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
Oracle plans to acquire internet performance and DNS provider Dyn in an effort to pump up its cloud-based offerings and challenge infrastructure and platform service leaders like Amazon and Microsoft.Dyn, in the news last month when it was targeted in a massive distributed denial-of-service attack, operates a global network that makes 40 billion traffic optimization decisions each day for more than 3,500 enterprise customers, including Netflix and Twitter.Dyn monitors and optimizes internet applications and cloud services with the goal of delivering deliver faster access and reduced page-load times. Dyn's services will give Oracle a one-stop shop for enterprise customers looking for infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS), Oracle said in a press release Monday.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
When it comes to cybersecurity jobs, it is truly a seller’s market. According to ESG research published early this year, 46% of organizations report a problematic shortage of cybersecurity skills (note: I am an ESG employee). Additionally, a more recent research report from ESG and the Information Systems Security Association (ISSA) indicates that 46% of cybersecurity professionals are solicited by recruiters to consider another job at least once each week!The data indicates that there aren’t enough cybersecurity professionals around and those that are employed are in high demand. This puts a lot of pressure on CISOs and human resources people to make sure to keep their existing cybersecurity staff happy so they don’t walk out the door when they are barraged by headhunters’ calls. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
There was sad news over the weekend in the venture capital community, as New Enterprise Associate General Partner Harry Weller died in his sleep at the age of 46. Weller, who was not known to have had any illness, is survived by his wife and two sons."A renowned technology investor, champion of innovation and true partner to entrepreneurs, many knew Harry to be bold, brilliant and passionate," NEA says on a tribute to Weller on its website." To those who knew him best, he was equally remarkable for his kind heart and generous spirit. Harry was a deeply devoted father, husband and friend."MORE: Notable deaths in 2016 in technology, science & inventionsTo read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Returning to the controversy over fake news on the social networking site, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said over the weekend that the company was working with fact-checking organizations to put in place third-party verification of the authenticity of news on its site.
Facebook has been criticized for fake news on its site, which is claimed to have tilted the recent U.S. presidential elections in favor of Republican candidate Donald Trump.
Zuckerberg warned in his post late Friday that the website needs to be careful not to discourage sharing of opinions or to mistakenly restrict accurate content. “We do not want to be arbiters of truth ourselves, but instead rely on our community and trusted third parties,” he wrote.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Scams to keep an eye out forImage by ThinkstockIt always happens this time of year, an influx of holiday related scams circulating the interwebs. Scams don't wait for the holidays, but scammers do take advantage of the increased shopping and distraction when things get busy to take your money and personal information. Jon French, security analyst at AppRiver, warns you of six holiday threats to watch out for.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Windows 10 -- your wayNo matter who you are and where you stand on the raging Windows 10 issues, I bet there are some things you love about your new operating system, along with other things you wish were better, had stayed the same, or simply went away.In this slideshow, I take you through the parts of Win10 that irk me the most, giving you quick tips on how to set things right ... or at least, right-er. Your opinion will vary, of course, and if you have other beefs (and solutions!) post them in the comments below or over on AskWoody.com.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Let's go shopping!Image by Diariocritico de VenezuelaAs far as theft and fraud are concerned, consumers face (and willingly accept) a moderate amount of risk when they shop online or out in their local neighborhoods. This holiday season is no different, but the risk is elevated some, because criminals are looking for easy marks and low-hanging fruit.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
You know the adage about a cup being half full or half empty? Maybe the author had software-defined WANs (SD-WANs) in mind. Their ability to select between internet services is critical to delivering stable, predictable performance. But with multiple providers at each site, carrier management becomes a nightmare for SD-WANs. The answer might be Global Managed Internet Providers, also called Virtual Network Operators (VNOs).Multiple Paths: The key to SD-WAN availability
One of the biggest limitations of any SD-WAN is the dependence on the internet. Over the years, internet performance has improved dramatically. A look at the internet loss metrics from Stanford’s PINGer project show median loss rates across the globe have steadily declined since 1999, improving by 88 percent. Yet for all of its improvement, the internet remains an unmanaged network. Latency and loss rates may outperform private data services on some days, but enterprises look for data services to perform well every day.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Whether you are looking for a steal of deal on the latest and greatest gadgets or shopping to fulfill a loved one’s wish list, have you considered if the gadget is one of the most hackable?If not, then Intel Security has considered it for you and released its second annual McAfee Most Hackable Holiday Gifts list.The company first surveyed people to find out what average consumers plans to purchase and what they know about securing their new devices. The findings included that the average consumer lacks “awareness about the potential risks associated with emerging connected devices, such as drones (20%), children’s toys (15%), virtual reality tech (15%) and pet gifts (11%).”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Make sure it is a holly jolly time of the yearAs IT Ops teams begin preparation for the upcoming holiday season, which in retail is the busiest time of the year for web traffic, the team at BigPanda along with some other vendors have prepared a checklist of the key factors IT Ops teams need to consider to ensure their IT infrastructure is ready.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
New products of the weekOur roundup of intriguing new products. Read how to submit an entry to Network World's products of the week slideshow.BetterWorks Program AutopilotKey features: BetterWorks Program Autopilot helps enterprise customers automate goal setting and performance management program administration. Automated program reminders, timely communications and usage dashboards all ensure engagement and adoption without administrative overhead. More info.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
For some companies, using cloud services isn’t what they hoped or expected it to be. Reason’s like these might be enough to make them leave. 1. Your costs went out of the control. This can be significant. Prices go up and go down. A new product gets introduced that might be more financially attractive—but only if you started from that point and not if you include the added cost of migration (documentation, security and other audit) not to mention re-budgeting and rate of return over the lifecycle of the data flows. 2. Security was tougher than you thought. You were probably smart and already had extensive key control, but perhaps your cloud vendor wanted it done their way. Asset control, the cost of embedding security control planes and audit infrastructure that duplicates data center standards created a duopoly of security infrastructure—perhaps both equal but not the same—adding to costs of control, training, documentation, audit and more. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Doing more with less remains an ongoing challenge for IT execs. Making sure everything keeps humming along to meet service-level agreements can be challenging for resource-stretched IT departments. For all but the smallest shops, effective monitoring requires tools that provide a meta view of the entire infrastructure with drill-down capabilities.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
The concept of 5G wireless has been around for a long time, but only recently have meaningful moves taken place to bring the new technology to customers.5G stakeholders – which include silicon giants such as Qualcomm and Intel, infrastructure players like Ericsson and Nokia, and, of course the major wireless carriers – have been unsurprisingly bullish on the technology’s rapid advance, announcing numerous breakthroughs and field trials over the past several months. We’ve constructed a timeline of these 5G trials, embedded below, to give you a visual sense of how much action has been taking place.+ MORE: Read our 5G FAQ +To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
So what is 5G, exactly, anyway?
Well, if you’re asking about “exactly,” it doesn’t exist yet.
Oh, that helps me a lot.
Sorry. But the best answer to your question is probably that 5G is sort of a catch-all name to describe the next generation of carrier wireless technology that’s going to be slinging tweets and videos and connected home signals from the internet to your smartphone or your smartwatch or, really, any smart object you’ve got handy.
So why’s it better than 4G? Haven’t we had enough Gs?
Oh, not hardly. You see, 5G – like 4G, and the rest of the Gs, in fact – is entirely a marketing term, meant to give an overview of a certain generation of carrier wireless tech. Most of what we’ve got in this country that we refer to as 4G is called LTE, although regular LTE isn’t quite 4G, according to standards groups, and LTE Advanced.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
Open source holds up to commercial productsOpen source software provides an attractive alternative to more costly commercial products, but can open source products deliver enterprise-grade results? To answer this question we tested four open source products: OpenNMS, Pandora FMS, NetXMS and Zabbix. All four products were surprisingly good. We liked Pandora FMS for its ease of installation and modern user interface. In general, we found configuration to be easier and more intuitive with Pandora than the other contenders. NetXMS came in a close second with a nice user interface, easy to configure rules and a solid user manual. Overall, we found all four products suitable for enterprise use, particularly in small-to-midsize environments. (Read the full review.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
A peek inside a typical small business today will likely reveal lots of wireless devices, with little, if any, wired hardware in evidence. Problems could occur, however, if the small business deploys consumer-centric access points targeted at home users.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
Given that the overall design of the iPhone hasn't changed much since the release of the iPhone 6 back in 2014, there's a lot of pressure on Apple to deliver a home run when the company launches the iPhone 8 later next year.Though next year's iPhone would ordinarily be called the iPhone 7s, it's widely believed that Apple's next-gen iPhone will represent such a compelling upgrade that Apple will opt to call it the iPhone 8 instead.Now, as for what Apple has in store for us with the iPhone 8, the company's plans are beginning to crystalize slowly but surely. According to analyst Ming-Chi Kuo (via Apple Insider), Apple next year will introduce three distinct iPhone models.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here