EMA Research Blog: Navigating IT and Security Horizons

I see a significant gap in not only how the need for Security Awareness training is perceived as needed but also in the general quality of the programs and training delivered vs other types of training.  In many cases small companies avoid security awareness training due to ignorance, cost fears, or fears it will stifle their culture of creativity.  This research project is structured to give CIO’s, CISO’s, and other security and IT managers the data to motivate them to provide in security awareness training programs thereby bringing about change in their organizations.

With all of the negative attention that the NSA – RSA relationship (or deal) has been getting, many are fired up.  If the deal went down anything like it has been reported by Reuters, then rightfully so.  However, the last minute boycotts of the RSA event to show disapproval are a bit much.

Recently I briefed with ForeScout Technologies, a Network Admission/Access Control (NAC) vendor, to get an update on the CounterACT platform it has been delivering and developing for a few years and to see its recently announced ControlFabric technology.  I thought it wise to take another look at NAC vendors and how they address BYOD, rogue, or non-compliant devices that can be the source of many compliance and security headaches including advanced/targeted threats.

As every year, IBM invited the analyst community to Stamford, CT, for a deep dialogue on today’s most important topics in enterprise IT. Here is a short overview for everyone interested in IBM’s current world view.

Discovering, capturing and making sense of complex interdependencies is central to running IT organizations more effectively, and it is also a critical part of running the businesses IT serves. Whether it’s optimizing a network, or an application infrastructure, managing change, or providing more effective security-related access—more often than not these problems involve a complex set [...]

The Havana release of OpenStack was launched on October 17, about three weeks prior to the OpenStack Summit in Hong Kong.  As always, there are many new features -high availability, load balancing, easier upgrades, plugins for development tools, improved SDN support, fiber channel SAN support, improved bare metal capabilities- and even two new core components, Ceilometer -metering and monitoring- and Heat -orchestration of the creation of entire application environments- to admire. Without any doubt, OpenStack is becoming more enterprise ready with each new release .

When it comes to cloud technologies, discussions often get passionate or even heated. It’s all about the “war of the stacks”, where much Cool Aid is dispensed to get customers to buy into the respective cult. This discussion reminds me of the old days of enterprise IT, where everything was about technology instead of business value. You either bought one thing or the other and then you were locked in for a half decade. Dark times.

Every year after VMworld EMA receives countless inquiries regarding the most notable vendors on the show floor. This time around, we have compiled a list consisting of startups taking a new look at traditional IT challenges, as well as larger and more mature companies that have launched industry transforming initiatives. Ultimately, this list of eight extraordinary vendors is focused on one central concept: customer value.