Digital disrupts traditional outsourcing market in 2016

The traditional IT and business process outsourcing market declined 25 percent in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to the same period last year, producing a total of $9.6 billion in total contract value, according to data from Information Services Group (ISG). The value of traditional infrastructure, applications, and business process deals in the fourth quarter was down eight percent over the previous quarter, according to ISG.[ Related: Outsourcing trends to watch in 2017 ]“These results, we believe, reflect uneven global demand,” says John Keppel, partner and president of North EMEA and Asia for ISG. “The traditional sourcing sector is in the midst of a structural change, as more and more services move to the cloud and many service providers try to adapt their business and sales models to meet these changing market conditions.”To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

5 of the most anticipated smartphones for 2017

It's become an annual tradition that we await tech companies to debut the latest smartphone hardware. Smartphone rumors fly every year as experts and consumers  speculate about the features they think -- and hope -- will be included in their favorite devices.And if it's time for an upgrade, there are plenty of new exciting smartphone features that your old device probably doesn't offer. Whether you want more screen real estate, a waterproof smartphone or a fresh new design, you'll want to keep an eye on these five smartphones.iPhone 8 Apple Once released, the iPhone 8 will mark the 10th anniversary of the popular Apple smartphone and industry experts anticipate a completely redesigned iPhone. MacWorld reports a possible return to stainless steel, an all-glass design, a curved OLED display, new color options, wireless charging, a foldable design and a third, smaller model of the iPhone 8.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Chrome, Firefox start warning users when websites use insecure HTTP logins

The war on insecure webpages has begun, and Mozilla fired the first shot.Recently, Mozilla rolled out Firefox 51 to its mainstream user base. With the new release comes an insecure warning on any page that offers a login form over an HTTP connection instead of HTTPS. Chrome plans to follow suit with version 56, expected to be released to mainstream users on Tuesday, January 31, as Ars Technica first pointed out.MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 6 simple tricks for protecting your passwords HTTP uses an open, unencrypted connection between you and the website you’re visiting that could be intercepted by anyone monitoring traffic between you and the site. For that reason, it’s never a good idea to share login or credit card information over an HTTP connection. Most major sites offer the encrypted version—HTTPS—but every now and then you’ll come across a site that doesn’t.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Chrome, Firefox start warning users when websites use insecure HTTP logins

The war on insecure webpages has begun, and Mozilla fired the first shot.Recently, Mozilla rolled out Firefox 51 to its mainstream user base. With the new release comes an insecure warning on any page that offers a login form over an HTTP connection instead of HTTPS. Chrome plans to follow suit with version 56, expected to be released to mainstream users on Tuesday, January 31, as Ars Technica first pointed out.MORE ON NETWORK WORLD: 6 simple tricks for protecting your passwords HTTP uses an open, unencrypted connection between you and the website you’re visiting that could be intercepted by anyone monitoring traffic between you and the site. For that reason, it’s never a good idea to share login or credit card information over an HTTP connection. Most major sites offer the encrypted version—HTTPS—but every now and then you’ll come across a site that doesn’t.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Trump’s trade TPP move a setback for cloud computing

WASHINGTON -- On the heels of the news that President Trump has removed the United States from the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a massive trade deal that he blasted as a candidate, experts warned of the fallout for cloud-computing companies that have been advocating for policies to break down digital trade barriers that restrict the flow of data traffic across international boundaries.Here at the annual State of the Net tech policy conference, the news was met with disappointment by a panel of experts, who said that the provisions of the TPP governing the activities of tech companies would have been an important step toward establishing international norms for trade in the digital age.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Face-off: Oracle vs. CA for identity management

Employees come and go, or switch departments, so IT managers seek an automated way to give (or deny) them access privileges to corporate systems. Two of the top software products for identity and access management (IAM) are Oracle Identity Manager and CA Identity Manager, according to IT Central Station, an online community where IT professionals review enterprise products.Both products have their fans who say the sophisticated software helps them handle routine access tasks … without paperwork. But users also note that there are areas where the products have room for improvement — areas such as the user interface, initial setup and vendor tech support, according to reviews at IT Central Station. Plus, several users said the vendors need to migrate these products to the cloud.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Face-off: Oracle vs. CA for identity management

Employees come and go, or switch departments, so IT managers seek an automated way to give (or deny) them access privileges to corporate systems. Two of the top software products for identity and access management (IAM) are Oracle Identity Manager and CA Identity Manager, according to IT Central Station, an online community where IT professionals review enterprise products.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

IDG Contributor Network: Thales Data Threat Report: Security spending up, but so are breaches

It’s interesting seeing how much money technology vendors spend on surveys that (at least most often) justify their own existence. It would be easy to be cynical about them, but beyond the self-serving aspects of it all, the data these surveys generate is interesting as a general “state of the nation” assessment.A good case in point is Thales' new Data Threat Report (pdf). Thales is a huge vendor that employs over 60,000 people across 56 countries. With multibillion euro revenue, it makes sense for the company to increase the perception that it is a thought leader in its field. And Thales' field is a big one. It is a systems integrator, equipment supplier and service provider in the aerospace, transport, defense and security markets. A major part of the company's offering lies around cybersecurity. This report is, therefore, very much in its wheelhouse.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

IDG Contributor Network: Thales Data Threat Report: Security spending up, but so are breaches

It’s interesting seeing how much money technology vendors spend on surveys that (at least most often) justify their own existence. It would be easy to be cynical about them, but beyond the self-serving aspects of it all, the data these surveys generate is interesting as a general “state of the nation” assessment.A good case in point is Thales' new Data Threat Report (pdf). Thales is a huge vendor that employs over 60,000 people across 56 countries. With multibillion euro revenue, it makes sense for the company to increase the perception that it is a thought leader in its field. And Thales' field is a big one. It is a systems integrator, equipment supplier and service provider in the aerospace, transport, defense and security markets. A major part of the company's offering lies around cybersecurity. This report is, therefore, very much in its wheelhouse.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

iPhone 8 likely to feature ‘wraparound’ display design

It's no secret that Apple's iPhone design is in need of a refresh. While there's certainly nothing wrong with the current form factor, the iPhone's industrial design has largely remained unchanged since Apple released the iPhone 6 back in 2014. That's quite a long time for a smartphone market that tends to move at warp speed.What's more, with 2016 marking the first year that iPhone sales experienced a decline, there's a strong case to be made that iPhone owners are more eager than ever before for something a little bit fresher.Not to fear, Apple's 2017 iPhone -- a device that will reportedly be dubbed the iPhone 8 -- may finally introduce a brand new design. Over the past few months, there have been a deluge of rumors all pointing towards an iPhone 8 featuring an edge to edge OLED display with extremely minimal bezels. What's more, some reports claim that all of the iPhone's front-facing sensors, including Touch ID, will somehow be embedded into the display itself.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pity the sad fools tasked with buying a DCIM system

The purpose of dramatic tragedy is to teach us to avoid misfortune by showing a negative example.With that in mind, I introduce our tragic hero. Let’s call him Jim.Jim is a vice president of data center operations for a bank. He’s been tasked with finding a replacement for the company’s legacy data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tool set, which ran into a dead end for support and updates.Jim manages a half-dozen data centers of various ages and design. The motley portfolio is the product of acquisitions and shifting management strategies over the past decade. Some of the sites are underutilized, others are coming up against capacity constraints, while still others are running on borrowed time and would likely require significant updates if anybody dared to evaluate them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Pity the sad fools tasked with buying a DCIM system

The purpose of dramatic tragedy is to teach us to avoid misfortune by showing a negative example.With that in mind, I introduce our tragic hero. Let’s call him Jim.Jim is a vice president of data center operations for a bank. He’s been tasked with finding a replacement for the company’s legacy data center infrastructure management (DCIM) tool set, which ran into a dead end for support and updates.Jim manages a half-dozen data centers of various ages and design. The motley portfolio is the product of acquisitions and shifting management strategies over the past decade. Some of the sites are underutilized, others are coming up against capacity constraints, while still others are running on borrowed time and would likely require significant updates if anybody dared to evaluate them.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Worth Reading: Every day is Monday in Operations

If Operations fails, so does your company—it is, as you might say, mission-critical. The delicate trust a company holds with its customers can be shattered by a single sustained outage. Just look at one outage from 2012 which cost millions of dollars per minute while a bug was in production. When a major incident occurs, no customer cares about who was at fault, the extenuating circumstances, or how you’re going to do better next time. They leave, wondering why they trusted your company in the first place. In Operations, failure is not an option. —LinkedIn Engineering

The post Worth Reading: Every day is Monday in Operations appeared first on 'net work.

FPGAs Focal Point for Efficient Neural Network Inference

Over the last couple of years, we have focused extensively on the hardware required for training deep neural networks and other machine learning algorithms. Focal points have included the use of general purpose and specialized CPUs, GPUs, custom ASICs, and more recently, FPGAs.

As the battle to match the correct hardware devices for these training workloads continues, another has flared up on the deep learning inference side. Training neural networks has its own challenges that can be met with accelerators, but for inference, the efficiency, performance, and accuracy need to be in balance.

One developing area in inference is in …

FPGAs Focal Point for Efficient Neural Network Inference was written by Nicole Hemsoth at The Next Platform.

Open-O and OSM Do Not Compete, Insists Chairman of ETSI ISG NFV

The ETSI group is hosting its first Plugtest this week in Spain.

Brocade Webinar: Five Critical Considerations for IT Automation Q&A

Thanks to all who joined us for the Brocade webinar Five Critical Considerations for IT Automation. Read the full Q&A here.

IDG Contributor Network: Wi-Fi as a service is after the IT department

Wi-Fi as a cloud-based subscription service is making moves to grab enterprise networking. The premise is that Wi-Fi is now so crucial to business and employees that companies have to ensure quality of service—even if that means bypassing the traditional networking and IT folks already on payroll and running networks.“A growing number of companies are deciding that Wi-Fi is too important not to be handled by experts, and for that reason they are outsourcing it,” said RCR Wireless News, which has been writing about managed service provider (MSP) vendor KodaCloud. KodaCloud published a press release this week saying major staffing firm EmployBridge had just bought its subscription Wi-Fi service.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple iOS 10.3 beta 1 packs a wallop; iOS 11 rumors heat up

The flashy projected features of the iPhone 8 (or iPhone X?) are dominating the Apple rumor mill of late, but let's not overlook the iOS software on the inside. Developers this week gained access to iOS 10.3 beta 1, even as iOS 11 rumors heated up.If you have an Apple Developer account you can go ahead and grab iOS 10.3 beta 1 now, but if not, here's what developers will be dabbling with (BGR shares the release notes here). The public will gets its chance to experience the new iOS features for iPhones and iPads in the weeks or months to come.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Raspberry Pi roundup: Here comes Google (kinda, probably), Competitor Corner and the sounds of Pi-lence

We in the tech press have a lot to answer for, it has to be admitted, like insufficiently tough coverage of net neutrality regulations, and the word “phablet.” We’ve also gotten into the habit of writing headlines that say “Giant company X has some big news!” based solely on the fact that Giant company X told us “hey, we’re gonna announce some big news Wednesday” or something.This is – kind of – not one of those times, in that Google has actually made a couple semi-specific announcements about its pending entry into the world of makers and maker-related things. Google, apparently, is planning to bring some of its work on machine learning and AI to the Raspberry Pi.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Sorting Through SD-WAN

SD-WAN has finally arrived. We’re not longer talking about it in terms of whether or not it is a thing that’s going to happen, but a thing that will happen provided the budgets are right. But while the concept of SD-WAN is certain, one must start to wonder about what’s going to happen to the providers of SD-WAN services.

Any Which Way You Can

I’ve written a lot about SDN and SD-WAN. SD-WAN is the best example of how SDN should be marketed to people. Instead of talking about features like APIs, orchestration, and programmability, you need to focus on the right hook. Do you see a food processor by talking about how many attachments it has? Or do you sell a Swiss Army knife by talking about all the crazy screwdrivers it holds? Or do you simply boil it down to “This thing makes your life easier”?

The most successful companies have made the “easier” pitch the way forward. Throwing a kitchen sink at people doesn’t make them buy a whole kitchen. But showing them how easy and automated you can make installation and management will sell boxes by the truckload. You have to appeal the opposite nature that Continue reading