Cloud Barriers

Using the cloud for corporate IT is very compelling because of agility and costs. Here are the barriers:

1. Cost and benefit is unclear
2. Unknown management issues
3. Security
4. Reliability
5. No easy way to change providers or standards
6. Low adoption

These are perceived barriers but perception is reality! The private cloud is starting to come on stronger as security is a lower concern in a private cloud implementation. Although the cloud is still a small percentage of overall IT investment it is a top priority for most companies and is growing fast!

SMB IT Spending Growth

"According to the IDC, IT spending growth has returned more rapidly than expected since the recession officially ended in 2009. IDC's recent forecast found the nearly 8 million SMBs in the United States will spend more than $125 billion on advanced technology in 2011, an increase from approximately $120 billion in 2010."

Jenny Thomas, IT Jungle.com

http://www.itjungle.com/tfh/tfh062011-story07.html

Virtualization and Moving to the Cloud

Virtualization and moving to the cloud are considered to be a great way to decrease the cost of IT. Server virtualization has been widely adopted with about half of all servers now virtualized. The cost savings are significant. There are savings in higher utilization of fewer more powerful servers. Virtualization also lowers the cost of managing the servers. A new virtual server can be set up in a matter of minutes! These virtual servers are easier to move around and manage as they are all the same.

Virtualization of desktops, storage and moving to the cloud are not as wide spread as server virtualization. Companies implementing these solutions are not reporting the savings as being as high according to Gartner Survey and Symantec Survey. These other areas of virtualization and moving to the cloud are newer trends. Although companies are reporting challenges they look promising – I suppose time will tell…

Networkworld Articles:

"Gartner: IT should be planning, moving to private clouds"
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/061511-gartner-private-clouds.html?page=2

"Survey finds many disappointed in virtualization, cloud computing"
http://www.networkworld.com/news/2011/061311-virtualization-survey.html

Internet Future

I read an interesting article in ZDNet: “The future of the Internet: it's in the app” by Andrew Nusca. The article is about the recent prediction made by George Colony CEO of Forrester that the apps are the future. The apps have a cloud component in most cases but the power of the endpoints is so strong that it does not make sense to turn PCs and mobile devices into dummy terminals.
Here is a statement that articulates the power of the PC and mobile device: “IEEE researchers benchmarked the iPad 2 to be equivalent to a 1986 8-core Cray 2 — running at 1.65 gigaflops. In 1993 the iPad 2 would have been among the top 30 supercomputers in the world.”

The servers powering the cloud are much more powerful also but doesn’t it make sense to utilize the power at your finger tips as well? I have said this before on this blog regarding going to thin client. The argument for thin client and cloud is largely around managing and supporting the solution. It is easier to manage a few severs than all the endpoints. Clearly there are many applications best entirely hosted in the cloud but I don’t think that everything will be. Maybe there will be a greater growth rate of the apps than pure cloud solutions. What do you think?

ZDNet “The future of the Internet: it's in the app” by Andrew Nusca:
http://www.zdnet.com/blog/btl/the-future-of-the-internet-its-in-the-app/49512

10 Cyber Security Tips for Small Business

Here are 10 essentially common sense security best practices published by the Federal Communictaions Commision for Small Businesses:

1. Train employees in security principles
Establish basic security practices to protect sensitive business information and communicate them to all employees on a regular basis. Establish rules of behavior describing how to handle and protect customer information and other vital data. Clearly spell out the penalties for violating business policies.

2. Protect information, computers and networks from viruses, spyware and other malicious code
Install, use and regularly update antivirus and antispyware software on every computer used in your business. Such software is readily available online from a variety of vendors. Most software packages now offer subscriptions to "security service" applications, which provide additional layers of protection. Set the antivirus software to automatically check for updates at a scheduled time of low computer usage, such as at night (midnight, for example), and then set the software to do a scan after the software update.

3. Provide firewall security for your Internet connection
A firewall is set of related programs that prevent outsiders from accessing data on a private network. Install and maintain firewalls between your internal network and the Internet. If employees work from home, ensure that their home systems are protected by firewalls. Install firewalls on all computers – including laptops – used in conducting your business.

4. Download and install software updates for your operating systems and applications as they become available
All operating system vendors regularly provide patches and updates to their products to correct security problems and improve functionality. Configure all software to install such updates automatically.

5. Make backup copies of important business data and information.
Regularly backup the data on every computer used in your business. Critical data includes word processing documents, electronic spreadsheets, databases, financial files, human resources files and accounts receivable/payable files. Backup data automatically if possible, or at least weekly.

6. Control physical access to your computers and network components
Prevent access or use of business computers by unauthorized individuals. Laptops can be particularly easy targets for theft, so make sure they are stored and locked up when unattended.

7. Secure your Wi-Fi networks If you have a Wi-Fi network for your workplace make sure it is secure and hidden.
To hide your Wi-Fi network, set-up your wireless access point or router so it does not broadcast the network name also known as the Service Set Identifier (SSID). In addition, make sure to turn on the encryption so that passwords are required for access. Lastly, it is critical to change the administrative password that was on the device when it was first purchased.

8. Require individual user accounts for each employee
Setup a separate account for each individual and require that strong passwords be used for each account. Administrative privileges should only be given to trusted IT staff and key personnel.
9. Limit employee access to data and information, and limit authority to install software
Do not provide any one employee with access to all data systems. Employees should only be given access to the specific data systems that they need for their jobs, and should not be able to install any software without permission.

10. Regularly change passwords
Passwords that stay the same, will, over time, be shared and become common knowledge to coworkers and can be easily hacked. Passwords should be changed at least every three months.

Six Video Communications Trends

I attended the LifeSize Partner Conference last week. LifeSize, a Division of Logitech, designs and delivers high definition video communications products that provide a productive, true-to-life experience. We have seen a recent growth in video conferencing recently as the cost, quality and performance over standard internet connections has advanced dramatically. Video conferencing is finally moving into the main stream. Craig Malloy the CEO of LifeSize outlined these six trends in the future of video communications:

1. Video conferencing cloud services
2. Virtualization of infrastructure
3. Video streaming tightly linked to video calling
4. Tablet and smart phone video calling
5. Less than $1,000 high definition conference room endpoints
6. Deep integration to UC Platform

This industry is moving fast. The current video conferencing technology is 20 times more powerful than just a few years ago. Craig Malloy expects these six trends of video conferencing are coming in the next two years!

Disaster Planning

I read an interesting article on Disaster Recovery in Tech News World: “Disaster Recovery: It's More Than a Plan - It's a Process”. The article points out that it is important to have a Business Continuity Plan (BCP), a Continuity of Operations Plan (COOP) or Comprehensive Emergency Management Plan (CEMP). Backups and redundancy is great but without a plan for operation in the emergency situation the business is exposed to disruptions. This is a great point and it is also interesting how sometimes businesses have a system designed for failover but no real plan for fail back once the system repairs are complete!

The article goes on to say that “every organization, at some point in time, will face a disaster, whether it's a power outage, data center meltdown or a major hurricane.” This statement is a little broad since it really depends on your business as to what qualifies as a disaster. Some companies being down for an hour qualifies as a disaster where being down for a several days may be manageable for another business.

Business and IT leaders need to come together and create disaster recovery plans based on what constitutes a disaster for them and their risk tolerance.

Tech News World Article: “Disaster Recovery: It's More Than a Plan - It's a Process”

http://bit.ly/eZAqLR

Data Centers Grow and the Cloud Grows

According to ZDNet survey 50% of data centers have grown over the last 3 years and will continue to grow. At the same time, 36% of data center managers have implemented cloud in the plan up from 14% last year. Another 35% of data center managers are looking seriously at adding cloud to their IT Plans. The outlook is that by 2016 80% to 90% of companies will have some form of cloud implemented in their organization.

The challenge with the ZDNet data is it does not address how much of these data center will be in the cloud. Currently I have seen reports that this is in the 5% - 10% range. I have seen projections showing that as much as 50% of IT spending will be in the cloud by 2020. There is no question that the cloud is a high growth space and very compelling especially for those applications that are difficult to support – “Can’t we just put that in the cloud?”

ZDNet Article: “Cloud computing dominates data center agenda, says survey” by Larry Dignan

http://tinyurl.com/694rsd5

Virtualization Update

Virtualization has been on a high growth rate for several years. Between 30% to 50% of all servers are now virtualized and there are signs the growth is slowing. The next step is to virtualize the major business applications. Companies have virtualized the low hanging fruit but have delayed on the major applications to mitigate perceived risk. 82% of companies have implemented VMWare, 43% have implemented Microsoft Hyper-V and 33% have implemented Citrix Xen. Clearly there are many organizations with a mix! Microsoft has done a great job gaining ground with Hyper-V because of ease of use, solid features, great price, System Center management integration and a strong user base preferring fewer manufacturers.

Source: “Is Virtualization Hitting the Wall?” by Drew Robb
http://tinyurl.com/4myl4q6

What Motivates IT Professionals

Forrester did a survey of IT Professionals on what motivates them. Turns out it is not all about pay!

1. Interesting work to do is top motivator – 78%
2. Autonomy – 73%
3. Work life balance – 68%
4. Base compensation – 68%
5. Relationship with manager – 66%
6. Job security – 64%

In addition, there are some interesting age oriented statistics. 29% over 45 say base compensation is top motivator and only 14% under 45 say base compensation is top motivator. 33% over 45 say technical development is top motivator where 66% under 45 say it is top motivator!

CIO Insight Article:

http://tinyurl.com/6cw3e3u

Gartner CIO Top 3 Priorities and Predictions

The Top 3 CIO priorities according to Gartner are:

1. Cloud Computing
2. Virtualization
3. Mobile Computing

Gartner predicts that IT spending in 2011 will grow only 1% and IT spending will not return to 2008 high levels until 2014.

Today only 3% of companies have more than 50% of their IT in the cloud, but Gartner predicts that by 2014 43% of companies will have more than 50% of their IT in the cloud!

Source: CIO Insight
http://tinyurl.com/4whqdcx

Nortec’s 20th Anniversary

Nortec’s 20th Anniversary is approaching in March. According to the US Small Business Administration (SBA) in 2009 there were 552,600 new businesses, 660,900 closures and 60,837 bankruptcies. 2009 was a net loss of 169,137 businesses so not a good year for business. 2005 had a net gain of 39,176 businesses and this is a better sample of most years. SBA states that 50% of businesses survive 5 years, 33% survive 10 years and 26% survive 15 years. The longer a business survives the more likely it will continue as 67% of those that survived 5 years survive 5 more. 79% of those that survived 10 years survived 5 more years resulting in 26% reaching 15 years. This extrapolates to 85% of the 26% of business that survived 15 years will survive the next five years and this would mean 22% of businesses survive 20 Years - this is about 1 in 5. This success is certainly something worth celebrating!

I was reflecting on the key principals that have given us 20 years of success. Nortec has 5 principal values: Excellence, Integrity, Responsive, Flexibility and Follow up and these principal values are the foundation of Nortec. Here are 6 keys principals that build on the foundation:

1. The first rule of business is to stay in business
2. Business model trumps everything!
3. Hiring the very best people at all levels
4. Commitment to the business – no matter how difficult things get!
5. Thinking long term
6. Aligning management and compensation around the goal of profitability

Developing a Training Plan

Goals for 2011 are set and it is now February. It is time to plan 2011 training and personal growth. Think about the personal and professional growth goals you set. What training and when will you need to attain those goals? Investigate any training you are looking at to make sure it is the right training for you – Don’t just let your manager decide for you. Schedule the training and embrace it. Start reading the materials to prepare for the training. In addition, plan personal and professional development through personal studying and reading. Reading is probably the best way to learn and stimulate your mind.

Solid State Drives

Solid State Drives (SSD) have been around for a few years now and although they seem like the obvious choice long term they are still relatively slow in adoption. The notebook computer space appears will adopt these quickly - I would expect significant percentage of notebook computers to be solid state by the end of 2011. There is tremendous upside for SSD in notebooks. SSD provides faster start up and less risk of damage in transport. Typically the notebook consumer is willing to pay the extra for these benefits.

SSD is making gains in the data center but at a slow pace. There are now SSD SANs and most hard drive manufacturers are offering SSD options. The technology to manage these drives still needs advancements and cost is still significantly higher so it is still probably two to three years before significant adoption.

Global IT Spending will be a steady 5%

Gartner is expecting Global IT Spending for 2010 to come in at 5% and 5% again in 2011. 2010 Global IT Spending gorwth of 5% is lower than perdictions this time last year of 6% - 8%. The spending in 2010 appeared to be largely in the second half of 2010 with the first half dragging down the overall growth rate.

5% Global IT Spending Growth in 2011 may be indicating a slight decrease in growth rate compared to Q3 and Q4 2010. It is an increase in IT spending no less so a good sign for a healthy industry.

Nortec is in the infrastructure business and this has been a very active area of technology spending recently. Nortec has seen significant growth in the second half of 2010. We anticipate continued strength in infrastructure IT investment in 2011.

International Business Times Article - “Gartner projects 5.1 pct rise in global tech spending for 2011”:

http://tinyurl.com/2wjplaz