1. Reflections – EMC Executives Report From The Road
The Next Wave of Cloud Computing
2 days ago
By David Goulden, President and COO
Hear where the next wave of IT transformation leads,
from EMC President & COO David Goulden. [video]
How We Can Use Technology To Transform The Classroom
5 days ago
By Howard Elias, President and Chief Operating Officer,
EMC Information Infrastructure and Cloud Services
With each fundamental shift in America’s
economy, our public education system has also transformed to meet the
needs of both student and industry. When we were a primarily agrarian nation,
schools focused on the liberal arts and operated on a schedule that coincided
with the cycle of planting and harvest. Following the Industrial Revolution,
schools adopted a more regimented model focused on rote and routine, and added
a more specialized curriculum designed to meet the insatiable labor needs of
our mills and factories.
Road to Recovery: Do you have a plan in place?
7 days ago
By Rodrigo Gazzaneo, vSpecialists Manager, Latin
America
Hurricane Sandy was not an isolated event. As the
world becomes more densely populated these natural events will cause bigger
impact. The world is becoming more interconnected too. More organizations rely
on intelligent systems to support their operations than ever, and these systems
need infrastructure. Latin America is no exception.
2. Chuck's Blog – An EMC insider's perspective on information,
technology and customer challenges.
EMC Joins OpenStack
1 day ago
Today, our EMC logo went up on the OpenStack Foundation's web
site as a corporate level sponsor. You'll see many
other logos up there as well -- all good. I'm sure each
participant sees OpenStack through their own lens. With this post,
hopefully I can share a bit of EMC's perspective and motivations. Because
-- as with most things -- the pattern should be familiar by now.
Charting The Digital Universe: IDC's 6th Annual Study
1 day ago
Climate change has been hotly debated for well over a
decade now. The evidence is largely in, what remains is a discussion
around root causes, and what -- if anything -- can be done. Personally,
the topic became particularly urgent when I saw a recent documentary ("Chasing Ice") which
features stunning time-lapse photography of massive glaciers and ice sheets
melting before your very eyes. Seeing is believing. Our world is
changing, faster than we thought.
E&Y: Trust And The Cloud
5 days ago
I'm lucky to meet a wide range of IT
organizations scattered across all sorts of industries. Some are bravely
charging ahead into the new world of cloud-based IT service delivery:
transforming their internal operations, consuming more external IT services,
and learning quickly as they go. But others are holding back, and for
what turns out to be very sound reasons.
There Is No Automation Pill
6 days ago
So many discussions these days with customers
around IT transformation -- three of them yesterday
alone. While every discussion has its own unique nuances, there are
observable patterns where people frequently can fall into a predictable trap --
not just IT organizations, but us as IT vendors as well. And, not
surprisingly, one of those topics is automation.
Lost In Translation?
7 days ago
Part of my role here at EMC is to spend time with
writers, bloggers and journalists on various topics. It's a global
endeavor, often crossing language and cultural barriers. Most of the
time, it turns out pretty well. What ends up in print is a reasonable reflection
of what I said - maybe not perfect, but close enough. Once in a rare
while, the result can get jumbled. When it does, I certainly share a
decent amount of the responsibility: was I clear, did I speak slowly, did I
make it simple enough?
3. Storagezilla
Cheap heat, no mojo.
7 days ago
Looking to generate some cheap heat (And because EMC
doesn’t speak to him at all) Robin Harris has started making things up about
Project X. The core of his argument appears to be that if it wasn’t going to be
incredibly late by his estimate, the company would have conducted private betas
by now. But since he hasn’t heard of any they must not be happening. Well
that’s a valid point, so valid that EMC actually allowed the results of a
customer POC to
be posted online by the team who performed it for the customer back in
September.
4.
Information Playground – Global High-Tech Innovation
Digital Universe 2012: Machine Machinations
1 day ago
A machination is
defined as a crafty scheme, a plot, or intrigue. When I look at the wealth
of information provided by the IDC in this year's Digital Universe Study, I can't help but think that
machines are writing a pretty crafty plot in which we as humans are designing a
fairly sophisticated communication network for them. IDC is nearly at the
midpoint of their Digital Universe Study. They define the Digital
Universe as "a measure of all the digital data created, replicated, and
consumed in a single year". The first study was completed in 2007. This initial study predicted that
the Digital Universe in 2010 would grow to 988 exabytes.
5.
Speaking of Security, the RSA Blog and Podcast – featuring a group
of experts in identity management, encryption, privacy, policy, and enterprise
security standards.
Citadel’s Steward Banned from Underground Venues
1 day ago
Those following deep-web cybercrime communities know,
and have borne witness to, the fate of black hat developers who take on the
creation of commercial banking Trojans. Starting with Zeus’ creator “Slavik”
and SpyEye’s “Gribodeamon,” developers work overtime to get on the fast track
to 6-figure salaries and underground fame. On the way there, they realize they
are the glue that keeps the operation together – listening to customers,
ensuring product quality, marketing, sales, tech support and keeping appearances
in cybercrime forums, where their target audience awaits.
Worried about Advanced Threats? RSA Education Services can
help!
2 days ago
I’d like to start out with a quote from RSA’s
Executive Chairman, Art Coviello, from his Keynote at RSA Conference in
February this year… “We need to champion and develop a new breed of Cyber
Security Analyst…This new breed of analyst must have the right analytical
skills, ‘big picture’ thinking and much needed collaborative “people skills” to
ensure smooth information sharing with multiple stakeholders.”
Applying Security Intelligence to Your Enterprise Threat
Mitigation Program – Introduction
5 days ago
Intelligence is
no longer solely relegated to the world of the clandestine. It is no longer
the exclusive domain of roguish characters featured in heart pounding novels
nor is it the sole dominion of the prototypical ‘geek’ pounding away on a
keyboard at a secret government facility (or van) near you. No. Threat Intelligence is part of our lives and we
experience it daily at work, at home and on the go. This is true for you and me
and for enterprise organizations.
BYOD Are We Still Not Getting It Right?
6 days ago
Continuing on my recent blogs on BYOD, I thought I
would share some interesting statistics from this year’s PwC Information Security Breaches Survey. 75% of large
businesses allow staff to use smart phones and tablets to connect to their
systems yet only 39% ensure that data on these smart phones is encrypted.
Mobile devices are often lost or stolen with any data on them exposed. In the
wrong hands these devices can potentially open up a door into corporate assets.
Sports, RSA, and Silver Tail Systems
6 days ago
I love sports. I am fascinated by the fact that
some teams consistently win, year in, year out, and some teams tend to always
struggle (to my beloved Golden State Warriors…this is our year!). The New
England Patriots recently clinched the AFC East Division Championship for the
ninth time out of the past ten years. FC Barcelona hoisted five out of
the past ten La Liga Championship trophies. The Boston Celtics and the
Los Angeles Lakers have won 33 out of the 63 NBA Championships played since
1947.
6.
EMC IT Proven
– Leading our IT Transformation
Best Practices for Virtualizing Your Oracle Database
1 day ago
Virtualizing your Oracle database infrastructure
without benchmarking and following best practices is a bit like trying to find
your way in a strange big city without a street map. You may get where you need
to go eventually, but it will be a long and difficult journey. Fortunately, we
at EMC are in the midst of that virtualization journey and have put together
some benchmarks and best practices to help guide your organization’s path to
running Oracle database on virtualized infrastructure.
EMC’s New SAP ERP System Passes the Test: Users muscle through
record end of quarter (Q3 2012)
6 days ago
In my last blog, I talked about how EMC
succeeded beyond expectations in launching our new ERP system – codenamed
PROPEL – in a big-bang cutover that went live without a hitch on July 4, 2012.
But the real test of the PROPEL project still loomed: closing out our first
ever quarter using the new SAP ERP system. I’m glad to report that PROPEL
passed that critical test— thanks to planning, persistence and plenty of hard
work by our project team, the business and everyone involved across EMC.
EMC CIO Sanjay Mirchandani to Keynote EMC Forum Boston 2012 on
Dec. 7
7 days ago
Get ready for EMC Forum 2012: the one-day conference
that aims to transform the way you see the future of IT, Business, and
Yourself.
7.
The Backup Window
– 360° view of backup and recovery
Help, I Need Somebody… to Manage My Backups
2 days ago
Okay, I admit, it…this passage probably won’t mean
much to you if you aren’t a Beatles fan, particularly of their 1965 song “Help”,
which has been described as the “first crack in the protective shell” John
Lennon had built around his emotions during the Beatles’ rise to fame. So
what does this song have to do with backups and confidence in data
protection? I’m glad you asked. The parallel I’m attempting to make
here is that from an IT organization perspective, the way backups and data
protection are viewed today is dramatically different than it was a few years
ago.
Is Big Data Too Big to Back Up?
5 days ago
Is the new Boeing Dreamliner too big for safety
inspections? Was the Titanic too big to need lifeboats? Are some banks too big
to follow basic asset safety rules? Was Gmail too big to
lose data? So, is big data too big to back up? Definitely
not. But that doesn’t mean you can back up Big Data with traditional
backup techniques. Big Data’s volume, variety, and velocity (the 3 V’s) force
backup teams to transform their approach.
EMC’s Chief Oracle Architect Speaks Out
7 days ago
I recently had the opportunity to sit down with Darryl
Smith, one of EMC’s brightest IT minds, and the conversation that ensued was
very different than I thought it would be… and in a good way.
8.
Thought Feast
– The technology blog to feed your brain with industry trends and topics
Simply the best: EMC Disaster Recovery and Business Continuity
2 days ago
Lady Backup is pleased to announce that EMC is the
winner for the 2nd year in the V3 Technology Awards. While EMC was
nominated in several categories, readers voted EMC best in “disaster recovery
and business continuity” solutions. Also of note is that VFCache was a finalist in the best product of the
year. Check out this video interview with Kelly Brown, filmed from the
awards ceremony.
9.
InFocus
– EMC Global Services Blog
2013 – An Inflection Point for Cloud Services in Financial
Industry
1 day ago
It’s hard to believe December is already here; time to
reflect on the technology highlights of this past year and prognosticate the
year in review and see what exciting new trends 2013 holds for the financial
industry. What will take center stage amongst all the IT predictions –
ranging from Big Data developments, to Mobile Services, Virtualization, Social
Media, Digital, or maybe their numerous permutations?
Nurturing Serendipity in the Age of Data-driven Decisions
2 days ago
Recently I had an interesting discussion with my good
friend Jonathan Abel. Jonathan heads up the Center for Computer
Research in Music and Acoustics (CCRMA) at Stanford University, where
Jonathan and his students combine data science with sound and music in
exploration of research and commercial opportunities. We got into a
discussion about the role of serendipity as a tool in the scientist’s kitbag,
and how important it was for a scientist to plan for and encourage serendipity,
and leverage human intuition, in designing analytic models.
To Orchestrate or Not to Orchestrate?
5 days ago
Orchestration is a common term you will encounter when
talking about cloud computing. Many organizations are currently trying to
understand if orchestration is a requirement as they virtualize their Data
Centers and adopt private, public, or hybrid cloud models. You will notice that
the formal definition of cloud does not explicitly mention orchestration. Could
this be another software vendor’s marketing hype to ride the cloud wave in
order to sell more software?
How We Can Use Technology To Transform The Classroom
5 days ago
With each fundamental shift in America’s economy, our
public education system has also transformed to meet the needs of both student
and industry. When we were a primarily agrarian nation, schools focused on the
liberal arts and operated on a schedule that coincided with the cycle of
planting and harvest. Following the Industrial Revolution, schools adopted a
more regimented model focused on rote and routine, and added a more specialized
curriculum designed to meet the insatiable labor needs of our mills and
factories.
2012: The Year that Service Excellence Finally Got the
Spotlight?
6 days ago
At the risk of spilling trade secrets on how I
generate ideas for a blog post, I usually start with a general concept
regarding customer service excellence then search for objective articles to
support my idea. When I first started my InFocus blog in June 2011, there were very few
articles available to support my ideas. In other words, customer service
excellence was not newsworthy.
After Virtualization: Is Continuous Availability the Next Wave?
6 days ago
You may be wondering where the linkage is between virtualization
and continuous availability (CA) — two computing trends
that are getting a lot of attention these days. As you know, virtualization
has been the hottest “no brainer” migration over the past 5 to 7 years.
But, it was not always that way.
Controlling Chaos with Technology: An Overview of
Transformation in Health Insurance
6 days ago
A transformation of unprecedented scale and speed is
sweeping through the health insurance market. Health plans face numerous and
competing demands as the market tries to reign in cost growth while improving
health quality and outcomes. Driven by members, providers, regulators and
payers, four primary forces are at the heart of this transformation:
Consumerism, Care Delivery, Regulation, and Consolidation.
IT as a Service from a CxO’s Perspective
7 days ago
Today’s CxO is besieged with pressures, both from the
macro level and at the company level. The uncertainties of the economy and the
ever-changing regulatory landscape are just a sample of the macro-level issues.
At the company level, C-level execs are constantly trying to find competitive
advantages and be more innovative, while continuing to improve
efficiency. When you then add in the impact of technology from social
networks and the consumerization of everything (including IT), you have to
wonder how these folks sleep at night.
10.
Managed View
– From Silos to Services
Infrastructure-As-A-Service Goes Mainstream
5 days ago
Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), the fastest
growing segment of the rapidly expanding cloud market, is going mainstream into
the enterprise. Concurrently service providers, who were early adopters, are
moving upstream to more higher-value services. IaaS is a simple concept, but
with complexities that must be dealt with to successfully implement.
11.
Cloud Matters –
Ideas, observations and stories about the journey to cloud computing
Buzzwords, Business and Murder
6 days ago
Looking to predict the future is no new idea.
How it is done has changed though and that's one reason that Time
magazine lists “Big Data” as the number two buzzword of 2012, led only by the not very surprising
“Fiscal Cliff”. (Thanks Chuck for the heads up tweet.) We’ve been
through this buzzword fatigue before – green, cloud, everything
“e”. Perhaps the key lesson is that while they can indeed get tiresome,
the terms draw early attention to something that will ultimately become quite
valuable and will also entwine with normalcy enough to be hardly noted as
special. Just essential.