All posts by GreenPages Blog

Miscellaneous IT, Tech News, Tech News Recap

Tech News Recap for the Week of 01/29/18

If you had a busy week in the office and need to catch up, here’s our tech news recap of articles you may have missed the week of 01/29/2018!

Why successful DevOps implementation requires a more cultural change. Microsoft’s new update kills off Intel’s Spectre fix. Cisco acquires Skyport Systems to bolster its hybrid cloud positioning. Important security takeaways from applying Spectre and Meltdown patches and more top news this week you may have missed! Remember, to stay up-to-date on the latest tech news throughout the week, follow @GreenPagesIT on Twitter.

Tech News Recap

Help Desk Basics: How Effective Is Your Help Desk, Really?

IT Operations

Microsoft

NVIDIA

  • NVIDIA brings its fastest GPU accelerator to IBM Cloud to boost AI, HPC workloads

VMware

Citrix

Cisco

Cloud

  • Could the cloud save government websites from going dark in the next shutdown?
  • Here’s what happens to private cloud if VMware reverse merges with Dell
  • Is your cloud service provided ready for HIPAA?

Security

  • $530 million cryptocurrency heist may be biggest ever
  • Hidden US military bases revealed by fitness app, shows need for IoT security policy
  • Cisco: This VPN bug has a 10 out of 10 severity rating, so patch it now
  • Ransomware: Now crooks are stealing bitcoin ransom payments intended for rivals
  • 6 important security takeaways from applying Spectre and Meltdown patches

Thanks for checking out our tech news recap!

By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist

Upcoming Webinar:

AWS or Azure? How to Move from Analysis Paralysis Toward a Smart Cloud Choice

Click here to register!

Featured, Help Desk, help hub, IT Management, Managed IT Services

Help Desk Basics: How Effective Is Your Help Desk, Really?

An Effective Help Desk

Before you can determine how effective your help desk is, you need to determine what your help desk does. What would you say your help desk’s most important purpose is?

I’ve had the opportunity to work on many different help desks of many different sizes. I’ve found, almost in every case, help desk technicians are unable to answer the basic question of why they work for the company. Some will say “We fix PCs!” or “We answer phones!”

Those may be good examples of their duties, but they do not directly answer why they have a job.

For internal IT help desks, the answer is simple, but rarely communicated or discussed:

The role of all help desk employees is to reduce employee downtime and maximize employee financial productivity.

If you or your team do not have a clear understanding of your primary goal, you may be working on solving problems that do not impact your core objectives. You will also never be able to truly determine how effective your help desk is.

Many metrics are available to help desk managers and employees, including Average Talk Time, Call Abandon Rates, First Level Resolution, Client Satisfaction Scores, etc. Out of all of your metrics, if “Financial Productivity” is your primary focus, this helps narrow down your key metrics to a smaller number.

I do want to state that all metrics are important to understand and measure, but decisions and directions should be primarily determined based on your key drivers. The # 1 most important metric when identifying effectiveness:

First Call Resolution 

How often does your help desk have the tools, knowledge, and access to resolve reported issues on the FIRST call, without delay or escalation? The only faster way to resolve an issue is by avoiding the issue altogether—a topic we will cover in a future blog post.

Do you agree?  Do you disagree?  I would love to hear from you!

By Steven White, Director of Customer Service, Managed Services

Featured, Miscellaneous IT, Tech News, Tech News Recap

Tech News Recap for the Week of 01/22/18

If you had a busy week in the office and need to catch up, here’s our tech news recap of articles you may have missed the week of 01/22/2017!

VMware recently updated vSphere to 6.5, find out why you should be upgrading. HPE partners with Portworx for easier Kubernetes deployment. Evolving IoT data storage in 2018. Cisco acquires Skyport Systems to bolster its hybrid cloud positioning and more top news this week you may have missed! Remember, to stay up-to-date on the latest tech news throughout the week, follow @GreenPagesIT on Twitter.

Tech News Recap

Fighting Modern Threats with Next-Gen Firewalls with GreenPages’ network expert, Bobby Mazzotti

IT Operations

Microsoft

  • Microsoft shields Azure Stack hybrid cloud users from patent trolls
  • Microsoft unleashes new cloud growth via go-to-market program including customers as partners
  • Windows 10 can now show you all the data it’s sending back to Microsoft

VMware

  • VMware recently updated vSphere to 6.5, find out why you should be upgrading
  • Tips for upgrading to vSphere 6.5 in a large-scale environment
  • VMware adds edge computing support to vSphere through AWS Greengrass integration

HPE 

Cisco

AWS

  • Amazon’s new data-driven convenience store, Amazon Go, uses AI to check you out

Cloud

Security

  • Spectre flaw: Dell and HP pull Intel’s buggy patch, new BIOS update coming
  • US economy could lose $15B if one major cloud provider went down for a few days
  • Cyber attacks on the cloud could cost retail $3.4B
  • OnePlus.net suffered script injection; 40K customers’ payment details compromised

Thanks for checking out our tech news recap!

By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist

Upcoming Webinar:

AWS or Azure? How to Move from Analysis Paralysis Toward a Smart Cloud Choice

Click here to register!

Featured, firewall, Networking, Networking & Security, ransomware

Fighting Modern Threats with Next Gen Firewalls

Listen to GreenPages’ network expert, Bobby Mazzotti, discuss how next gen firewalls go beyond basic threat management to deliver advanced intrusion protection capabilities and provide companies with superior visibility and control of their network. By inspecting traffic packets coming in from the host, next gen firewalls provide the extra layer of security necessary to protect businesses from modern threats such as ransomware and backdoor trojans. Check out the video below to learn more:

As a vendor agnostic solutions provider, GreenPages is in a perfect position to help you evaluate and deploy the best tech depending on your unique business goals. Please reach out to us or your account manager to get started.

By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist

Featured, IT Management, Tech News, Tech News Recap

Tech News Recap for the Week of 01/15/17

If you had a busy week in the office and need to catch up, here’s our tech news recap of articles you may have missed the week of 01/15/2017!

Cisco augments IoT platform with software and analytics. Ransomware and DoS attacks will continue to grow in 2018. 10 ways AI will impact the enterprise in 2018. What WANs are and where they’re headed and more top news this week you may have missed! Remember, to stay up-to-date on the latest tech news throughout the week, follow @GreenPagesIT on Twitter.

Tech News Recap

Join GreenPages’ Cloud Experts for a lively, non-biased discussion at our webinar:

AWS or Azure? How to Move from Analysis Paralysis Toward a Smart Cloud Choice

Click here to register!

IT Operations

Microsoft

  • Linux Foundations shares some love back for Microsoft Azure
  • Here’s one way Microsoft’s Amazon Alexa rival could win
  • Learn how to run Linux on Microsoft’s Azure cloud
  • Microsoft’s newest Windows Server test build adds new storage, failover clustering updates

VMware

  • VMware VVOLs adoption now poised to grow after slow start
  • VMware vSphere 6.5 enhancements and why you should upgrade

Cisco

AWS

Citrix

  • Citrix to unify product suite, kill off today’s product names in May

Cloud

Security

Thanks for checking out our tech news recap!

By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist

AWS or Azure? How to Move from Analysis Paralysis Toward a Smart Cloud Choice

Click here to register!

Featured, Virtualization, VMware, vSphere, vSphere 5

vSphere 6.5 Enhancements and Why You Should Upgrade

VMware updated vSphere to version 6.5 a little more than a year ago—and since a lot of customers tend to take a wait-and-see approach on software updates and new releases to ensure they really live up to the hype, it’s safe to say that vSphere 6.5 is stable, dependable, and built on infrastructure to keep up with new IT demands. If you haven’t upgraded yet, here are some reasons why you should consider making the move to vSphere 6.5.

While a changing IT landscape is exciting, it also comes with a new set of challenges such as combatting sophisticated cybersecurity threats. vSphere 6.5 offers comprehensive built-in security for protecting data, infrastructure, and network access more effectively. VM Encryption allows the encryption of a virtual machine, including disk and snapshots. Secure Boot for ESXi ensures that only digitally signed code runs on the hypervisor.

vSphere 6.5 also improved its ease of use. It now offers a more simplified experience for automation and management at scale and by having a universal app platform, the ability to run any app, anywhere has become that much better.

From an HA perspective, VMware’s vCenter High 6.5 has a new native high availability solution that is available exclusively for vCenter Server Appliance. This solution consists of active, passive, and witness nodes that are cloned from the existing vCenter Server instance. The VMware vCenter High Availability (vCenter HA) cluster can be enabled, disabled, or destroyed at any time. There is also a maintenance mode that prevents planned maintenance from causing an unwanted failover. This feature is a major improvement in HA configurations.

With ongoing new system requirements, it’s important to ask how up-to-date your environment is. VMware’s Wave Two technologies such as NSX, vSAN 6.5, VMware Cloud on AWS, or AppDefense, all require vSphere 6.5. If you’re considering any of those products, be sure to check all the system requirements. In addition, review the expanded hardware compatibility list as a hardware refresh may be required as well.

Last, vSphere (5.5.) is going end-of-support in September 2018 so if you’re on vSphere 5.5 and haven’t had a chance to upgrade, now’s a great time to do it. vSphere 6.5 was set as a major release so it has a five-year support cycle and will be supported until November 2021.

Upgrading your vSphere is not a simple process however; it’s not a point and click and call it a day procedure. It involves scoping out your environment, performing a health check, and applying the right set of rules to correctly and effectively ensure no loss of downtime while also maximizing the full potential of the software.

If you’re looking to perform an upgrade, GreenPages offers professional service engagements where we scope out your environment to ensure your upgrade is done correctly. You can certainly change the oil in your car, but why waste a good Saturday or worry if you’ve done it right when you can bring it to a mechanic who does hundreds of oil changes a day. Same with your VMware upgrade. Trust that your advisor will complete the upgrade correctly giving you peace of mind that your systems will see positive results.

For more information on how GreenPages can assist with your vSphere upgrade, please contact your Account Executive or sales@greenpages.com

By Rob O’Shaughnessy, Director of Software Sales and Renewals

Featured, Miscellaneous IT, Tech News, Tech News Recap

Tech New Recap for the Week of 01/08/17

If you had a busy week in the office and need to catch up, here’s our tech news recap of articles you may have missed the week of 01/08/2017!

The future of data technology. How network verification differs from monitoring, and what it’s good for. Windows 10 Fall Creators Update is ready for business. How Cisco’s newest security tool can detect malware inside of encrypted traffic. Intel CEO: 90% of vulnerabilities will be fixed in coming days and more top news this week you may have missed! Remember, to stay up-to-date on the latest tech news throughout the week, follow @GreenPagesIT on Twitter.

Tech News Recap

Join GreenPages’ Cloud Experts on January 17th for a lively, non-biased discussion at our webinar:

AWS or Azure? How to Move from Analysis Paralysis Toward a Smart Cloud Choice

Click here to register!

IT Operations

  • Big data: Amazon, Google, Microsoft, the cloud… and other 2018 trends
  • 5 big data focal points for CDOs and CIOs in 2018
  • CIO: Adaptability essential to modernize IT structure
  • Hyperconverged secondary storage market heats up
  • How network verification differs from monitoring, and what it’s good for
  • How does SD-WAN manage real-time network traffic performance?
  • Why your company should stop neglecting data storage: 6 tips for getting organized
  • When disaster strikes too close to home, IT needs data protection
  • Future of data technology: Transformation trends for 2018

Microsoft

VMware

  • Meltdown and Spectre: VMware products

Cisco

  • How Cisco’s newest security tool can detect malware in encrypted traffic

Cloud

Security

Thanks for checking out our tech news recap!

By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist

AWS or Azure? How to Move from Analysis Paralysis Toward a Smart Cloud Choice

Click here to register!

Featured, Miscellaneous IT, Tech News, Tech News Recap

Tech News Recap for the Week of 01/01/18

Welcome to 2018!

If you had a busy week in the office following the holidays and need to catch up, here’s a tech news recap of articles you may have missed the week of 01/01/2017!

Why 2018 is the year for Kubernetes. The biggest hardware and software milestones of 2017 for Microsoft. Updates and patches for the Meltdown and Spectre vulnerabilities. Eight burning questions for enterprise technology in 2018 and more top news this week you may have missed! Remember, to stay up-to-date on the latest tech news throughout the week, follow @GreenPagesIT on Twitter.

Tech News Recap

Join GreenPages’ Cloud Experts on January 17th for a lively, non-biased discussion at our webinar:

AWS or Azure? How to Move from Analysis Paralysis Toward a Smart Cloud Choice

Click here to register!

IT Operations

Microsoft

  • Microsoft Monday: Foldable smartphone patent, Surface Pro with LTE availability, Andromeda OS hinted
  • Microsoft in 2017: The biggest hardware and software milestones
  • VDI with Citrix on Azure Government
  • Microsoft is already fixing the big chip bug – here are the Windows PCs that will be the most affected
  • Why 2018 could be a big breakout year for Microsoft’s Stream video service

HPE

  • HP’s newest ‘zero’ client offers improved security, VMware and Amazon integrations

VMware

  • Once again, analysts name VMware a leader in cloud management

Cisco

Cloud

Security

  • 2017 Threat Trends – The Year in Review
  • One surprising statistic explains why phishing will remain the most common cyber attack for the next few years
  • Emergency Windows Meltdown patch may be incompatible with PC
  • Anonymous no more: Reusing complex passwords gives your identity away

Thanks for checking out our tech news recap!

By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist

While you’re here, check out this white paper on how to rethink your IT security, especially when it comes to financial services.

Featured, Miscellaneous IT, Tech News, Tech News Recap

Tech News Recap for the Week of 12/18/17

If you had a busy week and need to catch up, here’s a tech news recap of articles you may have missed the week of 12/18/2017!

What the loss of net neutrality means. 8 game-changing data trends that will impact businesses in 2018. VMware to focus on its multi-cloud management platform. Massive ConsumerView database leak and more top news this week you may have missed! Remember, to stay up-to-date on the latest tech news throughout the week, follow @GreenPagesIT on Twitter.

Tech News Recap

Featured

AWS re:Invent 2017 – re:Cap from Chris Williams

IT Operations

Microsoft

HPE

  • Toshiba, HPE head 2017 storage acquisitions

AWS

  • AWS raises machine learning expectations for cloud security
  • Amazon has come up with a genius new way to run productive meetings

VMware

Cisco

Cloud

Security

Thanks for checking out our tech news recap!

By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist

While you’re here, check out this white paper on how to rethink your IT security, especially when it comes to financial services.

Featured, Miscellaneous IT, Tech News, Tech News Recap

Tech News Recap for the Week of 12/11/17

If you had a busy week and need to catch up, here’s a tech news recap of articles you may have missed the week of 12/11/2017!

The top tech gifts of 2017! Traditional WANs vs Next Gen. How Microsoft will hit its $1 trillion valuation. 3 advanced data protection technologies to look for in 2018. Microsoft makes Azure Bot Service generally available for developers and more top news this week you may have missed! Remember, to stay up-to-date on the latest tech news throughout the week, follow @GreenPagesIT on Twitter.

Tech News Recap

Featured

  • Top Tech Gifts of 2017! Brought to you by Team GreenPages

IT Operations

Microsoft

AWS

  • AWS announces single sign-on, but is it worth it?

Cisco

  • Profiles in Cybersecurity: Steve Martino, Chief Information Security Officer, Cisco
  • An overview of Cisco‘s 2017 performance

Cloud

  • What’s more secure than the cloud?
  • 62% of IT leaders say legacy systems are the biggest roadblock to multi-cloud success
  • 2020: The magic year public cloud becomes more popular than on-premises
  • Four ways to avoid vendor lock-in when moving to the public cloud
  • Juniper Contrail battles Cisco ACI, VMware NSX in the cloud

Security

Thanks for checking out our tech news recap!

By Jake Cryan, Digital Marketing Specialist

While you’re here, check out this white paper on how to rethink your IT security, especially when it comes to financial services.