Opinion

Opinion

• An AWS re:Invent recap: Key services to watch

  From container marketplaces to file systems, this year's re:Invent conference was brimming with news. Here are some key takeaways.  Continue Reading

• ITIL vs. DevOps: What path should an enterprise choose?

  Frameworks and methodologies must keep pace with technology stacks. ITIL fell too far behind between the release of ITIL 3 and ITIL 4, but there might be a middle ground.  Continue Reading

• Why QLC flash adoption now benefits the enterprise

  While enterprises must overcome some obstacles with QLC, there is a solid case for its use. 3D NAND has played a big part in enabling QLC use within the enterprise.  Continue Reading

• Should software architect responsibilities include coding?

  There are many variations to the role of the software architect in today's IT teams, and a lingering debate is over whether they should all be hands-on with code.  Continue Reading

• Storage for edge computing is the next frontier for IoT

  IoT edge devices are getting smarter and will need local storage for machine learning and other AI operations. Is the industry ready for the challenge of storage for edge computing?  Continue Reading

• Five essential steps to build a cloud-native strategy

  Container storage has taken off, thanks to its performance and portability. Make the most of the technology with a comprehensive cloud-native strategy.  Continue Reading

• Next-generation PCIe key to composable infrastructure progress

  High-performance computing and AI environments are just two strong uses for composable architecture. Explore benefits and drawbacks of PCIe in composable systems.  Continue Reading

• Get around the biggest disadvantage of DevOps: Cost

  DevOps is expensive -- maybe too expensive. So, how can you slash the price tag? Instead of diving into a full culture shift, adopt only the processes that benefit your business.  Continue Reading

• Will DevOps spell the death of the CMDB?

  While CMDBs still have value, they no longer dominate IT management. See what CMDB integration options remain and why IT admins should look beyond the repository software.  Continue Reading

• Sole Black VMware principal engineer aims to diversify tech

  VMware's only Black principal engineer talks about his rise in the cloud-native world, how to bring in a new generation of minorities and the future of technology.  Continue Reading

• Don't limit observability to 3 pillars

  Logs, metrics and tracing are the pillars of observability but fall short in system health comprehension. Learn why data source tracking gives better insight into your environment.  Continue Reading

• Elastic vs. AWS highlights open source monetization dilemma

  The fight between AWS and Elastic over the commercial usage of Elasticsearch highlights how open source software vendors need to change in the era of cloud computing.  Continue Reading

• Fight microservices complexity with low-code development

  Software developers are in a constant battle with complexity. Microservices hold promise as ready-to-assemble app components, but low-code development might be a better approach.  Continue Reading

• These 5 IT buzzwords for 2021 reflect data storage priorities

  As a mature IT discipline, the pace of change in storage has slowed, but there is still plenty of buzz about underlying technologies you'll need to know about in 2021.  Continue Reading

• Cost-effective snapshot management tips and strategies

  Snapshots may be an optimal way to copy and protect data, but they can lead to some unexpected consequences. Find out what those are and how to avoid them.  Continue Reading

• Pay-per-use pricing model can boost digital initiatives

  Consumption IT shifts the burden of infrastructure support to vendors and expenditures from Capex to Opex. Can pay-per-use pricing keep pace with your digital business roadmap?  Continue Reading

• The Elasticsearch sideshow and why Algolia is the better bet

  Elastic and AWS continue to make headlines over their licensing dispute, but the bickering avoids an important question: Is Elasticsearch still the right tool for the job?  Continue Reading

• Microservices design patterns and tools to watch in 2021

  Building upon years of momentum, architects are well in the swing of transitioning from the monolith to microservices. Here are three of the top trends they'll face in 2021.  Continue Reading

• Where does NoOps fit in the future of IT Ops?

  NoOps might stand for No Operations, but the goal is to improve processes, not eliminate them. Learn how steps toward automation and cloud migration can change IT operations.  Continue Reading

• 3D XPoint vs. NAND flash: Why there's room for both

  While there are key differences between 3D XPoint and NAND flash -- in terms of performance, cost and uses -- the two technologies will likely coexist for years.  Continue Reading

• Cloud providers jockey for 2021 market share

  AWS and Microsoft still dominate the cloud market, but Google, IBM and Oracle aren't without merit. Learn where each provider excels to find your perfect match.  Continue Reading

• How to use Agile swarming techniques to get features done

  Agile teams can produce a viable product in no time when they swarm, but this all-hands approach to produce a user story or feature isn't easy.  Continue Reading

• Post-acquisition strategy and why storage mergers go bad

  NetApp-SolidFire and HPE-SimpliVity cuts illustrate some of the pitfalls awaiting large vendors when they spend hundreds of millions and even billions of dollars on acquisitions.  Continue Reading

• Lines blur between structured and unstructured data storage

  Open source tools like Presto persist low-cost unstructured object data stores while still making information accessible through structured data access tools such as SQL.  Continue Reading

• With release of vSphere 7, VMware takes NVMe-oF mainstream

  VMware's support of NVMe-oF means organizations might be able to significantly improve the performance of their application environments without changing any data center hardware.  Continue Reading

• Project Apex brings Dell into battle to control IT services

  If you were looking for new products at Dell Tech World 2020, you went to the wrong place. It's all about Dell's Project Apex initiative for selling infrastructure as a service.  Continue Reading

• What are some VPN alternatives for remote access?

  VPN security has its imperfections, especially when tracking user data and online activity. Some VPN alternatives may provide different security elements for users.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud vs. hyper-converged: Hybrid wins hands down

  When everything goes to cloud, why do you even need HCI? Who cares where server, storage, virtualization and networking are when IT adopts a 'run any app from anyplace' strategy?  Continue Reading

• How can AWS, Azure and GCP increase cloud market share?

  The Big Three dominate the cloud market, but they all have room for improvement. See what each vendor needs to do to increase its market share and attract more enterprises.  Continue Reading

• Storage optimization strategies for time-series data stores

  Storing time-series data should depend on how the data is used and its age. Discover tips for saving data for comparative analysis, machine learning and other purposes.  Continue Reading

• World of technology changed forever by the pandemic

  While most of the events of a remarkable 2020 would not be welcome again, changes to the IT and storage landscape will stay with us for the foreseeable future.  Continue Reading

• Modern HCI environment shaped by evolving IT priorities

  Hyper-convergence simplified deployment and scaling of IT resources over the past decade, but modern IT is far more complex than it once was. HCI vendors evolved, but have you?  Continue Reading

• WFH technologies prosper with ongoing remote access needs

  The work-from-home cat is out of the bag, and many skeptical executives have now seen its benefits, boosting markets for technologies like VPN, VDI, HCI that make it all possible.  Continue Reading

• HCI vs. traditional IT vs. dHCI vs. composable infrastructure

  Compare outcomes of hyper-converged, traditional/converged, disaggregated HCI and composable infrastructures, plus hybrid cloud, to decide which approach best fits your IT needs.  Continue Reading

• Third-party cloud services for images, search and authentication

  Don't limit your cloud services to just what your provider offers. Consider these third-party alternatives to handle images, search and authentication.  Continue Reading

• AWS, Microsoft and Google should retire these cloud services

  Nothing lasts forever. Whether they've been supplanted by newer offerings or simply outlived their usefulness, these cloud services on AWS, Azure and GCP are ready to be retired.  Continue Reading

• Traditional vs. converged vs. hyper-converged infrastructure setups

  HCI clusters, converged infrastructure and rack servers all offer benefits for a data center. Still, figuring out which is easier to set up requires evaluation and planning.  Continue Reading

• Forget monitoring alerts, turn to IT root cause analysis

  Alerts get your attention, but they don't always tell you where the core of a problem is to be found. Maybe it's time to shift your IT management strategy.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud ecosystem enables digital transformation

  The digital economy has led to a dramatic increase in not just cloud adoption but on-premises data and workloads. Hybrid clouds seamlessly move applications and data between them.  Continue Reading

• Add tape backup in 2020 to boost a data protection strategy

  Tape has never really gone away. But it can be useful beyond long-term archiving. Learn why IT professionals may want to consider reintroducing tape backup into their data centers.  Continue Reading

• SMR, HAMR and other HDD technologies you can build on

  Hard disk drives could make a comeback in 2020, as new technologies such as SMR, HAMR, MAMR and dual actuators provide more capacity and speed for secondary storage.  Continue Reading

• Remote work technologies to account for in 2020 IT budgets

  In light of a crisis like COVID-19, IT organizations must amend their budgets to invest in technologies that can support remote access and foster employee collaboration.  Continue Reading

• Remote access is just one of many COVID-19 IT challenges

  The coronavirus outbreak stretched many in IT to the limit of their abilities to find ways to accommodate the surge in remote workers.  Continue Reading

• Agile characteristics for internal software development teams

  Not all developers create software for external users. So, what lessons can internal dev teams learn from Agile? Start with one problem at a time and iterate from there.  Continue Reading

• How free Wi-Fi hotspots help in emergency response situations

  Emergency and disaster response require teamwork among businesses, governments and community groups. In these times, free Wi-Fi hotspots help people feel connected.  Continue Reading

• The 2020 cloud acquisitions AWS, Microsoft and Google should make

  The major cloud providers offer a wide range of services, but they're far from perfect. Here are the 2020 acquisitions AWS, Microsoft and Google should make to shore up their platforms.  Continue Reading

• Time to rethink IT for containerized workloads

  Employing IT tools that span on- and off-premises hybrid environments is a first step toward optimizing infrastructure design and management for container-based environments.  Continue Reading

• Forget emerging tech, consumption-based pricing booms in 2020

  Cloud storage's appeal is based less on tech or total cost than on the value that comes from Opex pay-as-you-go pricing. Now you can get that cost model for on-premises storage.  Continue Reading

• Infrastructure modernization via hyper-convergence can equal success

  How hyper-convergence can help modernize IT infrastructures to better meet challenges like the digital transformation of the business and the adoption of edge computing.  Continue Reading

• 5 software testing books QA professionals should dig into

  There's no cookie-cutter crash course on software testing. However, these five books can get beginners on the right path to better quality software.  Continue Reading

• AIOps meaning to expand throughout DevOps chain

  AIOps means artificial intelligence to aid in IT operations. But it could mean much more than that, bringing in development, business, security and other application stakeholders.  Continue Reading

• Are PMEM and storage class memory worth the price?

  Look beyond price/performance to find out if SCM and persistent memory modules are right for your business. Faster response time and earlier time to market are important, too.  Continue Reading

• Review these 3 key cloud computing trends from 2019

  What cloud trends played a large role in the IT industry in 2019? They might not be the first ones that come to mind.  Continue Reading

• 5 enterprise wireless industry trends to track in 2020

  Yes, 5G and Wi-Fi 6 will continue to grab headlines. But other ongoing wireless industry trends include problematic devices and heavy-handed licensing by vendors.  Continue Reading

• Manage and secure cloud sprawl in multi-cloud systems in 2 steps

  As enterprise cloud adoption increases, so too does the risk of cloud sprawl -- and, with it, cloud security threats. Learn how to beat cloud sprawl in two steps.  Continue Reading

• How is HCI market fragmentation affecting buyers, vendors?

  An increasingly crowded market and the technological limitations of standard HCI have led to innovative new takes on hyper-convergence to the benefit of vendors and buyers alike.  Continue Reading

• Emphasize app modernization in 2020 IT budget plans

  IT budgeting can be stressful and complicated, but it doesn't have to be. Communicate with business leaders and users to identify -- and capitalize on -- the right opportunities.  Continue Reading

• Why it's time to rethink the DevOps vs. ITIL debate

  As organizations look to more closely align their business and IT goals, they should combine DevOps and ITIL practices, rather than commit exclusively to one methodology over the other.  Continue Reading

• Explore compelling benefits of hyper-converged infrastructure

  Better support remote office/branch office environments and address budgetary, efficiency, scaling and operational challenges with hyper-converged infrastructure.  Continue Reading

• How the Microsoft and Oracle partnership affects IT workloads

  Oracle and Microsoft's move to unite sometimes-competitive applications and cloud environments means that businesses can focus less on architecture rewrites and more on capabilities.  Continue Reading

• Why application intelligence is the linchpin of modern data centers

  AI-based application intelligence tools help IT cope with growing scale and complexity by automatically detecting workloads, analyzing requirements and making recommendations.  Continue Reading

• Will replication help spur adoption of VMware vVols?

  Virtual Volumes -- now known as vVols -- have gained Storage Resource Management support for array-based replication, plugging a gap that hindered adoption.  Continue Reading

• What should we make of ESB architecture in a distributed world?

  Did microservices really kill the ESB? Or could it be that the push to asynchronous communication only makes application architects need centralized management more than ever?  Continue Reading

• The true private cloud debate: Do labels matter?

  The debate around authentic private clouds continues as more organizations adopt the model, but labels might not matter in the end.  Continue Reading

• Cloud-first agenda reveals disadvantages of cloud services

  As hypervisor vendors push cloud services over software, organizations are faced with vendor lock-in, licensing changes and, in some cases, added technology and consulting costs.  Continue Reading

• Utilize AI for cloud cost optimization

  The sticker shock of cloud bills is still a pain point for enterprises. Providers are looking to AI to fix the problem, but can this technology actually meet customers' needs?  Continue Reading

• The best Agile architects write code

  To be a better software architect, brush up on programming skills and write code. See how Agile architects help developers and make projects better when they dabble in coding.  Continue Reading

• The evolution of SDN and its role in networking

  Has SDN run its course, or has the architecture simply evolved? In many current products, data centers and cloud environments, SDN may be closer than you think.  Continue Reading

• Can next-gen SIEM help cybersecurity initiatives?

  More organizations are using SIEM, AI and cloud technology to minimize security breaches. Though despite interest, this combination is still in its infancy.  Continue Reading

• Cloud repatriation is a symptom of a wider cloud storage trend

  People are rethinking their cloud storage strategies, adjusting for hidden costs, application needs and compatibility issues in a world of public, private and hybrid options.  Continue Reading

• Why cloud block storage deployments are on the rise

  Move over object and file storage; use of block storage in the public cloud is increasing as more businesses prepare to move or have already redeployed workloads to the cloud.  Continue Reading

• Lessons learned from PowerShell Summit 2019

  Want to refine your automation abilities? Learn about some of the insights gleaned from the advanced sessions held at the PowerShell Summit.  Continue Reading

• Prepare for cloud security and shared responsibility

  Organizations that move to the cloud must prepare to adapt their security playbooks. Learn how AWS' shared responsibility model complicates cloud security.  Continue Reading

• ITIL 4 framework brings long-awaited flexibility to ITSM

  After eight long years, the ITIL 4 framework finally saw the light of day in 2019 -- but what can enterprises expect to gain from the latest version, and those to come?  Continue Reading

• 3 elements to consider for a hybrid cloud deployment

  Hybrid cloud uptake is increasing, as organizations demand greater infrastructure freedom across on- and off-premises environments and more control over the application layer.  Continue Reading

• The future of VMware and Kubernetes integrations

  Kubernetes has become the most popular platform for managing containers. VMware might have a few opportunities to cash in on that, including vSphere-integrated Kubernetes.  Continue Reading

• Support for production-level hybrid cloud use cases on the rise

  A recent Taneja Group survey reveals that hybrid cloud and multi-cloud are the preferred cloud storage architectures for a variety of enterprise storage use cases.  Continue Reading

• Larger, expandable HCI nodes bring big infrastructure benefits

  Discover why a larger node strategy enables enterprises to better consolidate workloads in a hyper-converged infrastructure environment while reducing complexity and cost.  Continue Reading

• When converged and hyper-converged -- and cloud -- converge

  Price, ease of management and use cases should determine if you use hyper-converged, converged infrastructure or on-premises public cloud stacks. There are differences, however.  Continue Reading

• Why the PaaS market failed to live up to the hype

  PaaS' days as a stand-alone tech may be numbered as the cloud layer gets absorbed by IaaS platforms from AWS and others. See what went wrong for the market that once held such promise.  Continue Reading

• Why networking certifications no longer matter

  Networking certifications have consistently been an important milestone for network professionals. But diverse network infrastructure, automation and UI upgrades could change that.  Continue Reading

• Future of PowerShell lies in DevOps, cloud resource management

  While PowerShell isn't the only automation and scripting tool that fits in IT pros' cloud and CI/CD toolboxes, it won't fall out of favor any time soon.  Continue Reading

• Tech communities offer more than just a quick fix

  IT professionals who join tech meetups and online communities might find there's more than just troubleshooting help available when they invest their time in a group.  Continue Reading

• Modern dev practices exacerbate private cloud disadvantages

  The public cloud has become the go-to hosting environment for enterprise DevOps shops -- a trend that won't bode well for the future of private cloud architectures.  Continue Reading

• What to do when virtualization management tools go cloud

  As more tools transition to the cloud, SMBs that keep workloads on-premises must make a decision about how they'll manage their virtual environments going forward.  Continue Reading

• With atoms and lasers, IonQ makes a quantum computing leap

  Startup IonQ is taking a decidedly sci-fi approach to quantum computing, using atoms to store information, along with sophisticated lasers to retrieve and process that data.  Continue Reading

• Ease conflicts with software engineering project management

  Development teams try many ways to balance business priorities with software quality in a project -- and most of them don't work. Here's how to keep that relationship balanced.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged infrastructure benefits by reducing IT complexity

  Businesses turn to hyper-convergence to reduce data center complexity so IT can more directly support business goals and capitalize on the value of data.  Continue Reading

• Understanding the NVMe performance problem

  Storage software is a primary performance concern when using NVMe. Discover three workarounds vendors use to fix the problem that exists between NVMe flash and storage software.  Continue Reading

• Cloud trends of 2019 include repatriation, hybrid and multi-cloud

  The rise of the hybrid cloud and the repatriation of public cloud workloads on site to private clouds are driving the broader cloud trends of 2019 toward multi-cloud.  Continue Reading

• Hyper-converged technology ready for next step, multi-cloud

  The height of the next hyper-converged infrastructure wave will revolve more around finding the right use cases rather than the right technology and architecture.  Continue Reading

• What the AWS and open source spat means for users and enterprises

  Explore the concerns at the center of the AWS vs. open source debate and how they play into a larger conflict between the open source community and public cloud providers.  Continue Reading

• Your move to the cloud should be a walk, not a run

  Don't become a cautionary tale when moving to the cloud. Take the time to look at your long-term costs, staffing issues and how future needs will be met.  Continue Reading

• AI for storage management gets real

  AI for storage is popping up everywhere, though much of what we're seeing is the automation of routine tasks. Discover what vendors are doing to use AI more creatively.  Continue Reading

• Google Cloud Next 2019: End user computing news

  BeyondCorp gets revamped and more Google Cloud security product announcements.  Continue Reading

• Hybrid cloud-first strategy solves public cloud, on-premises riddle

  Cloud-first isn't right for every enterprise or workload, nor is on-site first. A hybrid cloud melds the best of the public cloud and local data center for an optimal IT solution.  Continue Reading

• Skip the wireless site survey cost and invest in more wireless APs

  A wireless site survey simply provides a one-time snapshot of a work environment's wireless coverage. But Wi-Fi requires ongoing management based on several changing variables.  Continue Reading

• Wireless site surveys and why you no longer need them

  Wireless site surveys have always been part of a WLAN installation, but today that no longer should be the case. Capacity, not coverage, is more important.  Continue Reading

• Can IT admins benefit from a DevOps environment?

  Admins might wonder if they need to pay attention to DevOps, but collaboration with developers helps minimize bad code and optimize processing hardware.  Continue Reading

• IBM quantum computing may arrive sooner than expected

  If IBM continues doubling the performance of its quantum computers, as recent benchmarks indicate, it could deliver the first commercial system in the next three to five years.  Continue Reading