IT leaders.
Users face serious threat as hackers take aim at routers, embedded devices
Routers and other embedded devices have not been on attackers' radar until now, at least not on a significantly large scale. That's starting to change and if the attacks observed this year are any indication, it might be happening at a faster pace than manufacturers can react. Because routers can affect all other local devices that access the Internet through them, they are a rich target, said Trey Ford, global security strategist at security firm Rapid7, via email.
Eight (No, Nine!) Problems With Big Data
Is big data really all it’s cracked up to be? There is no doubt that big data is a valuable tool that has already had a critical impact in certain areas. For instance, almost every successful artificial intelligence computer program in the last 20 years, from Google’s search engine to the I.B.M. “Jeopardy!” champion Watson, has involved the substantial crunching of large bodies of data. But precisely because of its newfound popularity and growing use, we need to be levelheaded about what big data can — and can’t — do.
The IT operations side of acquisitions: Look to the cloud for ERP alternatives
The plot thickens when you are talking about disharmony in major systems that engage every level of a company, such as enterprise resources planning (ERP). ERP is a corporate "drive chain" system starting with the planning of product requirements in sales and engineering, which in turn dictate the activities of purchasing and manufacturing, which are then linked back into corporate financial and service functions. When two organizations operate two different ERP systems, achieving a "smooth operational landing" in a merger can quickly turn into a nightmare.
Why Every Data Architect Should Be An Analyst First
Data architects need to walk in the shoes of an analyst. Data architecture is no longer only about the technology you implement, it is about creating solutions for analysts and consumers of data. If you can’t think like an analyst or business user, you can’t know what they need. It is time to get educated on using data vs. educating the business on data technologies. The best way to do this is to experience what it takes to be a data scientist, business or operations intelligence analyst, or customer analyst.
3 Compelling Steps to Align Business Strategy with IT
IT managers do comply with the constantly changing external environment that keeps the organisation on its toes, demanding continuous evolution to adapt to the growing market demands. Besides this, the change should be in sync with the regulatory compliance framework. IT managers agree that technology plays an important role in driving competitive advantage; and that it is the only lever available to the enterprise that helps it scale up its business. But the big question is: ‘How does an enterprise extract the most out of IT? And why is it important to align IT with business?
After HIPAA Omnibus Rule 2013: How to implement continuous compliance
To create a culture of continuous compliance, healthcare organizations need to build comprehensive compliance plans based around any relevant HIPAA obligations, which means getting a grip on documenting compliance controls and figuring out how to maintain that documentation. Outlining each element of the HIPAA Security Rule and documenting specific business practices will hopefully develop a shared understanding within the organization of the processes that enable HIPAA compliance.
The 'always-on' IT culture: Get used to it
Not every IT professional is as accepting as Meadows of the growing demand for around-the-clock accessibility, whether the commitment is as simple as fielding emails on weekends or as extreme as attending an impromptu meeting in the middle of the night. With smartphones and Web access pretty much standard fare among business professionals, people in a broad range of IT positions -- not just on-call roles like help desk technician or network administrator -- are expected to be an email or text message away, even during nontraditional working hours.
Freescale Unveils ARM-Based SoCs for SDN, NFV
The demands these trends are putting on networks create the need for SoCs that are programmable, armed with accelerators and can support such protocols as OpenFlow for SDN, according to Freescale officials. SDN and NFV offer the promise of networks that are more programmable, flexible and automated by putting much of the network intelligence now found in the hardware into software. However, just as important is having hardware that is optimized for these new models, according to Tom Deitrich, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale's Digital Networking group
Distributing Complex Services in Cross-Geolocational IDCs
All distributed systems with data in different areas face challenges in data consistency, availability and partition tolerance, and according to CAP theorem we cannot satisfy all three. We do single write multiple read: we have pre-defined master write nodes, and we make all the write nodes in one SET - we call it the data source SET. Whenever a data source is generated, a sync is triggered in our distribution system (we call it the sync center), which syncs the write operation to all other IDCs in China, and this same operation gets executed in every single SET, too. So we are not syncing data, but duplicating user operations, so the process would be faster.
Quote for the day:
"An overburdened executive is the best executive, because he or she doesn't have the time to meddle" -- Jack Welch
Unless an organization's systems of record and systems of engagement are fully on-premises or completely in the cloud -- and few are strictly one or the other at this point -- that organization is operating in an environment that requires a hybrid cloud strategy. Hybrid cloud management -- a balancing act that combines the safety of keeping sensitive data on-premises and taking advantage of scalability and agility -- is becoming increasingly important to IT leaders.
Users face serious threat as hackers take aim at routers, embedded devices
Routers and other embedded devices have not been on attackers' radar until now, at least not on a significantly large scale. That's starting to change and if the attacks observed this year are any indication, it might be happening at a faster pace than manufacturers can react. Because routers can affect all other local devices that access the Internet through them, they are a rich target, said Trey Ford, global security strategist at security firm Rapid7, via email.
Eight (No, Nine!) Problems With Big Data
Is big data really all it’s cracked up to be? There is no doubt that big data is a valuable tool that has already had a critical impact in certain areas. For instance, almost every successful artificial intelligence computer program in the last 20 years, from Google’s search engine to the I.B.M. “Jeopardy!” champion Watson, has involved the substantial crunching of large bodies of data. But precisely because of its newfound popularity and growing use, we need to be levelheaded about what big data can — and can’t — do.
The IT operations side of acquisitions: Look to the cloud for ERP alternatives
The plot thickens when you are talking about disharmony in major systems that engage every level of a company, such as enterprise resources planning (ERP). ERP is a corporate "drive chain" system starting with the planning of product requirements in sales and engineering, which in turn dictate the activities of purchasing and manufacturing, which are then linked back into corporate financial and service functions. When two organizations operate two different ERP systems, achieving a "smooth operational landing" in a merger can quickly turn into a nightmare.
Why Every Data Architect Should Be An Analyst First
Data architects need to walk in the shoes of an analyst. Data architecture is no longer only about the technology you implement, it is about creating solutions for analysts and consumers of data. If you can’t think like an analyst or business user, you can’t know what they need. It is time to get educated on using data vs. educating the business on data technologies. The best way to do this is to experience what it takes to be a data scientist, business or operations intelligence analyst, or customer analyst.
3 Compelling Steps to Align Business Strategy with IT
IT managers do comply with the constantly changing external environment that keeps the organisation on its toes, demanding continuous evolution to adapt to the growing market demands. Besides this, the change should be in sync with the regulatory compliance framework. IT managers agree that technology plays an important role in driving competitive advantage; and that it is the only lever available to the enterprise that helps it scale up its business. But the big question is: ‘How does an enterprise extract the most out of IT? And why is it important to align IT with business?
After HIPAA Omnibus Rule 2013: How to implement continuous compliance
To create a culture of continuous compliance, healthcare organizations need to build comprehensive compliance plans based around any relevant HIPAA obligations, which means getting a grip on documenting compliance controls and figuring out how to maintain that documentation. Outlining each element of the HIPAA Security Rule and documenting specific business practices will hopefully develop a shared understanding within the organization of the processes that enable HIPAA compliance.
The 'always-on' IT culture: Get used to it
Not every IT professional is as accepting as Meadows of the growing demand for around-the-clock accessibility, whether the commitment is as simple as fielding emails on weekends or as extreme as attending an impromptu meeting in the middle of the night. With smartphones and Web access pretty much standard fare among business professionals, people in a broad range of IT positions -- not just on-call roles like help desk technician or network administrator -- are expected to be an email or text message away, even during nontraditional working hours.
Freescale Unveils ARM-Based SoCs for SDN, NFV
The demands these trends are putting on networks create the need for SoCs that are programmable, armed with accelerators and can support such protocols as OpenFlow for SDN, according to Freescale officials. SDN and NFV offer the promise of networks that are more programmable, flexible and automated by putting much of the network intelligence now found in the hardware into software. However, just as important is having hardware that is optimized for these new models, according to Tom Deitrich, senior vice president and general manager of Freescale's Digital Networking group
Distributing Complex Services in Cross-Geolocational IDCs
All distributed systems with data in different areas face challenges in data consistency, availability and partition tolerance, and according to CAP theorem we cannot satisfy all three. We do single write multiple read: we have pre-defined master write nodes, and we make all the write nodes in one SET - we call it the data source SET. Whenever a data source is generated, a sync is triggered in our distribution system (we call it the sync center), which syncs the write operation to all other IDCs in China, and this same operation gets executed in every single SET, too. So we are not syncing data, but duplicating user operations, so the process would be faster.
Quote for the day:
"An overburdened executive is the best executive, because he or she doesn't have the time to meddle" -- Jack Welch
