Building autonomous vehicles is no longer just a question of sensors and software. It has become a test of how well companies can manage vast amounts of data, run large-scale simulations, and validate safety across millions of scenarios before a vehicle ever reaches the road. For automotive firms working on self-driving systems, the ability to […]
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Live video changes the pressure on a streaming business. Unlike on-demand shows, live events do not allow for retries, quiet fixes, or delayed updates. If something fails, viewers notice immediately. Over the past year, Netflix has been reworking how it handles that risk by building live streaming directly into its core cloud systems, rather than […]
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For years, sovereign cloud discussions focused on geography. Data had to stay inside a country. Infrastructure had to sit within defined borders. Control was assumed to follow location. That model is starting to break down. AI workloads, distributed applications, and stricter oversight rules are pushing organisations to rethink what sovereignty actually means in practice. Data […]
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Cybercriminals know something that many businesses are still learning: people remain the weakest link in any security system. Human error accounts for up to 95% of security breaches, making employees both the greatest vulnerability and the most powerful defence against cyber threats. The government’s latest Cyber Security Breaches Survey reveals that half of all UK businesses […]
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Oracle is reducing staff in its cloud division, a move aimed at managing costs while the company continues to pour money into AI infrastructure. Sources familiar with the matter said employees were told this week that their positions had been cut. Some of the layoffs were tied to performance, and hiring is still underway in […]
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Are you curious regarding what’s new in our latest version of Parallels Desktop 13? Parallels Desktop® for Mac enables users to run Windows, Linux, and other popular OSes without rebooting your Mac®. Parallels stands tall as the #1 solution for desktop virtualization for millions of users—for over 11 years. Parallels Desktop 13 for Mac has […]
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Support team guest blog author: Ajith Mamolin If you already use Parallels Toolbox, or are planning to give it a shot soon, you might be interested to learn more about the awesome Parallels Toolbox features we introduced in a past blog. The Parallels Development Team is constantly expanding the Toolbox functionality, and it now includes around […]
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In May, Samsung announced what it describes as the world’s highest capacity microSD card. The Samsung EVO+ 256GB microSD card has enough space to store more than 55,000 photos, 46 hours of HD video or 23,500 MP3 files and songs. It can be used for phones, tablets, video cameras and even drones. It’s set to be available in 50 countries worldwide.
The announcement of Samsung’s new card comes at a time when the amount of mobile content that consumers are creating, consuming and storing on their smartphones and mobile devices is increasing at an exponential rate. The Growing number of connected devices with advanced features, including high-resolution cameras, 4K video filming and faster processors, are fuelling a global ‘content explosion’. The content being created today is richer and heavier than ever, placing a growing strain on device storage capacities which could damage the data and impair user experience.
Earlier this year, 451 Research and Synchronoss Technologies charted the growth of smartphone content and found that the average smartphone user now generates 911MB of new content every month. At this rate, a typical 16GB smartphone – which already has almost 11GB of user content on it – will fill up in less than two months. Given that a high proportion of smartphone owners have low-capacity devices – 31% 16GB; 57% 32GB or smaller – many will (if they haven’t already) quickly find themselves having to make difficult decisions. At the moment, this means having to frequently remove photos, videos and apps to make room for new ones.
It’s also surprising that almost half of smartphone users have no off-device storage in place at all, despite the variety of storage options available. One option is a hardware solution like a memory card. Samsung claim its new microSD card delivers a seamless experience user when accessing, sharing and storing content between different devices (depending on compatibility, of course). Samsung’s suggested price for this experience is $250 however there is another storage option for end-users, the cloud.
Cloud-based storage arguably provides a more flexible and secure method for end-users to back up, transfer and restore their precious content. A memory card, like a phone, can be damaged, lost or stolen. In contrast, the cloud is an ever-present secure repository that retains and restores consumers’ files, photos and media, even if they lose or damage their device or card. However, even in the US, the most mature market for consumer uptake of cloud storage services, more than half of smartphone users are not currently using the cloud to manage their smartphone content.
But why should operators care?
Subscriber loyalty to operators is being tested. Rather than receive a subsidised handset as part of a contract with an operator, growing numbers of people purchase their devices directly in a regular subscription agreement with the manufacturer instead. Rather than commit to a long-term contract, these consumers enter into no-obligation rolling connectivity-only agreements with their operator.
Offering consumers access to a personal cloud platform is an important opportunity for operators to re-engage with these consumers and keep them tied to their services. Helping subscribers manage the spiralling volumes of their content could be much more effective for operators than faddish offers and promotional bundles to keep subscribers connected to their brand and their ecosystem.
While there is already a lot of cloud competition in the market, such as Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox and Box, however hosted storage and access has the potential to be much more than a “me too” play for operators, or even an answer to churn.
Cloud services can be a viable revenue generator for operators in their own right. They equip operators with an attractive channel for brand partnerships and developers to reach subscribers with an expanded ecosystem of services. Considerable productivity and profitability benefits can also be found, including reducing time on device-to-device content transfer and freeing up operators’ in-store staff for more in-depth customer engagement.
Operators shouldn’t approach the provision of cloud technology with unease. After all, their core business is all about providing secure wireless transport for voice and increasingly data quickly, at scale, and to a wide range of mobile phones and other connected devices. Cloud storage and access is the natural extension of this business. Of course, given the current climate of heightened awareness around privacy and security, it’s crucial to work with a vendor with a strong track record. However, operators should realise they’re in a stronger position than they think when it comes to providing cloud services.
Written by Ted Woodbery, VP, Marketing & Product Strategy at Synchronoss Technologies
Nick Hawkins, Managing Director EMEA of Everbridge, discusses how in crisis situations organisations can use cloud-based platforms to communicate with employees anywhere in the world to identify which employees may be affected, communicate instructions quickly, and receive responses to verify who may be at risk.
In November 2015, the people of Paris were victims of a series of co-ordinated terrorist attacks that targeted several locations and venues across the city. Whilst emergency services were left to deal with the aftermath of the deadliest attack on the French capital since the Second World War, businesses across Europe were once again reminded of the importance of having effective emergency planning procedures that help to protect employees in the event of a crisis.
In the event of any emergency or crisis situation—such as the attacks in Paris—secure, effective and reliable communication is crucial. Modern workforces are mobile, so it is vital for businesses of all sizes to ensure that the bilateral lines of communication between management and staff remain open in any situation. It can be difficult for organisations to manually keep track of everyone’s locations, schedules and travel plans at all times. The solution is to utilise the power of a critical communications platform to implement crisis management plans that will help to keep businesses operational and effective in the event of an emergency, and ensure that staff are safe and protected.
Location Data
The benefits of opting to use a cloud-based platform in the event of crisis are twofold. Firstly, they allow for location-mapping functions to be easily installed on employee’s smartphones, meaning that business’ can receive regular alerts and updates on their employee’s last known locations. This wealth of data is then readily accessible should a crisis situation develop, ensuring that management are not only able to locate all of their staff but are also able to coordinate a more effective response, prioritising and deploying resources to help those employees who are deemed to be at risk. Without this location mapping function, businesses are left in the dark and forced to rely solely on traditional routes of communication to find out if their staff are in danger.
For example, if you had a mobile sales force out at various events across London when a series of terrorist attacks disables the GSM network and makes traditional mobile communication virtually impossible, what would you do? How would you know if you staff are safe?
Organisations with crisis management plans that include using a cloud-based location mapping device are instantly able to know that Employee A is out of the impact zone and safe, whilst Employee B is at the epicentre of the crisis and likely to be in danger, making communicating with them the top priority.
The common alternative to using cloud-based software to track the location of employees is to use GPS tracking devices. However, not only are these expensive and liable to be lost or stolen, but they are also unable to be turned off. The advantage of using application-based software installed on an employee’s smartphone is that the location alert function can be turned off whilst they are not travelling. The most proactive businesses agree hostile areas and travel restrictions with staff as a key part of their emergency planning procedures, with staff agreeing to make sure that location-mapping is always turned on whilst traveling and in areas that are deemed to be at risk. This allows the function to be switched off when an employee is in a safe-zone, providing a balance between staff privacy and protection.
Secure, Two-way Messaging
The second advantage to implementing secure, cloud-based communication platforms into a business’ emergency communications plan is that it enables users to quickly and reliably send secure messages to all members of staff, individual employees and specific target groups of people. These crisis notifications are sent out through multiple contact paths which include: SMS messaging; emails; VOIP calls; voice-to-text alerts; app notifications and many more. In fact, with cloud-based software installed on an employee’s smartphone, there are more than 100 different contact paths that management can use to communicate and send secure messages to their workforce, wherever they may be in the world. This is a crucial area where cloud-based platforms have an advantage over other forms of crisis communication tools; unlike the SMS blasters of the past, emergency notifications are not only sent out across all available channels and contact paths, but continue to be sent out until the recipient acknowledges them.
This two-way polling feature means that businesses can design bespoke templates to send out to staff in the event of an emergency, which allows them to quickly respond and inform the company as to their current status and whether they are in need of any assistance. Being able to send out notifications and receive responses, all within a few minutes, means businesses can rapidly gain visibility of an incident and react more efficiently to an unfolding situation.
Power of Wi-Fi Enabled Devices
By utilising cloud computing and capitalising on the capabilities of the one device an employee is most likely to have on or near their persons at all times—their smartphone—lines of communication can remain open, even when more traditional routes are out of order. For example, during the recent terrorist attacks in Brussels in March 2016 the GSM network went offline, making standard mobile communication impossible. The citizens of the Belgian capital were unable to send messages to family, friends and work colleagues. The team at Brussels Airport made its public Wi-Fi discoverable and free of a network key, allowing anyone with a Wi-Fi enabled device to connect and send messages. For crisis management and business continuity, this ability to remain in contact with employees is essential to ensuring that both a business and its staff are protected and capable of handling an emergency.
In crisis situations businesses need to have a plan that works in real life, not just on paper. Secure, cloud-based communications platforms enable a business to react and protect itself and its staff from any harm, ensuring that the organisation is best prepared to face the challenges of the future.
Big data as a concept has in fact been around longer than computer technology, which would surprise a number of people.
Back in 1944 Wesleyan University Librarian Fremont Rider wrote a paper which estimated American university libraries were doubling in size every sixteen years meaning the Yale Library in 2040 would occupy over 6,000 miles of shelves. This is not big data as most people would know it, but the vast and violent increase in the quantity and variety of information in the Yale library is the same principle.
The concept was not known as big data back then, but technologists today are also facing a challenge on how to handle such a vast amount of information. Not necessarily on how to store it, but how to make use of it. The promise of big data, and data analytics more generically, is to provide intelligence, insight and predictability but only now are we getting to a stage where technology is advanced enough to capitalise on the vast amount of information which we have available to us.
Back in 2003 Google wrote a paper on its MapReduce and Google File System which has generally been attributed to the beginning of the Apache Hadoop platform. At this point, few people could anticipate the explosion of technology which we’ve witnessed, Cloudera Chairman and CSO Mike Olson is one of these people, but he is also leading a company which has been regularly attributed as one of the go-to organizations for the Apache Hadoop platform.
“We’re seeing innovation in CPUs, in optical networking all the way to the chip, in solid state, highly affordable, high performance memory systems, we’re seeing dramatic changes in storage capabilities generally. Those changes are going to force us to adapt the software and change the way it operates,” said Olson, speaking at the Strata + Hadoop event in London. “Apache Hadoop has come a long way in 10 years; the road in front of it is exciting but is going to require an awful lot of work.”
Analytics was previously seen as an opportunity for companies to look back at its performance over a defined period, and develop lessons for employees on how future performance can be improved. Today the application of advanced analytics is improvements in real-time performance. A company can react in real-time to shift the focus of a marketing campaign, or alter a production line to improve the outcome. The promise of big data and IoT is predictability and data defined decision making, which can shift a business from a reactionary position through to a predictive. Understanding trends can create proactive business models which advice decision makers on how to steer a company. But what comes next?
Cloudera Chairman and CSO Mike Olsen
For Olsen, machine learning and artificial intelligence is where the industry is heading. We’re at a stage where big data and analytics can be used to automate processes and replace humans for simple tasks. In a short period of time, we’ve seen some significant advances in the applications of the technology, most notably Google’s AlphaGo beating World Go champion Lee Se-dol and Facebook’s use of AI in picture recognition.
Although computers taking on humans in games of strategy would not be considered a new PR stunt, IBM’s Deep Blue defeated chess world champion Garry Kasparov in 1997, this is a very different proposition. While chess is a game which relies on strategy, go is another beast. Due to the vast number of permutations available, strategies within the game rely on intuition and feel, a complex task for the Google team. The fact AlphaGo won the match demonstrates how far researchers have progressed in making machine-learning and artificial intelligence a reality.
“In narrow but very interesting domains, computers have become better than humans at vision and we’re going to see that piece of innovation absolutely continue,” said Olsen. “Big Data is going to drive innovation here.”
This may be difficult for a number of people to comprehend, but big data has entered the business world; true AI and automated, data-driven decision may not be too far behind. Data is driving the direction of businesses through a better understanding of the customer, increase the security of an organization or gaining a better understanding of the risk associated with any business decision. Big data is no longer a theory, but an accomplished business strategy.
Olsen is not saying computers will replace humans, but the number of and variety of processes which can be replaced by machines is certainly growing, and growing faster every day.