IT systems management and monitoring
Learn about the tools and technologies that enable more visibility into IT infrastructure, integration between IT management tools, tailored alerts for IT professionals and new areas of performance monitoring and management.
Top Stories
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Tip
02 Jul 2025
Help desk vs. service desk: What's the difference?
Help desks deliver tactical, immediate technical support for specific issues, while service desks offer strategic, comprehensive management of business services. Continue Reading
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Feature
30 Jun 2025
ITSM meets AI: Capabilities, challenges and what's next
AI promises to transform ITSM through automation and intelligence, but success depends on matching the right AI type to specific challenges while weighing benefits against costs. Continue Reading
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Tip
30 Jun 2025
Top PowerShell commands you must know, with cheat sheet
Explore this list of the most useful PowerShell cmdlets with a guide on how to use each command. Then, download the handy cheat sheet to keep the information at your fingertips. Continue Reading
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Podcast
18 Jun 2025
Mitigating AI's unique risks with AI monitoring
Coralogix CEO highlights the difference between AI and software monitoring, as illustrated by his company's acquisition and product expansion this year. Continue Reading
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Definition
16 Jun 2025
What are the Uptime Institute's data center tier standards?
Data center tiers are a system created by Uptime Institute LLC to describe the availability of infrastructure resources in a facility. Continue Reading
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Opinion
13 Jun 2025
ServiceNow unveils new AI capabilities
ServiceNow's AI Platform announcement during Knowledge 2025 shows an evolution in IT service management -- one that prioritizes predictive capabilities and true autonomy. Continue Reading
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Answer
13 Jun 2025
The benefits and challenges of AI in network monitoring
Using AI to track network activity streamlines management and predictive maintenance. But questions about data output integrity, security risks and integration complexities remain. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 Jun 2025
How to deploy Windows LAPS for tighter security
Microsoft improved the feature that automates local administrator password management in Windows Server and the client OS. This tutorial explains the updates and how to set it up. Continue Reading
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News
12 Jun 2025
Datadog AI agent observability, security seek to boost trust
As AI agents mature, new tools aim to bolster their reliability and security with fresh visibility into automation workflows and more detailed troubleshooting. Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2025
Cisco Isovalent Load Balancer takes aim at Broadcom's VMware
The new product promises to simplify disparate network traffic across cloud, hybrid and on-premises workloads. Continue Reading
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News
11 Jun 2025
DevOps pros eye Datadog developer portal for ITSM
DataDog advances onto Atlassian and ServiceNow's turf with a self-service developer portal that draws on real-time data about the observed state of IT resources. Continue Reading
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News
10 Jun 2025
June Patch Tuesday resolves Windows zero-day
Microsoft fixes 66 bugs, including an actively exploited WebDAV remote-code execution flaw, but the BadSuccessor vulnerability remains unpatched. Continue Reading
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Podcast
10 Jun 2025
StarTree branches out from DataOps into observability
Co-founder Kishore Gopalakrishna says the IT observability market is 'ripe for disruption,' and his company is on a mission to do just that. Continue Reading
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Podcast
10 Jun 2025
GenAI tools set to exceed past waves of AI automation
Gartner analyst Gregg Siegfried reflects on the previous generation of AIOps tools that never quite lived up to their NoOps promise, and why GenAI might be different. Continue Reading
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Tip
09 Jun 2025
Fix Active Directory account lockouts with PowerShell
Entering the wrong credentials so many times can block users from logging in. This tutorial explains how to find and correct these issues and other lockout events. Continue Reading
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Definition
02 Jun 2025
What is compliance automation?
Compliance automation, also known as automated compliance, is the practice of using technology -- such as applications with AI features -- to perform and simplify compliance procedures. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
02 Jun 2025
PowerShell background jobs unlock scripting performance
When you need a PowerShell script to execute as quickly as possible, try this native feature to run multiple jobs in parallel to overcome processing bottlenecks. Continue Reading
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News
30 May 2025
Software supply chain security tools take on toil for users
Recent updates from software supply chain security vendors simply take over vulnerability management on behalf of IT orgs, rather than provide facilitating tools. Continue Reading
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Tip
29 May 2025
11 tools that facilitate developer productivity
Development teams have a better experience when they use tools that integrate well together and facilitate collaboration. Continue Reading
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Conference Coverage
27 May 2025
Red Hat Summit 2025 news and conference guide
Our guide to the annual Red Hat Summit keeps you up to date on trends, emerging technologies, and information from keynote speakers and industry experts. Continue Reading
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News
22 May 2025
Red Hat Summit 2025: Key innovations for IT channel partners
The open-source software vendor is holding its annual event this week in Boston and, no surprise, its announcements revolve around AI. Continue Reading
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Definition
20 May 2025
What is an automated script?
An automated script is a code snippet that executes repetitive or complex tasks such as provisioning infrastructure, managing security vulnerabilities, setting up data pipelines and testing software, with little or no human intervention. Continue Reading
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Tip
20 May 2025
Understand how Windows Server 2025 PAYG licensing works
Microsoft debuts pay-as-you-go licensing for Windows Server 2025 for enterprises that need flexibility with their on-premises and third-party cloud workload needs. Continue Reading
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News
20 May 2025
Red Hat amps up open source AI infrastructure pitch
With a new AI Inference Server and a distributed inference open source project, Red Hat hopes to capitalize on the surging popularity of open source AI. Continue Reading
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Video
20 May 2025
Automate PowerShell scripts for self-healing IT infrastructure
Transform manual maintenance into efficient automated processes and free your IT team for strategic innovation. Continue Reading
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Definition
15 May 2025
What is AI in networking?
AI in networking involves the application of artificial intelligence technologies, including machine learning, deep learning and advanced data analytics, to automate, optimize and secure network operations. Continue Reading
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Definition
15 May 2025
What is real user monitoring (RUM)?
Real user monitoring (RUM) is a type of performance monitoring that records user interactions with a website or application. Continue Reading
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Definition
14 May 2025
What is quantum technology? Use cases and future implications
Quantum technology is a field of physics dedicated to developing new and innovative technologies based on the principles of quantum mechanics. Continue Reading
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Definition
14 May 2025
What is NISQ computing? Pros and cons
Noisy intermediate-scale quantum (NISQ) computing defines the present stage of quantum computing, in which quantum devices have a moderate qubit count, ranging from 50 to 1,000. Continue Reading
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News
13 May 2025
Microsoft tackles 5 Windows zero-days on May Patch Tuesday
The company addresses 72 unique CVEs this month, but several AI features bundled in a larger-than-usual update could bog down some networks. Continue Reading
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Tip
13 May 2025
How to use Windows Server 2025 hotpatching
Microsoft expanded this functionality to the Standard and Datacenter editions of its latest server OS to cover more environments and reduce reboots for critical workloads. Continue Reading
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Definition
13 May 2025
What is IT asset management (ITAM)?
IT asset management (ITAM) is a set of business practices that combines financial, inventory and contractual functions to optimize spending and support lifecycle management and strategic decision-making within the IT environment. Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2025
ServiceNow shops share AI copilot results, prep for agents
IT ops teams have often already laid the groundwork for generative AI automation with platform consolidation and the previous wave of AIOps tools. Continue Reading
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News
09 May 2025
Datadog acquisition gives it feature flagging for AI
The move enables the vendor to integrate the startup's feature flagging software into its products. It is the second acquisition the vendor has made in the past few weeks. Continue Reading
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News
07 May 2025
ServiceNow digs deeper into data for AI with Data.world buy
ServiceNow will fold in metadata collection and data catalog tools from the data governance specialist to fuel its agentic AI ambitions. Continue Reading
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News
06 May 2025
ServiceNow expands AI governance, emphasizes ROI
Enterprises remain nervous about deploying AI agents in production, as IT vendors vie to demonstrate the value and comprehensiveness of their platforms. Continue Reading
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Feature
06 May 2025
How will enterprises handle changes in Exchange Server SE?
With current Exchange Server versions expiring in October, Microsoft's move to subscriptions and a tight migration deadline puts pressure on organizations keeping on-premises email. Continue Reading
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Podcast
05 May 2025
'What if?' Imagining the future with generative AI tools
According to FreedomPay's performance guru, GenAI will let IT ops pros experiment with ideas for performance optimization and disaster recovery. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 May 2025
What is infrastructure as code (IaC)?
Infrastructure as code (IaC) is an IT practice that codifies and manages underlying IT infrastructure as software. Continue Reading
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News
02 May 2025
Independent lab crowns new WAAP product among its leaders
An API security specialist's newly launched WAAP product outranked more established WAF competitors during independent benchmark testing. Continue Reading
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Definition
01 May 2025
What is distributed tracing?
Distributed tracing is a method used to track the journey of requests as they flow through a distributed system or microservices architecture. Continue Reading
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News
30 Apr 2025
UiPath AI agents blend with RPA amid industry hype, doubts
AI agents represent a 'second act' for a vendor still best known for RPA, but it's taking a selective approach as industry doubts linger about AI costs and scalability. Continue Reading
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News
28 Apr 2025
Cisco AI Defense embeds with ServiceNow SecOps tools
Cisco AI Defense will feed in data and automate AI governance in ServiceNow SecOps products as enterprises seek a platform approach to cybersecurity. Continue Reading
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News
24 Apr 2025
Software supply chain security AI agents take action
Three software supply chain security vendors join the AI agent trend that is sweeping tech, as AI-generated code threatens to overwhelm human security pros. Continue Reading
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Definition
24 Apr 2025
What is workflow orchestration?
Workflow orchestration is the process of coordinating and automating tasks across different systems to ensure they run within a defined workflow. Continue Reading
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News
23 Apr 2025
Datadog sees data observability join DevOps, adds Metaplane
Datadog has customers already bringing data science under DevOps and, with its latest acquisition, aims to create a unified tool set for the newly converged combo. Continue Reading
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Podcast
22 Apr 2025
Dynatrace strategist favors SLMs for AIOps
Specialized small language models will be necessary to automate revisions to production code for incident response, according to a longtime industry expert. Continue Reading
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Definition
22 Apr 2025
What is orchestration in IT?
In IT, orchestration is a commonly used term for the automated coordination and management of different processes, systems and tasks. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Apr 2025
Microsoft Configuration Manager vs. Intune key comparisons
This evaluation of Configuration Manager and Intune outlines the key features, pros and cons so admins know which tool -- or a combination of both -- is the best management choice. Continue Reading
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Definition
14 Apr 2025
What is troubleshooting and why is it important?
Troubleshooting is a systematic approach to problem-solving often used to find and correct issues with complex machines, electronics, computers and software systems. Continue Reading
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News
11 Apr 2025
Atlassian Data Center stops multiyear license renewals
The company confirmed that new on-premises product licenses are now limited to one year as it adds high-security cloud offerings. Users see the writing on the wall. Continue Reading
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Definition
11 Apr 2025
What is Active Directory (AD)?
Active Directory (AD) is Microsoft's proprietary directory service that enables network admins to manage users, permissions and their access to networking resources. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Apr 2025
Using AI and machine learning for APM
Discover how organizations can streamline operations and improve operational analytics by using AI and machine learning in their application performance monitoring environments. Continue Reading
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News
09 Apr 2025
Exploited Windows zero-day addressed on April Patch Tuesday
Microsoft delivers fixes for 121 vulnerabilities with 11 rated critical this month. Admins will have extra mitigation work to correct three flaws. Continue Reading
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News
09 Apr 2025
Google Gemini 2.5 Pro extends on-prem GenAI support
Google Gemini is the first proprietary frontier model that can be run on-premises via Google Distributed Cloud for privacy- and cost-conscious enterprises. Continue Reading
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News
08 Apr 2025
AI agents raise stakes in identity and access management
IT vendors roll out fresh tools to take on identity and access management for AI agents as enterprises deploy them internally and battle malicious ones externally. Continue Reading
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Podcast
07 Apr 2025
OpenTelemetry adapts to AI observability
A core contributor and governing board member for the CNCF project reflects on how AI is changing observability, programming and business. Continue Reading
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Tip
04 Apr 2025
Distributed tracing vs. logging: Uses and how they differ
Distributed tracing and logging help IT teams identify performance issues in systems in different ways. But they also complement each other to pinpoint problems. Continue Reading
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Feature
02 Apr 2025
Explore these 7 popular API gateway tools
Plenty of vendors have jumped on the API gateway trend, which can make it difficult to choose the right one for you. We examine the key features of seven popular gateway tools. Continue Reading
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Definition
01 Apr 2025
What is synthetic monitoring?
Synthetic monitoring is a proactive monitoring approach that uses scripted simulations of user interactions to assess the performance and availability of websites, applications and services. Continue Reading
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Tip
28 Mar 2025
Follow Patch Tuesday best practices for optimal results
Microsoft releases most security updates on Patch Tuesday, a day that brings anxiety to many sys admins. Learn how to develop a strategy to test and deploy these fixes. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Mar 2025
APM vs. observability: Key differences explained
If you're debating using application performance monitoring or observability to gather data and improve the user experience, consider these differences between them. Continue Reading
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News
27 Mar 2025
Bluesky, Squarespace pros give incident, project postmortems
Bluesky saw a massive surge in requests per second after the 2024 U.S. election, while Squarespace engineers had 10 months to migrate 9 million domains from Google. Continue Reading
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Feature
27 Mar 2025
Compare 8 tools for IT monitoring in 2025
Effective monitoring is a cornerstone of any IT environment. Examine the available tool options for IT monitoring, and compare their features, benefits and costs. Continue Reading
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Definition
27 Mar 2025
What is IT automation? A complete guide for IT teams
IT automation is the use of instructions to create a clear, consistent and repeatable process that replaces an IT professional's manual work in data centers and cloud deployments. Continue Reading
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Podcast
27 Mar 2025
A visual future: GraphRAG and AI observability
In the eyes of one CNCF leader, GNNs, knowledge graphs and GraphRAG will boost IT operations and create 3D views of apps and infrastructure. Continue Reading
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News
26 Mar 2025
Site reliability engineers weigh MLOps vs. LLMOps
Some of the same lessons -- and unsolved problems -- from supporting machine learning apps in production carry over to generative AI apps, but not all. Continue Reading
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News
25 Mar 2025
SREs map uncharted territory with LLMOps
Generative AI apps upend longstanding reliability engineering principles, mindsets and skill sets -- how experts weather the disruption. Continue Reading
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Definition
25 Mar 2025
What is IT operations (IT ops)?
The term IT operations (IT ops) describes the many processes and services an IT department manages and maintains within an organization. Continue Reading
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Definition
24 Mar 2025
What is reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS)?
Reliability, availability and serviceability (RAS) are related operational activities that must be considered when designing, manufacturing, purchasing and using a computer product or component. Continue Reading
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Podcast
20 Mar 2025
Charity Majors on AI observability and the future of SRE
The observability maven reflects on 'Observability 2.0' and urges site reliability engineers to embrace AI agents, despite their perceived threat -- before it's too late. Continue Reading
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Definition
20 Mar 2025
What is continuous monitoring?
Continuous monitoring constantly observes the performance and operation of IT assets to help reduce risk and improve uptime instead of taking a point-in-time snapshot of a device, network or application. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Mar 2025
6 open source workflow engines and how to use them
When evaluating open source workflow engines, learn their features and strengths, then view top platforms that streamline data pipelines, roll out microservices and automate tasks. Continue Reading
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Tip
19 Mar 2025
The Microsoft patch management guide for admins
Microsoft recently added WSUS to its deprecation list. Now that the battle-tested patch management tool's days are numbered, what are the alternatives from the company? Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Mar 2025
Learn how the Windows Server 2025 editions differ
See what's been gained -- and lost -- in Microsoft's latest version of its server OS before you plan a migration from your existing workloads. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Mar 2025
APM vs. distributed tracing: How they differ
Application performance monitoring and distributed tracing help IT teams identify performance problems in different but complementary ways, as explained here. Continue Reading
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Definition
18 Mar 2025
What is security automation?
Security automation uses technology to remove high-volume manual processes from security operations to detect cyberthreats, which saves time by integrating different workflows into repeatable processes. Continue Reading
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Tip
18 Mar 2025
Kubernetes automation: Use cases and tools to know
Kubernetes automation simplifies the configuration, deployment and management of prepackaged container components supporting business apps, but it's not recommended in all cases. Continue Reading
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News
17 Mar 2025
GitHub Actions supply chain attack spotlights CI/CD risks
Experts say a GitHub Actions vulnerability should renew enterprises' attention to securing build pipelines the same way they secure production environments. Continue Reading
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Feature
17 Mar 2025
8 service desk automation examples to enhance IT support
NLP-powered chatbots, escalation algorithms, data insights, onboarding, SLA monitoring and faster response times are service desk automation examples boosting IT support. Continue Reading
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Tip
17 Mar 2025
IT automation vs. orchestration: Key differences
As complementary technologies, automation defines each repetitive task to be performed, while orchestration assembles arrays of individual tasks to accomplish complex workflows. Continue Reading
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Definition
17 Mar 2025
What is pipelining?
Pipelining is the process of a computer processor executing computer instructions as separate stages. Continue Reading
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News
11 Mar 2025
March Patch Tuesday fixes 6 Windows zero-day exploits
All the vulnerabilities that had been actively exploited in the wild will get resolved quickly by deploying the Windows cumulative update for this month. Continue Reading
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Definition
11 Mar 2025
What is an automation engineer and how do you become one?
An automation engineer designs and develops autonomous systems to manage repetitive tasks and improve efficiency and productivity. Continue Reading
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News
10 Mar 2025
Analysts: IBM-LzLabs suit a cautionary tale for IT buyers
A U.K. court ruled that an LzLabs subsidiary breached IBM license terms, a reminder to IT orgs to do careful research before choosing a vendor, according to industry watchers. Continue Reading
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Feature
07 Mar 2025
Benefits and challenges of IT automation
Adopting IT automation comes with improved process efficiency, greater scalability, lower costs and the power of AI, yet implementation, integration and maintenance issues persist. Continue Reading
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Definition
05 Mar 2025
What is tool sprawl? Explaining how IT teams can avoid it
Tool sprawl is the accumulation of many IT tools by an organization, leading to inefficiency and data siloing. Continue Reading
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Definition
04 Mar 2025
What is root cause analysis?
Root cause analysis (RCA) is a method for understanding the underlying cause of an observed or experienced incident. Continue Reading
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News
04 Mar 2025
JFrog integrates with Hugging Face, Nvidia; intros JFrog ML
The partnership aims to give developers a clearer guide on safe models. It also aims to ensure enterprise-grade safety and security with the deployment of open models. Continue Reading
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Tip
03 Mar 2025
10 steps to develop your IT automation strategy
Setting business goals, establishing governance practices, identifying and deploying the right tools, and providing training are the foundations of a sound IT automation strategy. Continue Reading
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Definition
03 Mar 2025
What is a word in computing architecture?
In computing architecture, a word is a fixed unit of data containing a specific number of bits that can be addressed and moved between storage and the computer processor. Continue Reading
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Tip
27 Feb 2025
The top AIOps tools and platforms to consider in 2025
As AIOps approaches become more common among IT teams, the AIOps tools and platforms market has expanded. Compare leading options to decide which fits your needs. Continue Reading
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Definition
27 Feb 2025
What is network analytics?
Network analytics is the application of big data principles and tools to the data used to manage and secure data networks. Continue Reading
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News
25 Feb 2025
New Relic takes partnership tack for agentic AI
New Relic users say its collaborative approach to agentic AI, revamped AIOps tools and pricing model will make it easier to explore fresh forms of automation. Continue Reading
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News
20 Feb 2025
Zero-CVE Chainguard Images gain customization option
Chainguard opens its container image builder factory to let users mix and match hardened container components while preserving a zero-vulnerability SLA. Continue Reading
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Definition
20 Feb 2025
What is function as a service (FaaS)?
Function as a service (FaaS) is a cloud computing model that enables cloud customers to develop applications and deploy functionalities and only be charged when the functionality executes. Continue Reading
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Tutorial
18 Feb 2025
Deploy a read-only domain controller for security, speed
A read-only domain controller requires a fair amount of work for a proper deployment, but it can be a great option for quicker logins for users in branch offices. Continue Reading
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News
13 Feb 2025
IT orgs expand business observability beyond their own walls
Business observability could soon become a part of your IT environment, even if you're not the one who originally thought of it. Continue Reading
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News
11 Feb 2025
Microsoft plugs two zero-days for February Patch Tuesday
The company corrects active exploits in vulnerable Windows systems, one of which could give the attacker complete control if successful. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Feb 2025
Data center temperature and humidity guidelines
ASHRAE maintains a recommended list of humidity and temperature level standards for data centers. Discover which range of guidelines is best for each equipment class. Continue Reading
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Tip
10 Feb 2025
Top observability tools for 2025
Observability tools can help developers and IT administrators improve the delivery, performance and customer experience of applications and avoid potential issues. Continue Reading
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Definition
07 Feb 2025
What is cognitive automation?
Cognitive automation describes diverse ways of combining artificial intelligence (AI) and process automation capabilities to improve business outcomes. Continue Reading