Microsoft ratchets up group chat competition with Teams launch

Microsoft’s work chat app Teams hit general availability on Tuesday, as part of the company’s push to compete with Slack, HipChat, Google and other players in the group chat market.Teams is designed to help groups of people collaborate at work by letting them communicate in real time. Users can take part in multiple Teams, which provide space for group conversations in a series of channels.Each channel can include integrations of third-party developer content, so users can do things like manage Asana tasks, edit OneNote notebooks and view HootSuite social feeds without leaving Teams. In addition, teams can use the app for group audio and video meetings.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Fat Finger Folly

You see, many newly created production systems, when they first come online, focus more on functionality and less on supportability. They are built to provide a specific capability. Of course, the services must be maintained, but maintaining these services often involve manual tasks by operations individuals, tasks such as logging on to servers and rebooting them, or terminating processes, or updating a configuration file. For many production systems, this is how they are maintained. Individuals login to the production servers and high privileged or “superusers” and manually perform necessary actions. This is, unfortunately, a very common process in the industry. —The New Stack

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My Data. Your Business.

Head-scratching ways companies screw up Wi-Fi

Network World has been covering network technologies for 30+ years now, and sometimes we assume that everyone knows what they’re doing when it comes to installing, configuring and using this stuff. But then we run across some examples where consumers and businesses are still not completely familiar with the gear.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

VMware’s Gabriele Di Piazza Talks Hot Trends at MWC

In this interview, Gabriele Di Piazza, vice president of solutions, Telco NFV Group at VMware, shares his insights on the biggest trends that he saw at MWC 2017.

IBM’s position on Security Analytics and Operations (SOAPA), part 2

Last week, I wrote about my interview with IBM security general manager Marc van Zadelhoff, where we talked about his perspective about the transition from security analytics and operations point tools to an integrated event-based security analytics and operations platform architecture (SOAPA). In part 2 of the interview, we talked about SOAPA requirements, intelligence and the need for SOAPA to scale. You can view the interview here. Some of the highlights include:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IBM’s position on Security Analytics and Operations (SOAPA), part 2

Last week, I wrote about my interview with IBM security general manager Marc van Zadelhoff, where we talked about his perspective about the transition from security analytics and operations point tools to an integrated event-based security analytics and operations platform architecture (SOAPA). In part 2 of the interview, we talked about SOAPA requirements, intelligence and the need for SOAPA to scale. You can view the interview here. Some of the highlights include:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IBM on Security Analytics and Operations (SOAPA) Part 2

Last week, I posted this blog describing my interview with IBM security GM, Marc van Zadelhoff, where we talked about his perspective about the transition from security analytics and operations point tools to an integrated event-based security analytics and operations platform architecture (SOAPA). Here’s a link to the initial blog I wrote back in November that describes SOAPA – what it is and why it is becoming so popular with enterprise organizations. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Lessons learned from trying to recite the digits of Pi

Today is Pi Day (3/14), which is a pretty big deal around here at Network World. Our resident Pi expert, Brandon Butler, has been chronicling the holiday for readers with ideas of how to celebrate the day for the past five years.As mentioned in a previous Cool Tools blog post, we were looking for ways to celebrate the day today that was a bit different, as well as add some video elements to our coverage. The first thing we did was to put together an animated video highlighting the origins of the day, which you can see here:To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Noction IRP web hooks support for Slack API

Slack is a great communication platform that simplifies and streamlines day-to-day operations of various teams around the world. Integrating the tools that

The post Noction IRP web hooks support for Slack API appeared first on Noction.

Intel takes aim at NVIDIA with Mobileye acquisition

Platform shifts kill companies. Mainframe companies missed the shift to minicomputers, minicomputers to desktops, and desktops to mobile. Machine learning is the next platform shift. Hardware platforms for machine learning have yet to be defined.Creating the machine learning models that power the next generation of self-driving cars, home assistants and language translation will require novel new hardware architectures that are significantly faster and address much larger memory spaces.+ Also on Network World: 5G will help autonomous cars cruise streets safely + To ensure it doesn’t miss out on this platform shift, Intel spent $15.3 billion to acquire Mobileye. Its goal is to gain early entry into the self-driving car market that will consume even more silicon than cars do today for self-driving, safety and convenience.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

There Won’t Be A CCIE: SDN. Here’s Why

There’s a lot of work that’s been done recently to bring the CCIE up to modern network standards. Yusuf and his team are working hard to incorporate new concepts into the written exam. Candidates are broadening their horizons and picking up new ideas as they learn about industry stalwarts like OSPF and spanning tree. But the biggest challenge out there is incorporating the ideas behind software defined networking (SDN) into the exam. I don’t believe that this will ever happen. Here’s why.

Take This Broken Network

If you look at the CCIE and what it’s really testing, the exam is really about troubleshooting and existing network integration. The CCIE introduces and tests on concepts like link aggregation, routing protocol redistribution, and network service implementation. These are things that professionals are expected to do when they walk in the door, either as a consultant or as someone advising on the incorporation of a new network.

The CCIE doesn’t deal with the design of a network from the ground up. It doesn’t task someone with coming up with the implementation of a greenfield network from scratch. The CCIE exam, especially the lab component, only tests a candidate on their ability to work Continue reading

27% off Corsair STRAFE RGB Mechanical Gaming Backlit Multicolor Keyboard – Deal Alert

The Corsair STRAFE RGB mechanical gaming keyboard features 100% Cherry MX gaming key switches - Unique gold-cross point contacts for incredible reliability, durability, and precision.  Cherry MX Red key switches are extremely responsive, with a smooth, linear response and a wide actuation zone, and no audible click or tactile “bump”.  The keyboard features multi-color dynamic backlighting - Brilliant RGB backlighting that immerses you in the game with virtually unlimited lighting adjustability. It's fully programmable - reassign any key or set up the most extreme macros for advanced gaming. And a detachable soft-touch wrist rest provides the comfort you need for marathon gaming sessions. Gaming-grade circuitry provides 100% anti-ghosting and 104 key rollover on USB ensures no matter how fast your play, all your keypresses register. The list price of $149.99 has been reduced 27%, for now, to $110. See this deal now on Amazon.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

BrandPost: How to Plan Your Move to Multi-Gigabit Ethernet

Gigabit Ethernet has been in the market for more than 15 years, but with rapid advances in Wi-Fi speeds and the rollout of increasingly bandwidth-intensive applications, many enterprises and SMBs are finding it’s finally running out of steam.Whereas once the only alternative to wired gigabit Ethernet networks was a jump to 10G, which requires new cabling, now there’s another option: 2.5G or 5G, using the Cat 5e/Cat 6 twisted pair cable you already have installed. Thanks to the work of the 45-member NBASE-T Alliance, you can find products based on the IEEE 802.3bz standard for 2.5/5G Ethernet ratified in September 2016.In this post, we’ll provide guidance to help you plan an upgrade.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FBI trained Geek Squad techs on law-enforcement tactics, new records show

The connection between the FBI and Best Buy's internal service and repair organization Geek Squad went a lot further than initially thought, according to newly unsealed records in a case involving a doctor charged with child pornography after bringing in a laptop for repair. The Orange County (California) Weekly has been all over a case involving a well-respected physician Dr. Mark A. Rettenmaier. Rettenmaier took his laptop to the Mission Viejo Best Buy in November 2011 after he was unable to start it. + Also on Network World: Why you shouldn't trust Geek Squad ever again + While performing a recovery scan of his data files, a Geek Squad technician found an image of "a fully nude, white prepubescent female on her hands and knees on a bed, with a brown choker-type collar around her neck." The technician notified his boss, who alerted the FBI. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

FBI trained Geek Squad techs on law-enforcement tactics, new records show

The connection between the FBI and Best Buy's internal service and repair organization Geek Squad went a lot further than initially thought, according to newly unsealed records in a case involving a doctor charged with child pornography after bringing in a laptop for repair. The Orange County (California) Weekly has been all over a case involving a well-respected physician Dr. Mark A. Rettenmaier. Rettenmaier took his laptop to the Mission Viejo Best Buy in November 2011 after he was unable to start it. + Also on Network World: Why you shouldn't trust Geek Squad ever again + While performing a recovery scan of his data files, a Geek Squad technician found an image of "a fully nude, white prepubescent female on her hands and knees on a bed, with a brown choker-type collar around her neck." The technician notified his boss, who alerted the FBI. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pennsylvania sues IBM over troubled $110M IT upgrade

Pennsylvania is suing IBM over a $110 million IT project to upgrade its unemployment compensation system that the state says was never completed.The lawsuit alleges that state residents ultimately paid $170 million "for what was supposed to be a comprehensive, integrated, and modern system that it never got," Gov. Tom Wolf said in a statement last Thursday announcing the lawsuit.Asked to comment, an IBM spokesperson said: ""The claims alleged by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania are without merit. IBM will vigorously defend itself against this lawsuit."But the odds were against this project from the start, according Jim Johnson, founder and chairman of Standish Group, which studies and consults on software project management. "Successful projects of this size are very, very rare," said Johnson.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

After rocky tenure, Mayer to leave Yahoo ‘tarnished’

After nearly five rocky years as CEO of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer will be leaving her post with something of a tarnished image.As Yahoo continued to struggle under her tenure, so did Mayer's reputation as someone who could run a top-tier company. And that is likely to affect the jobs she'll look at taking on next."I think she'll end up on the boards of directors of several companies, but probably will not receive an offer to head up a top company anytime soon," said Dan Olds, an analyst with OrionX. "Her tenure at Yahoo has tarnished her brand, and it will need to be rehabilitated a bit before she gets another shot at the top slot in another tech firm."To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Despite 5G, LTE will be even bigger five years from now

In 2022, even after 5G has officially launched, 4G will be bigger than ever.An ABI Research report released Monday reinforces what mobile operators and network builders have been saying about the move to 5G: It will be a gradual transition, not a wholesale replacement. Over the next decade or more, LTE will remain in use and and offer some of the same benefits as 5G. In some cases, it might be hard to tell the difference.LTE carries about 67 percent of all mobile traffic now, ABI says. By 2022, two years after 5G is expected to become commercially available, it will have an even bigger share, at 82 percent, ABI analyst Nick Marshall said in a press release about the report. Only about 13 percent of traffic will be on 5G.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 must-ask questions for evaluating EDR tools

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) products give IT staff visibility into endpoints for detecting malicious activity, analyzing data and providing appropriate response. EDR is part of a burgeoning security market, peppered with well-known vendors such as Carbon Black, Cisco, CrowdStrike and FireEye.Anyone looking at EDR today has come across the term "threat hunting," the process of searching through voluminous amounts of data to find signs of a threat actor or emerging attack rather than relying on known threat signatures. It's a combination of threat intelligence and big data analytics. Threat hunting is a critical component of a comprehensive EDR solution and a key differentiator from endpoint protection platforms (EPPs), with which they are often confused.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)