A mini Y2K event for applications stranded on those old, obsolete servers. The challenge is clear. EOL means no more patches and security vulnerabilities increase on a daily basis. For those wishing to keep their machines running, this is a situation that requires action..
There are things in life that are just painful — Doing dishes, paying taxes, going to the dentist, and upgrading software. One of the most painful IT lifecycle events is upgrading from an older version of an operating system (OS) to a newer one. In fact, there are 10s of millions of servers still running Windows Server 2003, hosting applications that run important functions. The problem is that Window Server 2003 is about to lose support from Microsoft (end of life (EOL)) leaving many with a really difficult choice. Upgrade or face escalating risk of security holes being exploited without any patches or support. Holy strawberries Batman, we’re in a jam.
Cloud Expo New York: Why Hybrid Cloud Is Necessary
Server virtualization was just the beginning of the journey to IT-as-a-Service. Businesses today are looking for on-demand access to cloud resources by extending beyond their data centers without sacrificing performance, agility and security. They want to maximize their existing investments in technology, people and processes while still providing their users access to the support, applications and device choices they demand.
In his session at the 12th International Cloud Expo, Mathew Lodge, VP of VMware’s Cloud Services group, will tackle the transition from building a traditional private cloud to seamless access and utilization of a customized hybrid cloud environment, creating a borderless data center with limitless resources for IT, developers and their users.
Dell Buys Cloud Management Company Enstratius
Dell – while it’s trying to go private – is apparently also going full-tilt at this cloud thing trying to diversify out of PCs because it’s just bought a respected infrastructure management start-up called Enstratius.
Born Enstratus Networks, Enstratius has a platform that’s supposed to be a unified way of managing single or multiple clouds.
It’s said to support more than 20 public and private cloud platforms, including OpenStack, VMware, Rackspace, Amazon Web Services and Windows Azure. It also supposed to be easy to add more clouds.
It’s meant to help organizations manage applications across private, public and hybrid clouds by supplying automated application provisioning and scaling, application configuration management, usage governance, and cloud utilization monitoring.
AvePoint Releases SharePoint Meeting Organizer App
AvePoint today announced the launch of AvePoint Meetings, the latest addition to its line of Productivity Apps in the SharePoint 2013 App Store.
AvePoint Meetings, a free interactive SharePoint 2013 app, brings order and efficiency to an organization’s meetings by allowing business users to track notes, actions, and decisions made in meetings against agenda items. While conventional meeting tracking generally involves hand-written notes that must then be typed up and emailed to be shared, AvePoint Meetings enforces a more structured information tracking process that ensures all meeting information is readily available and organized for those that need it. AvePoint Meetings utilizes the “My Task” feature of SharePoint 2013 by creating “Actions” as SharePoint Tasks so your organization can discover all assignments, tasks and relevant statuses within SharePoint or Microsoft Outlook 2013.
AvePoint Meetings allows business users to collaborate with one another in real-time before, during, and after meetings by:
- Creating single or reoccurring meetings
- Allowing meeting attendees to adjust and update meeting agendas as well as discussion topics
- Capturing meeting information and notes with multi-user support
- Tracking meeting minutes with full auditing, allowing for historical search capabilities
- Assigning, aggregating, and synchronizing tasks and actions
Cloud Expo New York: Solving the Cloud Talent Gap
A recent study by analyst firm IDC reports that in 2012, 1.7 million cloud computing-related roles across the globe could not be filled due to the lack of training, certification and experience in the applicant pool. As the global demand for cloud and big data expertise increases, employers are finding it difficult to recruit talent, which is slowing down the ability for organizations to adopt, implement, and realize benefits from innovative platforms like OpenStack.
In her session at the 12th International Cloud Expo, Niki Acosta, Cloud Evangelista for Rackspace, will discuss what companies like Rackspace are doing to narrow the talent gap, attract and retain talent, and foster the next generation of technologists, as well as the move to get more women into technical roles.
BMC Goes for $6.9 Billion
BMC Software is getting sold to a group of private equity investors led by Bain Capital and Golden Gate Capital for roughly $6.9 billion or $46.24 a share, a higher price than the $6.5 billion expected.
The buyers also include Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC Special Investments and Insight Venture Partners, which focuses its investments on e-commerce, Internet, on-premise and SaaS-based software and data-services companies.
The final details of what was already a binding offer were reportedly worked out over the weekend. The debt financing is coming from Credit Suisse, RBC Capital Markets and Barclays.
Although BMC’s board approved the deal, it’s still got 30 calendar days to solicit alternative proposals from third parties.
Talari Networks Upgrades Adaptive Private Networking for Mercury WAN Appliances
Talari Networks today announced APN 3.0, an upgrade to its APN (Adaptive Private Networking) operating software to support its family of Mercury WAN appliances. Talari is demonstrating APN 3.0 for the first time at Interop Las Vegas this week, Booth #2450.
With the introduction of APN 3.0, Talari’s WAN solution dynamically builds fully meshed connections in reaction to application demand across an aggregated virtual WAN consisting of broadband, leased-line and other links. This allows enterprises to have a network that automatically adapts to changing traffic patterns and bandwidth demands to ensure that mission-critical applications receive priority and real-time applications are provided the QoS levels they require to perform optimally. In the past, companies were only able to achieve this dynamic network architecture through a combination of disparate technologies or through an expensive fully meshed MPLS network.
Key new features and benefits of the APN 3.0 software release include:
- Dynamic Conduits ? Allows the automated build up and tear down of a fully meshed network that reacts to changing traffic demands by creating best-path, multi-link tunnels across private or public Internet access links. As traffic from location to location exceeds bandwidth policy reservation thresholds or failures are detected, APN 3.0 builds a dynamic tunnel between those locations in real-time, allowing traffic to bypass some hops to decrease latency. All paths/links are monitored on a sub-second basis for quality, including the new ones, to ensure latency has been decreased. With dynamic conduits, network managers don’t have to anticipate traffic patterns and they can ensure adequate bandwidth exists for critical traffic and no sessions fail.
- Single Point Configuration ? Talari’s WAN appliances communicate with one another to build an image of the network, the possible paths through the network, and the latency, loss and jitter of each path. This alleviates the need to configure each device within the network or to manually anticipate changing network demands.
- Complete Network Visibility ? A new off-board Network Management System (NMS) provides full visibility of the Talari network, devices and all links, allowing network managers to easily visualize traffic patterns, quality issues and network outages.
APN 3.0 is fully compatible with leading network management and reporting tools. The operating software will be generally available in July 2013 and accessible via the Talari Customer Support Portal as a free upgrade for existing customers and the NMS will be sold as an optional add-on product.
Logicworks to Exhibit at Cloud Expo New York
SYS-CON Events announced today that Logicworks, a global leader in cloud computing and managed hosting, will exhibit at SYS-CON’s 12th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 10–13, 2013, at the Javits Center in New York City, New York.
Logicworks provides cloud computing and managed hosting to some of the world’s most respected brands including Dow Jones, NBC, Lincoln Center, Orion Health, and 1-800-Flowers.com. Logicworks specializes in Private, Public and Hybrid Cloud Solutions for SaaS, Media, eCommerce, Mobile, Healthcare, and Financial Services companies. Logicworks also offers a full suite of Compliance Solutions and Managed Database Services.
Solving the Cloud Talent Gap
A recent study by analyst firm IDC reports that in 2012, 1.7 million cloud computing-related roles across the globe could not be filled due to the lack of training, certification and experience in the applicant pool. As the global demand for cloud and big data expertise increases, employers are finding it difficult to recruit talent, which is slowing down the ability for organizations to adopt, implement, and realize benefits from innovative platforms like OpenStack.
In this session join Cloud Evangelista Niki Acosta as she discusses what companies like Rackspace are doing to narrow the talent gap, attract and retain talent, and foster the next generation of technologists, as well as the move to get more women into technical roles.
Amazon Goes Beyond AWS Training with AWS Certification
You can now go beyond AWS training and take tests to earn AWS Certification. Meant to provide a way for Solution Architects, System Administrators, and Developers to formally certify knowledge of AWS.
The AWS Certifications are credentials that you (as an individual) can earn to certify your expertise (skills and technical knowledge) in the planning, deployment, and management of projects and systems that use AWS. Once you complete the certification requirements, you will receive an AWS Certified logo badge that you can use on your business cards and other professional collateral. This will help you to gain recognition and visibility for your AWS expertise.
The first certification, AWS Certified Solutions Architect – Associate Level, is available now. Additional certifications for System Administrators and Developers are planned for 2013.
Certification Exams are delivered by Kryterion, in more than 100 countries at over 750 testing locations worldwide. You can register online to take the exam through Kryterion.
