August 10, 2015, saw the dawn of a new era at Google. It announced a huge restructuring of the company. An umbrella holding-company called Alphabet was created to manage a portfolio of separate companies each with its own CEO. Founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin elevated themselves to be the CEO and President of Alphabet with Eric Schmidt as chairman. The board will remain the same as before. For the biggest company Google, the new CEO is Sundar Pichai, 43 years old, who has seen fast rise in the ranks over his 11 year career. The other portfolio companies will be Nest, Fiber, GoogleX, Calico, Google Capital, Sidewalk, etc.
Archivo mensual: agosto 2015
It’s time to break down the regulation barriers to cloud adoption
(c)iStock.com/timy1973
There is no doubt that cloud computing has now achieved mainstream deployment in the UK. Recent research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) found that some 78% of UK organisations have adopting at least one cloud based service, an increase of 15% over previous figures. More telling is that turning to the cloud is now not just the reserve of large blue-chip organisations, with 75% of SMEs also embracing cloud technology.
With cloud technology continually evolving, it has now become a mainstream solution for businesses and an integral part of an organisation’s overall IT strategy. According to Gartner, cloud computing has been highlighted as one of the top strategic technology trends in 2015 that organisations cannot afford to avoid.
Across the wider business landscape, web hosting, email, CRM, data back-up and disaster recovery continue to be the most pervasive cloud services used. However, organisations within heavily regulated industries such as the financial services, healthcare or legal have thus far shied away from cloud technology, unsure of the right strategy and afraid of the potential security risks. The Cloud Security Alliance recently found that although the take up is increasing within financial services, with private cloud the most popular for those testing the waters, security is still their main concern.
Times are changing. A report undertaken by Ovum this month revealed that 54% of IT decision makers globally say they now store sensitive data in the cloud. The cloud has a distinct benefit for smaller institutions in heavily regulated industries. They can take advantage of the skills and better security – that cloud providers such as Cube52 offer – rather than having to invest in their own staff, software and hardware. The money saved can then be used for better education of staff and to ensure that security is regularly tested and fit for purpose.
One of the main regulatory requirements that has historically dissuaded heavily regulated industries to move away from their legacy on-premise solutions is the need for sensitive data (whether it be customer or financial information) to not cross geographical boundaries. The issue of location – data sovereignty – is currently top of mind for many due to the EU Data Protection Directive adopted in 1995 being set to be replaced with new legislation known as The EU General Data Protection Regulation later this year.
What is important to remember, is that whilst the cloud exists in the ether, that ether will ultimately always be located in a physical location so can be managed accordingly. Organisations should choose a vendor that can guarantee the location of its data centre, with proximity being a key factor in this decision. But, whilst cloud location should no longer be a barrier, consideration should be given to whether a public, private or hybrid setup is the right one.
Public clouds are based on shared physical hardware which is owned and operated by third-party providers. The primary benefits of the public cloud are the speed with which you can deploy IT resources, and the fact it is often the cheapest option as costs are spread across a number of users. However, the security of data held within a multi-tenanted public cloud environment is often a cause for concern in heavily regulated industries.
Private cloud is a bespoke infrastructure dedicated purely to your business. The private cloud delivers all the agility, scalability and efficiency benefits of the public cloud, but with greater levels of control and security. This makes it preferable for industries with strict data, regulation and governance obligations. Another key benefit of private cloud is the ability to fully customise the infrastructure components to best suit your specific IT requirements, something that cannot be achieved so easily in the public cloud environment.
The hybrid cloud is a more recent addition and allows the business to combine public cloud with private cloud or dedicated hosting. This way, a business can benefit from the advantages of each within a bespoke solution. For example, a business could use the public cloud for non-sensitive operations, the private cloud for business critical operations and incorporate any existing dedicated resources to achieve a highly flexible, highly agile and highly cost effective solution.
Overall, the rationale for moving to cloud is no different for businesses in heavily regulated industries than those that aren’t. Flexible infrastructure, faster provision and time to market, low capital expenditure and staff skills shortages in their own IT department. Security must remain an important consideration, but with flexible, resilient and secure solutions available there is no reason why all industries can’t embrace an aspect of cloud technology today and reap the benefits.
Symantec to sell IM business Vertias for $8.9bn
Symantec is selling its IM business to an investor consoritum and refocusing on security
Digital security heavyweight Symantec announced this week it would sell its information management business, Veritas, to a group led by The Carlyle Group together with GIC, Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, for a total of $8.3bn.
The move confirms Symantec will continue to focus on security following the announcement last October that the company would split in two, with its IM business and security business going separate ways.
“Since the Board first announced the separation of Veritas, we have been preparing the company to operate independently and evolving our business strategy, while continuing to deliver industry-leading solutions to our customers. We are thrilled to partner with The Carlyle Group and GIC, which have a strong track record of successfully growing businesses and share our dedication to Veritas’ strategy and success,” said John Gannon, Symantec executive vice president and Veritas general manager.
“Veritas will continue to provide next-generation information management solutions to serve the world’s largest and most complex environments, including multiple cloud deployments, managed services and on-premise infrastructure,” Gannon said.
Symantec expects to receive $6.3bn in cash for Veritas, and has authorized a $1.5bn increase to its existing share repurchase program, bringing the total to $2.6 billion, yielding a total of $8.9bn from the sale. Veritas was originally acquired by Symantec for $13.5bn in 2005.
Michael A. Brown, Symantec president and chief executive said: “This transaction strengthens our financial foundation, paving the way for Symantec to grow its security business and increase its lead as the world’s largest cybersecurity company. We believe the agreement with the investors, including The Carlyle Group and GIC, delivers an attractive and certain value for the Veritas business, and is in the best interests of all stakeholders.”
The divestment isn’t terribly surprising giving Symantec’s messaging at the tail end of last year. Upon announcing the company would split Brown said its security and IM businesses each face unique market opportunities and challenges.
“It has become clear that winning in both security and information management requires distinct strategies, focused investments and go-to market innovation,” he said at the time.
Now it seems Symentec is refocusing exclusively on security, and said the sale would give it a much needed cash influx to help it fund both organic and inorganic growth through targeted acquisitions.
Edge Up Sports taps IBM Watson to give fantasy football a cognitive computing boost
Edge Up is using Watson to improve fantasy football decision-making
Fantasy football analytics provider Edge Up Sports is partnering with IBM to deploy a Watson-based service that helps users manage the performance of their teams.
Edge Up, which will launch alongside the upcoming NFL season, bills itself as a one-stop shop of insights for users to supplement their current fantasy platforms, providing analysis of additional information like NFL players’ Twitter activity and coach statistics.
The company has enlisted IBM’s Watson-as-a-Service to bring some of the platform’s cognitive capabilities to bear on some of the more nuanced elements involved in how a team performs, like the emotional preparedness of a team, or how well players sustain hits on the field.
“Edge Up grabs vast amounts of available NFL data, and with the help of Watson, team general managers are able to make informed decisions and adjustments to their fantasy football roster picks,” said Edge Up Sports chief executive Illya Tabakh.
“By leveraging Watson technologies, we’re excited to be able to transform the way fantasy football is played, and provide a platform that is assisting team owners with the necessary analysis and insights that could increase their chances in winning their league.”
The companies said combining more data points and automating the analysis of how teams performance will help reduce the amount of time users need to spend on fantasy football decision-making.
“The purpose of opening up IBM Watson capabilities to our Ecosystem Partners via an open developer platform is to accelerate creativity and entrepreneurial spirit, and Edge Up Sports is a perfect example,” said Lauri Saft, vice president, IBM Watson.
Infor buys GT Nexus to strengthen manufacturing ERP cloud
Infor has acquired GT Nexus to boost its supply chain management capabilities
Infor said this week it plans to acquire supply chain management cloud software vendor for $675m, a move the company expects will strengthen and broaden the capabilities of its ERP software.
GT Nexus’ cloud-based supply chain management software is particularly popular with manufacturer and retailers. The company claims to have over 25,000 customers including the likes of Adidas Group, Caterpillar, Columbia Sportswear, Levi Strauss & Co., Maersk, Pfizer, and UPS.
Infor said the acquisition would strengthen its portfolio as the retail industry continues to shift towards contract-based manufacturing, where much of the activity and commercial production takes place outside the brand owner’s operations (and ERP platform).
The company said GT Nexus and Infor CloudSuite have very similar architectures, making them relateively straightforward to integrate.
“Together, Infor and GT Nexus will provide customers with unprecedented visibility into their supply chains to manage production and monitor goods in transit and at rest,” said Charles Phillips, chief executive of Infor. “In a complex, high velocity supply chain, all partners need to know what was ordered, when it was built, where it is in transit, if the order has changed, and has it cleared customs. Specialization and speed are moving the future of manufacturing into the commerce cloud.”
Sean Feeney, chief executive of GT Nexus said: “Infor is a great home for GT Nexus, and we’re excited to join forces with a company with a strong manufacturing, retail, and supply chain pedigree.”
Case Study: Chicago’s Norwegian American Hospital Picks Parallels RAS
“Parallels RAS is easy to deploy and easy to manage. Our number one benefit is having the ability to provide access to selected applications based on user-group needs.” – Mariusz Mazek, Norwegian American Hospital Featured image courtesy of Norwegian American Hospital. Company Overview Norwegian American Hospital (NAH) is the fourth largest of 59 area hospitals. It […]
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How to Print in QuickBooks in Parallels Desktop
Guest blog by Maria Golubeva, Parallels Support Team Many people use Parallels Desktop in their everyday work to launch their Windows applications on Mac and people who deal with accounting are a big part of this group. One of the most popular software programs used by them in Parallels Desktop is QuickBooks. It’s used for […]
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Fortinet Announcement
Fortinet, a global leader in high-performance cybersecurity solutions, has recently announced improvements to its FortiCloud management system. In addition, it announced a new line of cloud managed wireless access points. This marks yet another investment into the secure wireless networking market. Fortinet’s “FortiAP-S series” wireless LAN (WLAN) APs among the most secure cloud managed Wi-Fi products in the world, so, companies will not need to compromise security while managing their enterprise wireless LAN from the cloud.
John Maddison, vice president of marketing at Fortinet, has stated “Fortinet’s new FortiAP-S series combines the flexibility of cloud management, the latest generation of wireless access point technology and the proven security of FortiGuard, all forming a secure wireless architecture for enterprise access networks. We can now apply mobile-specific security policies and updates such as application control and virus scanning directly to the wireless access points, giving the customer a layer of perimeter defense for BYOD devices.”
The FortiAP-S series APs have a plethora of security features such as intrusion prevention, web filtering, rouge AP detection, antivirus security protection, granular application controls and more, all running directly on the access point. These features are backed by FortiGuard Labs’ threat intelligence. This level of hardware has been created through Fortinet’s extensive expertise.
Scott Fuhriman, vice president of sales and product development at TierPoint, a national provider of managed services, as said “We’ve worked closely with Fortinet to deliver best-in-class, business enabling wireless solutions that are tailored to meet the unique needs of each of our customers.”
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Doing BI in the Cloud Using PowerBI for Office 365 | @CloudExpo #Cloud
Early last year Microsoft announced the general availability (GA) of PowerBI for Office 365. Office is the most used office program and PowerBI brings in great value by providing a self-service means to discover, analyze and visualize data leading to deep insights.
Using PowerBI for Office 365 one can easily deploy a cloud-based BI application for sharing insights; collaborating and accessing reports from practically anywhere.
New to Cloud-Based Performance Testing? By @DanBoutinSOASTA | @CloudExpo #Cloud
OK, go ahead… admit it. You listen to Sirius/XM Radio channels 8 and 9 only. You haven’t noticed who the president is since Bill Clinton left office. If you haven’t had your mid-life crisis, you’re thinking about having it soon. And you may still call your test tool Mercury LoadRunner, refusing to acknowledge HP’s purchase of Mercury since it happened eight years ago.
You want to get with the times, but you can’t. Why? Because you don’t speak the new language. And that language barrier is stopping you from entering the new world order in performance testing: cloud-based performance testing.