Monthly Archives: October 2015

EverString, Funding, News & Analysis, predictive marketing, Saas

EverString raises $65 million for predictive marketing push

Startup seed fundingPredictive marketing SaaS company EverString has raised $65 million in venture funding for market expansion. The Series B investment round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, which gathered extra financial support from Sequoia Capital and IDG Ventures and brought in new investors including Lakestar.

EverString uses data science, artificial intelligence and predictive analytics in a cloud based system that helps B2B companies identify their best customer prospects. The system intelligently scores new and existing sales prospects and widens the net to find completely new targets. In ‘demand generation’ circles this is called going outside the funnel. EverString’s customers are primarily enterprise and mid-market companies and include Comcast Business, IBM, Hortonworks, Apttus and Zenefits.

It has also unveiled its latest service, EverString Predictive Ad Targeting, which it claims gives ‘demand generators’ more control over the top of their funnel.

While the marketing technology sector has grown significantly in recent years, few companies offer more than just niche, point solutions, said venture capitalist and market watcher Peter Nieh, partner at Lightspeed Venture Partners. “EverString is unique as it offers a comprehensive platform that helps B2B companies find and drive the best customer prospects through the sales funnel,” said Nieh.

Most marketing officers struggle to prioritise their efforts efficiently, according to the Chief Marketing Officer Council which said 67 per cent of CMOs believe this ‘essential’ function is wasted because they can’t manage multiple systems. EverString impressed stakeholders because it bypasses the heavy integration cycles usually associated with combining several new systems and builds on the limitations of old-school demand generation methods.

Predictive marketing works by identifying the ideal audience then applying models of customers to map out the expected prospect-to-customer journey. EverString Audience Selection then allows the sellers to analyse and validate their entire addressable market of prospects, and then proactively target the ideal audience. These predictions are based on the wisdom compiled in a database of 20,000 external signals combined with data from internal CRM and marketing automation systems.

Apple at work, BYOD, config manager, Mac Management, Manage Macs, managing macs, Microsoft SCCM, Parallels Business Solutions, Parallels Mac Management for Microsoft SCCM, System Center

This is the Easiest Way to Manage Your Company’s Macs

In a recent article by Mary Branscombe over at CIO, she discusses the alarming rate at which Macs are emerging in the workspace—and even more alarming, the lack of businesses that are actually managing those Macs. “You almost certainly already have Macs in your business, connecting to your network and downloading key business documents. You just […]

The post This is the Easiest Way to Manage Your Company’s Macs appeared first on Parallels Blog.

News

Bracket Computing Raises $45 Million

Bracket Computing, accompany that strives to deliver enterprise computing driven by business needs instead of hardware limitations, has raised upwards of $45 million in a Series C funding round. The total funding from this round and all previous is estimated to be more than $130 million. There are two new investors: Fidelity Management and Research Company and Goldman Sachs, These two companies are joined by Bracket’s previous investors Allegis Capital, Andreessen Horowitz, ARTIS Ventures, Columbus Nova Technology Partners, Norwest Venture Partners, and Sutter Hill Ventures. Bracket Capital plans to use this new capital to develop the Bracket Computing Cell and finance the company’s global expansion. The Bracket Computing cell allows enterprise applications and data and their associated security, networking, and data management infrastructure to reside in a single software design. This Computing Cell has been formatted to function across a multitude of public cloud providers in addition to the company’s on-premise data center. The result of this formatting will be a consistent virtual enterprise-grade infrastructure.

Tom Gillis, CEO and co-founder of Bracket, has commented, “Bracket is fundamentally redefining enterprise computing. Financial firms need to remain technology leaders, and we’re working with some of the very largest as we define the blueprint for the data center of the future. Our vision is to provide a secure, advanced, virtual infrastructure that spans multiple clouds, both private and public, with one consistent set of capabilities. Having investors of this quality bolsters our efforts to build this ambitious technology.”

Tom-Gillis-Bracket-Computing

Jason Lango, CTO and co-founder of Bracket, has added, ““Imagine if you could encapsulate your most sensitive applications, data, and services and have them run securely across leading hyper scale public clouds and your private cloud, all the while ensuring consistent security controls and data management capabilities. This is what a Bracket Computing Cell allows. It enables an enterprise without boundaries, without sacrificing security and control.” Within the Computing Cell there is encryption technology that enhances security by creating a secure fabric that extends the user’s trust across multiple hyper scale clouds that it doesn’t necessarily control. Such an approach allows the user to span multiple public clouds while still maintaining a high level of security.

The post Bracket Computing Raises $45 Million appeared first on Cloud News Daily.

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Five PHP APM Tips and Tricks | @DevOpsSummit #DevOps #Microservices

This article series has covered a lot of ground: it presented an overview of application performance management (APM), it identified the challenges in implementing an APM strategy, it proposed a top-5 list of important metrics to measure to assess the health of an enterprise PHP application, and it presented AppDynamics’ approach to building an APM solution. In this final installment this article provides some tips-and-tricks to help you implement an optimal APM strategy. Specifically, this article addresses the following topics:

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The speed of cloud adoption is accelerating – faster than industry expectations

(c)iStock.com/draco77

I recently read with interest the latest research from the Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) which shows the overall cloud adoption rate in the UK now stands at 84%, with almost four in five (78%) of cloud users having adopted two or more cloud services.  It might surprise you to know that this statistic has shifted from 48% in 2010 to 84% in 2015.

The conclusion is that cloud is certainly helping organisations meet their business objectives, with a significant proportion of cloud adopters managing to reduce their capital expenditure, improve the reliability of their IT and reduce the risk of data loss.

What’s even more telling and thought provoking than the overall cloud adoption rate, however, is that the speed of cloud adoption is also increasing at a much faster rate than many in the hi-tech industry anticipated.  That the migration to cloud would be vast and all-encompassing has long been accepted as inevitable, but the pace of this adoption has still been a bit of an open question.

That question, it seems, has now been answered.

According to a recently published report by Dell’Oro Group, a research group focused on telecommunications, networks, and data centre IT industries, starting in 2015, cloud data centres will emerge as the sole growth driver for server shipments, as unit shipments into enterprise data centres decline. Server unit shipments are expected to continue to grow overall during the forecast period.

“Our recent interviews with end-users, component vendors and system integrators, indicate that Cloud adoption is occurring faster than industry expectations,” said Sameh Boujelbene, Director at Dell’Oro Group. “The substantial increase in cloud uptake stems from both a declining scepticism of the Cloud among enterprise accounts, and the willingness of Cloud vendors to hear their customers’ concerns, mainly related to security and resiliency, and to provide platforms to meet their needs. We currently expect Cloud servers to reach 50 percent of total server shipments by 2017; a year earlier than previously projected,” stated Boujelbene.

Dell’Oro Group’s findings are being corroborated by other research from various organisations across the industry. SteelBrick, a Configure, Price, Quote, (CPQ) solution provider, says that 72% of high tech companies reported an increase in the average volume of sales quotes year-over-year from last year. “Our new barometer for the high-tech economy shows that sales of enterprise technology are growing at a robust clip as cloud and mobile adoption accelerate,” said Godard Abel, CEO of SteelBrick.

So as the speed of cloud adoption quickens, undoubtedly there will continue to be questions and concerns about how to successfully migrate to a cloud platform. There will be questions surrounding possible technology barriers, seeding of data, pricing and operational concerns; concerns around visibility of costs, how best to manage SLAs and so on. 

As more and more organisations contemplate the risks versus benefits of cloud migration, it is important to keep in mind that cloud migrations are not an all-or-nothing proposition. Organisations do not have to go “all in” with cloud migrations. In most cases, it makes sense to move certain services to the cloud while continuing to operate others on-premises, or to move in a staged way.  At iland we have over 20 years of knowledge and experience of hosting the workloads of our customers, seamlessly migrating organisations to the cloud in order to reap the many widely talked about advantages. 

So as adoption of cloud speeds up, you need to make sure that your company doesn’t get left behind. Remember 84% of UK companies are now using cloud and that migration need not be the headache you were anticipating.

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Compliance key to keeping data on-premise – but also reliability at scale

(c)iStock.com/Erik Khalitov

The majority of organisations surveyed by IDG and Globalscape argue compliance, reliability at scale and tracking file movement were key reasons to keep data on-premise.

82% of firms cite confidence in meeting compliance mandates as a benefit of using an on-premises enterprise file transfer solution, with 37% viewing it as critical. Reliability at scale was also seen as critical by 35% of respondents, alongside the ability to track file movement (29%) and the ability to integrate the solution into existing processes to enable automation (22%).

More than half (53%) of respondents see an on-premises managed file transfer solution as either extremely or very valuable, while a further 35% saw it as at least somewhat valuable.

45% value the ability to securely trade sensitive data as critical, compared to 41% who see it as very important. Interestingly the numbers were relatively even when it came to organisations’ interest in cloud-based file transfer solutions. 45% said they did allow users to store or transfer sensitive data in the cloud, compared to 43% who refuse it. The remainder said they plan to implement it over the next 12 months.

Yet less than one third (31%) of organisations say they have extensive measures in place to protect sensitive data transferred or stored in the cloud. The majority (62%) say the data is protected to some extent, while the remaining 7% admit there is no protection.

14% of organisations within highly regulated industries, such as government, finance or retail, are significantly more likely to allow or plan to allow the use of a cloud-based file transfer solution within the next 12 months. 45% of organisations report that they currently allow employees to store or transfer sensitive data in a cloud-based application.

The overall consensus from the survey results was that organisations value the core benefits gained from a managed file transfer solution, but the decision to choose between on-prem, cloud-based or a hybrid solution is largely influenced by business needs.

 “Handling sensitive data while trying to facilitate compliance and maintain security is a top priority for many organisations,” the report notes. “However, managed file transfer solutions are not all of nothing. Every organisation that manages sensitive data faces the same concern; keeping their data safe.

“On-premises deployment models are appealing because of the added confidence in the security and compliance they have because they live in-house, while hybrid solutions can offer the best of both worlds; the flexibility of the cloud, along with the confidence of security and compliance of an on-premises deployment,” the report adds.

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Enterprise Cloud Infrastructure By @FerhatSF | @CloudExpo #Cloud

Organizations in the education, financial services, healthcare, manufacturing and utility industries demand an IT infrastructure that delivers reliability, capacity, performance, security and flexible operations. Increasingly IT organizations in these industries are deploying on-premise cloud services in support of their user communities. Fujitsu M10 together with Oracle Solaris 11.2 presents a great enterprise cloud opportunity for all!

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Network, Network Infrastructure, wireless

6 Tips to Ensure a Successful Wireless Project

Every company needs sound wireless capabilities to operate successfully. But it’s not always as simple as some may think. There’s a lot to consider when designing your wireless infrastructure. The last thing you want is business users not being able to perform their jobs effectively and becoming disgruntled. Below are some tips to avoid common mistakes and to help ensure your wireless infrastructure can support the demanding needs of the business.

 

Tips to Ensure a Successful Wireless Project

 

1. Understand that all Wi-Fi is not created equal

Everyone’s wireless footprint is going to end up slightly different. Don’t let someone try to put you in a predesigned box. With light research you can find the perfect wireless balance to fit your needs whether dense-user offices, high density of low density warehouses or distribution centers, stadiums or amphitheaters, or outdoor areas, etc.

 

2. Pre-design is critical to stay within your budget and not throw money away

The biggest mistake that can be made is not having a clear design before any hardware is purchased. You don’t want to overdesign and overspend, or under design and spend poorly at the last second in an attempt to correct a project. Often the cause for under design is attention to coverage OR capacity and not both. For example, warehouses are likely to be using handhelds to transmit over clear text, so the focus can be on coverage and security. Offices often have many different types of users and workloads shift throughout the day so special attention should be taken to identify density and capacity usage areas such as conference rooms and collaborative workspaces. Stadiums have their own special configuration policy that controls the air and allows users better wireless and cellular connectivity. It is critical to consider the minimum needs and requirements of each specific environment and balance the design to meet your users’ needs. Licensing is another great example when planning for design, traffic, and budget in the same conversation. Controller licensing determines failover path and cost of licenses overall.

 

3. Know your users’ expectations and your management team’s expectations both now and 3-5 years from now

Having to make changes to a project can lead to overspending on implementation costs, project drag out, poor rollout, poor user experience, and expensive add-on situations. By fleshing out all of the expectations and defined them in advance, you can design to meet and exceed the needs of the users, enabling IT to focus on supporting the business and not on supporting the technology. Establish a list of needs and wants first. Much like buying a house, once you’re in the discovery phase and comparing brands or features, it will be quick and easy to step through what you were looking for in the first place.

 

Would you like to read the rest of Dan’s tips? Download his whitepaper, 6 Tips to Ensure a Successful Wireless Project!

 

 

By Dan Allen, Architect

Featured, Network, Network Infrastructure, wireless

6 Tips to Ensure a Successful Wireless Project

Every company needs sound wireless capabilities to operate successfully. But it’s not always as simple as some may think. There’s a lot to consider when designing your wireless infrastructure. The last thing you want is business users not being able to perform their jobs effectively and becoming disgruntled. Below are some tips to avoid common mistakes and to help ensure your wireless infrastructure can support the demanding needs of the business.

 

Tips to Ensure a Successful Wireless Project

 

1. Understand that all Wi-Fi is not created equal

Everyone’s wireless footprint is going to end up slightly different. Don’t let someone try to put you in a predesigned box. With light research you can find the perfect wireless balance to fit your needs whether dense-user offices, high density of low density warehouses or distribution centers, stadiums or amphitheaters, or outdoor areas, etc.

 

2. Pre-design is critical to stay within your budget and not throw money away

The biggest mistake that can be made is not having a clear design before any hardware is purchased. You don’t want to overdesign and overspend, or under design and spend poorly at the last second in an attempt to correct a project. Often the cause for under design is attention to coverage OR capacity and not both. For example, warehouses are likely to be using handhelds to transmit over clear text, so the focus can be on coverage and security. Offices often have many different types of users and workloads shift throughout the day so special attention should be taken to identify density and capacity usage areas such as conference rooms and collaborative workspaces. Stadiums have their own special configuration policy that controls the air and allows users better wireless and cellular connectivity. It is critical to consider the minimum needs and requirements of each specific environment and balance the design to meet your users’ needs. Licensing is another great example when planning for design, traffic, and budget in the same conversation. Controller licensing determines failover path and cost of licenses overall.

 

3. Know your users’ expectations and your management team’s expectations both now and 3-5 years from now

Having to make changes to a project can lead to overspending on implementation costs, project drag out, poor rollout, poor user experience, and expensive add-on situations. By fleshing out all of the expectations and defined them in advance, you can design to meet and exceed the needs of the users, enabling IT to focus on supporting the business and not on supporting the technology. Establish a list of needs and wants first. Much like buying a house, once you’re in the discovery phase and comparing brands or features, it will be quick and easy to step through what you were looking for in the first place.

 

Would you like to read the rest of Dan’s tips? Download his whitepaper, 6 Tips to Ensure a Successful Wireless Project!

 

 

By Dan Allen, Architect