Another of the main foundations of the AT&T Domain 2.0 program is the ‘DCAE’ framework: Data Collection, Analytics and Events. In short their Big Data platform for enabling smart management.
“In the D2 vision, virtualized functions across various layers of functionality are expected to be instantiated in a significantly dynamic manner that requires the ability to provide real-time responses to actionable events from virtualized resources, ECOMP applications, as well as requests from customers, AT&T partners and other providers.
Korea’s KBS TV to Feature @CloudExpo | @ThingsExpo #IoT #Cloud
Korean Broadcasting System (KBS) will feature the upcoming 18th Cloud Expo | @ThingsExpo in a New York news documentary about the “New IT for the Future.” The documentary will cover how big companies are transmitting or adopting the new IT for the future and will be filmed on the expo floor between June 7-June 9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York. KBS has long been a leader in the development of the broadcasting culture of Korea. As the key public service broadcaster of Korea, KBS has undertaken initiatives at technological turning points while providing a communication channel for diverse views.
Uber looks to outsource server infrastructure
(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/Bogdan Kosanovic)
Uber, the ride-sharing giant, is exploring the public cloud and leaving the privacy of its own server infrastructure. Sources say that it has solicited bids from cloud players such as Amazon, Microsoft and Google for hosting part of its server load.
An Uber deal would also mean significant PR for the winning vendor.
The ride-sharing firm has expanded rapidly and is now active in 69 countries worldwide, and it faces the challenge of keeping its servers and software in the best condition to ensure that high performance and availability.
To achieve this speed and performance, Uber is looking to set up server facilities as geographically close to its customers as it can. It would be able to expand the global power of its infrastructure by tapping the cloud computing infrastructure of major providers like Google, Microsoft and Amazon.
According to reports, Uber is only looking to shift small parts of its code to the cloud, but the volume of those parts could be massive for a cloud provider, given the scope of Uber’s worldwide operations. This may trigger significant competition among providers, including IBM and others. This news comes as cloud vendors attempt to win over larger businesses. An Uber deal would also mean significant PR for the winning vendor.
The report further indicates that Uber’s technology is seemingly vendor-neutral, so they may partner with different cloud providers, based on the data centre strength in various regions, like Microsoft in India or Alibaba and Baidu in China.
Uber has not yet commented on or confirmed the matter.
Which cloud provider do you think Uber should partner with? Share your thoughts in the comments.
Salesforce plans to launch IoT offering on AWS
Salesforce has announced plans to launch its new IoT offering on AWS facilities, moving away from it traditional play of using its own data centre infrastructure, reports The Wall Street Journal.
The offering is reportedly going to be launched by Salesforce in the next couple of months, is currently available to a select number of customers as the team test the various features. Saleforce’s IoT Cloud was initially announced last September, enabling customers to personalize the way they sell, service and market top their prospects. As part of the development, Salesforce has partnered with a number of firms including ARM, Etherios, Informatica, PTC ThingWorx and Xively LogMeln, to bring the service to market.
“Salesforce is turning the Internet of Things into the Internet of Customers,” said Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce at the time. “The IoT Cloud will allow businesses to create real-time 1:1, proactive actions for sales, service, marketing or any other business process, delivering a new kind of customer success.”
Salesforce has traditionally built new services on its own data centre infrastructure, though it would appear to be joining a number of other companies, including Netflix, who are utilizing the services of AWS as well as in-house options. This is not the first experience of AWS for Salesforce however, as the company acquired Heroku in 2010, which operated on AWS. Working with AWS also gives Salesforce the flexibility to manage what could be large scale growth should the offering receive large scale traction upon launch, as adding additional hardware to its own data centre to meet demand could take days or even weeks.
Alongside the IoT announcement, Benioff has taken to Twitter to apologize for a database failure on the NA14 instance, which caused outages for a number of customers in North America, which lasted for more than 12 hours.
The failure occurred after “a successful site switch” of the NA14 instance “to resolve a service disruption that occurred between 00:47 to 02:39 UTC on May 10, 2016 due to a failure in the power distribution in the primary data centre” the company said. Although not confirmed by Salesforce, it would appear a large number of customers throughout North America were impacted by the failure.
New HP Tech Venture Group may lead to HPE overlap
HP has announced the launch of HP Tech Ventures, the new corporate venture arm of the business, which will invest in IoT and artificial intelligence start-ups that could end up competing with HPE.
The team will aim to develop partnership and identify potential acquisitions within the new era of disruptive technologies. HP Tech Ventures, which will be based out of offices in Palo Alto and Tel Aviv, will be led by Chief Disrupter, Andrew Bolwell targeting new technologies in 3D transformation, immersive computing, hyper-mobility, Internet of Things, artificial intelligence, and smart machines in the first instance.
Following the split of Hewlett-Packard into two separate organizations, HP took the PC and printer assets, while HPE is now focused on enterprise-orientated technologies. Over the last several months, HPE has made numerous product launches and investments in cloud, machine-learning and IoT technologies, and HP Tech Ventures targeted technologies (IoT, AI, smart machines etc.) could potentially make the once combined companies, competitors. HPE also has its own venture arm, where it has invested in various cloud, big data and security start-ups.
“The next technology revolution is shifting towards strategic markets that speak to HP’s strengths,” said Shane Wall, HP Chief Technology Officer and head of HP Labs. “With our global brand and broad reach into consumer and commercial markets worldwide, HP can help start-ups bring product to market, build their business and scale in the global marketplace as they grow.”
The company has claimed it will be able to offer rapid scale to innovative start-ups, through its technology network, as well as its channel and distribution partners. The launch would appear to be one of HP’s strategies to counter the negative impact which declining PC sales is having on its traditional business, entering into new markets through potential acquisitions as opposed to organic growth.
Docker bolsters security capabilities with Security Scanning launch
Docker has announced the general availability of its Security Scanning product, an offering formerly known as Project Nautilus.
The service, which is available as add-on service to Docker Cloud private repositories and for Official Repositories located on Docker Hub, streamlines software compliance procedures by providing customers with a security profile of all their Docker images. The offering sits alongside Docker Cloud to automatically trigger a series of events as soon as an image is pushed to a repository, providing a complete security profile of the image itself.
“Docker Security Scanning conducts binary level scanning of your images before they are deployed, provides a detailed bill of materials (BOM) that lists out all the layers and components, continuously monitors for new vulnerabilities, and provides notifications when new vulnerabilities are found,” said Docker’s Toli Kuznets on the company’s blog.
“The primary concerns of app dev teams are to build the best software and get it to their customer as fast as possible. However, the software supply chain does not stop with developers, it is a continuous loop of iterations, sharing code with teams and moving across environments. Docker Security Scanning delivers secure content by providing deep insights into Docker images along with a security profile of its components. This information is then available at every stage of the app lifecycle.”
The offering itself splits each Docker image its respective layers and components, and evaluates the risk associated with each one. Risks are reported back to the CVE databases, linked to the specific layer and/or component, but are also monitored on an on-going basis.
New vulnerabilities found during the on-going monitoring process are reported to the CVE database, which will then assess all other software associated with that component/package to improve software compliance across the board. Docker believes software compliance and general risk management can be enhanced through the offering, but also throughout the lifecycle of the software itself.
“With this information, IT teams can proactively manage software compliance requirements by knowing what vulnerabilities impact what pieces of software, reviewing the severity of the vulnerability and making informed decisions on a course of action,” said Kuznets.
The offering is now available to all customers, with Docker currently offering a three month free trial.
IoT and Smart Buildings | @ThingsExpo #IoT #IIoT #DigitalTransformation
When it comes to IoT in the enterprise, namely the commercial building and hospitality markets, a benefit not getting the attention it deserves is energy efficiency, and IoT’s direct impact on a cleaner, greener environment when installed in smart buildings. Until now clean technology was offered piecemeal and led with point solutions that require significant systems integration to orchestrate and deploy. There didn’t exist a ‘top down’ approach that can manage and monitor the way a Smart Building actually breathes – immediately flagging overheating in a closet or over cooling in unoccupied hotel rooms.
Addteq to Exhibit at @DevOpsSummit | @Addteq @Atlassian #DevOps
SYS-CON Events announced today that Addteq will exhibit at SYS-CON’s @DevOpsSummit at Cloud Expo New York, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
Addteq is one of the top 10 Platinum Atlassian Experts who specialize in DevOps, custom and continuous integration, automation, plugin development, and consulting for midsize and global firms. Addteq firmly believes that automation is essential for successful software releases. Addteq centers its products and services around this fundamentally unique approach to delivering complete software release management solutions. With a combination of Addteq’s services and our extensive list of partners, we believe that we can provide the best solutions to fit your business. Locations include our Headquarters in Princeton, NJ with additional offices in Los Angeles, CA and Pune, India.
Data placement in the cloud and regulations for US financial services
(Image Credit: iStockPhoto/Cronislaw)
As momentum builds behind public cloud infrastructure solutions, even highly regulated industries like financial services are exploring their options. While regulations and security are often seen as stumbling blocks for public cloud acceptance in financial services, reviewing available information on U.S. regulatory guidance and privacy law suggests there may be ways to move into the cloud in compliance-friendly ways. This article, of course, should not replace input from appropriate legal advisors. The research behind this article focused on privacy law and requirements around U.S. banks rather than international issues that might arise from data placement in the cloud.
The U.S. banking industry has several regulatory bodies, including the Federal Reserve Board, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, The National Credit Union Administration, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. A consortium group called the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council maintains a clearing house for guidance and regulatory information from the various regulators. On July 10, 2012, the Council issued a press release with guidance on public cloud utilization in banking.
The core of the guidance is public cloud risk management should follow the same risk management principles as any outsourcing contract. “The Federal Financial Institution Examination Council Agencies consider cloud computing to be another form of outsourcing with the same basic risk characteristics and risk management requirements as traditional forms of outsourcing.”
The Council calls out some specific areas for attention by regulated entities.
- Due diligence: Outsourcing to cloud doesn’t excuse entities from due diligence around data management. Good data practices like data classification, segregation, and ensuring recoverability should be followed.
- Vendor management: Cloud services unfamiliar with finance may require additional controls to provide appropriate checks and oversight.
- Audit: Cloud services must preserve transparency and regulators’ ability to audit.
- Information security: Information security analogous or consistent with internal practice must be maintained
- Legal, regulatory, and reputational considerations: Applicable law must be observed
- Business continuity planning: Appropriate plans around disaster recovery and data recoverability must be in place.
The Council makes special reference to legal considerations, and it is worth a deeper exploration of what those are. The primary privacy regulations affecting U.S. financial services are contained in the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act (GLB). GLB originated as a response to concerns about banks sharing detailed account-holder information with third parties for marketing or cross-selling purposes.
The act basically specifies handling requirements around data deemed personally identifiable and non-public. It bars sharing such data with third parties without explicit agreement from customers. GLB applies to a broad range of U.S. financial services including banks, mortgage originators and servicers, consumer credit agencies, et al.
Because outsourcing infrastructure provisioning to a public cloud is, almost by definition, allowing 3rd party access to data, some specifics about GLB merit a closer look. Fundamentally, the law requires financial services firms to preserve the privacy of “non-public personal information” by enacting a variety of personnel and computer systems security policies. In the event a firm wants or needs to share information with a third party, the customer must be notified and given the opportunity to opt out.
Privacy obligations only apply to non-public personal information. This might include account numbers, or information from an application for an account–even information in an internet cookie is considered protected. What is not protected is non-identifiable aggregate data or information that can be gleaned from other public records (mortgage holders are often recorded in deed documents, for instance).
As to how to protect that information, firms (and by extension, their 3rd party outsource partners) must implement a comprehensive security program to ensure security and confidentiality of protected data, protecting against anticipated threats or unauthorized access. Such a program might be composed of employee training and management as well as information systems management.
Background checks and restriction of data access to those employees with a need to know are a cornerstone of secure data management. Other employee-focused policies are strong, frequently changed passwords, remote access restrictions, and prompt deactivation of departing personnel’s passwords and user names.
A security policy might also include procedures around information systems. Appropriate encryption, security patching, firewalls, intrusion detection systems, anti-virus, and other prophylactic security measures must be used.
When dealing with service providers, it is important to have agreements about these policies in writing to safeguard non-public Information appropriately. Additionally, you should review policies and procedures with audits, testing, or other controls to monitor the provider’s compliance.
While these steps are unmistakably a burden, they are challenges most firms have shouldered in other outsourcing arrangements.
In summary, while there remains a lot of fear, uncertainty, and doubt around regulatory discussions with financial services in the public cloud, a review of the available information is not as forbidding as one might suppose. The guidance points to outsourcing as the model, and there is ample precedent and experience with outsourcing systems. U.S. financial firms hoping to take advantage of the speed, flexibility, and cost efficiencies of the public cloud should proceed, with caution, of course, but optimistically.
What advice would you share on the matter? Let us know in the comments.
Security for #IoT Manufacturing | @ThingsExpo #IIoT #M2M #InternetOfThings
trust and privacy in their ecosystem. Assurance and protection of device identity, secure data encryption and authentication are the key security challenges organizations are trying to address when integrating IoT devices. This holds true for IoT applications in a wide range of industries, for example, healthcare, consumer devices, and manufacturing.
In his session at @ThingsExpo, Lancen LaChance, vice president of product management, IoT solutions at GlobalSign, will teach IoT developers how to introduce strong security elements into the manufacturing process, addressing the critical IoT security concerns but also accelerating time-to-market and reducing manufacturing costs.