Category: Comments & opinions

IT leaders from EMC believe the software-driven transformation of the data center will redefine enterprise IT. Virtualizing server technology was only the beginning. The race to transform the entire data center into a lean, mean, software-defined machine is on. “Fundamental change is needed. A new approach is required,” said VMware CEO Pat Gelsinger during a keynote address at EMC World. The need for a shift in the way IT resources are generated, stored and distributed is part of a much larger trend happening in technology in general. Throughout much of EMC World, experts…

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Whether you’re writing a prospecting email or executing a lead generation campaign, your goal should be to simply start a conversation—giving contacts only what they need to take a small step forward on the path to purchase. We’ve all done it—sat down at the computer, crafted a prospecting or lead generation email message, and thought to ourselves,“This content is so compelling and rich with insight that there’s no way prospects will ignore it; the response rates are going to be through the roof!” Then, we click “send” and wait for…

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Hewlett-Packard hopes its focus on private clouds — and it’s investment of muscle and money in the technology — can convince enterprise IT executives that it can provide a secure way to enter the fray. Hewlett-Packard hopes its focus on private clouds — and it’s investment of muscle and money in the technology — can convince enterprise IT executives that it can provide a secure way to enter the fray. Three years after it vowed to become a major cloud vendor, HP Wednesday unveiledHelion, a set of products and services…

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How to create a safe and easy to remember password It’s World Password Day, so it’s the perfect time to see how secure your password is. Remember, just because a password is hard for you to remember, doesn’t mean that a computer won’t crack it within minutes or hours. If you take away one thing from this article, it should be this: A long, easy to remember password is better than a short, complex password. Let’s illustrate this with a couple of examples. The first from XKCD shows the complicated password “TrØub4dor&3” might appear secure, but…

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Three million smartphones were stolen in 2013, but muggings weren’t the most common form of theft, according to new research. When you hear the words “smartphone theft” you might automatically think of a drug-crazed creep hitting some unsuspecting person over the head and making off with an expensive iPhone. Sadly, that does happen, but a new survey suggests many more smartphones are stolen because their owners carelessly leave them on café tables when they pick up their morning lattes. That “Doh!” scenario – which obviously isn’t restricted to cafés – accounts for roughly…

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LinkedIn, at the moment the most popular social media channel for social selling. Thanks to LinkedIn cold calling is almost over. But how interesting is your LinkedIn profile for customers and prospects? A lot of LinkedIn users see LinkedIn as an online resume. These resumes are refreshed almost every day with new posts and updates. Recruiters use LinkedIn a lot to find the right candidates and candidates use LinkedIn to find their dream job. But a lot of LinkedIn users use their interactive resume nowadays also to reach customers and…

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ISPs want to regulate bandwidth. Users want good service. Researchers at Stanford University feel there is a way both parties can get what they want. Image: YouTube The FCC just released proposed policy changes in response to the January 2014 federal appeals court ruling (PDF) that rejected the FCC’s “Open Internet” regulations. Proponents and opponents have been vocal about the proposed changes to net neutrality, or what the FCC calls the Open Internet: “The ‘Open Internet’ is the Internet as we know it, a level playing field where consumers can make their own…

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Oh, and it’s still 40 per cent of our business Symantec, a company that has made huge amounts of cash as the largest antivirus software vendor for the last quarter of a century, looks to be getting out of that business and into fixing hacking problems rather than stopping them. “We don’t think of antivirus as a moneymaker in any way,” Brian Dye, Symantec’s senior vice president for information security, told The Wall Street Journal, adding that antivirus was “dead.” Dye said that modern antivirus software only stops around 45 per cent…

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Big Data knows when you’ve fallen on hard times. Whether you’re deep in debt or a senior on a fixed income, data brokers can track and sell your information to payday lenders, debt consolidation firms and other marketers. The problem is the information can be used by businesses or scammers that prey on the poor and the elderly, lawmakers say. For example, lists of frequent payday loan borrowers could be targeted for other high cost loans — ones that could sink them even further into debt. And lists of elderly…

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Make use of keyboard tricks, multitasking, data allowance management and set Google as default Windows Phone is increasing in popularity, especially in the business world where Microsoft claims it’s got an 18 per cent market share. If you’re using Windows Phone, make sure you’re getting the most out of your device with these top 10 tips: 1 – Sleep Tracker Research indicates if you wake up during a light sleep phase you’ll have an easier time getting out of bed and be more refreshed. You can use the free Sleep Tracker app to…

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