Big Data is better than a sharp stick in the eye. I can say this with great authority, since I missed the first half of Strata+Hadoop World 2015 in San Jose because of the latter. But eye injuries have never kept me offline for long, and I was able to follow online with what I didn’t see in person. But I was very happy to make it in to the show on Friday, and even got a seat at about row 6 in the main hall for the keynotes. Continue reading “Big Data is better than a sharp stick in the eye”
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In today’s always on and connected, Internet of Things environments, IT is taking center stage to optimize business operations.
Many IT organizations allocate 70% or more of their budgets to simply keeping their operations up and running. It’s been like this for a long time, and there are many good arguments for this approach. After all, when IT stops working, business grinds to a halt. The penalty for failing to keeping things moving is often swift and unpleasant.
At the same time, most CIOs will admit that they are increasingly being pulled in several directions at once. In addition to keeping the uptime ball in the air, as a CIO you must juggle an accelerating onslaught of new demands. Like the push towards video, mobile, data analytics, and cloud. Plus the exponential increase in Internet traffic that means your networks never seem to be fast enough. And no IT executive wants to see their organization on the evening news in connection with the latest data security breach.
As a CIO, you should be asking your IT vendors how they can help reverse the 70-30 ratio in your shop without downgrading its performance. How do you transition to spending less on day-to-day operations? And, what’s the best way to direct a bigger share of IT resources toward addressing the expanding needs of the internal lines of business with more innovative solutions? Continue reading “Flipping the 70-30 IT OPEX Model On Its Head”
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The routine goes something like this. First a breach of security occurs somewhere in the enterprise, it could be something as small as a single computer getting infected or it could be a massive data loss. It seems like that’s a wide range of events, but often the reaction in an enterprise is the same. The IT executives have a meeting to determine fault and then the analysts and engineers are given the task of making sure that that particular incident never happens again. The analysts and engineers then reply with budget requests for new software and hardware from their favorite vendors. Unfortunately the end result is generally that money is spent and security is only moderately improved, if at all.
In the midst of reacting, everyone forgets that technology doesn’t configure itself and that the weakest link are the people. Instead of ramming in the latest and greatest in technology, we should be leading our company to review, create (if necessary) and rewrite our security policies. Without a policy, security tools are like unguided missiles that we hope hit their target. Continue reading “Plan to Be Secure; Secure to Your Plan”
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Mobile World Congress isn’t just about mobility anymore.
In fact, this year’s convention, which features everything under the sun that connects to a network and the underlying networking technology itself, is a clear indicator that Cisco’s vision for an Internet of Everything (IoE) world is not far off.
One area of focus this year is the fast-growing managed network and communication services market, which is expected to grow to $62 billion dollars by 2018. Savvy service providers like Telecom Italia, Deutsche Telekom (DT) and Telstra are leveraging virtualization technology to efficiently launch new revenue-generating services to their small- and medium-sized business customers.
At Mobile World Congress 2015, Telecom Italia and Cisco announced that Telecom Italia intends to deliver new Cisco-enabled managed business services, including Cisco Meraki, throughout Italy as part of its innovative LAN management offering.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbroxG1XML8
Continue reading “Managed Services Take Center Stage at MWC: DT, Telecom Italia and Telstra Announce New Services with Cisco”
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Cisco and Street-Artist Zosen Team Up for Mural at Mobile World Congress 2015
We are putting a focus on visual experiences at Mobile World Congress 2015 (MWC 2015) this week in Barcelona.
Barcelona-based street-artist Zosen and his team of painters are putting their graffiti-style talents to work as they create a lavish wall mural to portray the mobility elements and hot topics at MWC 2015.
There is also a story within the artistic story. A portion of the mural’s left side will be dedicated Continue reading “Cisco and Street-Artist Zosen Team Up for Mural at Mobile World Congress 2015”
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Guest post from Lori Mac Vittie (@lmacvittie) from F5 Networks
How you provision all the network things matters
Polymorphism is a concept central to object-oriented programming. The notion of polymorphism is used to extend the capabilities of a basic object, like a mammal, to specific implementations, like cats or dogs or honey badgers, even though they don’t care about such technical distinctions. A good example of this is cats and dogs, which are both of the type “mammal” but that “speak” in a different voice.
Continue reading “How you integrate Network Services matters”
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Guest blog and interview written by Roxanne Edwards
At the Women of Impact Conference this year on March 19th, our focus is to empower attendees to Be Fearless – by taking risks, overcoming obstacles and blazing new trails in their personal and professional lives. The Conference focus is to connect, develop and inspire the women in technology at Cisco.
Meet Jacintha Verdegaal, a Global Marketing Manager in London and one of our Fearless Females being featured for the Women of Impact conference on March 19th.
In today’s complex world of technology, Jacintha Verdegaal prides herself with the ability to translate complicated messages into marketing campaigns that appeal to her target audience.
She is also comfortable speaking in front of large groups, but this wasn’t always the case. After graduating cum laude from the University of Amsterdam, Continue reading “Women of Impact’s 2015 Fearless Female: Jacintha Verdegaal”
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In the first of a two-part blog series, The Seven Deadly Sins of User Access Controls, my colleague Jean Gordon Kocienda provided fresh insights into overly-permissive user access controls as a common underlying cause of data breaches. In this blog, I address the solutions to those “Seven Deadly Sins” with a modern twist on the antiquity typically known as the “Seven Wonders.”
Information Security professionals need to address user access control in the context of today’s complex threats, coupled with a fast changing IT landscape. Long gone are the days of only a few with a need to know and key corporate assets being housed behind the enterprise perimeter. We have shifted to an agile, data-centric environment with increasing user populations who may also be third-party suppliers or contractors needing fast access to assets that were previously off limits. And, it’s not just massive volumes of data that need protecting; it’s access to critical work streams and transactions too.
Continue reading “The Seven Wonders of User Access Control: Part II”
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Have you ever watched a video on your phone or tablet, only to have the video stop and start? While I was traveling out to here to Mobile World Congress, the exact thing happened to me as I was sitting at the airport. It’s frustrating, particularly if it happens for a long period of time or happens frequently during a 30-minute show.
We have the luxury of watching our favorite TV shows from anywhere, whenever we would like to see them. However, the network isn’t always prepared to accommodate the added data demands that video brings for all of their users.
Here at Mobile World Congress, Cisco and Akamai are demonstrating Continue reading “Great video for All! See How At Mobile World Congress”
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