enews – Page 43 – *IT Exclusive News

Don’t forget charisma when hiring an IT leader

December 1, 2014December 1, 2014 enews

When looking for IT leaders, technical and management skills generally top the criteria. However, in many situations, charisma and an ability to relate to stakeholders is equally or more important. Image: iStock Charisma often gets a bad rap in technical circles. It’s perceived as the sizzle without the steak, or the “empty suit” who shakes the hands and kisses the babies, but underneath it all has no idea what he or she is talking about. In IT we often evaluate our peers and managers by their technical acumen, and anyone…

IDC Comment: Securing Government Clouds: What Lessons Have Been Learnt from the U.K. G-Cloud Program

November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 enews

LONDON, November 26, 2014 — Over the past five or six years, Western European governments have realized the potential benefits of cloud computing. In the early days of cloud, government CIOs were split between the skeptics — who considered cloud as just another iteration of traditional infrastructure and application hosting, and the enthusiasts — who saw cloud as a quick and easy way to significantly cut capex. Image: huddle.com In particular, government CIOs we have spoken with are now looking at cloud to improve their ability to give access to applications and…

Americans Flunk Internet History

November 28, 2014November 28, 2014 enews

Pew Research finds gaps in what people understand about the technology they use daily. Most Americans don’t know that the Internet and the Web are not the same thing. The Pew Research Center has released results from a survey of 1,066 Internet users that asked 17 questions about the Internet, how it works, and important technology leaders. The survey found Americans well-informed on some topics but not on others. Most of those surveyed (83%) could identify Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, could tell you that hashtags are associated with Twitter (82%), and could…

Energize Your Cloud

November 26, 2014November 26, 2014 enews

You’ve been hearing a lot about cloud computing these days. If the many definitions of the Cloud seem a tad abstract and esoteric – you’re not alone. Go to any IT tradeshow or consulting conference and you’ll see liberal references and pictures of the Cloud. Many messages are often mixed with cloud enabling technologies like Software-defined Storage (SDS), hyper-converged/hyper-scalable virtual Server SANs, and the many different flavors of Flash. Let’s not forget vendor messages around Big Data, Virtualization and 2nd to 3rd Platform transformation to Mobile Computing. It’s no wonder…

BuzzFeed says social rules and it is bigger than most TV networks

November 26, 2014November 26, 2014 enews

Although it is still relatively new as far as media entities go, BuzzFeed has become one of the leading new-media players, thanks in large part to its command of the social web, an ability to craft viral content and a large fan base among millennials. Credit: VLADGRIN/ThinkStock True to form, the company has created a visually-rich index of facts about its size and reach — numbers which help explain how it was able to raise $50 million in a recent financing round. As a caveat, it’s worth noting that the presentation is clearly…

Hidden costs and locations: Solving the mystery of cloud solutions for businesses

November 26, 2014November 26, 2014 enews

The cost and functional benefits of migrating services to the cloud have been well documented, but as more solutions are introduced to the market, choosing the right one is presenting many businesses with a real challenge. The industry is becoming increasingly crowded, so we have simplified the research process and singled out five key things organisations may not know about the cloud to help them make the most informed decision. Picture credit: iStockPhoto Beware of hidden costs Many businesses have discovered that there can potentially be a number of…

EU Parliament proposes Google split

November 25, 2014November 26, 2014 enews

Lawmakers want search business separated from other commercial services The European Parliament is to vote on a motion calling for search giant Google to be split up this Thusday. The non-binding resolution, which was unveiled last week, could see the firm split its search business from its other commercial operations in a bid to reign in its dominance in the search market. The motion was launched by MEPs Ramon Tremosa and Andreas Schwab. “In case the proceedings against Google carry on without any satisfying decisions and the current anti-competitive behaviour continues…

Russian webcam hackers spy on UK homes & offices

November 25, 2014November 26, 2014 enews

Website shows footage of babies sleeping in cots, offices and even a pub Webcam and CCTV owners are being urged to secure access to surveillance devices after it emerged a Russian website is making the footage available for anyone to view online. The website, called Insecam, streams live video from thousands of webcams without the owners’ permission. The owners also have no idea their premises are being spied on. In the UK, around 584 webcams are available to view, including feeds from offices, factories and even a pub in Egham.…

From one cloud to many: The current trend of cloud adoption

November 24, 2014November 24, 2014 enews

Over the next 12 months, the majority of business applications will be deployed to the cloud, with most of these being deployed to multiple clouds across multiple geographies. Picture credit: iStockPhoto That’s the key trend from a survey conducted by Equinix, in which the overwhelming majority of the 659 global respondents (77%) said they planned to deploy to multiple clouds in the next year, and a similar number (74%) expect a larger budget in 2015 for cloud services. 91% of new cloud-based offerings will be deployed in the organisation over…

Most Businesses Use Third-Party Services to Manage Virtualization

November 21, 2014November 21, 2014 enews

Less than one-third of businesses keep their virtualization servers on-premises and managed entirely by their own internal IT staff, according to a Kaspersky Lab survey of 3,900 IT professionals worldwide. As virtual infrastructure increasingly handles more business-critical services, the reliance on external hosting and management services raises potential security concerns, particularly for smaller businesses. Off-site vs. On-Premises: Based on Business Size According to the more than 2,000 survey respondents who use virtual servers, only 29% report that their physical machines were located within the walls of their business and maintained…