This week, Intuition Robotics, a formerly stealth Israeli startup, is debuting ElliQ, a kind of robot, kind of personal assistant that it classifies as an artificial intelligence-based robot companion.
What that means in plain English is that this device is a kind of hub where information, internet services and connectivity combine and are delivered in a (hopefully) accessible way to the intended audience: in this case, the aged.
While In Israel last month, I met with Dor Skuler, CEO and founder of Intuition Robotics, to get the low down on what the company is doing and what the rationale is.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is usually used to launch new hardware—from laptops to mobile phones, from Wi-Fi routers to connected toasters.One thing it doesn’t see much of is the launch of software products. But that is what we’re seeing today with the launch of Kuzzle, a new backend platform that sees itself as the route to “seamless software development across all devices, services and platforms.”That’s a pretty lofty claim (OK, a very lofty one), especially since Kuzzle goes up against a range of tools: Salesforce’s platform, pure mobile backend as a service (MBaaS) solutions like Kinvey, as well as mobile development platforms. So, what is Kuzzle about, and what gives it the confidence to claim differentiation?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
I spend a reasonable amount of time formally or informally consulting to large organizations about their technology choices. These engagements can be as simple as a quick discussion over a coffee or a long-term consulting gig. In either case, vendors seek to leverage the fact that, as an independent observer of the technology space, I can give a broader take on what is going on and what that means for their particular technology requirements.Often technology practitioners within a large organization simply don’t have the time or bandwidth to look broadly, and while they may be deeply aware of what their own particular technology supplier does, they lack a more industry-wide perspective.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
I received a pitch the other day from a vendor in the enterprise file sharing and synchronization (EFSS) space. I won't name the company. I probably should, to really show my scorn, but I'll deny them the Google juice instead.Anyway, the pitch told me about how said vendor made a "startling discovery" as it was planning a routine Google Adwords Campaign. It seemed that searches inadvertently turned up sensitive and confidential materials.Said vendor apparently disclosed the finding to the two other EFSS vendors, who indicated they would address the "security flaw." Now, some three years later, the same thing is happening.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Anyone who works within a large organization will be well aware of what Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is. For those unaccustomed, essentially VDI is a technology whereby on any device, anywhere, a user can log in and access a virtual representation of a desktop computer. It’s a way to use the applications, user setup and security of a fixed physical device without needing to use a fixed physical device.That’s the good part. But alas VDI has a negative side: poor user experience, often laggy processing and a “one size fits all” approach that doesn't really cover the multitude of form factors that end users actually need.So, when I heard awhile ago that a new player in the VDI space picked up some funding, I wrote a post that articulated my incredulity that an investor would actually see the space as attractive. A friend of mine, a particularly studious chap who, given a science background, has a preference to empirical data and research-based findings, called me out and sent me an email critiquing my commentary about VDI.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
At Amazon Web Services' (AWS) re:Invent conference two years ago, the company introduced AWS Lambda, a mind-blowing service that allows developers to specify and set up specific functions that would run in the event of particular events.This was a remarkable development, for it heralded the ability to move beyond servers for specific processes and move to a model where the operation was the unit of measure. Functions would run only in the event of the particular triggers and would set in a idle state for eternity in the absence of those triggers. Developers would pay only when the particular functions were running.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Most of my travel is booked well in advance. I’m kind of obsessive about my calendar and with a busy life to manage, I like to know what I’m up to weeks in advance. I’m also very loyal to one particular airline (here’s looking at you Air New Zealand) and am happy to pay a little more for a ticket on a top-shelf carrier that has good terms an conditions.I realize, of course, not everyone is in the same position and there are lots of people who buy cheap flights or holiday packages and then come unstuck when plans change. This is where SpareFare comes in. The company created an online platform that aims to connect people who bought flights or holiday packages they can no longer use with people seeking urgent or discounted travel options.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A year ago my inbox staggered under the barrage of vendors that promised to apply big data and predictive analytics to the sales and marketing departments within organizations. I spent a lot of time writing about the space, talking with the multitudinous vendors and expressing my view that there were way to many vendors doing essentially the same thing and making some pretty big claims about what they could actually achieve for their customers.This market seems to have simmered down, however, and I’ve not see a lot of predictive analytics activity in the space.But where one buzzword dies and leaves a vacuum, another is sure to arise. And it seems to be the case that artificial intelligence (AI) is that latest buzzword du jour. The number of vendors, both of a large and startup variety, who have been talking about AI in recent months is legion. And the reason for that sort of talk: Buzzwords generate interest and investment.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
There’s been a whole bunch of conversation in the database world in recent years around what the best type of database is for modern applications. Over the past couple of years this has mainly centered around the SQL verses NoSQL wars.On the one hand are the traditional SQL-based databases, which all follow a traditional row and column format. These are the databases that have existed since pretty much year dot and have proved themselves to be good all-around tools.+ Also on Network World: IT wants (but struggles) to operationalize big data +
With the advent of social media and the need for database approaches that worked well within the unstructured data landscape that these properties work within has led to the rise of the NoSQL databases. These databases don’t follow, or at least don’t only follow, the standard tabular approach towards data. Hence storage and retrieval of data doesn’t follow the rigid row and column, tabular approach.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Mirantis is well known as a pure play OpenStack vendor. The company is (was) entirely focused on offering organizations help leveraging the OpenStack open-source cloud computing platform.As we’ve seen over recent years, the OpenStack initiative, while popular in some areas (science and telco, for example) hasn’t seen the sort of service provider revenues that justify the massive valuations of venture-backed companies.So, while other vendors have gone to the wall and had to sell themselves off to the highest bidder, Mirantis seems to be making a determined effort to pivot into adjacent areas. No longer is this a pure-play OpenStack company; Mirantis now pitches itself as an organization that “helps top enterprises build and manage private cloud infrastructure using OpenStack and related open-source technologies.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
CloudVelox offers migration and disaster recovery (DR) tools for cloud computing environments. That’s a simple enough task, right? Well, kind of.The company's software automates the migration of applications to public clouds, including Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Microsoft Azure. But its aim to reduce the time, complexity, and hassle around this process is hampered somewhat by the fact that in the trio of functions that applications rely upon—storage, compute and networking—it is the last, networking, that dictates the availability or otherwise of an application. If the networks behind an application fail, the application essentially fails to exist.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
SecureAuth is in the business of adaptive access control. What that means in plain (or at least more plain) English is that the company offers security solutions that balance strength with ease of use and that adapt to different use cases.An example of adaptive access control might be requiring a simple username and password for regular access, but requiring a higher level of authentication when the user (for example) logs in from another geography.+ Also on Network World: 5 trends shaking up multi-factor authentication +
As data breaches have gained massive prominence in recent years, due in part to some celebrities' dual proclivities for poor password control and a penchant for naked selfies, the public has become increasingly aware of multi-factor authentication (MFA) a process that requires a subsequent authentication entry beyond simply username and password.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
SecureAuth is in the business of adaptive access control. What that means in plain (or at least more plain) English is that the company offers security solutions that balance strength with ease of use and that adapt to different use cases.An example of adaptive access control might be requiring a simple username and password for regular access, but requiring a higher level of authentication when the user (for example) logs in from another geography.+ Also on Network World: 5 trends shaking up multi-factor authentication +
As data breaches have gained massive prominence in recent years, due in part to some celebrities' dual proclivities for poor password control and a penchant for naked selfies, the public has become increasingly aware of multi-factor authentication (MFA) a process that requires a subsequent authentication entry beyond simply username and password.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
This week sees Amazon Web Services (AWS) holding its annual re:Invent conference in sunny Las Vegas. Since AWS is the public cloud vendor that everyone agrees rules the roost, it is unsurprising to see a huge proliferation of pitches in my inbox all hanging off the AWS event.Some of these pitches are completely irrelevant to re:Invent (“this new aftershave for men is designed for the public cloud”), while others are far more related to the fundamental change in the way that technology is done that AWS represents.+ Also on Network World: How to make hybrid cloud work +
A case in point is SwiftStack's announcement regarding its offerings designed to ease hybrid cloud adoption.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
VMware is in the midst of seismic change.
The company was a pioneer in server virtualization and has grown to dominate the space. In the process, it became a supplier to virtually every large organization on earth. But the time, as they say, are a-changing, and VMware is under pressure.
The rise of cloud computing vendors such as Amazon Web Services, new approaches towards technology such as containerization and serverless computing, and a fundamentally different way of doing enterprise IT all mean that some clouds are on the horizon for VMware.
So, this is one company that wants to be tightly aligned with the wishes of its customers. Some, less sympathetic commentators would suggest that this is, in fact, a company that wants to spread fear and uncertainty within its customer base so that those customers will want to stick with their “trusted partner.” Either way, a survey recently commissioned by the company is interesting reading. Both in and of itself, but also given the unusual context VMware sits within.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A decade or so ago, a few visionaries decided that a new way of delivering technology was valuable. Pioneers at both the software end of the spectrum (Salesforce and NetSuite) and the infrastructure end (Amazon Web Services) came up with solutions that, rather than being delivered on premises, could be consumed on-demand and via the internet. While it seems natural enough now, back in the day this was a revolutionary concept.And unsurprisingly, the way people have reacted to this “cloud thing” has changed over time. I have sat in many conference keynote sessions where industry leaders told of the risks, the utter devastation, that would occur should cloud actually reach an adoption tipping point. Much doubt was cast on the model, and customers were advised to keep with the status quo.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Government departments tend to be seen as “top shelf” IT customers. They tend to use larger providers, use more traditional delivery mechanisms and have a conservative approach towards newer ways of working. So, when Synack, a crowdsourced cybersecurity vendor, told me it secured a contract with the IRS, I was intrigued.+ Also on Network World: How the government can help businesses fight cyber attacks +
First, a little bit about what Synack does: The company is following something of an ongoing trend in the security space in that it wrangles a bunch of “ethical hackers” to essentially try and break a client's IT systems. The idea being that those hackers can ply their trade, but instead of intruding onto organizations' IT systems out of malice, they can do so as a service (and, it must be added, for a payment). Founded in 2013 by former NSA security experts Jay Kaplan, CEO, and Dr. Mark Kuhr, CTO, Synack feels very similar to HackerOne, a company now headed by Marten Mickos of MySQL fame.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Government departments tend to be seen as “top shelf” IT customers. They tend to use larger providers, use more traditional delivery mechanisms and have a conservative approach towards newer ways of working. So, when Synack, a crowdsourced cybersecurity vendor, told me it secured a contract with the IRS, I was intrigued.+ Also on Network World: How the government can help businesses fight cyber attacks +
First, a little bit about what Synack does: The company is following something of an ongoing trend in the security space in that it wrangles a bunch of “ethical hackers” to essentially try and break a client's IT systems. The idea being that those hackers can ply their trade, but instead of intruding onto organizations' IT systems out of malice, they can do so as a service (and, it must be added, for a payment). Founded in 2013 by former NSA security experts Jay Kaplan, CEO, and Dr. Mark Kuhr, CTO, Synack feels very similar to HackerOne, a company now headed by Marten Mickos of MySQL fame.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Every year Cisco produces a Global Cloud Index, a report that was developed to estimate (and it is just an estimate) global data center traffic growth and general trends. The report is a complementary resource to Cisco’s more general IP network studies, but it provides more meat for which cloud-specific pundits can chew on.+ Also on Network World: Enterprise IT pros see most workloads in cloud by 2018 +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Every year Cisco produces a Global Cloud Index, a report that was developed to estimate (and it is just an estimate) global data center traffic growth and general trends. The report is a complementary resource to Cisco’s more general IP network studies, but it provides more meat for which cloud-specific pundits can chew on.+ Also on Network World: Enterprise IT pros see most workloads in cloud by 2018 +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Ben Kepes