More Perspective

You can’t go to a conference or look at an article without hearing or reading something about data analytics. As an industry, we’ve gone from the recognition that we have all of this data (i.e. Big Data) to focusing on how to derive insight and value from that data. It’s been part of our world for so long that the term “Big Data” isn’t used in the same way it was before —we just talk about data. The scope and complexity of it is understood.

Today, most organizations struggle through a myriad of complexities associated with purchasing and managing software licenses. Apart from dealing with differing termination dates and compliance, the permissible usage of a license can also be governed by elements such as named users, concurrent users, perpetual use, subscriptions, and negotiated volume discounts. Licenses can also be tied to specific hardware devices limiting the manner by which they may be transferred.

Ever feel like you’re fighting a losing battle? Your organization is pretty diligent when it comes to security. You have firewalls at the perimeter between your internal networks and the Internet. You have an anti-virus product deployed on every laptop, desktop, and server within your organization and the updates are kept current. You may have even deployed an application-aware next generation firewall, an IPS, or a SEIM/SEIM to collect and correlate security events from many data sources. Yet, despite your best efforts, your end users still manage to become infected with malware—or perhaps even ransomware. You may ask yourself, “With all of this protection in place, how is this possible?”

Want to move more data and apps into the cloud, but you’re hesitant to do so because of security? It’s a valid concern. After all, protecting your sensitive data is your responsibility. When you put your data in the cloud, you’re taking a risk. It’s a calculated risk, one you’ve thought about carefully. But nonetheless, it’s still a risk.

The world is changing rapidly, and we’re starting to see cracks in the security controls we’ve come to rely on in our digital society. Even Equifax, one of the largest credit reporting organizations out there, has suffered a data breach. I’m often asked by friends and family how I react to the news and what I recommend, so I thought I’d share my suggestions with you

Information security is a top concern in every industry. In 2015, the percentage of reported data breaches caused by hacking incidents increased 8.4 percent over 2014 numbers to reach the highest value in nine years (37.9 percent), according to a report from the Identity Theft Center. Cyber crime is a sophisticated criminal enterprise, and billions are lost annually through breaches of businesses, healthcare organizations, and government entities; and yes, educational institutions too.

Downtime is an ugly word in IT, unless you’re talking about taking a vacation. It’s negative. No user wants to hear it or suffer the consequences of it. None of the IT managers that I know want to walk into an executive’s office and utter the words, “We’re down.”

According to a recent survey by Enterprise Storage Group (as reported in this Network World article), 45% of organizations reported a “problematic shortage” of cyber security skills, representing a 17% increase from their 2015 survey results. The shortage of skills creates a problem. But the obstacle is not insurmountable. Despite the talent shortage, here are five things you can do to find resources and build an effective cyber security program.

Demand for storage capacity is growing. While enterprise storage systems factory revenue was down in the fourth quarter of 2016, according to International Data Corporation (IDC), total capacity shipments of enterprise storage were up, reaching 52.4 exabytes, an 18.3% increase from the fourth quarter of 2015.

According to International Data Corporation (IDC), IT spending is expected to reach $2.7 trillion worldwide in 2020. Financial services, manufacturing, and healthcare are expected to lead in spending. Among all industries, healthcare is projected to remain the fastest growing industry at 5.7% compound annual growth rate (CAGR).

Stop by our booth at Cisco Live and meet the new ePlus OneCloud team; Sudheesh Subhash, Manish Tandon, Anjali Tyagi, and Desi Acosta! We are in Booth T12 in the Solutions Showcase – right near the House of Brews!

Like all local governments, the government of Harford County, Maryland, a suburb of Baltimore founded in 1773, is committed to delivering the best services possible to the 250,000 or so residents who call the county their home—while always remaining fiscally responsible. That can be a delicate balancing act at times, especially in the area of information technology.

Simon Sinek, well-known author, speaker, and consultant, made headlines a few years ago with his business book (and extremely popular Ted Talk) titled Start with Why. In his presentation, Simon explains his belief that companies must understand what they do and how they do it. But more importantly, they first need to understand why they do it.

Cloud adoption is increasing. While growth rate estimates vary, the trend is going up. But some studies reveal that cloud security remains a big concern, and it’s having an impact on cloud services adoption. According to a study by Intel, 49% of customers said they slowed down their rate of adoption last year over security-related concerns, specifically citing a shortage of cybersecurity skills.

We hear a lot about network programmability these days. It’s a popular topic at conferences and a common subject in articles and blogs. Many experts and industry analysts are writing and talking about it, mostly in connection with a broader discussion about industry trends and software-defined networking (SDN).

I talk about security a lot these days. It’s unavoidable, really. In my position, I meet and speak with so many IT people—colleagues, customers, and prospective customers—from commercial industry, healthcare, government, and education. And all of them share one similar concern: security.

What is your strategy for software-defined networking (SDN)? Are you just starting to think about it? Are you already utilizing the technology and realizing the benefits it has to offer? Or do you have the building blocks in place but haven’t yet made the transition?

New cybersecurity regulations go into effect for financial services companies in the state of New York on March 1, 2017. And the time to act is now.

Ransomware attacks are increasing. And it’s costing U.S. companies millions to extract themselves from the clutches of these blackmailers—to the tune of $209 million in the first three months of this year, according to information provided to CNN by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

Beware of the insider threat. For those of us in information security, those words represent sage advice we’ve heard (and given) for years. Long before Eric Snowden and the incident involving the National Security Agency (NSA) hit the headlines.