Earlier this week, we hosted our Continuous Discussion video podcast, this time discussing ITIL and DevOps. The episode featured expert panelists Jan-Joost Bouwman (ING), Kaimar Karu (AXELOS), Jeff Sussna (DevOps writer and speaker) and Simon Morris (ServiceNow). During our discussion, we uncovered the similarities and differences between ITIL and DevOps, and discussed tips for how to align the two methodologies in an organization. Read on for the top highlights, best practices and key takeaways from this week’s expert discussion.
Containers with @YourSpeedyCloud | @CloudExpo #SDN #PaaS #IaaS #Microservices
“Containers and microservices are both part of our own cloud platform architecture, especially containers,” explained Alex Yu, CEO & co-founder of SpeedyCloud, in this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Roger Strukhoff. “They are good stuff for rolling our new services, which benefit our customers.”
Mellanox Announces New Line of InfiniBand Router Systems | @CloudExpo @MellanoxTech #Cloud
Mellanox Technologies has announced a new line of InfiniBand router systems. The new EDR 100Gb/s InfiniBand Routers enable a new level of scalability critical for the next generation of mega data-center deployments as well as expanded capabilities for data center isolations between different users and applications. The network router delivers a consistent, high-performance and low latency router solution that is mission critical for high performance computing (HPC), cloud, Web 2.0, machine learning and enterprise applications.
SAP Ariba Brings Digital Payments into the Business World | @CloudExpo @SAPAriba #Cloud
Digital payments are catching on for many more companies in the business world following the popularity of services like Apple Pay in the consumer world.
The next BriefingsDirect business innovation thought leadership discussion focuses on how digital payments are catching on for many more companies in the business world following the popularity of services like Apple Pay in the consumer world.
Vodafone and @Virtustream Announce Strategic Partnership | @CloudExpo #Cloud
Virtustream and Vodafone have announced a partnership to offer a portfolio of world-class cloud services to corporate customers in the German market. Virtustream has selected Vodafone as its first and the preferred data center partner for connected cloud-based services in Germany.
“Vodafone is proud that Virtustream has selected our cloud and hosting offering for its German operations for mission-critical cloud solutions,” said Greg Hyttenrauch, Managing Director, VCHS. “Virtustream xStream and VCE converged infrastructure, coupled with Vodafone datacenters, services and network, further enhances our ability to provide enterprise-class services for the German market and beyond.”
ValueLabs Partners with Hootsuite | @CloudExpo @ValueLabs #Cloud
Enterprise consulting and system integration services provider ValueLabs has said it would work with Hootsuite to deliver solutions for managing social media campaigns, marketing and advertising.
Hootsuite is a widely used platform for managing social media, according to a ValueLabs statement.
ValueLabs would focus on multiple social media solutions to address major business and technology challenges, it said.
Intel and HyTrust figures indicate confidence in software defined data centre
(c)iStock.com/bjdlzx
2016 may well be the year where the software defined data centre (SDDC) will become a fixture in the US, according to a study released by Intel and HyTrust.
According to the report, which polled the views of more than 500 senior business executives, 65% of respondents – and 66% from the C-suite – expect increased adoption in this area, while 62% of CxO respondents argue there will be faster deployment in 2016, while roughly half expect greater tangible benefits (49%) and more adoption for network virtualisation (48%) respectively.
41% of those polled expect better alignment of security strategies specifically to address the SDDC, while half (50%) see greater use of public cloud and 38% see workloads traversing hybrid clouds and utilising hyper-converged infrastructure respectively.
Yet the outlook is not entirely sunny. 56% of those polled said a data centre outage would either be ‘likely’ or ‘most likely’ with the move to SDDC, while more than two thirds (67%) argue a data breach would be the highest concern. Loss of operational efficiencies (59%), lack of automation and orchestration (58%) and compliance or audit failure (58%) were also seen as likely issues.
Almost three quarters (74%) of the C-suite polled said they expect to see security as less of an obstacle to greater SDDC adoption, but despite this many of those polled do not have any illusions about the dangers of security. The position of the market right now is key and the survey reveals an interesting insight in this regard; 44% of those polled decry the lack of solutions from current vendors and the immaturity of vendor offerings. It is a view echoed by this publication; Michael Allen, CTO and EMEA VP of Dynatrace, told CloudTech that software defined networking (SDN) and the SDDC were at a similar level to where cloud computing was two years ago.
Announcing @SuperAdm1ns to Exhibit at @CloudExpo New York | #Cloud
SYS-CON Events announced today that SuperAdmins will exhibit at SYS-CON’s 18th International Cloud Expo®, which will take place on June 7-9, 2016, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
SuperAdmins specializes in providing high-quality IT infrastructure services for MSPs, hosting and cloud providers.
Services they offer include 24/7 NOC – Remote monitoring of the key equipment/services.
SoftLayer Named Gold Sponsor of @CloudExpo | #IoT #DataCenter #Storage
SoftLayer operates a global cloud infrastructure platform built for Internet scale. With a global footprint of data centers and network points of presence, SoftLayer provides infrastructure as a service to leading-edge customers ranging from Web startups to global enterprises. SoftLayer’s modular architecture, full-featured API, and sophisticated automation provide unparalleled performance and control. Its flexible unified platform seamlessly spans physical and virtual devices linked via a worldwide network for secure, low-latency communications.
What did we learn from Verizon’s IoT report?
Verizon has recently released its State of the Market: Internet of Things 2016 report, which outlined the growth and potential for the IoT industry. The report features a number of use cases and information detailing the technology’s rise to fame, but also barriers for enterprise organizations over the coming months.
Here, we’ve detailed a few of the lessons learnt from the report:
IoT is no longer a nice idea, it’s becoming mainstream
If 2015 was the year IoT gained credibility in the business world, 2016 is the year IoT gains commercial feasibility.
While the concept of IoT has been around for some time, the idea of the technology having a B2B commercial backbone, capable of delivering on commercial objectives is now a reality. The potential of IoT has been well discussed but now we are seeing companies delivering on the promise. IBM is one which has particularly active in this segment, driving the Watson use case through the press repeatedly this year.
Wearables had a head start on B2B applications, though could be to thank for the relative ease of acceptance within the industry (both for enterprise and consumers). The marketing campaigns surrounding the earliest fitness wearables or smart watches normalized IoT, allowing for what could be perceived as a simple transition into the B2B sphere. But thanks to these (comparative) simple applications, the integration of IoT into the manufacturing process, healthcare, transportation, utilities, smart cities and any other context you could think of, has been a seemingly simple transition.
According to Verizon’s research, IoT networks connections have been growing healthily, the number of connections in the utilities industry has grown 58% between 2014 and 2015, and this is also backed up by forecasts by IDC research. The IDC’s findings estimate the IoT market spend will increase from $591.7 billion in 2014 to $1.3 trillion in 2019.
IoT might be entering mainstream, but data could hold it back
Data acquisition, analysis and action might be becoming one of the most repetitive conversations in the industry, but that is for good reason.
Verizon recently commissioned a report by Oxford Economics highlighted only 8% of businesses are using more than 25% of the IoT data which they have collected. In fact, only 50% of the businesses involved in the study said they would be using more than 25% of the collected IoT data in three years’ time.
On the surface, this shouldn’t seem as an issue that would cause too many problems, until you take into account the long-term deliverables of IoT. The promise of IoT is the collection of vast quantities of data to allow advanced analytics tools to make accurate predictions and customizations. If only a partial amount of the data is being analysed, only a partial amount of the promise can be realized.
IoT has hit the mainstream market, however it will never reach the promised deliverables if companies are not analysing more of the data collected. What is the point is spending millions on sensors, connections, storage and data scientists, if the full potential of the technology cannot be achieved. Can the long term financial security of the IoT industry be guaranteed if the promise is never fully realized?
There could be a number of reasons for the backlog of data, though industry insiders have told BCN the interface required to translate different data sets into a common language for analysis could be one of the reasons for the holdup. It would appear not all of the IoT value chain has evolved at the same pace.
Regulators will have to play a more significant role in the future
Regulation does and will play a major role in the delivery and adoption of IoT. Back in 2007 the Energy Act in the US accelerated the role of IoT in the monitoring of energy consumption, and while this could be considered the initial catalyst, growth has increased year on year ever since.
While this is an instance of regulation giving the IoT industry freedom to grow, it should not be seen as a surprise if regulators put in place rulings which could limit what the industry can and cannot do. Whether it is the ethical use of data, volumes of data which can be collected on a single person or the means in which and where the data is stored, regulation is likely to play a more significant role in coming years.
The report discusses the security of IoT which is a constant barrier for businesses and individuals alike. New regulations are likely to severely punish instances of data loss, and when you consider the sheer volume of data should IoT reach its potential, future instances of data loss could be disastrous.
Currently regulation within the IoT market is relatively low-key, encouraging growth of the technology as opposed to monitoring it, however there are a number of areas which need consideration in the short- to mid-term future. Lack of control and information asymmetry, low-quality consent, intrusive identification of behaviour patterns and user profiling and limitations on the possibility of remaining anonymous whilst using services are all areas which should be taken into consideration.