There is little doubt that Big Data solutions will have an increasing role in the Enterprise IT mainstream over time. Get a jump on that rapidly evolving trend at Big Data Expo 2014 New York, co-located with 14th Cloud Expo – being held June 10 – 12, 2014, at the Javits Center in New York, NY.
As advanced data storage, access and analytics technologies aimed at handling high-volume and/or fast moving data all move center stage, aided by the cloud computing boom, Big Data Expo is the single most effective event for you to learn how to use you own enterprise data – processed in the cloud – most effectively to drive value for your business.
A recent Gartner report predicts that the volume of enterprise data overall will increase by a phenomenal 650% over the next five years. Help plant your flag in the fast-expanding business opportunity that is Big Data: submit your speaking proposal today!
How Startups Can Benefit from Cloud Technology
With a wealth of technology and online resources, many people are ditching the traditional 9-to-5 lifestyle and opting to become entrepreneurs. Unlike businesses of the past, where a large financial investment was required to get off the ground, today’s startups can get the ball rolling with limited funding.
They can also operate with a high level of efficiency and often compete with much large larger companies. One of the top resources that is fueling startups is cloud technology. Below are some ways that entrepreneurs can benefit and why this technology is so advantageous.
Ten Myths of Cloud Computing
Cloud computing is transforming the way businesses think about and leverage technology. As a result, the general understanding of cloud computing has come a long way in a short time. However, there are still many misconceptions about what cloud computing is and what it can do for businesses that adopt this game-changing computing model. In this exclusive Q&A with Cloud Expo Conference Chair Jeremy Geelan, Rex Wang, Vice President of Product Marketing at Oracle, discusses and dispels some of the common myths about cloud computing that still exist today.
The Time Is Now for 21st Century Leadership
I’ve just had the opportunity to preview my good friend Melvin Greer’s newest effort, «21st Century Leadership: Harnessing Innovation, Accelerating Business Success». Now in pre-release, this book highlights the compelling linkage between internet scale technology, advance business models and the need for forward thinking leadership.
From the vantage of hindsight, I can see how my own professional career has been molded by the global changes Gartner describes as the Digital Industrial Revolution. In my consulting engagements, I’ve characterized this environment as the confluence of four major transitions:
Can We Finally Find the Database Holy Grail? | Part 2
In the first post of this three part series I talked about distributed transactional databases being the Holy Grail of database systems. Among other things the promise of such systems is to provide on-demand capacity, continuous availability and geographically distributed operation. But the historical approaches to building distributed transactional databases have involved unacceptable trade-offs, and as a result general purpose databases systems predicated on a single-server architecture have dominated the industry for decades.
In our quest for the Holy Grail of databases we acknowledge that there are folks who have given up on the highly desirable characteristic of transactional consistency in favor of a distributed operation. That is a trade-off that may be attractive if you can’t find a way to scale-out transactions, but it is a drastic choice that moves a lot of complexity and cost up the application stack. If there is a way to scale out transactional databases then that is clearly a much better outcome. Our Holy Grail discussion is specifically about distributed transactional databases because if such a thing can be built without a substantial downside then no one would want any other distributed data store.
Building Your Hybrid Cloud
Back for Part 3 of the “Building a Hybrid Cloud” series, Keith Mayer and myself chat about and demo the latest networking enhancements made in Windows Server 2012 R2. Keith really shows you how Windows Server 2012 R2 offers networks for your virtualization hosts but also your virtual guests. One of the things that amazed me, is that the configuration steps for the host and guests are nearly identical.
How to Select a Cloud Provider Effectively
Moving your data storage to the cloud is a smart move as there is an explosion of data day by day and systems are struggling to store all that data effectively and securely. Cloud computing has proven not only to be cost effective but also frees the businesses to concentrate on the daily workings while the cloud takes care of details such as security, support, maintenance and the ever-so-important backup. Therefore, the demand for cloud computing is also growing and there are many companies sprouting up by the minute. So the consumer ends up in a dilemma of how to choose the right one.
To select the right type of cloud for you, analyze what type of data you are basically dealing with. For example, videos, photos and online documents will require software based cloud services. Other type of cloud services include Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) where the customer can transfer his data with virtually no changes made. All that the customer needs to manage is the operating system and its applications. When the customer wants to use the cloud or offer it as a service to others, then the Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) is the right choice.
What Is Application-Centric Infrastructure?
With the launch of Cisco’s software-defined networking startup Insieme expected tomorrow, our industry is about to hear a lot about “application-centric” everything. So what does “application-centric infrastructure” mean?
First, some basics: Networking is about connecting computing devices and systems so they can share data. Networking infrastructures are built with a combination of hardware such as gateways, routers, and switches that manage the movement of the data as well as software applications that enable you to do things like access the Internet and send email.
As you could probably guess, application-centric infrastructure is a type of networking that is based on the application. In an application-centric network, the network administrator manages a system for a specific application rather than managing individual servers and routers like they did in the past.
Software Defined Application Services
Everything as a Service has become nearly a synonym for cloud computing. That’s unsurprising, as the benefits of cloud – from economy of scale to increased service velocity – are derived mainly from the abstraction of network, compute and storage resources into services that can be rapidly provisioned, elastically scaled and intelligently orchestrated. We’ve come to use «Everything as a Service» and «Software Defined Data Center» nearly interchangeably, because the goal of both is really to drive toward IT as a Service. A world in which end-users (application owners and administrators) can provision, scale and orchestrate the resources necessary to deliver applications from app dev through devops to the network.
This journey, in part, gave rise to SDN as a means to include the network in this new service-oriented data center. But SDN focused on only a subset of the network stack, leaving critical layer 4-7 services behind.
Breaking Down a BYOD Initiative
An Interview with Matt Mock, IT Director at GreenPages Technology Solutions
Ben: What encouraged GreenPages to adopt a BYOD policy?
Matt: The biggest reason we implemented a BYOD policy was that it offered the ability to give users the flexibility to use the technology that they are most comfortable with. Our IT department was getting frequent requests for non-standard equipment. This forced us to do one-offs all the time and made support very difficult.
Ben: How was the policy made? Who was involved in creating it?
Matt: The policy was created after many months of research. We looked into what other companies were doing, researched the costs for hardware and internal support, and interviewed different departments to see what was needed. We involved people from the top down, getting buy in from senior management to start. In addition, we also worked closely with the accounting department to make sure BYOD wouldn’t cost more than traditional hardware refreshes would. Our department did a proof of concept, then a pilot group, and then a gradual rollout. This allowed us to tweak the policy as needed.
Ben: Who has access to the BYOD program?
Matt: Not all departments. The program is for those where it makes the most sense from both a financial and support perspective. We didn’t want to grant BYOD to someone who couldn’t handle the issues on their own that would in turn create more technical support. We rolled it out to groups with specific requirements that weren’t going to cause us to spend more time on internal support.
Ben: Can you describe some of the highlights of the policy?
Matt: Within the policy we specify eligibility for the program, provide exact cost and reimbursement methods, and outline user responsibilities and requirements such as how to get hardware support. We also provide more specifics around what is and isn’t covered in the policy.
Ben: How do employees go about getting hardware support?
Matt: The user assumes responsibility of hardware support and is required to get a warranty. IT will help facilitate support but will not be responsible for the device. This goes back to making sure IT doesn’t spend more time supporting BYOD than they would have previously.
Ben: Makes sense.
Matt: I should also mention that GreenPages’ VDI environment allows us to offer the flexibility of BYOD with multiple devices because everyone can get the same experience regardless of the device used. Utilizing VDI also alleviates concerns around corporate data loss. If a device is lost or stolen, a person doesn’t have access to corporate resources just because they have the corporate device.
Ben: What have some of the main benefits been of the program?
Matt: The main benefits have been employee satisfaction and a decrease in hardware support for internal IT.
Ben: Some people think there are immediate cost savings from BYOD, but Chris Reily (GreenPages’ Director of Solutions Architecture) recently wrote a blog post cautioning people not to expect ROI in the first couple of years. Is this true?
Matt: Correct. You end up spending the same amount on hardware but support costs go down and employee satisfaction goes up. Direct ROI is difficult to measure when offering reimbursements. A company can avoid offering reimbursements but then you are greatly effecting employee satisfaction. If you give reimbursements, you probably end up spending the same over all amount.
Ben: What is your overall opinion of BYOD?
Matt: BYOD is not for every company nor is it necessarily for every employee within a company. A key thing to remember is that your infrastructure has to be ready for BYOD. If it is, then it’s a great perk and a great way to reduce time spent on internal support. It’s also a great way to allow new technologies into the organization and not have to give strict guidelines on what is and is not allowed. Our BYOD initiative has also helped save my team time so that we can focus on more strategic projects that will help the business.
If you have questions for Matt around his experience implementing a BYOD policy, leave a comment or email us at socialmedia@greenpages.com