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éléments par Alessandro Porro

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  6 technologies featured at CES that could disrupt businesses in 2015

  Publié: février 2, 2015, 3:20pm CET par Alessandro Porro

  

  Every year in Las Vegas, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the ultimate place to see what’s new in technology. CES showcases new innovative and next generation technologies -- It’s a global platform for innovation where cutting edge technologies are revealed to the world. And this year’s show didn’t disappoint. Smart homes, ever advanced wearable devices, wireless home entertainment systems and even personally owned drones all had top billing at the show.

  However, whilst the gadget geeks there were clearly bursting with excitement, the network administrators/IT Professionals/IT Managers I’ve spoken to seem to be scared witless as reality dawns on the practicalities of all of this. Issues such as bandwidth hogging, security vulnerabilities and the headache of ensuring compliance were the main areas of concern voiced to me at the show. Here follows the six technologies emerging from CES with the most potential to disrupt the business and network:

  1. The Smart Watch -- Control of Data

  Given Apple’s announced intent in early 2015, there is no doubt that a big trend this year will be the wearable watch.

  There are already a number of other popular watches on the market and with each launch, the technology becomes more user friendly.

  Samsung introduced the Gear S at CES, which is ultimately a phone for your wrist. It features a SIM card, makes calls and connects to the Internet. With the Gear S, Samsung is making a very bold statement, which invites consumers to replace their phones entirely.

  Similar devices, including Withings Activité Pop, Garmin Fenix 3, LG Audi smartwatch and Guess Connect, all encourage consumers to stay connected no matter where they are and through every hour in the day.

  Although the wearable watch is, admittedly, a very exciting innovation ITDM’s need to be aware that, as employees bring these into the workplace and introduce them to the network alongside smartphones and tablets, the level of data control that they have is likely to reduce.

  As fun as it is, overall, the wearable watch is likely to bring you a real IT migraine as it trends this year.

  2. Intel Curie -- Shadow IT

  Intel CEO, Brian Krzanich, announced the Intel Curie Module in his keynote at the show. The Curie, a tiny low-power hardware module that could be used to build wearables out of things like rings, bags, pendants, or glasses.

  Curie re-enforces the digital age reality that large concerns come in small packages, or "button-sized computers", as Krzanich describes his new technology that is scheduled to launch in the second half of 2015.

  Why should this be of concern? Experience tells us that the technology that usually wreaks the most havoc for IT is the technology that IT isn’t aware of. As gadgets continue to get smaller and almost invisible, they are becoming more powerful.

  IT is becoming caught in a never-ending game of catch-up, trying to cope with new stresses on the network posed by seemingly invisible technologies.

  3. HP’s Zvr Virtual Reality System -- Bandwidth

  Virtual Reality rocks, right?  However, whilst users will undoubtedly view systems like the new HP Zvr and think 'cool', ITDM’s will yell bandwidth limitations.

  HP believes that "users interact seamlessly with a high-definition 3D stereoscopic display combined with full-motion parallax and direct interaction, delivering an intuitive user experience with lifelike realism".

  Something tells me that this technology trend makes the bandwidth issue of employees streaming video and running iPlayer in the workplace the least of IT’s problems.

  The trend of high-production, high-bandwidth usage technologies taking over the workplace is a very real possibility in coming years and needs to be accounted for.

  4. Sony NW-ZX2 Hi-Res Walkman -- Wi-Fi Signal

  Remember the Sony Walkman? No? Errr…must be my age then. It was book-like in size, took music cassettes and had brightly colored foam over-ear headphones.

  Well, the newest addition to the Sony Walkman portfolio not only plays almost any audio format, it is laden with Wi-Fi capability, signifying yet one more example of technology set to infiltrate businesses.

  Wireless audio is a trend that should concern ITDM’s as today’s Walkman doesn’t possess the simple speakers of yesterday. They are powerful devices capable of seriously draining Wi-Fi strength in the organization.

  5. Fitbit Charge HR -- Increased Exposure

  As fitness is getting uber smart with gadgets like the new heart-rate monitoring version of Fitbit’s fitness tracker, the health of the corporate network is set to take a pounding.

  An increase in employee-controlled devices that have the capability to connect to a network means there will be more points of vulnerability and bandwidth usage.

  Individually, their impact will be relatively small, the cumulative effect of these increasingly sought after and reasonably priced devices will have an impact on the enterprise network.

  As history teaches us, what may start as a ripple, over time can become a tidal wave.  The joint effect is likely to create multiple points of access and vulnerability.

  6. Wocket -- Compliance

  The IT department may need to review which types of gadgetry is allowed access to an organizations network.

  Technology developments such as the Wocket, which swaps all your credit cards for just one all-purpose smart card, are breaking into the market. As e-wallets become more popular, more employees will try to integrate them into the business network.

  This runs a real security risk as your customer data becomes vulnerable to being shared in places it shouldn’t, creating a nightmare for those responsible for compliance.

  So, as another groundbreaking CES fades into the memory, amongst the very many excited faces headed back to their day to day lives, I also see a few showing the lines of concern.

  I’m sure that none of these issues are challenges that can’t be overcome, however, they need to be acknowledged and addressed before they become out of control.

  Alessandro Porro is vice president of International at Ipswitch.

  Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

  
• 

  Enterprise mobility: How to choose the right strategy

  Publié: août 26, 2014, 12:28pm CEST par Alessandro Porro

  

  Finding the ideal alignment and balance between hardware, software and employee preference has become the Holy Grail for those tasked with defining enterprise mobility strategy. BYOD delivered many great things, such as higher employee productivity and satisfaction. It also made IT managers rethink their strategies to make technology work for their organization in terms of mobility, security and management. Then COPE (corporate owned, personally enabled) came along, which promised to solve some of the problems that BYOD didn't, such as security. However, COPE also posed challenges of its own and is being followed now by CYOD (choose your own device).

  With so many acronyms flying about, it might appear hard to know where to start identifying the best solution. However it would seem that 2014 has heralded the end for BYOD, with a recent report by analyst firm Gartner declaring its demise, stating, "There is no way for IT to assume full responsibility of securing and managing devices without ownership". Indeed, the acronym is now being translated by some as "bring your own disaster", suggesting it would perhaps be wise to learn from others' mistakes.

  The COPE model allows employees the choice from a selection of "company approved" devices, instead of using a personally-owned device for work. This idea might sound like the days of the corporate BlackBerry recommended by the IT department, but the "personally enabled" part is where the IT department has relinquished some control.

  The COPE model solves some of the security concerns that BYOD generated, making it easier for IT managers to monitor and protect the devices, whilst still embracing the consumerization of IT by enabling users an element of choice. However, COPE does not come without challenges, which is why CYOD has emerged, offering an apparent happy medium.

  A variation on COPE, CYOD lets employees choose from a limited selection of approved, corporate-liable devices with the levels of security and control that IT needs. The slight difference is that the employee has to pay for the upfront cost of the hardware, while the business owns the SIM and contract for greater visibility, control and potentially lower costs.

  When a business adopts a COPE strategy, supplying employees with company approved devices, it is easier for the IT manager to ensure the protection of corporate data. As the company owns the devices, the IT manager can easily decide which data employees can and cannot access, make regular backups, and remotely wipe devices in case they get stolen or lost. Also, when employees have technical problems, they can be solved in-house, instead of at an external -- and possibly dodgy -- IT repair shop. All these measures reduce the risk of data falling into the wrong hands.

  Privacy Issues

  With COPE, the main challenge is privacy. IT managers must think critically about the consequences of their data protection policies. As the boundaries between work and private lives continue to fade, it is harder than ever to force employees to use their mobile device for business purposes only. However, when employees do use their devices privately too, how far can the IT department go controlling them without undermining their privacy? For example, is it still acceptable to wipe devices remotely if they contain private data, such as family photos?

  Monitoring Network Traffic

  Moreover, with COPE and with BYOD, IT managers are challenged by the introduction of multiple devices onto their wireless networks. As wireless becomes the primary user network, it needs to deliver the availability and performance that employees expect from the wired network. BYOD increased network density, bandwidth consumption and security risks. These issues will be reduced when IT managers decide to go for a COPE strategy, because the IT manager will recognize most of the devices on the network. He or she will be able to track users, their devices and usage habits in order to resolve any issues that could impact wireless availability and performance. Another major plus point of CYOD is that IT can focus on supporting a limited number of platforms and devices, rather than trying to support as many as possible.

  Application Control

  When implementing a CYOD scheme, organizations need to look at application control and whether CYOD should permit employees to run non-business-related applications. This is a discussion in itself when you start to look into controlling employees' personal social media apps on corporate-owned devices. Certainly, many would argue that there needs to be a shift in focus away from standard MDM solutions and towards managing data and security at the app level.

  A growing number of companies are opting for MAM (mobile application management) instead of MDM (mobile device management), since it enables IT to protect enterprise apps and corporate data throughout the mobile application lifecycle, from deployment to app signing to inspection for security flaws and malware.

  Analyst firm Yankee Group predicts that the enterprise mobility market will consolidate, as organizations broaden their requirement for enterprise app development, on-premise and cloud-based deployment, app and device management, and security -- all delivered by a single platform vendor. This would help organizations to achieve a holistic view of their enterprise, thus enabling the management of devices, users, data and applications, as well as delivery of cloud and on-premise deployments. In this vision, the device an employee chooses to use becomes less critical as the focus shifts from the device to the app.

  Making the Call

  What the evolution of BYOD to COPE to CYOD does best, for those struggling to decide which strategy makes most sense for your business, is to illustrate how quickly things change. In turn that signposts a requirement to really look ahead and consider future needs and demands so that whatever strategy is deployed can be advanced and built upon with ease. This would involve consideration, at the outset, of solutions that can enable secure mobility, device choice, data consistency and agile management -- that is where you should start.

  Alessandro Porro is the vice president of international sales at Ipswitch

  Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.

  Photo Credit: auremar/Shutterstock

  
• 

  Could you manage a network of RoboCops?

  Publié: juin 4, 2014, 9:09am CEST par Alessandro Porro

  

  A remake of the 1987 sci-fi classic RoboCop has just come out on DVD. In the new version, the huge, faceless corporation known as OmniCorp dominates the futuristic world of 2028. OmniCorp controls a huge fleet of robots to keep the peace overseas, and also the eponymous 'RoboCop', Alex Murphy. This re-launch is pretty timely. Although the original film was made over 25 years ago, it ties in perfectly to a topic close to my heart in 2014: the Internet of Things.

  As I enjoyed the film, I couldn't help but wonder about the workday of OmniCorp's fictional network manager, and how his day might not be so very different to the network managers of today. What headaches might he or she have, running a fleet of robots controlled through OmniCorp's network connection?

  So, for the benefit of all self-respecting network managers and sci-fi fans out there, I've attempted to add a little Hollywood glamor to my otherwise technically-focused day and share some thoughts on the parallels and challenges between the two realities.

  Officer Down

  As with any good sci-fi film, there are plenty of explosions, with robots being destroyed left, right and center, including (spoiler alert) an epic battle between robots and RoboCop. Although in less dramatic fashion, the everyday network manager dealing with the Internet of Things has to deal with connected devices going down or losing connection. A network manager needs to ensure they have the tools in place to alert them when a small fault or communication error occurs, or if a server is reaching capacity in order to prevent any downtime affecting the network. Officer down -- send in reinforcements quickly.

  Missing in Action

  OmniCorp is able to track RoboCop's location on an interactive map on a screen as he speeds around the city on his motorbike, through a tracker on his helmet. If he becomes damaged or goes AWOL he can quickly be located and recovered. There are tools available today for network managers to do a similar task. For example, if a connected device is hogging more bandwidth than it needs, they can find its location and resolve the issue. These tools can also be used to pinpoint a fault to a geographical location -for example, a damaged access point -- in order to quickly find and resolve the issue, removing the element of guesswork.

  Disobeying commands

  When Robocop starts acting against instructions and carrying out his own vigilante justice, it causes a real headache for OmniCorp. The same can be said when users start downloading unauthorized software onto company devices -- shadow IT. Unauthorized software may not conform to the company's standards, in terms of security, and can mean that the business operates inconsistently. What OmniCorp and the real network manager would do is identify the non-conforming behavior and address it with the support of policy enforcement and disciplinary procedures.

  There are also issues when businesses use a BYOD (bring your own device) policy, rather than company-owned devices. When an employee leaves a job, they may no longer have the company's best interests at heart, and are likely to carry some important data on their device. In this instance, I believe network managers can take inspiration from RoboCop. When RoboCop gets out of control, OmniCorp is able to remotely shut him down. Network managers should make clear to all employees, that the company has the right to remotely wipe all company data from non-company owned devices.

  Protecting RoboCop

  In the film, RoboCop's crime fighting abilities are greatly enhanced by the fact that he has the entire police records downloaded into his brain, allowing him to establish a person's criminal record when he looks at them. This is an example of the capabilities of the Internet of Things, allowing devices to share information in this way. However, just like any other device containing important, confidential information, RoboCop should be secure. How different would the film be if RoboCop was hacked, and the bad guys deleted their own information from the database?

  Any network manager dealing with devices such as smartphones and tablets that leave the office should ensure that they are well-protected from any malicious attacks. This means internal as well as external attacks. Companies should ensure that users are well-educated in keeping company data safe whilst they are out and about. I wonder if RoboCop was password protected?

  Rogue robots

  With the exception of the half-human RoboCop, there are two types of robot run by OmniCorp. Luckily for them, this would make it easy to identify if anyone or anything joined the network that should not be there, or was not compatible. Network managers often struggle with a huge array of devices connecting to the network, in this age of BYOD where each employee could have five different devices in their pockets. A network could become more like OmniCorp and give the network manager an easier time, if they restrict the types of devices that are permitted to connect to the company network. Another option would be to implement a COPE (corporately owned, personally enabled) scheme, allowing employees to choose their company device from a list of pre-approved ones.

  The future

  The new RoboCop film may be a work of science fiction, but as it is set in the future it also represents a prediction of how the world could be. Whilst we are a long way away from being policed by half-human, half-robot police officers controlled by huge corporations, the film highlights the importance of the Internet of Things.

  Everything in the movie is connected; the robots are connected to the network, the network is connected to the police station records, and scientists carry portable screens that control all of the equipment in the lab. Whilst in reality this is only just starting to gather momentum, network managers should be planning now to ensure they can cope with the vast array of devices that could soon be connecting to a company network. Is the network infrastructure large, robust and secure enough? Is the correct network monitoring solution in place? And, at the end of the day, do you think you could manage a network of RoboCops?

  Alessandro Porro is the vice president of international sales at Ipswitch

  Published under license from ITProPortal.com, a Net Communities Ltd Publication. All rights reserved.