Values of Cloud Computing

Take the case of a midsized tire manufacturer. It spends millions to move to the public cloud to reduce IT costs by 30 percent. Once migrated, it discovers these additional values from the cloud:

• The ability to speed time-to-market.There’s no longer any waiting for hardware and software to be procured and configured, which can takes months. Instead, IT can spin up servers needed to support a new product line in hours or add capacity to accommodate expanding the business.
• The ability to deal with near-perfect information. Moving to the cloud typically means consolidating enterprise data. In doing so, you can understand much more about past patterns in the business and use that to better extrapolate the future of the business. In the case of the example tire company, it understands how to change what tires are manufactured in a year, based on buying patterns over the last several years. Although predictive analytics has been around for a while, it didn’t become affordable until cloud computing came along.
• The ability to go digital to the last mile.There is a lot of talk these days about digital enablement. The public cloud provides a platform for digital enablement that’s both quick to build and dirt-cheap. That tire company can now do inventory automatically using RFID and send delivery trucks optimized routes before they leave the warehouse.

The problem with strategic cost savings is that enterprise management needs to experience it themselves and learn how to change their businesses around the use of cloud computing (or any beneficial technology, for that matter).

It’s great that the tactical cost savings are a sufficient motivation for migrating to the cloud. But don’t stop there once you have migrated. There’s so much more value for you to gain once you’re on the cloud.

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Hiring IT IOT Infrastructure

Here’s what you need to know:

Employees want something that’s as modern and simple to use as their smartphones. Today, they’re bringing their own software into the workplace, which means enterprise versions need to mimic simple, easy-to-use tools as much as possible.

Conversely, management has a long priority list for selecting mobile technology solutions. According to a recent study, security and reliability of the software or network are the top requirements, closely followed by ease of use and integration into existing infrastructure.
All of it adding up to a full-scale technology Tug of War, with IT stuck in the middle.

Choices bring challenges
When it comes to smartphones, keep this mind: IT Managers often consider purchasing them for employees, due to familiarity and overall value.

Those devices however, don't always have all the “bells and whistles” you need to take care of business.
System compatibility is a big issue. So is dependability.

Enterprise devices? The consensus is that they’re clunky, complicated and expensive. But they work much better than smartphones from an application and integration standpoint. Plus, they’re far more durable, resulting in better TCO and ROI.

Now you can see why IT is caught in a crossfire.

What they really need is a device that stands for everything a business wants and everything employees need.

The solution is at hand

Fortunately, Zebra’s got it all covered, with their incredible touch computer built for Retail: The TC51.
This leading-edge mobile device features Android, the world’s most popular operating system. Management gets all the benefits of purpose-built Zebra technology, software and services. Employees get design quality and ease of use that’s more often associated with their favorite consumer devices.

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IOT Larger Points

My larger point is that all the devices which were compromised had two things in common; they were consumer devices built on tight profit margins (hence the free/open source code) and the designers "hoped" that users would change the default password on the device when they were installed.  So here we have have two failings of human beings (not technology); building cheap products and assuming end users understand technology and how to protect their own security.  Couldn't see that coming.

So why is this fiasco such a tipping point in IoT history?  Well first of all we all now know it can happen and affect a lot of other people who are going to take action, second, there is now no excuse for device designers not to take security seriously, even if they have a tight budget.

Just to show that this isn't wishful thinking on my part I have seen evidence of this in September when we (I was at AspenCore at that time) asked embedded/IoT hardware designers what their major concerns were right now and for the first time we saw Security as #1. Although one cautionary note is that "Cost" was #2 and very close.

So here is my closing thought,  IoT security is on everyone's mind now and free software combined with asking users to change their passwords may not be the best choice for securing devices in a world of constant cyber attacks.  More on this in my next blog and feel free to comment and share.

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Retro Business Cards

Today’s freebie is a Business Card PSD Template. It is suitable for DJs or anyone in the music industry. I tried to keep is simple and went for a retro style. The layers are decently organized, so you should be able to modify it and add your details quite easily.

The zip file contains a single PSD file that contains both the front and the back design. The size is 2” x 3.5” (2.25” x 3.75” with bleed) and of course the color mode is CMYK.

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Business Cards Design

For more Details: www.horrizoninfotech.com

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Android Market on Football

 

Before I launch into this post, this is a post purely targeted at Android phone users, particularly fans of Best Android Downloads. I thought as an iPhone owner I should understand more about the dark side because I am thinking of getting one of the new Samsung handsets this year. Note that all links go to the Android Market - enjoy!

Football apps for mobile and tablets fall into 2 broad categories: keeping up to date with fixtures/results/news and games. I think as football fans we know where to go to see how our team have done. Whether its the Beeb, Sky Sports News or the popular free ESPN app we now what to do on our touchscreens when its 17:00hrs on a Saturday early evening. Most clubs have their own apps for up to date match previews and player interviews, mostly

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