Review: Ansible shows the beef

At a time when the configuration management market was dominated by Puppet and Chef, an open source project called Ansible emerged with a simpler approach to automating IT environments. An agentless system that was easy to learn, Ansible quickly earned a name for itself. Before long, the developers behind the project formed a company to offer commercial support. That company -- first known as AnsibleWorks, then Ansible -- was acquired by open source leader Red Hat in October 2015.Docker. Ansible offers modules for building and running Docker containers, orchestrating containers across a Swarm cluster, and managing Docker images. There are advantages to building Docker images from Ansible playbooks instead of Dockerfiles. When you build an image from a Dockerfile, the application or environment can only be deployed in a  Docker container. But when you build an image using Ansible playbooks, the environments can easily be replicated on any infrastructure -- bare metal, cloud instance, virtual machine, or Vagrant.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)

Apple Pay coming to 200,000-plus websites, not just in-store or in-app

Apple Pay on websites launched on Tuesday with the release of iOS 10 for the iPhone and iPad -- and will hit Mac desktops when macOS Sierra launches next Tuesday.More than 200,000 websites -- including small and large retailers -- plan to support Apple Pay on their sites in coming weeks, Apple said Tuesday. Many of the sites include online retailers using e-commerce platforms run by Shopify, Demandware and IBM.The move means that online shoppers with iPhones, iPads and Macs updated with the latest operating systems can save time when finishing an online purchase through the Apple's Safari browser. Retailers that have signed up for the service are expected to see an uptick in the number of customers that finish a web purchase, instead of giving up because typing in credit information was considered too complicated, awkward or time-consuming.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Apple Pay coming to 200,000-plus websites, not just in-store or in-app

Apple Pay on websites launched on Tuesday with the release of iOS 10 for the iPhone and iPad -- and will hit Mac desktops when macOS Sierra launches next Tuesday.More than 200,000 websites -- including small and large retailers -- plan to support Apple Pay on their sites in coming weeks, Apple said Tuesday. Many of the sites include online retailers using e-commerce platforms run by Shopify, Demandware and IBM.The move means that online shoppers with iPhones, iPads and Macs updated with the latest operating systems can save time when finishing an online purchase through the Apple's Safari browser. Retailers that have signed up for the service are expected to see an uptick in the number of customers that finish a web purchase, instead of giving up because typing in credit information was considered too complicated, awkward or time-consuming.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

10 free iMessage apps to supercharge your Messages in iOS 10

There's an iMessage app for that!With the launch of iOS 10, Apple has opened the floodgates by integrating third-party apps within its stock Messages app—and you can find them all within Apple’s dedicated iMessage App Store. Check out some of the best free ways to animate, coordinate, and add some flair your messages.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google offers $200K for top prize in new Android hack challenge

Google yesterday announced a six-month bug contest that will pay up to $200,000 for an Android "bug chain," one or more successful exploits of previously unknown vulnerabilities.Dubbed "Project Zero Prize," it differed from hacking contests that take place over one or two days: Researchers can submit entries from now until March 14, 2017. In that regard, Google's contest resembled the limited-time bug bounties that rival Microsoft has offered to focus on, among other areas and applications, in Windows 10's Edge browser.In the case of multi-exploit entries, Google also departed from the usual contest or bounty rules by encouraging researchers to submit each link in the bug chain as the flaws were uncovered, rather than wait until all were in place and exploitable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Google offers $200K for top prize in new Android hack challenge

Google yesterday announced a six-month bug contest that will pay up to $200,000 for an Android "bug chain," one or more successful exploits of previously unknown vulnerabilities.Dubbed "Project Zero Prize," it differed from hacking contests that take place over one or two days: Researchers can submit entries from now until March 14, 2017. In that regard, Google's contest resembled the limited-time bug bounties that rival Microsoft has offered to focus on, among other areas and applications, in Windows 10's Edge browser.In the case of multi-exploit entries, Google also departed from the usual contest or bounty rules by encouraging researchers to submit each link in the bug chain as the flaws were uncovered, rather than wait until all were in place and exploitable.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Digital transformation boosts captive offshore center growth

Global in-house centers — wholly owned captive offshore operations that deliver offshore IT services to their parent companies — today provide a quarter of the offshore and nearshore digital services market, according to outsourcing research firm Everest Group. And that percentage is likely to grow as enterprise demand for digital transformation continues.[ Related: Digital transformation will shape 2016 ]“Global in-house centers (GICs) are typically more strongly integrated with the core business as they are perceived as an extended team of the parent or onshore organizations,” says Aditya Verma, co-director of Everest Group’s global sourcing practice. “They typically have specialized knowledge of the business as they cater to only one customer (the parent organization) as compared to a multi-tenant service provider.” Enterprises are typically more comfortable sharing core business knowledge or intellectual property with the company’s own employees than with a third-party service provider who works with other customers or even competitors.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft Intune to support Android for Work

Microsoft announced late Tuesday that it has joined Google's Android for Work program and will support Google's container technology for mobile application management in a future release of Intune, Microsoft's own enterprise mobility management (EMM) server. The Microsoft blog post gave no timeline.Android for Work, initially released in winter 2015 as part of an Android 5.0 Lollipop update, brought to Android the same level of enterprise-grade protection for mobile apps that had previously been available only to Apple's iOS devices or Samsung's Android devices running Samsung's own Knox technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Microsoft Intune to support Android for Work

Microsoft announced late Tuesday that it has joined Google's Android for Work program and will support Google's container technology for mobile application management in a future release of Intune, Microsoft's own enterprise mobility management (EMM) server. The Microsoft blog post gave no timeline.Android for Work, initially released in winter 2015 as part of an Android 5.0 Lollipop update, brought to Android the same level of enterprise-grade protection for mobile apps that had previously been available only to Apple's iOS devices or Samsung's Android devices running Samsung's own Knox technology.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Project management: To debrief or not to debrief

Many project managers may view the end of a project as a perfect opportunity to debrief, while others are onto their next project with very little time dedicated to debriefing. Some swear by the debriefing process and others simply bypass it altogether. Let's take a look at the process, its purpose, the benefits and, yes, the drawbacks.The debriefing process is conducted once the project activities have come to a close and the project is complete. It allows for transparent feedback by any/all participants in a non-stressful environment.Reasons for team debriefing sessions The purpose behind project debriefing is to allow the project team an opportunity to share thoughts, experiences and ideas in a more relaxed environment. It offers a means to evaluate whether the project has met all the requirements and stayed within scope. It helps in identifying issues that may have occurred as well as aids in determining possible root causes.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A single ransomware network has pulled in $121 million

A single ransomware author and distributor was able to collect $121 million in ransomware payments during the first half of this year, netting $94 million after expenses, according to a report released today."Ransomware has grown over the years, and in 2015 and 2016 we really saw a serious spike," said Vincent Weafer, vice president of Intel Security's McAfee Labs.Weafer estimated that total ransomware revenues could be in the hundreds of millions."And that's on the conservative side," he said.WHAT SHOULD YOU DO: How to respond to ransomware threats Total ransomware increased by 128 percent during the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year. There were 1.3 million new ransomware samples recorded, the highest number since McAfee began tracking it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

A single ransomware network has pulled in $121 million

A single ransomware author and distributor was able to collect $121 million in ransomware payments during the first half of this year, netting $94 million after expenses, according to a report released today."Ransomware has grown over the years, and in 2015 and 2016 we really saw a serious spike," said Vincent Weafer, vice president of Intel Security's McAfee Labs.Weafer estimated that total ransomware revenues could be in the hundreds of millions."And that's on the conservative side," he said.WHAT SHOULD YOU DO: How to respond to ransomware threats Total ransomware increased by 128 percent during the first half of 2016 compared to the same period last year. There were 1.3 million new ransomware samples recorded, the highest number since McAfee began tracking it.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Tips for keeping Gen-Z and millennial workers happy

Forget everything you think you know about millennials and their successors, Generation Z, because your notions are probably false. What do these generations really want at work? Flexibility, in-person communication, a stable "home base" corporate office and the ability to travel, according to new research from Future Workplace, an HR executive network and research firm, and HR services and staffing company Randstad U.S.A.The research, the Gen Z & Millennials Collide @ Work report, was conducted by Morar Consulting across 10 global markets (U.S., UK, Germany, Mexico, Poland, Argentina, India, China, Canada and South Africa) between June 22 and July 11, 2016, and asked 4,066 respondents in two separate age groups (1,965 Gen Z members; 22 years of age and 2,101 millennials; aged 23 to 34) about their preparation for work, as well as expectations and experiences of their workplaces.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

Meet Flock, a Slack rival that claims big productivity gains

Numerous Slack contenders have already thrown their hats into the enterprise-messaging ring, but Flock is hoping to win with hard numbers. According to Flock, not only does its software load 2.5 times faster than Slack on both desktop and mobile, but it also helps teams achieve productivity gains of at least 30 percent.Originally launched in India roughly two years ago, the company announced its expansion into the U.S. market on Wednesday and revealed a customer list that includes big-name brands such as Whirlpool, Ricoh, Victorinox and Tim Horton’s.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

European Union plans to offer free Wi-Fi to all

Free Wi-Fi for all: That was one of the proposals to come out of European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker's annual State of the European Union address on Wednesday.The project, WIFI4EU (Wi-Fi for you), aims to put free Wi-Fi hotspots open to all EU citizens in parks, squares, libraries and other public buildings.The Commission will provide €120 million (US$135 million) through 2019 to subsidize the purchase and installation of Wi-Fi hotspots in 6,000 or more locations, but the provision of bandwidth and ongoing maintenance will be left to the local community.The hotspots will be open to all EU citizens -- although given the budget, it's unlikely many of them will be able to get a signal without a long walk.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

25 CIO pay packages revealed

Deep dive into CIO pay packagesTo find out how much CIOs at giant global companies really earn, we scoured the proxy statements of the 500 largest U.S. companies and found 25 that disclosed CIO pay. Here are the details on their 2015 pay packages, organized from lowest to highest paid.To see all the data in one place, check out our sortable chart of CIO compensation. See the last slide for details about how we compiled the data. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here

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