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Big data causing big changes in the enterprise

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A lot of IT buzzwords get thrown around without there ever really being any context as to what the technology does for a business or how many companies are actually utilizing it. For 2015, that buzzword is definitely “big data”. It pops up everywhere, but what is the real picture? According to a recent study by EMC, big data is more than just a buzzword, it’s a necessary tool for enterprise success.

The recent report “Big & Fast Data: The Rise of Insight-Driven Business” sponsored by Capgemini revealed that a growing number of companies are investing in big data initiatives and are seeing positive results. According to the study, 70 percent of IT decision-makers believe their organization’s ability to extract value from big data is critical to their future success. Another 65 percent said that they risk becoming irrelevant or losing a competitive advantage if they don’t utilize big data.

Businesses bracing for shifts as big data takes hold
The study, which included interviews with more than 1,000 senior executives and decision-makers across nine industries in 10 countries, provides a variety of insights into how companies are responding to the changes big data has brought to the enterprise. More than half of respondents believe that investments in big data will outstrip past investment in information management over the next three years. This is due in part to the fact that 63 percent of participants believe the monetization of data could potentially become as valuable as existing products and services. This is especially true among those in the telecommunications sector, where 83 percent of respondents agreed with the statement.

One of the most significant statistics is the fact that 47 percent of senior executives believe their organizations’ IT systems are not properly optimized to allow business decision-makers to do their jobs effectively. These executives reported seeing a need for increasing the cadence of their IT systems’ improvement to keep up with the increasing client, supplier and stakeholder requirements outside of their organizations.

In order to accommodate all of the changes brought about by the increased use of big data, businesses will need to ensure that their data center solutions and IT infrastructure are up to the challenge. Working with a trusted service provider to upgrade infrastructure and improve data center performance is the most reliable way to ensure that new big data initiatives will be implemented successfully.

Leveraging data boom to solve medical mysteries

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The Internet has made accessing vast amounts of information both easy and affordable,and is dramatically improving the research processes of many industries. One sector in particular that has benefited from the convenient access offered by the Internet is health care.

With new innovations like electronic health records, hospitals and doctor's offices are able to compile and share medical information digitally and greatly improve their knowledge of specific diseases and treatment options. Big data initiatives are also starting to play a major role in health care, with organizations using the vast amounts of available information to draw conclusions that may otherwise have gone unseen.

IBM is now looking to throw its hat in the ring in an effort to improve sharing and analysis of health data with the creation of its Watson Health business unit. The unit, which launched in early April, aims to use big data analytics and mobile technology to help doctors, researchers, insurers and patients achieve better health outcomes. Watson Health will offer cloud-based access to IBM's Watson supercomputer to enable healthcare professionals to analyze medical data. IBM has also partnered with Apple, Johnson & Johnson and Medtronic to make it easier for health care organizations to store and analyze patient data.

Taking advantage of the data boom

"Each person creates 1 million GB of medical data throughout their lifetime."

Watson Health allows users to take advantage of the cognitive capabilities of Watson and create "new health-based offerings that leverage information collected from personal health, medical and fitness devices," providing "better insights, real-time feedback and recommendations to improve everything from personal health and wellness to acute and chronic care," according to a release from IBM.

IBM's Watson supercomputer may hold the key to solving medical mysteries.IBM's Watson supercomputer may hold the key to solving medical mysteries.

Watson Health operates on a rather basic premise: Each person creates approximately 1 million gigabytes of medical data throughout their lifetime, so why not use that information to create positive health outcomes and fuel new research? A recent report by IDC Health Insights predicted that 80 percent of health care data will pass through the cloud at some point in its lifetime by 2020. The study went on to predict that this shift to the cloud will drive 70 percent of health care organizations to invest in consumer-facing mobile apps by 2018. With so much digital health information being created, and more being made all the time, there has never been a better time to use such data to improve health care and patients' quality of life.

The Watson supercomputer is able to adapt and learn based on information it is fed. The Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York has been inputting medical literature focused on cancer into Watson for more than three years, and the computer has used the data to learn how cancer has been treated traditionally, and perhaps eventually create new, progressive treatment options.

"What Watson can do is look at all your medical records – he has been fed and taught by all the best doctors in the world – and comes up with what are the probable diagnosis, percent of confidence, the why, rationale, odds and conflicts," said Ginni Rometty, chairman and CEO of IBM.

Rometty explained that there is differing potential for false results when diagnosing different types of cancer. Watson's first task is analyzing data on melanoma and figuring out how to determine whether a melanoma is actually cancerous.

According to Rometty, this is the ideal time to launch Watson Health because three technologies essential to the project – big data, cloud and mobility –  are converging and enabling medical breakthroughs. These main technologies already comprise more than one-quarter of IBM's business and Watson Health plans to capitalize on that.

5 steps to preventing data loss in the cloud

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Anyone operating in the enterprise today has come in contact with the cloud in some form. But, despite the ubiquitous nature of the technology, not all users are as well versed in cloud best practices as they need to be in order to prevent data loss. Security continues to lead the pack with it comes to CIOs’ concerns about cloud computing despite the fact that the technology has been around for nearly a decade already. The online threat landscape has grown more dangerous and many companies are at a loss as to how to improve security. For any enterprise looking for a way to use the cloud safely and prevent data loss, here are five basic tips:

1: Perform a cloud risk assessment
The main goal of this process is for companies to take an inventory of all the cloud applications in use and find where their data is actually being stored within the network. With that information in hand, IT decision-makers can develop an ‘as is’ cloud assessment and accurately understand what’s really going on. After inventory has been completed, the enterprise network should be surveyed to identify the company’s current cloud footprint and a data flow map should be created. Once applications are cataloged and all data is accounted for, each program should be given a risk score that takes into account the level of trust the organization has for the service and process.

2: Find any gaps between perceived security and actual security
This step helps businesses find any discrepancies between regulatory compliance needs – like PCI or HIPAA – and what is actually going on in the network. Discovering what areas have the biggest gaps can help decision-makers find the best way to address the issue and improve enterprise compliance.

There are a few simple steps every company can take to make their cloud safer.There are a few simple steps every company can take to make their cloud deployment safer.

3: Build a plan to combat shadow IT
One of the biggest cloud security issues facing companies today is shadow IT, or employees using unapproved programs for work purposes. To address this problem, organizations should take the data gathered during the first two steps and use it to create an action plan. Consulting with legal, security and procurement specialists can be beneficial during this process as well.

4: Choose a cloud framework to deploy
Once a comprehensive analysis of the enterprise’s needs has been done, it’s time to find a cloud platform that will successfully meet those demands. First, IT executives have to decide between a public, private or hybrid environment and then look for a service provider that offers the reliability, features and client service necessary to keep operations up and running smoothly.

” Look for a service provider that offers the necessary reliability, features and client service.”

5: Determine and implement cloud best practices
There are specific policies that each company will need to create on its own in order to accommodate and protect business functions, but there are other, more general recommendations that apply to anyone using the cloud. In order to get started when creating enterprise best practices, the Cloud Security Alliance offers a list of common policies  and the Cloud Best Practices Network provides case studies to help build better long term strategies.

3 reasons skeptics don't like the cloud, and why they're wrong

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After a long period of slow growth, it appears as though this year is poised to become a turning point for the cloud computing industry. According to estimates by research firm Markets and Markets, the global cloud market is expected to be worth more than $121 billion by the end of 2015.

The industry’s rise is hardly surprising, as an increasing number of organizations have begun to turn to the cloud as a reliable alternative for traditional computing processes. The growing number of cloud-based services available are helping people to more effectively manage their lives and businesses, fueling the technology’s popularity. Cloud computing is gaining such a foothold that research firm Gartner has even gone so far as to suggest that traditional IT sourcing will be replaced by cloud office systems before the end of the year.

“Gartner analysts believe traditional IT sourcing will be replaced by cloud office systems before 2016.”

Despite cloud’s rapid rise, however, there are still some segments of the enterprise that are wary of the technology – or just change in general. Some companies, especially smaller organizations without the budget to hire extensive IT departments, prefer to stick with that they know, choosing to continue using outdated systems like Windows XP and trusting their business growth to legacy CRM software. This reluctance can make sense in theory – the enterprise already owns the license to the old software and knows where its data is stored – but in practice these companies are letting fear of change and modernization get in the way of business development.

Cloud skeptics have some legitimate concerns about transitioning to the technology, but all of their fears about cloud computing can be easily calmed.

Some companies continue to be skeptical about the cloud. Some companies continue to be skeptical about the cloud.

Data security
One of the biggest concerns businesses have about utilizing the cloud is the security of sensitive enterprise information. Security worries continue to be the most common barrier to adoption of the cloud, according to a recent report by tax advisory firm KPMG. More than half of business decision-makers have cited data loss and privacy as a major reason for hesitation. While security in the cloud is something all companies should be concerned about, the question is more of whether an organization’s service provider is safe and less about if the cloud itself is reliable. Reputable vendors offer security measures that are likely stronger than what an enterprise could deliver within its own budget, and cloud providers employ IT professionals who are solely focused on protecting sensitive information in cloud environments.

Downtime
Another frequent criticism of the cloud is that it forces businesses to rely too heavily on the Internet to complete processes and serve clients. If a system were to suffer a disruptive event, even a brief one, service would slow down dramatically and sales could be lost. This is a very real concern for any company utilizing the Internet, not just those relying on the cloud. However, trusted service providers take precautions to assure redundancy during an outage and most will automatically resync when systems come back online. Even on-premises solutions can run into service problems, but when they occur within a cloud environment there is a team of trained technicians ready to fix the problem as soon as possible, which isn’t always the case with on-site systems.

Return on investment
Many enterprise IT decision-makers are still shying away from cloud platforms because they think the ROI won’t be substantial enough to cover the total cost of ownership. This thinking becomes even more engrained for companies that already own an on-premises system that seemingly meet their needs. This argument, though rooted around a valid consideration, is surprising in light of how many organizations have transitioned to cloud environments as a way to save money.

A variable that many businesses don’t consider is that cloud providers frequently offer automatic updates, ensuring systems stay ahead of security vulnerabilities and are always up-to-date with the latest features. Licensing agreements for on-premises software often does not come with the same guarantee, creating frequent, unplanned costs. If a software vendor runs into problems or a product is discontinued, a company can waste thousands of dollars in licensing for a system that will never be updated or receive service again. If the same scenario were to take place with a cloud system, an organization could simply cancel your subscription and find a new product.

How the cloud is like PCs: An IT history lesson

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Technology has always played a role in creating freedom within an organization, either by breaking down boundaries or by providing an avenue through which to reach new horizons. For a long time, the most innovative force in enterprise technology was the computer. When the first PC was introduced, it changed everything by making real computing power affordable and available to businesses and individual employees. The analysis made possible by PCs resulted in increased operating efficiency, faster innovation and dramatically improved client experiences. While computers are still the main focus of every organization, they no longer driving the freedom of innovation they once did. Cloud computing, however, has taken up the mantle, and has changed the face of enterprise IT in much the same way PCs did when they were first introduced. Businesses can learn from their own IT history and put the cloud to work for them the way they did with PCs in the following three ways:

“Cloud computing has changed the face of enterprise IT.”

1) Embrace the freedom to build
One of the reasons PCs became so popular so quickly was because they offered employees the ability to build applications, which freed them from the practical constraints of the IT department. Each user was able to pursue his or her own ideas independently and follow the ones that would make the biggest difference to the company. Any technology that expands a user’s possibilities is unstoppable, and cloud enables the same freedom as PCs before it.

Before the cloud arrived, innovative employees who wanted to create a new application to improve operating procedures had to go through an endless series of steps to get approval before anything could move forward. Now the cloud puts a massive number of resources right at users’ fingertips, allowing them to create, test and distribute programs that may never have gotten made otherwise.

The cloud is poised to change the enterprise the same way PCs did in the '80s.The cloud is poised to change the enterprise the same way PCs did in the ’80s.

2) Focus on the value of data
One of the biggest benefits PCs offered businesses in the ’80s and ’90s was the ability to gather and use data at a level previously unheard of. Now, the cloud offers businesses a similar opportunity. Not only can massive amounts of data be created through countless apps and services, but an even greater amount can be collected and analyzed through those same features to offer insights into business processes and operations.

As a recent Forbes article noted, “This changes the way IT practitioners and leaders need to think about IT. Now it’s not just about building and running data centers. It’s about marshaling tools and applications that acquire, transform, apply and protect the data that runs the organization.”

3) Recognize the power to disrupt
After PCs crashed onto the tech scene in the early ’80s, network storage systems followed closely behind. After that, PC technology moved into the data center and created even more innovations. PCs quickly became a dominate force in the data center, fundamentally changing the economics of how they were built and operated. Now cloud is here to usher in the next wave of data center disruption.

Cloud is poised to create a deep and lasting impact on the future of IT. Hybrid cloud especially is becoming a defining trend. The majority of enterprises around the world are already using multiple cloud environments for at least part of their IT workloads, changing the way people think about data.

The bottom line is that the cloud won’t be going anywhere anytime soon, and organizations would do well to look at the examples set by earlier disruptive technologies and apply them now to make the most out of their technological investments.

ISG on CRN's Elite 150 of the MSP 500 List

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ISG Technology has been named to CRN’s 2015 list of the Elite 150 of the Managed Service Provider (MSP) 500. This annual list recognizes IT solution providers with high technical expertise and unparalleled certifications. These companies represent an elite group of the top technology providers and consultants whose cutting-edge approach to managed services puts end-user clients in the best position to cut costs, speed time to market for their own products and services and improve efficiencies.

CRN’s MSP500 list is divided into three groups: MSP Elite 150, who are large data center-focused solution providers with both on premises professional services and off-premises services; the MSP Pioneer 250, who have a business model heavily weighted toward managed services focused on the small- and midsize-business market; and the MSP Hosting 100, who own and operate their own data centers, providing a wide array of subscription-based outsourced services.

In the fast changing IT sector, ISG Technology stays ahead of the curve by leveraging ongoing engineer training and certifications. Using a consultative partnership sales approach, ISG engineers create highly customized solutions to help clients manage, access, transport, store and secure data through hybrid deployments of both IT infrastructure and cloud services

“The allure of Everything-as-a-Service to organizations is largely rooted in the appeal of predictable operational expenses, cost-cutting, resource allocation and access to on-demand/pay-as-you-go technology. Therein lies a great need for the expertise of managed service providers,” said Robert Faletra, CEO, The Channel Company. “We congratulate the managed service providers who have engineered, or re-engineered, their businesses to deliver the services their clients rely on for future growth and ongoing success.”

“Winning an award like the CRN Elite 150 proves that we’re making the right decisions to fully support our client’s business needs for the long-term,” said Ben Foster, President and CEO of ISG Technology. “IT infrastructure and data center services are both critical components of our continued success. Because of our full spectrum approach, our engineers can deliver the right technology solution to solve client challenges in a highly responsive manner.”

4 trends for the data center in 2015

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Data centers have been growing increasingly important to the functions of the enterprise in recent years, and as a result the technologies and processes that run the data centers have rapidly evolved and changed. This year will be the biggest one yet for the data center industry, as there will be more demand for their product than ever before. Below are four of the biggest trends ready to change the industry in 2015:

"This year will be the biggest one yet for the data center industry, as there will be more demand for their product than ever before."

1) Increase in virtualization 
This IT constant has been driving growing change in the data center recently, but as an increasing number of organizations understand the benefits of the technology, it will become an even more prominent fixture. Virtualization offers users improved testing, faster redeployments and simpler backups, as well as a whole host of other advantages. Its use is a relatively new development, and technologies are emerging all the time that help improve its performance. One such improvement, the virtual storage area network, helps to make the data center more flexible, as well as increasing automation. Similar innovations will start to appear more rapidly, constantly changing the processes in play for data center operations.

2) AI finds the data center
A growing number of companies are making strides in the area of artificial intelligence and machine learning, and the next logical step for such technology is to utilize it in a data center. Google announced last year that it had started using machine learning via neural networks in order to optimize its computing facilities. In Google's case, AI was used mainly to manage and optimize operations in the data center concerning IT load, temperature and the effectiveness of their cooling equipment and allowed the company to experience greater energy efficiency.

Big changes are coming to the <a data-cke-saved-href=Big changes are coming to the data center in 2015.

Shift to IPv6
As use of the Internet has increased dramatically throughout the last decade, options regarding addresses on the current version of Internet Protocol, IPv4, have been almost entirely exhausted. The addresses have run out and routing tables have grown too large, creating serious problems. IPv6 is intended to replace the existing protocol and alleviate the issue, though large scale adoption may still be a ways away.

Though it hasn't arrived yet globally, IPv6 will have a major impact on the data center. Addresses for IPv6 are made up of eight groups of four hexadecimal numbers, each separated by colons. This type of grouping opens up a massive new set of possible IP addresses, but it will also likely have to be compatible with IPv4. Not only will the new version offer more addresses, it will also increase efficiency, improve security and provide new services support. U.S. adoption of the new version is currently around 14.5 percent, but that number will continue to grow in the coming years and data centers have to be ready. 

More companies adopt cloud solutions
Hybrid cloud seems to be the enterprise trend of 2015, with a rising number of organizations transitioning to a mixed cloud environment. A hybrid solution allows enterprises to mix security with performance, bringing in those who were once skeptical about the ability of the technology to handle all aspects of their business' workload. As more companies migrate to the cloud, data centers will have to be prepared to handle the increase in demand.

Changes in store for enterprise cloud in 2015

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While 2014 was a big year for technology in general, cloud computing in particular experienced multiple advances last year. Major tech companies have enhanced their public cloud offerings and investment in enterprise cloud solutions saw a dramatic increase. Gartner has named cloud computing as one of the top 10 strategic trends for 2015, and as the cloud becomes an even more prominent fixture in the business world, more big changes are in store for the technology this year.

Increased use of hybrid cloud
One of the biggest changes coming for enterprise cloud storage services is a more rapid shift from either public or private environments to a mixture of both. Many organizations are realizing that utilizing a single infrastructure is not sufficient to meet their availability and security needs at once. By employing a hybrid platform, companies are able to increase access for less secure applications by hosting them in a public environment and more business-critical programs can be kept secure in a private infrastructure.

CIOs already ramped up their adoption of hybrid cloud platforms in 2014, and experts expect this trend to continue into this year. The number of organizations shifting to a hybrid solution will rapidly increase as they realize the benefits of utilizing a platform that allows them to achieve a properly managed and governed IT portfolio.

Rise of hybrid cloud management
With adoption of hybrid cloud environments growing at a dramatic rate, use of a management platform to handle the new infrastructure is bound to follow. The ability to maintain governance over business-critical data and increasing compliance within an organization will become a major selling point in 2015, leading to a rise in the use of hybrid cloud management platforms.

There are a lot of changes happening in cloud computing, and it can be difficult to make the transition without a little help. When looking to implement any type of cloud infrastructure, the most important step is to find a reliable service provider to make the transition as simple and seamless as possible. ISG Technology offers the experience and knowledge required to create the right environment for every client, as well unmatched service to keep it running at prime capacity. Working with a trusted partner like ISG can help to make the process simpler and more straightforward, ensuring reliable access and service that will improve business. 

Cloud computing market to increase through 2016

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While many new innovative technologies are surely going to emerge in 2015, one proven technology is poised to become even more prominent in the enterprise this year. According to a recent report by Market Monitor, revenue from the cloud computing market is expected to continue increasing throughout the next two years, likely resulting in a value of just under $20 billion by the end of 2016.

The study projected the cloud computing market will rise at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 36 percent. Individual segments of the market were also analyzed. The fastest growing cloud computing offering is infrastructure-as-as-service, with IaaS making up the majority of the total market revenue and more than half of the total market share for public cloud. The annual growth for IaaS offerings is expected to be even higher than the overall market, at 37 percent. However, platform-as-a-service is predicted to be the fastest growing segment of the cloud market, with a projected annual growth rate of 41 percent between 2012 and 2016. PaaS offerings accounted for almost one-quarter of total public cloud revenue.

"Cloud computing is on the upswing and demand for public cloud services remains strong," stated Yulitza Peraza, a quantitative services analyst with 451 Research and co-author of the report. "However, public cloud adoption continues to face hurdles including security concerns, transparency and trust issues, workload readiness and internal non-IT-related organizational issues."

Because of the security concerns associated with solely public cloud environments, many organizations have started to adopt hybrid solutions. A mix of public and private platforms, hybrid cloud allows enterprises to experience the accessibility and availability of a public environment for less sensitive applications and the security of a private infrastructure for programs that are more business-critical.

Fears about cloud security can be calmed with improved enterprise awareness

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As the use of cloud computing becomes more prevalent, a major topic of discussion within enterprises has been the safety of the technology. While many organizations have implemented the cloud, some are still skeptical of its ability to sufficiently protect sensitive information and reduce the chance of a data breach. In fact, a survey of CIOs earlier this year revealed that 70 percent consider security concerns to be the biggest barrier to cloud deployment, NetworkComputing reported.

Another survey recently released by InformationWeek Reports found that IT decision-makers are most worried about security and data resiliency when considering the cloud. Four of the top 10 concerns about cloud computing were related to those two topics. However, there seemed to be a discrepancy in the level of concern about security and the level of trust in the cloud's ability to protect an enterprise network. While 17 percent of those surveyed said the cloud significantly increases the chances of a data breach, 14 percent said the technology decreases the likelihood and 35 percent reported that the cloud has no impact on the occurrence of a security intrusion at all.

According to a separate study conducted by the Harvard Business Review, the cloud is safer depending on what segment of the enterprise you ask. Almost two-thirds of business leaders surveyed said that IT security is not compromised by use of cloud computing, and 35 percent reported an increase in security due to the cloud.

Increased enterprise oversight greatly improves cloud security
One reason there is a perceived lack of security in the cloud is due to an overall insufficient use of encryption. According to information from SafeNet, only 38 percent of U.S. companies encrypt important data. Such statistics reveal that cloud computing isn't unsafe so much as enterprises don't take the steps to secure their information residing in the cloud. Another easily avoidable security issue is the lack of involvement of IT security staff in cloud decision-making. In a study conducted by the Ponemon Institute, nearly 40 percent of IT security professionals reported that they were rarely involved in decisions related to procuring cloud services, and 9 percent reported never being included at all.

Many of the security risks enterprise decision-makers believe are caused by the cloud are actually the result of insufficient data security policies and a lack of involvement from in-house IT staff. While it is nearly impossible to completely prevent a data breach from ever occurring on an accessible network, there are ways to greatly reduce the likelihood of a breach and dramatically improve the security of enterprise information storage.

Organizations commonly have concerns about the privacy of information stored with a third-party provider in a multi-tenant environment. These fears can easily be quelled through the use of a private cloud platform or a hybrid solution. Only one company's information is stored within a private environment, which eliminates the chance of outside eyes prying on sensitive data. With a hybrid option, the most privileged information is stored in a private environment and less critical data and applications are kept in a more accessible public area.