Menu

Verizon to Launch Public Beta of Cloud Platform This Year

By
October 10, 2013

Verizon is planning to roll out a public beta of its Verizon Cloud “Infrastructure as a Service” platform and cloud-based object storage in the fourth quarter of this year. Verizon Cloud, which includes two primary components — Verizon Cloud Compute (the IaaS platform) and Verizon Cloud Storage (an object-based service) — will target enterprises, mid-size companies and development shops. The launch will initially involve a few hundred new users per month. Continue reading Verizon to Launch Public Beta of Cloud Platform This Year

Verizon: Big Corporations Still Moving to the Public Cloud

By
October 4, 2013

Verizon recently released a study that found that NSA surveillance concerns have not decreased the adoption of public cloud services by large corporations. Companies have been increasing their amount of data stored in the cloud. Public clouds remain attractive as they allow companies to decrease or increase the scale of resources, and to share the cost of ownership among users. But some big companies are looking to vendors outside the U.S. to avoid the NSA. Continue reading Verizon: Big Corporations Still Moving to the Public Cloud

SIGGRAPH: Canon Previews Handheld Mixed Reality Technology

By
July 26, 2013

Canon has been demonstrating a handheld version of its MREAL Mixed Reality technology at SIGGRAPH this week. According to Canon, the technology merges virtual objects with the real world, at full scale in three dimensions. The company launched its MREAL Mixed Reality headset earlier this year. The handheld version functions similarly to the headset, by enabling the use of markers or sensors to render images in real space. Continue reading SIGGRAPH: Canon Previews Handheld Mixed Reality Technology

BYOD: Companies Encourage Employees to Bring Their Own

By
May 3, 2013

Many companies plan to lower costs by encouraging employees to bring their own electronic devices to work. Gartner released a study that predicts the number of workers using mobile apps in the workplace will double by 2015. “BYOD strategies are the most radical change to the economics and the culture of client computing in business in decades,” claims David Willis, VP and analyst at Gartner. “The benefits of BYOD include creating new mobile workforce opportunities, increasing employee satisfaction, and reducing or avoiding costs.” Continue reading BYOD: Companies Encourage Employees to Bring Their Own

Samsung Preps Android to Take On BlackBerry in Enterprise

By
March 1, 2013

Samsung Electronics has another target in its ever-growing sights: the BlackBerry. Until recently, Samsung has marketed its smartphones very successfully to consumers worldwide, but never to businesses. That’s been changing over the past year, as the South Korean manufacturer has been beefing up the Google Android software that runs its phones, in an effort to give businesses a phone with increased security. Continue reading Samsung Preps Android to Take On BlackBerry in Enterprise

Big Data Predictions for 2015: Are We Ready to Manage 8 Zettabytes?

By
November 18, 2011
  • CenturyLink has released an infographic illustrating that 1.8 zettabytes of data will be created this year — and by 2015, that number will be 7.9 (equal to 18 million times the digital assets in the Library of Congress).
  • By the end of 2012, 50 percent of consumer Internet traffic will be devoted to video, making the largest contribution to the data boom. However, in 2015, most of the traffic will come from wireless devices.
  • Much of the data produced by consumers is “shadow data,” things like search history.
  • The infographic also details resource growth and notes “even as IT costs are dropping, capital expenditures are rising.”
  • “Naturally, enterprises hold most of the data, whether it’s created by consumers or by knowledge workers on company time,” reports ReadWriteWeb. “That’s a lot of responsibility for managing data: What’s your company’s data strategy to handle the incoming deluge of data?”

Forty-One Percent of Enterprises Block Access for Employee-Owned Macs

By
October 28, 2011
  • Ars Technica reports: “Forty-one percent of enterprises do not allow employee-owned Macs access to any company resources, even Web-based e-mail, according to the results of a new Forrester survey of IT executives at North American and European companies.”
  • Some companies will offer a stipend to employees to buy Macs if they prefer, but the enterprise seems to stay away because of higher prices and ingrained IT Microsoft traditions.
  • Forrester suggests that productivity is linked with the freedom to choose personal computers. Many employees prefer the “uncluttered Macs — especially those with solid-state drives, which are more responsive and boot in seconds,” according to Forrester analyst David Johnson.
  • Problems arise with the need for Mac-specific management software and file sharing, but Johnson points out tech departments that stand in the way “will eventually get run over.”

Could Facebook become the Next Enterprise Software Vendor?

By
October 17, 2011
  • “It might sound crazy, but I think there’s an argument that Facebook could become a leading enterprise software vendor for the webscale world if the social-networking kingpin is so inclined,” writes Derrick Harris for GigaOM.
  • “As we continue to consume web applications and cloud services and webscale data centers become more common,” he adds, “Facebook’s tools and expertise could be a cash cow.”
  • The article details a few examples of new tools and systems Facebook has integrated to manage its massive infrastructure.
  • “Facebook could stand to make a lot of money by consulting with customers on how to build their data centers and architect their applications, and then selling them the software tools to keep those apps up and running,” writes Harris, also noting there is no indication that Facebook will ever pursue selling webscale software.

Carriers May Help Close the Gap for Android Enterprise Adoption

By
October 11, 2011
  • While Android has so far trailed Apple in enterprise adoption, GigaOM reports that Motorola’s subsidiary 3LM, “has finally launched its security, management, and remote access platform for Android devices” that will enable:
  • “Device encryption of full memory and SD card data; selective encryption of corporate applications; remote wipe capabilities and whitelist/blacklist of applications; and control applications’ access to corporate resources.”
  • “Enhanced security and control of device, OS, and applications; remote installs of critical enterprise application; device tracking.”
  • “Secure remote access to enterprise resources and device health and status checking.”
  • The post also indicates that AT&T has announced “Toggle,” which allows Android users to separate professional and personal use by creating two different modes. This will help keep personal data private from IT managers.
  • Apple has made gains in the enterprise with iPad and iPhone integration, but this news suggests that “with better management tools that augment what already exists on Android, it may help boost Android’s acceptance in the enterprise…”

New Book on Tablet Impact: iPad in the Enterprise

By
July 1, 2011
  • In his new book, iPad in the Enterprise (available this August), Nathan Clevenger examines how the Apple iPad has started to transform the way enterprise IT departments are operating. Some interesting excerpts from the book are listed below.
  • “The day the iPad was introduced we had some discussions about adding them into our environment; 24 hours later, we had 500 devices accessing e-mails,” said Frank Modruson, the CIO of Accenture. “CIOs who resist will eventually be forced to change.”
  • “As we move forward into a world where cloud enabled networks are the norm,” says Art Glasgow, the CTO at Ingenix, “CIOs have to accept the fact that the world has changed. Any device at any time on the network will be the norm and it will have to be done without sacrificing security and manageability. Cool matters and usability rules the day so devices like the iPad have to be not just accounted for, but designed for. The good news is that devices like the iPad aren’t just cool. They are flexible, multifunction tools that are changing the way we work and create and in that sense may very well be not just an innovation themselves, but a catalyst to innovations.”

Top Stories
More News