In DevOps Maturity, Ops Lags Behind

Operations maturation in DevOps is happening, but the tools and capabilities that support it are slow to be created. In this episode of Talking DevOps, Josh Atwell, Developer Advocate for NetApp SolidFire, examines the reasons for the operations lag and how to overcome the resulting skills gap.

6 things software vendors need to know about HIPAA compliance

Maintaining HIPAA compliance Image by ThinkstockMany people are loosely familiar with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and usually associate it with hospitals, clinics and health insurance companies. However, it can be less clear how HIPAA compliance standards apply to countless other software vendors, SaaS providers that work with healthcare-related businesses or handle protected health information (PHI). In recent months, the Office for Civil Rights has been coming down hard on HIPAA violators, doling out some of the large fines – upwards of $5 million. So in order to ensure your business is protected and to maintain your brand reputation, it is vital to know the ins and outs of HIPAA compliance. With this in mind, Dizzion provides suggestions for ways vendors can maintain HIPAA compliance while still focusing on their primary business objectives.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

6 things software vendors need to know about HIPAA compliance

Maintaining HIPAA compliance Image by ThinkstockMany people are loosely familiar with Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) and usually associate it with hospitals, clinics and health insurance companies. However, it can be less clear how HIPAA compliance standards apply to countless other software vendors, SaaS providers that work with healthcare-related businesses or handle protected health information (PHI). In recent months, the Office for Civil Rights has been coming down hard on HIPAA violators, doling out some of the large fines – upwards of $5 million. So in order to ensure your business is protected and to maintain your brand reputation, it is vital to know the ins and outs of HIPAA compliance. With this in mind, Dizzion provides suggestions for ways vendors can maintain HIPAA compliance while still focusing on their primary business objectives.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple to start assembling iPhones in Bangalore by April

Apple plans to start assembling the iPhone in Bangalore by end April under a contract manufacturing arrangement with Taiwan's Wistron.The move by the company comes even as it awaits approval from the federal government for some of its proposals for lowering the import duties on components and for creating an ecosystem of local manufacturers who can supply components for the smartphones, according to sources close to the situation.The Karnataka state, of which Bangalore is the capital, has announced Apple’s intentions to make the iPhone in the city.Priyank Kharge, state minister for information technology, confirmed on telephone that the company had been cleared to make the phones in Bangalore and said it was a validation of the state's industry-friendly policies. Having a leading tech company making its products in the state could also have spin-off benefits in terms of app development and work in the area of artificial intelligence by the state's highly-skilled manpower, he added.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Snap is paying Google $400M a year for cloud services

Over the next five years, the company behind Snapchat will pay Google at least US$2 billion in cloud bills.On Thursday, Snap revealed in a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission that it signed a five-year contract to pay Google at least $400 million a year for cloud services. That's a steep figure, considering that Snap made roughly $404 million last year. In return for the massive commitment, Snap will receive reduced pricing, though it’s not clear how deep the company’s discounts will be. Sinking a bunch of money into Google Cloud makes sense, because Snapchat began its life built on top of Google’s AppEngine platform-as-a-service offering.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AT&T extends NetBond service to secure IoT connections

The internet is what made IoT happen, providing a common protocol to take the place of separate, specialized networks. But the public internet itself may not always be the best path between a connected device and the cloud.Enterprises can now connect cellular IoT devices to back-end systems via NetBond, a private network service from AT&T, instead of the Internet. The NetBond service sets up a VPN (virtual private network) from an edge device to the cloud. It can connect to 16 different public clouds, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, or a private or hybrid cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AT&T extends NetBond service to secure IoT connections

The internet is what made IoT happen, providing a common protocol to take the place of separate, specialized networks. But the public internet itself may not always be the best path between a connected device and the cloud.Enterprises can now connect cellular IoT devices to back-end systems via NetBond, a private network service from AT&T, instead of the Internet. The NetBond service sets up a VPN (virtual private network) from an edge device to the cloud. It can connect to 16 different public clouds, including Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure, or a private or hybrid cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

RSA 2017: The Internet of Things security threat

RSA Conference 2017 will take on the threat posed by the internet of things, something that was demonstrated last fall by the DDoS attacks that took down Dyn data centers and many of the high-profile Web sites it supports.Those attacks, generating peak traffic of 1TByte or more, raise the question of how best to secure these devices, and sessions at the Feb.13-17 conference in San Francisco try to answer it.+More on Network World: Cisco: Faulty clock part could cause failure in some Nexus switches, ISR routers, ASA security appliances+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

RSA 2017: The Internet of Things security threat

RSA Conference 2017 will take on the threat posed by the internet of things, something that was demonstrated last fall by the DDoS attacks that took down Dyn data centers and many of the high-profile Web sites it supports.Those attacks, generating peak traffic of 1TByte or more, raise the question of how best to secure these devices, and sessions at the Feb.13-17 conference in San Francisco try to answer it.+More on Network World: Cisco: Faulty clock part could cause failure in some Nexus switches, ISR routers, ASA security appliances+To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Technology Short Take #77

Welcome to Technology Short Take #77. I’ve got a new collection of links and articles from around the Web on various data center-focused technologies.

Networking

iPhone 8 Rumor Rollup: Paying a price for cool & an Apple-of-your-eye camera design

While we've all been busy watching for the newest iPhone 8 leaks, Apple has apparently been selling iPhone 7 and 7 Plus smartphones like crazy. With all the buzz about Apple's record-breaking iPhone sales in Q1 of 2017, iPhone 8 rumors had to take a back seat.But enough about the iPhone 7...Even More Expensive iPhones At $650 or $770 for an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, respectively, Apple's smartphones certainly aren't cheap. But Apple might be asking patrons to pay even a bit more for the iPhone 8, if the latest reports can be believed.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

AWS quarterly revenue continues to rise, but growth slows

The rocketship of cloud growth continued at the end of 2016 for Amazon Web Services. The public cloud provider announced Thursday that it brought in a little more than $3.5 billion during the fourth quarter of last year, up 47 percent from the same period in 2015. Quarterly operating income rose 60 percent to $926 million, compared to $580 million during the prior year quarter. That's nothing to sneeze at, but AWS's revenue growth was the lowest it has been in the past two years. There are a number of potential explanations for that, including seasonal changes in cloud migrations, and increasing difficulties on Amazon didn't provide an explanation for that, but it likely has to do with AWS's growing revenue base overall.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IRS warns on ever-changing “dangerous W-2 phishing scam”

Just as tax season gets underway in earnest, the Internal Revenue Service put out a warning about what it called dangerous, evolving W-2 scams that are targeting corporations, school districts and other public and private concerns.“This is one of the most dangerous email phishing scams we’ve seen in a long time. It can result in the large-scale theft of sensitive data that criminals can use to commit various crimes, including filing fraudulent tax returns. We need everyone’s help to turn the tide against this scheme,’’ said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in a statement. “Taxpayers should avoid opening surprise emails or clicking on web links claiming to be from the IRS. Don’t be fooled by unexpected emails about big refunds, tax bills or requesting personal information. That’s not how the IRS communicates with taxpayers.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IRS warns on ever-changing “dangerous W-2 phishing scam”

Just as tax season gets underway in earnest, the Internal Revenue Service put out a warning about what it called dangerous, evolving W-2 scams that are targeting corporations, school districts and other public and private concerns.“This is one of the most dangerous email phishing scams we’ve seen in a long time. It can result in the large-scale theft of sensitive data that criminals can use to commit various crimes, including filing fraudulent tax returns. We need everyone’s help to turn the tide against this scheme,’’ said IRS Commissioner John Koskinen in a statement. “Taxpayers should avoid opening surprise emails or clicking on web links claiming to be from the IRS. Don’t be fooled by unexpected emails about big refunds, tax bills or requesting personal information. That’s not how the IRS communicates with taxpayers.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here