Information Technology

Barry Mattacott, marketing director at security specialist Wick Hill Group, looks at the security risks of linking more and more smart devices to our networks. Are we just creating ever more vulnerable endpoints in today’s world of the Internet of Things?

Back in the good old days, we nailed the front door up tight with a firewall and we knew, that with good security on our gateway, our network was safe from the nasties of the outside world. But those pesky kids in their bedrooms, not to mention state sponsored cybercriminals, worked out that they could circumnavigate our state-of- the-art firewall by looking for a way in at the opposite end of our network - the endpoint.

If one thing is clear, big data has a bright future ahead of it. More businesses and organizations than ever before have bought into the idea of collecting vast amounts of data, analyzing it, storing it, and eventually using it to improve operations, make accurate forecasts, and even create new products and services. With such tremendous potential, many investors have seen big data as a clear target for growth. Pinpointing just how to invest in it, however, has been a challenge. One could notice a promising startup and ride it out as the business grew or failed, depending on what they offered. A more likely scenario that investors are paying more attention to is that of data centers.

Today, 123ContactForm, the popular web form and survey builder unveils the latest news about CaptainForm, the plugin officially released by the company last year in November. 123ContactForm is focusing on turning CaptainForm into one of the most popular and trustworthy WordPress form builders on the market by constantly staying in touch with its customers’ needs and by continuing to deliver long-term value.

The company took a look at the plugin’s usage statistics and discovered important aspects in terms of form features, integrations and types of businesses that use the plugin.

John Stevens over at Hosting Facts posted an article and infographic that should interest website owners. Basically it comes down to this: the negatives of a slow website are too significant for you to ignore. Slow website speed have real impacts impacts on customer satisfaction. In technical terms, your conversions and advertising revenues can go down steadily without an active formulation of your website speed.

Are you cut out for the challenge of being Chief Information Officer? The wide range and difficulty of tasks at the CIO level can instantly become crushing to those who have previously been warehoused in managerial positions. The new generation of CIOs has to deal with customers that want instant access and support, wherever they happen to be. As a data science expert, a CIO needs not only technical skills, but leadership skills as well. In order to make it in 2016, you need to be strategic about your career. You need to be a negotiator of change.

Corporate IT will need to manage a wide range of issues affecting the IT strategy agenda

Matrix42, a top provider of software for workspace management, today revealed that Unified Endpoint Management tops the list of IT trends that companies will see in 2016. Other areas of IT that will have a major impact include mainstream adoption of wearables and smartwatches, Internet of Things, Social ITSM and workspace aggregation.

Oliver Bendig, CTO of Matrix42 has analyzed the trends affecting the modern IT workspace and identified 10 key areas that companies will need to manage in 2016.

1. Adaptive workspace access

Organizations have to constantly change and tailor their business strategy to meet the changing needs of internal and external customers. However, in recent years, they have not been prepared to take advantage of the digital paradigm that has enveloped and embraced every aspect of the customer lifecycle. The explosive growth of e-commerce, mobile and social media has completely altered the customer’s lifestyle and buying habits.

Big data has become tremendously popular with businesses these days. It’s the latest buzz term that everyone seems to be using to indicate their willingness to use new technology to improve their companies. That doesn’t make it bad; it just means that it’s a clear trend many are eager to become a part of. In fact, its transformative effect is very real despite the tendency of businesses to refer to it as if it were a shiny new toy. As revolutionary as big data analytics has been in just the past few years, some organizations may be misunderstanding how to truly get the most out of it.

The open source technology originated at the “bottom of the stack” with the Linux operating system, which has become one of the most popular operating systems now. In late 1990’s the term open source was coined and the evolution of Apache, Mozilla, Perl took place, while birth of “Commercial Open Source” was seen in early 2000. The adoption started moving up the technology stack in 2005 and post 2008, Open Source adoption by enterprises was seen widely and in 2012 open source became an integral part of every enterprise IT strategy.

To even suggest that the construction and communication of a story could one day be taken over by computers can lead to eye rolling and dismissive scoffs. After all, storytelling is a uniquely human activity, one that requires creativity, emotion, and a connection with the human audience. At first glance, computer could never replicate such a thing, right? The conventional wisdom, however, might be off in this case. With the rise of big data, new ways to create and tell stories have been developed, leading many to rethink what they previously held to be true about the art of storytelling.