IoT, Internet of Things, isn’t just a word that you see in “IT buzzword bingo.” It is rapidly becoming unavoidable. Whether or not you want it to be, it is likely going to be a part of your life. Fighting this trend would be like trying to fight the growth of the Internet in the 1990’s and 2000’s. It is taking over, and there is nothing that can be done to stop it. To borrow a phrase from Star Trek, “Resistance is futile.”
IoT adoption in our lives
If we take a step back and analyze what’s going on, the number of use cases for IoT is astounding. In our personal lives, we are inundated with it. From mobile devices, wearable tech, Alexa, Google Home, internet connected light bulbs, doorbells with integrated cameras, thermostats, door locks, to automotive dash cameras that upload data in real time to the cloud (using WiFi to your phone, then uploaded over your Cellular provider)… and the list goes on and on. The smart “everything” market is exploding. Even if IoT hasn’t become a huge part of your life, you can be sure that it will in the very near future.
Video surveillance is everywhere these days. Smart monitoring of our utilities such as electricity and water is another trend. If you don’t live in a smart city already, chances are you will soon. According to a headline from IEEE , the folks who are involved in standardizing much of the technology in our lives, …
“The Forecast of 50 Billion Devices by 2020 is Outdated.”
Though the article goes on to trim down estimates a bit, this is still HUGE.
Everyone is creating IoT “Things”
Raspberry Pi and Arduino are creating massive amounts of human exposure to the development of products for the IoT ecosystem. Anybody these days can create their own IoT products with a Raspberry Pi or Arduino. There is an endless supply of accessories and sensors. One can often complete a project for less than $100. As this market continues to grow and provide more capabilities and accessories, it becomes significantly cheaper to mock up products. This will lead to the development of even more products that do more – for less money.
IoT- DIY Style
Here is an example that I haven’t implemented. You can find plenty of example projects to help get you started. Using a Raspberry Pi or Arduino, you can easily hook up sensors to monitor moisture, temperature, or dust. You can then integrate a camera for easy viewing over the network. We can apply all of this into a simple data center monitoring appliance. The total cost would be very low. The ability to customize and automate using Linux would be endless.
There are plenty of data center monitoring devices readily available. Some can be quite costly. You may also find that you are unable to customize to the degree of what some might want or need.
Imagine taking this custom appliance, and integrating it into your favorite cloud provider for off-site sensor and video data collection. Then, tie it all together with AI to analyze the data for trends. You can use TensorFlow or whatever your favorite framework happens to be. This will help solve the problem of “you don’t know what you don’t know.”
In the event of a problem detection, the device can fire off some Python or other scripting language. This will automatically migrate VMs to another site, power down physical servers, and send an alert with sensor data and video clip. Once the kinks are worked out, you can have it manufactured in scale to reduce costs and drive up efficiency even further.
Although this is a simple example, the possibilities and use cases for both business and home are endless. The point here is that innovation is taking place in the world of IoT at a dizzying speed.
Smart EVERYTHING
We are now measuring and controlling just about everything imaginable. Here are some examples of IoT use cases for business:
-
- Smart cities
- Smart energy
- Smart signage
- Smart cars/trucks/planes/buses/etc
- Smart agriculture
- Smart Buildings
- Smart Hospitals/Health Monitoring
- Smart Retail
- Smart Manufacturing
- Smart Supply Chain
Smart Almost Anything You Can Possibly Imagine….
Are you prepared for the massive flood of data on your network?
With devices that either produce or receive video streams, data flowing through our networks is growing at an exponential scale. On top of IoT taking over the world, AI is analyzing this data in ways like never before. We are increasing our collective knowledge about everything imaginable at a speed never thought possible.
Wireless devices are consuming network resources like it’s going out of style. The wired network required to support it continues to require growth as well. We also have to worry about our security posture for all of these devices on the network. Is your network ready now? Is it ready to handle demand 3 years, or even one year from now?
If you are considering an IoT or AI project, or the wireless and wired network and security required to support it, Zunesis has the expertise. Schedule an assessment today, we’d love to help!
What is HPE GreenLake?
According to IDC, by 2020, consumption-based procurement in data centers will account for as much as 40% of enterprises’ IT infrastructure spending. Businesses today expect rapid access to resources that allow them to pay for only what they use. This allows businesses to not only be competitive in today’s market but economical as well.
Introducing HPE GreenLake which provides enterprise customers with a compelling value proposition of a consumption-based IT model and the comfort of managed services. It gives a company exactly what it needs and when it needs it. It is a suite of curated solutions that deliver IT outcomes with hardware, software, and expertise on premises. Payment is simple and based on a single pay-per-usage metric that is relevant to the particular solution and your business.
Five Reasons to Love HPE GreenLake
CRN recently shared five reasons to look into HPE GreenLake:
- Eliminating Over Provisioning: The average customer utilization rate for IT is 45% which means 55% of assets are not being used. Customers are buying excess compute, storage or networking capacity for on premises solutions. Customers who have adopted the GreenLake model on average are seeing a 22 – 30 percent cash flow savings.
- Provides Detailed Consumption Data: Critical data is being collected via HPE’s “consumption manager”. This gives detailed analysis on what is being consumed, who is consuming it and what trends may be for the future.
- Speeds Up IT Provisioning: There is no more waiting period to buy and provision new IT on premises solutions. The solution works to figure out what the work requirements really are, deploys that and buffers it for the client.
- Metering Advantage: Using the Cloud Cruiser tool, GreenLake can meter down to the core, Gbyte, or VM or in any way the customer wants. A portal is provided that shows detailed consumption metering. This data can be tracked by project, business unit or external customer. This allows for a more detailed financial background check on each and every IT service.
- Capex or Opex: Customer has the choice of how financially they would like to focus their work service contract. A company may be focused on EBITDA where they prefer to depreciate IT asses in a capital expenditure deal. Or a company may want to focus on freeing up cash to use elsewhere. The client has the option to decide what matters to them: Capex or Opex.
There are quite a few HPE GreenLake packages available including Hybrid Cloud, Backup, SAP HANA, Database EDB Postgres and Big Data. Zunesis and HPE would work with your business to find out what package is the most beneficial for your organization.
Why Consumption Based IT?
Many companies and organizations are looking to take the advantage of more of a hybrid environment where they can use the advantages of the public cloud while having the option to run workloads on premises. Businesses are moving away from capital-intensive models to more of a consumption-based approach where they can be more agile and save money and IT resources.
Here are three reasons why a Consumption Based Approach may make your IT more efficient.
- Improve IT Operations: IT admin and operations staff are bogged down with the tasks of software updates and/or troubleshooting technology problems. By having a vendor that takes over these tedious tasks on a monthly basis via a consumption model, this frees up time for the IT to focus on projects that actually help a business generate revenue.
- Understanding Where to Place Workloads: 40 percent of organizations with public cloud experience have moved workloads off of the cloud and back to their on-premises setups. Moving these workloads can cause additional costs, dealing with a reduced size of their IT footprint and other unexpected problems. A consumption-based IT model can help set up an IT solution within a quicker time frame. The business is only paying for they used so you don’t overspend. The vendor also helps determine the best place to locate each of the workloads.
- Capacity Planning: 451 Research found that 59 percent of enterprises wait three months or longer for new capacity to come online. 50 percent of enterprises typically suffered downtime as well due to poor capacity planning. With a pay-as-you-go approach, an IT provider works to determine a business’ current capacity needs and continually plans for future capacity requirements.
Is HPE GreenLake and a Consumption Based IT Approach a fit for your business or organization? Contact Zunesis to do an assessment of your current infrastructure to determine what may work best for your needs.
Predictive Analytics – The New Magic 8 Ball
I remember when I was a kid and a popular toy that everyone loved to play around with was the Magic 8 Ball. You would ask it a multitude of yes or no questions to get its prediction for the future.
It is certain. Outlook Good. Don’t Count on It. Better Not Tell you Now. These were just a few of the answers from the “wise” ball with a floating icosahedron (20 faced) inside. I’m sure we have all had times in our life personally or professionally where we wish we had a “Magic 8 Ball” to guide us through life.
In a sense, we do have some tools out there that can help us forecast for the future which brings in the idea of Predictive Analytics. A tool that has actually been used for centuries without many of us knowing about it. In your everyday life, I’m sure you could find at least a few ways in which predictive analytics is used. From ads that come up to predict your future shopping habits to the increase or decrease of your credit score.
What is Predictive Analytics?
There are a few definitions out there but most define it as the following:
Predictive Analytics is the practice of extracting information from existing data sets in order to determine patterns and predict future outcomes and trends.
Predictive Analytics can not tell you what will definitively happen in the future but serve as a guide on the odds or risks of future events or occurrences. The accuracy and usability of the forecast is highly dependent about on the level of data and the quality of assumptions.
Often the unknown event of interest is in the future, but predictive analytics can be applied to any type of unknown whether it be in the past, present or future. For example, it can be used after a crime has been committed or after credit fraud has occurred. The core of predictive analytics relies on capturing data from past occurrences and using that data to predict the unknown outcome.
History of Predictive Analytics
Some will say that Predictive Analytics have been around since the 1940’s but others believe that it started back in 1689. A company you may have heard of, Lloyd’s of London, began the process which we know call underwriting. During this time period, shipping and trade was primarily conducted by traveling the seas.
Financial bankers would accept risk on a given sea voyage in exchange for a premium which was written on a Lloyd’s slip. Lloyd’s of London would obtain information regarding shipping news. This data would help forecast the risk of a particular sea voyage.
As I mentioned, others feel it started in the 1940’s when governments started using computational models. See the infographic below on the evolution of Predictive Analytics.
With the advent of AI, more data can be processed than ever before since it can operate without human intervention. The future of predictive analytics is endless. In fact, according to a report issued by Zion Market Research, the global market for Predictive Analytics is expected to reach approximately $10.95 billion by 2022. This is growing at a company annual growth rate of around 21 percent between 2016 and 2022.
How is Predictive Analytics Used Today?
There are many industries and professions that are currently using Predictive Analytics. Companies are trying to seek an edge in our very competitive market where they are fighting to survive and withstand long-standing problems.
Here are just a few of today’s Applications:
Automotive: Driver Assistance Technology where sensor data is analyzed to build assistance algorithms.
Aerospace: Using it to Improve aircraft up-time and reduce maintenance costs.
Child Care: Flagging high risk cases for potential child abuse.
Energy Production: Forecasting Electricity price and demand.
Financial sector: Credit risk models, identifying the most effective collection agencies, fraud protection, underwriting and project risk management are just a few of the uses.
Industrial Automation and Machinery: Predicting machine failures.
Law Enforcement: Crime Trend Data is used to define neighborhoods that may need additional protection at certain times of the year.
Marketing: Through data analysis marketers can predict customer buying habits, determine customer life cycles, and mitigate issues that could cause a loss of customer. By analyzing a customers’ spending, usage and other behavior this can lead to cross sales of additional products. Marketers are also using analytics to help identify the most effective combination of marketing tactics to target a given customer.
Medical: 93 percent of Healthcare Executives have stated that predictive analytics is important to their business’ future. A 2017 Society of Actuaries report discovered that over half of healthcare executives (57%) already using predictive analytics believe that the technology will help them to save 15 percent or more of their total budget over the next five years. It is currently being used to determine which patients are at risk of developing certain conditions like diabetes, asthma, heart disease and more.
Predictive Analytics and IT
IT Professionals around the world are constantly looking for tools to save them from a plethora of challenges. Outages, slow response time and network attacks are just a few of the problems impacting the IT world. Predictive Analytics can come in to help with some of these issues.
HPE’s InfoSight and Aruba’s NetInsight are solutions that are using predictive analytics. These tools can provide recommendations, real-time detection, accelerated troubleshooting and more for your network, servers and storage. Contact Zunesis for a demo on how these solutions work.
Will Predictive Analytics Continue to be used in the future? All Signs Point to Yes!
Why Choose Microsoft Office 365?
There are thousands of blog articles written about Office 365 each year. Here are just a few: Top 10 Reasons to Migrate to Office 365, Top 10 Reasons to Not Migrate to Office 365, Top 10 Migration Strategies for Office 365, Top 10 Office 365 Myths Debunked, and 15 Cool Features You Should Be Using in Office 365. Not to mention endless technical and how-to articles. There is no shortage of opinions in support of or against utilizing Office 365, everyone seems to have one.
While researching the topic of this blog article, I read many of these arguments that organizations view when deciding if Office 365 is right for them. When focusing on the reasons to migrate to Office 365, the articles list the reasons with a short explanation of each reason. No matter the reason, the explanation is usually a quick blurb with a justification for moving to Office 365. There is usually very little information to back up the justifications.
Are Blurbs Enough?
For example, when discussing storing data in Office 365:
If our data moves to the cloud, our business will no longer have control over our technology:
When you move to the cloud, your business actually gains control over your technology by reducing time and money spent maintaining hardware and upgrading software. Now you and your team can focus on strategically implementing technology for your business rather than being a repair service. You will reduce expenditures to your capital budget by no longer relying on servers to store email and workloads. Instead, you can expect a predictable budget and focus on supporting your business in a much more agile fashion, with the ability to respond to needs quickly.
Wow, that is a lot in a tiny blurb. If you started out with a less than stellar email system which was needing repaired constantly, or your business does not require any other servers, you are in great shape.
Or:
Office 365 is more than just Word, Excel, etc.
It is (depending on your license) actually a hosted Exchange (email) server. Now, one of the most powerful email systems that used to be only for Fortune 500 corporations, can be accessed by even the smallest of small businesses. Enterprise-level features and reliability for pennies per day!
True on every level, but pennies per day? No other quantification?
Clarification, Please!
A little clarification would be great when explaining to your boss why you should move to Office 365. They no doubt are going to ask you to explain the pennies per day, or other explanations in these tiny blurbs.
Hopefully, the rest of this article can be of specific help. Sorry for the Reason – blurb format.
Where is customer (your organization) data when in Office 365?
Office 365 data is stored in Microsoft Data Centers around the globe. The Microsoft global infrastructure is made up of Regions, Geographies, and Availability Zones.
- Regions – a set of data centers deployed within a latency-defined perimeter and connected through a dedicated regional low-latency network. With more global regions than any other cloud provider, Microsoft gives customers the flexibility to access data where they need to.
- Geographies – a discrete market, typically containing two or more regions that preserves data residency and compliance boundaries. Geographies allow customers with specific compliance needs to keep their data close. They are fault-tolerant to withstand region failure through the networking infrastructure.
- Availability Zones – physically separate locations within each region. Each zone is made up of one or more data centers equipped with independent power, cooling, and networking. Allos customers high availability and low-latency replication.
Microsoft has 54 regions worldwide and is available in 140 countries. The addresses of the data centers are not disclosed to help keep them secure.
How is the data stored?
The data is stored in the local Geographic location to the organization by default. There are two locations in each Availability Zone, so there are always two up to date copies at any one time. The customer can request to have the data moved to a different location, if required. In the event of a failure, the data is brought up to Production automatically, and another copied made within the Availability Zone. Microsoft makes it an available option (for Exchange Online and Microsoft OneDrive) to store the data in multiple Geographies, called Multi-Geo Replication. This would provide for four copies of the data, two in an Availability Zone in two Geographies.
Office 365 uses service-side technologies that encrypt the data at rest and in transit. For data at rest, Office 365 uses volume-level and file-level encryption. For data in transit, Microsoft uses multiple encryption technologies for communications between data centers and between clients and servers, such as Transport Layer Security (TLS) and Internet Protocol Security (IPsec). Office 365 also has an option for customer-managed security features.
Who Can Access customer data?
The Office 365 data belongs to the customer. They have complete control over it. Microsoft provides extensive privacy controls and visibility into where the data resides and who can get access to it. Microsoft takes strong measure to help protect the customer data from inappropriate access or use by unauthorized persons. This includes restricting access by Microsoft personnel and subcontractors, and carefully defining requirements for responding to government requests for customer data. However, you can access your own customer data at any time for any reason.
And, without further ado, a top 10 list from Microsoft themselves:
Top 10 Security and Privacy Features of Office 365
- Restrict physical data center access to authorized personnel and have implemented multiple layers of physical security, such as biometric readers, motion sensors, 24-hour secured access, video camera surveillance, and security breach alarms.
- Enable encryption of data both at rest and via the network as it is transmitted between a data center and a user.
- Do not mine or access your data for advertising purposes.
- Use customer data only to provide the service; we don’t otherwise look in your mailbox without your permission.
- Regularly back up your data.
- Will not delete all the data in your account at the end of your service term until you have had time to take advantage of the data portability that we offer.
- Host your customer data in-region.
- Enforce “hard” passwords to increase security of your data.
- Allow you to turn off and on privacy impacting features to meet your needs.
- Contractually commit to the promises made here with the data processing terms in your volume licensing agreement.
Links for follow-up:
Office 365 – Microsoft Trust Center
Microsoft Online Services Terms
Data Access – Microsoft Trust Center
Data Location – Microsoft Trust Center
Windows 7 OS Enters Final Year of Free Support
Windows 7’s five years of extended support will expire on January 14, 2020. After this date, security fixes will no longer be freely available for the operating system that’s still widely used. If you still use Windows 7, it may be time to consider an upgrade.
“Changes and upgrades in technology are inevitable,” said Brad Anderson, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, in a blog. “And there’s never been a better time to start putting in motion the things you need to do to shift your organization to a modern desktop with Microsoft 365.” Microsoft will continue to provide security updates for Windows 7 to business customers that pay for support, according to ZDNet, but not individual users.
Windows 10
Windows 7 was released in 2009 and is still one of the most widely used desktop operating systems. Windows 10 finally overtook Windows 7 in the desktop market at the end of last year, according to ZDNet. Data analysis reports for December 2018 showed that 39.2 percent of the machines they collect data from used Windows 10, while 36.9 percent used Windows 7, according to ZDNet.
What Does End of Support Mean?
The end of free support does not mean the end of support entirely. Microsoft has long offered paid support options for its operating systems beyond their normal lifetime, and Windows 7 is no different. What is different is the way that paid support will be offered. For previous versions of Windows, companies had to enter into a support contract of some kind to continue to receive patches. For Windows 7, however, the extra patches will simply be an optional extra that can be added to an existing volume license subscription. No separate support contract will be needed on a per-device basis. These Extended Security Updates (ESU) will be available for three years after the 2020 cut-off, with prices escalating each year.
Alternative Option
According to Microsoft Technologist Peter Bright, as an alternative, Microsoft is offering all three years of ESUs to customers of the new Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) service at no extra cost. This service offers cloud-hosted virtual machines running Windows 7 plus whatever applications are needed, and those virtual machines will continue to be patched into 2023. WVD uses existing Windows Enterprise E3 licenses, and it runs on the full range of Azure virtual machines, with no additional costs incurred. This includes, for example, GPU-equipped VMs, meaning that WVD should be usable for a wide range of workloads.
Office 365 will continue to be supported on Windows 7, but only with the ESUs applied. Similar policies exist for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. These also drop out of free support in one year. For on-premises deployments, customers will be able to buy the Extended Security Updates, but workloads in Azure will receive all three years of fixes for free.
Here are a few reasons why Windows 10 is superior to Windows 7:
- Multitasking – It is much easier to juggle multiple open windows when you’re working. Features include offering both half-monitor and quarter-monitor sizes when you drag a window to one part of the Desktop. Other open windows are able to fill any open space automatically. One can view a much clearer thumbnail overview of your open windows and supports multiple Desktops. This makes working with full-screen windows much easier when you don’t have multiple monitors
- Always up to date – It’s no longer possible to forget to run Windows Update. You will be less likely to miss a critical operating system patch that fixes a serious security problem. By forcing all users to stay up to date, everyone’s online safety is improved. It reduces the risk of a PC being compromised by a hacker and becoming part of a botnet that could be used to attack your PC.
- Security – The safety of your PC is improved. With alternatives to a simple password, such as using a familiar picture, it makes it much harder for anyone to sign into your PC without your permission.The new PIN system also means you can protect your Microsoft account with a long, strong and very secure password, but still use a simple PIN code to sign into your PC — and it only works on your PC.
- New Windows Features – Digital assistant Cortana is gradually improving with every update, while the Action Centre is a neat and tidy place to keep all your notifications.
- Faster – Performance tests have shown that this version is faster across the board than earlier versions of Windows. It boots, goes to sleep and wakes from sleep marginally faster than it would on a PC of the same specification. This means less waiting around when you want to do something. Application performance is more of a mixed bag. Tests show it to be faster than Windows 7 with some apps and slower with others. Bear in mind that Microsoft will update Windows 10 regularly. Windows 7 is now essentially frozen in its current state after ‘mainstream’ support ended in January 2015.
Contact Zunesis if your organization is interested in moving from Windows 7 to Windows 10. We can provide support and expertise during the transition.
Windows 7 OS Enters Final Year of Free Support
Windows 7’s five years of extended support will expire on January 14, 2020. After this date, security fixes will no longer be freely available for the operating system that’s still widely used. If you still use Windows 7, it may be time to consider an upgrade.
“Changes and upgrades in technology are inevitable,” said Brad Anderson, corporate vice president for Microsoft 365, in a blog. “And there’s never been a better time to start putting in motion the things you need to do to shift your organization to a modern desktop with Microsoft 365.” Microsoft will continue to provide security updates for Windows 7 to business customers that pay for support, according to ZDNet, but not individual users.
Windows 10
Windows 7 was released in 2009 and is still one of the most widely used desktop operating systems. Windows 10 finally overtook Windows 7 in the desktop market at the end of last year, according to ZDNet. Data analysis reports for December 2018 showed that 39.2 percent of the machines they collect data from used Windows 10, while 36.9 percent used Windows 7, according to ZDNet.
What Does End of Support Mean?
The end of free support does not mean the end of support entirely. Microsoft has long offered paid support options for its operating systems beyond their normal lifetime, and Windows 7 is no different. What is different is the way that paid support will be offered. For previous versions of Windows, companies had to enter into a support contract of some kind to continue to receive patches. For Windows 7, however, the extra patches will simply be an optional extra that can be added to an existing volume license subscription. No separate support contract will be needed on a per-device basis. These Extended Security Updates (ESU) will be available for three years after the 2020 cut-off, with prices escalating each year.
Alternative Option
According to Microsoft Technologist Peter Bright, as an alternative, Microsoft is offering all three years of ESUs to customers of the new Windows Virtual Desktop (WVD) service at no extra cost. This service offers cloud-hosted virtual machines running Windows 7 plus whatever applications are needed, and those virtual machines will continue to be patched into 2023. WVD uses existing Windows Enterprise E3 licenses, and it runs on the full range of Azure virtual machines, with no additional costs incurred. This includes, for example, GPU-equipped VMs, meaning that WVD should be usable for a wide range of workloads.
Office 365 will continue to be supported on Windows 7, but only with the ESUs applied. Similar policies exist for Windows Server 2008 and Windows Server 2008 R2. These also drop out of free support in one year. For on-premises deployments, customers will be able to buy the Extended Security Updates, but workloads in Azure will receive all three years of fixes for free.
Here are a few reasons why Windows 10 is superior to Windows 7:
- Multitasking – It is much easier to juggle multiple open windows when you’re working. Features include offering both half-monitor and quarter-monitor sizes when you drag a window to one part of the Desktop. Other open windows are able to fill any open space automatically. One can view a much clearer thumbnail overview of your open windows and supports multiple Desktops. This makes working with full-screen windows much easier when you don’t have multiple monitors
- Always up to date – It’s no longer possible to forget to run Windows Update. You will be less likely to miss a critical operating system patch that fixes a serious security problem. By forcing all users to stay up to date, everyone’s online safety is improved. It reduces the risk of a PC being compromised by a hacker and becoming part of a botnet that could be used to attack your PC.
- Security – The safety of your PC is improved. With alternatives to a simple password, such as using a familiar picture, it makes it much harder for anyone to sign into your PC without your permission.The new PIN system also means you can protect your Microsoft account with a long, strong and very secure password, but still use a simple PIN code to sign into your PC — and it only works on your PC.
- New Windows Features – Digital assistant Cortana is gradually improving with every update, while the Action Centre is a neat and tidy place to keep all your notifications.
- Faster – Performance tests have shown that this version is faster across the board than earlier versions of Windows. It boots, goes to sleep and wakes from sleep marginally faster than it would on a PC of the same specification. This means less waiting around when you want to do something. Application performance is more of a mixed bag. Tests show it to be faster than Windows 7 with some apps and slower with others. Bear in mind that Microsoft will update Windows 10 regularly. Windows 7 is now essentially frozen in its current state after ‘mainstream’ support ended in January 2015.
Contact Zunesis if your organization is interested in moving from Windows 7 to Windows 10. We can provide support and expertise during the transition.
In Search of the Holy Grail (and avoiding the killer rabbit)
In this post, I’m going to be writing about a solution from HPE to help improve the management of IT Infrastructure. First, I want to say that I have come to understand the term “IT Infrastructure” can be used very broadly, depending on the perspective of the Speaker or Writer and their audience. So, before I get started, let me define what the term means for me.
When I talk about IT Infrastructure components, I am referring to the hardware and software that provide the foundation for Applications supporting the line of business. The Business Applications will include email, document management, ERP and CRM Systems, etc. The foundational components that support these applications include Compute, Storage, and Networking hardware as well as Operating Systems and Hypervisors. In my mind, these foundational pieces are the IT Infrastructure.
Managing Can be a Challenge
Management of IT Infrastructure has long been a challenge for Systems Administrators. Once we moved past the mainframe dominated environment, to a distributed architecture, the number of devices and operating environments (operating systems and hypervisors) grew very quickly. Each component of an IT Infrastructure requires configuration, management, and monitoring (for alerts, performance, capacity, etc.) Of course, each device and operating environment comes with their own management and monitoring tools, but, because of the disparate toolset, the burden of correlating the information from each of these sources falls on the shoulders of Systems Administrators. This task of monitoring and correlating data from our IT Infrastructure can be incredibly time consuming. And, because our days are often filled with the unexpected, it is difficult to be consistent in our execution of the monitoring/correlation tasks.
To help ease this burden, the industry has seen the introduction of many applications over the years, designed to aggregate alerts and performance metrics. These tools certainly help, but they can often fall short.
What do we do with the information they are presenting to us?
How do we make sense of the data?
Can these tools help us understand trends in utilization, predict resource short-falls, proactively warn of component failures?
And, can they provide any correlation in the context of analytics data collected from thousands of similar environments from around the world?
That would be the Holy Grail of IT Management. Wouldn’t it?
Okay, a mid-post pause. My reference to the Holy Grail (and the killer rabbit) is from the movie, Monty Python and the Holy Grail. I only used it here because some of my Zunesis Colleagues have written posts using various movie references and I felt the need to respond with my own. I’m older than many of my colleagues so my reference may be a little more dated. However, I think the movie is iconic and will still be familiar to most.
Okay, now back to the discussion of IT Management and the challenges we face. To borrow a phrase from Monty Python, “…and now, for something completely different…”.
HPE InfoSight
In April of 2017, HPE completed the acquisition of Nimble Storage. This acquisition introduced a great storage solution into the HPE Storage family, but, one of the biggest drivers for this acquisition was InfoSight Predictive Analytics. At the time, InfoSight collected data from thousands of sensors across all deployed Nimble arrays globally. This data was fed into an analytics engine allowing global visibility and learning to provide predictive problem resolution back to each Nimble user. The analytics allowed many problems to be resolved, non-disruptively, sometimes before the end-user knew it was a problem.
So, in addition to providing localized alerting, phone-home support, performance data, resource trending, System Administrators now had a tool that could act on their behalf and provide correlations that wouldn’t be possible without the global context.
At the time of the acquisition, HPE committed to leveraging InfoSight for other HPE solutions over time. They have been honoring that commitment ever since. Very quickly they included InfoSight support for 3PAR StorServ, StoreOnce, and RMC. These were in addition to the existing support for Nimble Arrays and VMware.
As of January 7th of 2019, HPE officially included support for Gen 10, 9, and 8 ProLiant Servers, Synergy, and the Apollo Server families. This recent announcement means that many key components of the IT Infrastructure are now part of the InfoSight Predictive Analytics environment.
For HPE storage solutions, HPE InfoSight Predictive Analytics answers questions like:
- How has my data usage trended?
- When am I going to run out of capacity?
- What if I ran these apps… on the same array?
For the newly announced HPE Server environment HPE will provide:
- Predictive analytics to predict and prevent problems
- data analytics for server security
- predictive data analytics for parts failure
- Global learning that provides wellness and performance dashboards for your global inventory of servers
- global inventory of servers
- A recommendation engine to eliminate performance bottlenecks on servers
For VMware environments, InfoSight Cross-stack Analytics identifies:
- Noisy Neighbor
- Inactive VMs
- Latency Attribution – identify root cause across host, storage, or SAN
- Top Performing VMs – Visibility into Top 10 VMs by IOPS and Latency
Benefits of InfoSight
Based on an ESG Report titled, “Assessing the Financial Impact of HPE InfoSight Predictive Analytics”, published in September 2017, InfoSight provided the following benefits based on a survey of nearly 500 users:
- 79% lower IT operational expenses.
- 73% fewer trouble tickets in the environment.
- 85% less time spent resolving storage-related trouble tickets.
- 69% faster time to resolution for events that necessitate level 3 support.
- The ability to manage and troubleshoot the entire infrastructure environment from a single, intelligent platform.
HPE InfoSight is an application of AI that is here today and will continue to grow in the IT Infrastructure components it supports as well as the benefits it provides. If you have an HPE environment today, you’ll want to find out if HPE InfoSight can be leveraged to help you better manage your IT Infrastructure.
IT Spending Trends and Figures for 2019
I felt like Rip Van Winkle when I woke up on January 1st, 2019. Seriously? Already 2019? They’re right, time does fly as you get older.
Thanks to the rotation of our blog batting order, I was tasked with putting together something intelligent by January 3rd. Now, I don’t know about you, but I completely unplugged over the holiday season. It felt great, but I am definitely paying the price for it now.
However, I am starting to feel my brain synapses fire up and thought what better way to start off the New Year by understanding what’s going to happen in 2019 as it pertains IT trends and figures.
Thanks to our friends at Spiceworks this is what we can expect to see in 2019:
So, as budgets continue to increase, so does cutting edge technology. Artificial Intelligence is getting scary-refined.
IT Trends for 2019
APNews.com calls out the following IT Trends for 2019 in a recent article:
1) AI and Analytics Merger: Applying AI algorithms to analytics will prove transformative but the complex merger requires a roadmap.
2) Decision Automation: Greater AI and machine learning in enterprise resource planning will empower smarter process changes, minus the human intervention, to drive cost savings.
3) Digital Twins: Digital replicas of physical processes, like production lines, let humans interact with IoT sensors automating asset management.
4) Edge Computing: Data center AI and analytics will deliver more real-time intelligence, anticipating problems and implementing fixes before costly breakdowns.
5) Mixed Reality: The combination of elements of virtual and augmented reality with data analytics will grow in 2019 but will accelerate even faster over the next two or three years.
6) Blockchain Boom: Blockchain uses a shared digital ledger that’s impossible for hackers to breach, making it one of the most-watched technologies of 2019.
7) Cloud Maturity: Thanks to advances in security, more organizations will embrace the cloud generating huge new datasets to inform advanced machine learning.
8) Full-Stack Engineers: Companies will scramble to hire full-stack engineers with AI and analytics skills making this one of the hottest careers of 2019!
Enterprise IT Spending
Now, with that being said, A.I. is still not the biggest driver of company IT spending. Spiceworks, again provides a breakdown of where enterprises are choosing to spend their money:
Hardware is getting old too. Many organizations will need to replace that hamster in the wheel for one who uses vitamin supplements. Security is also a primary concern for enterprises. In fact via Spiceworks, let me just show you instead of trying to spell everything out.
There’s no better time than the present to start thinking about upgrading one’s IT infrastructure. That is, if you haven’t already. And, don’t forget your backup and disaster recovery! Down time can eradicate that IT surplus budget very quickly.
Other challenges for 2019 include:
So, a lot to ingest for January 3rd. That’s why I kept the content light and more visible. If you haven’t started thinking about your infrastructure, my guess is the information provided will definitely push you in the right direction.
The sense of urgency is here. Large or small companies can benefit by keeping up-to-date and Zunesis can help you with that. We range from Datacenter DataCare programs where we can provide an overall assessment of your current infrastructure (large or small) to Nimble Installations to SAN Migrations.
Father time is not on our side when it comes to expiration dates. Don’t get caught watching the paint dry in 2019. Move on this now!
IT Spending Trends and Figures for 2019
I felt like Rip Van Winkle when I woke up on January 1st, 2019. Seriously? Already 2019? They’re right, time does fly as you get older.
Thanks to the rotation of our blog batting order, I was tasked with putting together something intelligent by January 3rd. Now, I don’t know about you, but I completely unplugged over the holiday season. It felt great, but I am definitely paying the price for it now.
However, I am starting to feel my brain synapses fire up and thought what better way to start off the New Year by understanding what’s going to happen in 2019 as it pertains IT trends and figures.
Thanks to our friends at Spiceworks this is what we can expect to see in 2019:
So, as budgets continue to increase, so does cutting edge technology. Artificial Intelligence is getting scary-refined.
IT Trends for 2019
APNews.com calls out the following IT Trends for 2019 in a recent article:
1) AI and Analytics Merger: Applying AI algorithms to analytics will prove transformative but the complex merger requires a roadmap.
2) Decision Automation: Greater AI and machine learning in enterprise resource planning will empower smarter process changes, minus the human intervention, to drive cost savings.
3) Digital Twins: Digital replicas of physical processes, like production lines, let humans interact with IoT sensors automating asset management.
4) Edge Computing: Data center AI and analytics will deliver more real-time intelligence, anticipating problems and implementing fixes before costly breakdowns.
5) Mixed Reality: The combination of elements of virtual and augmented reality with data analytics will grow in 2019 but will accelerate even faster over the next two or three years.
6) Blockchain Boom: Blockchain uses a shared digital ledger that’s impossible for hackers to breach, making it one of the most-watched technologies of 2019.
7) Cloud Maturity: Thanks to advances in security, more organizations will embrace the cloud generating huge new datasets to inform advanced machine learning.
8) Full-Stack Engineers: Companies will scramble to hire full-stack engineers with AI and analytics skills making this one of the hottest careers of 2019!
Enterprise IT Spending
Now, with that being said, A.I. is still not the biggest driver of company IT spending. Spiceworks, again provides a breakdown of where enterprises are choosing to spend their money:
Hardware is getting old too. Many organizations will need to replace that hamster in the wheel for one who uses vitamin supplements. Security is also a primary concern for enterprises. In fact via Spiceworks, let me just show you instead of trying to spell everything out.
There’s no better time than the present to start thinking about upgrading one’s IT infrastructure. That is, if you haven’t already. And, don’t forget your backup and disaster recovery! Down time can eradicate that IT surplus budget very quickly.
Other challenges for 2019 include:
So, a lot to ingest for January 3rd. That’s why I kept the content light and more visible. If you haven’t started thinking about your infrastructure, my guess is the information provided will definitely push you in the right direction.
The sense of urgency is here. Large or small companies can benefit by keeping up-to-date and Zunesis can help you with that. We range from Datacenter DataCare programs where we can provide an overall assessment of your current infrastructure (large or small) to Nimble Installations to SAN Migrations.
Father time is not on our side when it comes to expiration dates. Don’t get caught watching the paint dry in 2019. Move on this now!
“Keep the malware, ya filthy animal” is NOT a line uttered in the 1990 Christmas Classic, Home Alone….but it should be!
Well…not really. The internet was still in its infancy in 1990 and infection of computers and networks by malicious software was still a relatively new concept (the term “malware” was first coined only months before Home Alone’s theatrical release). The line would DEFINITELY apply today, however. As nearly everything is operated online, to some extent, and network security is becoming more important than ever!
Thankfully, there are high-end tools we use today to ensure that we can control and monitor what devices are accessing our networks. Review how these devices are behaving while on the network. Give the ability to remove said devices if malicious activity is detected.
Little Human ClearPass
There are numerous blogs and articles that explain how the entire plot of Home Alone would not have occurred had the technology that we use today been available. I’m not going to go down that rabbit hole here. Instead I am going to use the film as an analogy for technology itself…namely Aruba Network’s security platform “ClearPass”.
I’m doing this because I think it makes some of the nuances of the technology easier to understand and because I just feel like it, ok? So, sit back, grab a cheese pizza, and put on some after-shave…I’m about to tell you all about the story of Kevin McCallister, “The Little Human ClearPass”.
For those of you that don’t know, Aruba ClearPass is a policy management platform that allows network admins to onboard new devices, grant varying access levels, and help keep their networks secure. It can be dissected into three primary security functions: Identify, Enforce and Protect. And I will use Kevin McCallister to demonstrate each process.
Identify
Much of Kevin’s success in thwarting full-grown men who are attempting to rob his parent’s house, stems from the fact that he is a very observant little fella. He notices the highly suspicious “Wet Bandits” following him. Kevin monitors their behavior and overhears their conversations. Preemptively, he defends his family home based on his findings. His observations operate in much the same way as ClearPass. ClearPass helps identify what devices are trying to access the network. These findings include where the devices are connecting from and device-specific information such as IP address, OS, type and model name etc.
Enforce
The key for the “Wet Bandits” to successfully loot all of the luxurious homes in Kevin’s neighborhood while they are all vacant for the holidays. If 
you’re a burglar…you’re not going to attempt to waltz into a house full of people and hope you go unnoticed, are you? Remember when Kevin turns on every single light in his house and makes it look like there’s an epic party occurring there? Bingo. The burglar policy seems to be: “if the place is occupied, don’t risk it.”
Networks have policies too. Ones that can similarly prevent unwanted visitors. ClearPass allows you to enforce these network policies during the onboarding of new devices. Rules can be put into place that define what type of devices users can onboard, how many, and who may onboard a device. After this, access can be enforced in a number of ways. A simple portal can be used or the more secure method of using encryption in the authentication process.
Protect
The final area of focus in ClearPass security is “Protect”. With ClearPass OnGuard, one can define the “health level” a device must have in order to gain access to the network. The health of individual devices that are connected to the network is crucial to network security. If a device that is attempting to connect does not meet these requirements, it is not allowed on the network. Moreover, policy controls and threat remediation give real-time insight into the activity on the network, allowing threats to be quickly identified. This allows the IT staff to quickly block traffic or disconnect devices if unusual network behavior is detected.
What does all that mean in layman’s terms and can I use a metaphor? Sure thing! If you see suspicious folks skulking around your residence, you better ice down your steps, heat your doorknobs and place Christmas ornaments by the windows to discourage unwanted entry. If those crafty villains still a manage to gain entry, you better have some Micro Machines strewn across the floor and have a tarantula handy. It worked for Kevin McCallister and it can work for you and your network!
Aruba Networks is just one of the many great vendors that Zunesis works with daily. Contact us today for all of your IT needs. Including, but not limited to, cyber security. If you find yourself “home alone” just think, “what would Kevin do?”.
Thanks for reading and have a Merry Christmas!
