Articles

Firewall Cleanup

29 Sep 2010

Firewalls are designed to provide access control. Although there is risk associated with any access, by limiting what access is permitted the risk is limited and understood and can be evaluated against business need to effectively justify the risk. However, poor firewall management defeats this purpose by ineffectively controlling access and limiting visibility into what access is actually permitted; poor management also increases the cost associated with security management.

Too much data can mean insecure data storage is the result

27 Sep 2010

Data exists in many forms in most organisations and, as IT managers find to their annoyance when they start trying to archive that data in a coherent manner, its sheer volume can often be overwhelming.

LGR Telecommunications Improves the Power and Versatility of Its Solutions with a Data Warehouse

27 Sep 2010

LGR Telecommunications (LGR) is a specialized solutions provider to the global telecommunications industry, offering a unique business solution that taps directly into the source of each customer interaction with the network by accessing the call data record (CDR) it creates. LGR’s approach intelligently captures CDR data in real time, appends additional business information to the record, stores the data within a comprehensive Oracle data warehouse solution, and provides real-time analysis to the telecom service provider.

Executives must re-think!

24 Sep 2010

Many companies and institutions focus on the investment side of the business case as they assess their Information Technology(IT) investments. In some cases, IT investments are even treated as costs. The Return, i.e. the IT enabling business benefits in line with the strategic agenda, is seldom understood aswell as the correlating IT expenditures. Not is it assessed to a similar level of detail. Hence, significant imbalances between IT spend and Return are built into the business case.

Point-to-Point vs Structured Cabling

24 Sep 2010

The old adage that history repeats itself is very true. If we don’t learn from history, we are doomed to repeat it. Many data centers today are victims of historical point-to-point cabling practices.

Cabling Infrastructure and Green Building Initiatives

23 Sep 2010

In a recent study, Gartner analysts revealed that IT activity accounts for 2% of global CO2 emissions, equivalent to the amount produced by the aviation industry. We typically think of emissions as coming from forms of transportation, heavy industry and power generation, but with recent work to address global issues we see that in fact, IT and IT related products can have an impact in several areas.

Managing Central Monitoring in Distributed Systems

21 Sep 2010

Companies with multiple locations rely on a highly efficient IT infrastructure to ensure the smooth running of IT processes and reliable communication both internally (across company locations), as well as externally (with partners and customers). Ongoing monitoring is vital for multiple-location companies, as it enables them to keep a constant and close eye on the availability and bandwidth usage of locally distributed networks.

Making network management simple, effective, and rewarding

17 Sep 2010

Managing a network can be daunting, especially if your small or mid-sized business (SMB) lacks a full-time IT expert or dedicated IT department. It is not unusual for the role of “network manager” to be added to an employee’s real title – as in President/Network Manager, Sales Rep/Network Manager, or Administrative Assistant/Network Manager.

Does Application Security Pay?

15 Sep 2010

Measuring the Business Impact ofSoftware Security Assurance Solutions

The last decade has seen a dramatic shift in the way companies manage information security and protect vital data. In the past, businesses confronted the threat of cyber attacks and data breaches primarily by building firewalls and other “perimeter defenses” around their networks, but the threat has continued to evolve, and more criminals are hacking into applications that are running on a plethora of new devices and environments, including cloud, mobile, and social media.

How Operations Management & Intelligence Helped the Makers of Pom Bears Improve Factory Productivity, Efficiency and Costs

13 Sep 2010

Intersnack is a leading European snack manufacturer, best known in the UK for its Pom-Bear, Penn State Pretzel and Mr Mash brands. Over the last year it has significantly improved the operational efficiency of two of its factories in the Netherlands following a review of factory processes. The cost saving and productivity gains were so significant that Intersnack is now going to install the same factory management solution, CDC Factory, into 10 more factories across Europe.

Consolidate Storage Infrastructure and Create a Greener Datacenter

08 Sep 2010

As data volumes grow and budgets shrink, datacenter managers are looking for ways to scale storage infrastructure and reduce operating costs. StorageTek tape drive and tape library solutions from Oracle provide the answer, helping companies grow automated tape environments without disruption, and consolidate mainframe and open system operating environments while minimizing power, floor space, and operating costs.

Freestyle Interactive - Case Study

08 Sep 2010

Freestyle Interactive is a full-service digital agency offering strategic consultancy, creative design and technical build across a range of digital channels. Since its inception in the mid 1990s, it has grown to become one of the leading independent full-service digital agencies in the UK. Currently ranked the largest digital agency in the Midlands, the company brings together first class strategic thinking and straight forward business logic to deliver tangible results for brands and businesses alike.

The Internet Group Case Study

06 Sep 2010

The Internet Group is an award winning provider of managed IT services which has recently been awarded the Service Desk Institute (SDI) 3 Star award for its adherence to industry best practice. It specialises in technology-enabled business solutions including consulting, systems integration and design, IT outsourcing, and virtualisation applications. The London based company employs more than 60 people including 35 highly qualified engineers and was founded in 1999 by managing director Adam Maurice and sales director Mitchell Feldman.

Cloud computing: resilience is the key to success

03 Sep 2010

Our 21st century society has become so used to change and new developments that genuinely progressive concepts are initially not recognised by many people. There is then a rush to implementation once the benefits become obvious. Virtualisation is a good example of this, with the technology being around for a decade before its benefits really became understoodand appreciated.

We are now on the cusp of a significant evolution in information technology, one which has the potential to completely change how organisational IT is provisioned, managed and protected. Welcome to cloud computing.

Visit Britain - Case Study

02 Sep 2010

Working in partnership with key UK tourism associations, Visit Britain is responsible for inspiring the world to explore Britain and for developing the UK’s visitor economy. The organisation works in collaboration with representatives from 35 countries to provide tailored information to promote Britain and its tourist attractions via a global network of 46 websites. It’s goal is to increase overseas visitor spend to all parts of Britain and improve Britain’s rankings on the destination wish list for international travellers.

The Data Centre Boom: Finding the right site just got serious

01 Sep 2010

With the data centre market continuing to grow at an astounding rate, co-locating operational servers or finding space for an expanding server business is only going to get more difficult. With a 30 per cent increase in data centre floor space since March last year¹ and a finite amount of resources available (land, suitable buildings, adequate power and data connections), finding a site that ticks all of the boxes could be a real struggle in the future.

Oracle Exadata at Work

01 Sep 2010

Oracle Exadata and the Oracle Database Machine move information faster to make business better.

Faster access to data can certainly help answer questions from business users, but can it fundamentally change the way a business operates? Jonathan Levine thinks so.

By David A. Kelly