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IT Innovations that rocked the world - Part two

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 00:00:00 +0000

More thoughts on innovations from the past 10 years that we could just not live without!

1. Social computing

No list of the top technology innovations in the last decade would be complete without social computing. It’s the theory behind such disruptive social tools as Facebook, Twitter LinkedIn and now Google+. Social computing has fundamentally changed the way we live our business and personal lives.

As noted by Wikipedia, “social computing has to do with supporting any sort of social behaviour in or through computational systems. It is based on creating or recreating social conventions and social contexts through the use of software and technology.”

It used to be that information was power, so people kept it under control. Now it’s the sharing of information that determines the measure of one’s influence.

Social networks are evolving

The social networks that have resulted from social computing technology are young, so exactly how they evolve remains to be seen. Suggesting a new realm of social computing discovery, leading analysts now talk about a rise in social network research “about who is talking to whom, about what, and if they aren’t talking, what can be done to bring them together.”

With the vast number of people on social networks and the immense amount of information being shared, what is gleaned is sure to be interesting.

2. Cloud computing

As the saying goes, cloud computing has arrived and cloud computing is seeing adoption among mainstream IT buyers. Companies like Amazon, Salesforce.com and Apple have all launched consumer and business-to-business cloud services.

To the consumer, a “cloud” service really doesn’t differ much from any other Web-based service or application. But to the small or even enterprise organisation, cloud computing represents a legitimate paradigm shift in how IT is sourced, delivered and managed.

“The cloud lets organisations get out of the business of IT and focus more of their energy and resources on their core business,” says Alistair Veitch, director, HP Labs. Instead of having to own, manage and maintain all the elements of an IT service—server, storage and software--organisations can effectively rent a service through the cloud.

Enabling great economies of scale

Cloud computing is typically based on virtualised resources and a “pay what you use” model. This allows organisations to achieve cost savings on raw computing. And because a cloud service can be shared easily among different business units or departments, it can enable greater economies of scale with any one service.

One of the cloud’s other biggest advantages, Veitch explains, is the speed with which it can provision an IT service. “Organisations can ‘stand up’ a cloud service literally in minutes,” says Veitch.

3. Intelligent storage

Intelligent storage is a nascent innovation that’s likely to grow, as organisations produce increasingly more information, yet require capabilities to manage it. Think of it simply as storage with built-in computational power, such as search and information analytics.

Veitch, who’s an expert in storage and information management, notes how information has become an enterprise’s most valuable asset, making it natural that computational power would migrate to storage systems. “In a few years’ time, it will be unthinkable for storage systems to not have search capabilities, especially for businesses in heavily- regulated or security-focused industries,” says Veitch.

Intelligent storage enables efficient analysis

Intelligent storage systems will allow organisations to more efficiently analyse, search for, retrieve, delete and archive information. The companies that have these capabilities built into their storage will have the advantage of being able to do these things faster and with fewer staff.

Intelligent storage will help enterprises process and analyse information faster, allowing them to take advantage of trends in “big data,” a term used to describe complex, large-scale information analytics. “Big data” involves integrating, analysing and acting on large data sets to predict retail trends, or even an earthquake.

The future is bright for the e-Gaming sector

Sun, 15 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

Despite the economic climate continuing to place pressures on corporate and personal purses, the eGaming sector is buoyant and industry commentators seem bullish about future prospects. Glyn Harris explains.

Popularity of certain games, aggressive promotion by operators and the appetite and willingness of jurisdictions to continually adapt legislation and infrastructure to enable growth are some of the key factors that have created a robust industry sector.

Looking forward, there is no doubt that mobile gaming will bring probably the most significant change in the sector since the Internet!

The numbers speak for themselves…

• the sales of mobile devices are set to outstrip those of PCs in 2012;

• sales of tablets grew in 2011 by 207%!;

• forecasts indicate that the tablet market will grow by a further 59% in 2012;

• the app market is set to boom with more consumers having access to mobile devices.

Operators are now actively researching and establishing ways to incorporate handhelds into future gaming developments.

The Itex Service

Offering state-of the art facilities at our purpose-built Data Centre in Guernsey we provide eGaming and e-commerce businesses with a robust platform to house their IT infrastructures within a secure, resilient temperature-controlled environment with emergency power back-up, high level security and cooling systems.

We work with all the telecommunications provider networks in Guernsey. High capacity, fibre optic communication lines connect our hosting facilities to worldwide networks and by incorporating DWDM (Dense Wave Division Multiplexing) technology, capacity can be easily scaled without the need for further engineering.

Moreover, Itex is more than just a hosting company. As an IT services provider we architect, design, deliver and manage IT, from infrastructure to pre-enabled applications. Working with Itex as a single point of contact means an efficient use of client time enabling them to concentrate on their core business.

If you are planning to build new servers Itex will work with you on systems architecture and procurement, using the company’s offshore location and group buying power to minimise capital expense and sales tax.

Alternatively, you can take advantage of our Cloud infrastructure service, a self-provisioning facility which allows you to flex and scale IT resources according to your own demand profile. What’s more you only pay for what you use, so it’s a perfect solution for test & development projects, additional capacity, or for start-up operators in a production environment.

From the basic “helping hands” assistance to the proactive monitoring and resolution of problems up to operating system level, Itex will work with you to create a service level agreement to suit your business needs. Our in-house professional services team is comprised of committed and accredited specialists, who will design, deliver and optimise a range of solutions, addressing the challenges associated with infrastructure, access and security.

IT Innovations that rocked the world - Part one

Tue, 10 Jan 2012 00:00:00 +0000

The mark of a successful technology innovation is appreciating that we couldn’t function easily without it in our lives.

Researchers, who are already busy developing tomorrow’s innovations, give us their picks of the most ground-breaking developments from the last 20 years.

Here are two of the top-five innovations picked by the researchers. More to follow in part two!

1. The smartphone

Have you ever panicked after leaving for work and realising your smartphone is still on the kitchen table? It’s a common occurrence these days given our dependency on smartphones. They’re our conduit to the Web, friends and colleagues, music and games, and even dinner reservations.

“The smartphone, more than any other technology in the last 10 years, has transformed how we live our lives,” according to Ryan Ko, a researcher for IT giant HP. “Allowing us to be always on and connected, smartphones have changed forever how we live and work.”

As Ko points out, smartphones are also changing the course of software development. “Now, anyone can develop an app for a smartphone, whereas in the past, software applications were developed by a relatively few number of companies.”

Non-developers can now create mobile apps

Organisations are capitalising on this trend by developing component-based software development tools for mobile devices. Ko describes these tools as “Lego Block-like components that allow non-technical users to build mobile applications.”

Looking to the future, Ko sees smartphones enabling more powerful applications by outsourcing processing to the cloud. “By outsourcing workloads to the cloud, smartphones will be able to host more compute-intensive applications and even save battery power.”

2. Flash memory

The unsung hero to the sexier smartphone, flash memory has undoubtedly altered everyday life—both personal and business. Flash memory is used by a wide range of electronic devices, from mobile phones to digital cameras and thumb drives, to video games and medical instruments.

Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip, which means it can store information when not powered. While developed by Toshiba in 1980, flash memory was not introduced in a widely-used format until 1995 and saw a major increase in adoption due to integration with a USB interface (commercially available since 2000). More recently, flash memory has become a replacement for hard disks.

Flash memory enables our digital world

Without flash memory you couldn’t click your digital camera as nonchalantly as you do, or download that huge PowerPoint presentation to a thumb drive before racing out of the office.

Flash memory makes it almost effortless to store and transfer large amounts of information, and for that reason, it has played a critical role in enabling the digital lifestyle. Flash memory has been used primarily for consumer devices, mostly because its cost per byte is high. However, as it becomes more affordable flash memory may well be used for enterprise storage within the next few years.

Watch out for part two!

Why 'big data' is your 'big problem'!

Thu, 22 Dec 2011 14:08:19 +0000

A quick Google search on the term “big data” turns up 37,900,000 results in 0.11 seconds. That’s a lot of data about a term that’s generating equal parts buzz and confusion these days.

For a basic definition, Wikipedia describes big data as “datasets that grow so large that they become awkward to work with using on-hand database management tools. Difficulties include capture, storage, search, sharing, analytics and visualizing. . .” That’s a good start but consider this...

Who’s picking up the pieces of the data explosion?

The biggest big data challenges come from larger enterprises dealing with storing, accessing, managing and analysing petabytes of data. Web 2.0 companies are coping with very large distributed aggregations of loosely structured and often incomplete data. Healthcare providers are figuring the best ways to handle the storage and archival of large amounts of medical image data. And media and entertainment companies are wrestling with creating, storing and distributing high-definition content. Increasingly huge data volumes also pose a challenge for any enterprise needing to store its data for compliance and regulatory purposes.

More than a “big data” problem—it’s a “big everything” problem.

In all these scenarios, complexity and scalability limitations of legacy architectures can stunt emerging application deployment, along with the ability to more effectively harness the power of corporate information.

Think about it: For today’s organisations, this really is a “big everything” problem—one brought on not only by the rapid growth of unstructured data and ineffective archive solutions, but also by general content proliferation, the analytical data explosion and the advent of massive content depots. This in turn creates big challenges—like how to:

Effectively scale infrastructure to meet new requirements?

Manage spiralling costs?

Move data to different parts of the infrastructure to better optimise cost and performance?

Refresh cycles and protect technology investments?

The solution lies in scalable, converged infrastructure

However you label it, you can tame the data explosion with a converged infrastructure that includes:

Scalable storage to start small and grow, scaling out with storage and advanced software that allows large content depots and archives to be addressed as one global data resource

Thin provisioning to delay capacity purchases to when capacity is written as opposed to when capacity is needed

Automated storage tiering for non-disruptive data movement to store the right data on the right tier for the right cost metric

Data de-duplication to reduce capacity and enable capacity efficiency that keeps up with data growth

This discussion is just getting started...

Dos and don'ts of bringing your smartphone to work

Wed, 26 Oct 2011 00:00:00 +0100

The numbers say it all: sales of mobile devices are slated to surpass sales of personal computers by 2012. Users accessing email are doing so more and more from mobile devices. And all these new devices are infiltrating the workplace to boot.

Today’s mobile workforce are bringing their own devices to work (BYOD—bring your own device—is becoming the latest acronym in the workplace). Companies know to ensure the safety of their networks from the onslaught of personal mobile devices. But as an end-user, what should you do to keep your personal device—and the information it holds—protected while connected at work?

There’s really just one simple thing you should know before logging on to your company’s network. According to Andrew Borg, senior research analyst, wireless and mobility at Aberdeen Group, it’s your company’s policy regarding mobile device use.

Policy? What policy?

It may sound simple, but being and staying well-informed of corporate policies will benefit both you and your employer. Here’s why: it’s not all your data even if it is on your device. What you access from your company is more or less on loan—you can use it while you’re there, but you can’t take it home for good.

Imagine if you lose your smartphone. Before you can call the restaurant where you believe you’ve left it, your company may have already wiped the contents—both theirs and yours, permanently.

“End-users should understand that there’s an implicit ownership of any corporate data they may access on their personal devices,” says Borg. “At no point will the corporation say you own the corporate data on your phone just because it’s yours.”

Who controls the data on your mobile device?

Also bear in mind that if the organisation can control access to its data on the device, it has the right to erase it. That means you could lose everything from irreplaceable pictures to purchased music files and personal contact information. It’s unlikely that an organisation will take its intellectual property on your missing device lightly. And your personal data is the least of its worries.

It’s not just your company’s prerogative to enforce policies on personal device use at work; it’s wise for end-users, too. If you know what to expect when your personal device is compromised, you’ll know how to protect your personal information.

According to Borg, end-users should ask the following of their companies before logging onto the network:

What is the corporate use policy?

How will it be enforced?

What is the expectation regarding disposal if the device is lost or stolen?

Is my device approved?

Is the device up-to-date with the latest versions of software?

What happens when I leave the company?

It should be noted that keeping your device’s software up-to-date is always advisable–as is backing up your personal data regularly. Ensuring these basics are standard best practices, regardless of where, when and how you use your mobile device. But they’re doubly important when you decide to entangle your business and personal lives on one mobile device. Especially if your company clearly states that once you’re gone, so is all the data on your smartphone.

The benefits outweigh the costs.

But as Borg notes, “We’re dealing with these hassles because mobility is such an advantage. There will always be risks that come with such huge advantages.”

Advantages like increased productivity, connectedness and employee control. “Think back to the ‘Crackberry’ phase, where users were practically never without their BlackBerrys. Many thought that it was just the company that came out ahead,” Borg says. “But having the ability to choose when and where you partake in work-related interactions empowers the employee, too.”

But still, there are costs.

For centuries, there have been mal-intentioned tricksters employing social engineering strategies to break companies’ "infallible" security. You receive a call from someone claiming to be from the IT department asking for your password. A man in a legitimate-looking uniform asks you to hold the door because he’s forgotten his keycard. You’re given a giant, wooden horse as a peace offering. What’s your game plan?

Today, those tricksters have gone mobile, too, creating phony, malicious apps and sneaking malware where you least expect it.

Steer clear of bad apps.

Malware for mobile devices is a growing concern, and not all operating systems are the same. Borg recommends being very selective. “If you download an app about weight loss, and the application requests to access your contacts, ask yourself: Why does it need to do this?” In other words: buyer beware.

He also notes that there are no real dead-giveaways when it comes to spotting bad apps. His advice: “Exercise due diligence, download from known, well-reputed providers and be aware of smaller, unknown developers. And as always, use your best judgment.”

Avoid being the weakest link

IT professionals can make the network as safe as possible, but the strength of security is still dependent on end-users. Your company's security is only as strong as its weakest link—and that link can often be, well, you. Keep informed of your company’s policies regarding personal device use at work and avoid introducing malware with irresponsible downloads.

Then go ahead, BYOD.

Itex On-Island: Managing Your IT, The Professional Way

Mon, 09 May 2011 10:10:18 +0100

For over thirty years, Itex has been expertly managing the IT needs of clients across the offshore jurisdiction of the Channel Islands and beyond. For the last few years the focus has been about delivering more, predominantly through investment – in Itex’s infrastructure, equipment and, most importantly, the team.

With this increased investment Itex has recognised the need to refine the organisation and its services, in order to better meet the needs of the client.

Professional Services

Managing complex challenges and technical projects needs specialist skills but in many organisations these scarce resources are stretched across numerous tasks. Itex has therefore pulled together a Professional Services team of its leading experts who will help assess the IT needs of any business, identifying efficiency savings and targeted solutions on a need-by-need basis. This team is solely dedicated to delivering industry leading expertise and experience, ensuring our customers receive the best advice, care and solutions available.

For more than three decades, Itex has successfully delivered technological propositions to support the most demanding and mission-critical infrastructures for offshore companies. The Itex Professional Services team provides highly skilled and trained Consultants across a comprehensive range of niche skill-sets to ensure the highest level of customer services to match our clients’ needs. What makes Itex different is our practice lead approach.

Our Practice Lead Approach

Itex knows that whether an organisation has a problem to solve or a change to implement or is just looking for advice, it is not only looking for the best individual consultants but also to leverage the accumulated experience and knowledge of the whole company. A practice lead approach expands the expertise from an individual consultant to all those knowledgeable in a particular specialism. That’s why we listen first, carefully making sure we’ve understood what the issues are, how expectations are being set and what success for all looks like.

This is what enables us to blend together the most appropriate specialism’s, whether from Infrastructure Technologies or Management Disciplines, so that you have at your fingertips the optimum skills and tools for the assignment.

Professional Services is closely aligned to our Managed Services Department, ensuring seamless cohesion between the two – supporting both the initial consultation and project solution through to day-to-day management of IT operations and infrastructure, from short to long-term.

This enables us to build, deploy and manage an entire solution for integration within a customers’ current and future infrastructure.

The Itex Professional Services Team

The Professional Services team is led by Managing Consultants, Jake Foster and Paul Jarvis. Both Jake and Paul hold the highest accreditations in their specialist fields and recognise that only continual personal development keeps them at the very top of their profession. They lead a team of highly qualified individuals who each hold exceptional professionalism and customer satisfaction as their primary objectives.

Each field has a Lead Consultant, who is a subject-matter expert, and is responsible for ensuring the whole team is properly trained and educated, thus enabling a consistent high quality approach.

Paul Jarvis commented: “Our consultants are passionate about thought leadership and technical excellence. They hold the highest accreditations in their specialism’s and recognise that only continual personal development keeps them at the top of their profession.

Throughout any assignment, close dialogue and conversation is part of our culture. Situations can evolve, constraints can surface and opportunities can be identified. Only with a common understanding that comes from a close relationship can we ensure that your expectations are not only met but exceeded every time.”

Our Customers

Our customers can expect:

Consistency - Our approach to Professional Services gives the customer direct engagement with the consultant that is going to deliver their strategic and technical solutions.

Trusted - Itex Professional Services gives our customers the chance to work with a trusted advisor that takes the time to understand the exact environment in which they will be working to ensure the solutions match the business and technical requirements, accurately and successfully.

Communication - Throughout any assignment, close dialogue is an integral part of our culture. Issues can escalate and challenges can arise, only with a common understanding that comes from a close relationship can Itex ensure that your expectations are not only met, but exceeded.

Resolution – We have the expertise, the experience and the resources to guarantee we reach the right resolution for our clients, every time.

Itex Hosted Desktop -Seeing through the Haze of Cloud Computing

Mon, 02 May 2011 10:24:06 +0100

There is still a lot of buzz about cloud computing as IT visionaries continue to predict its role in driving a paradigm shift in the way we utilise technology. Imagine reducing your capital expenditure on IT by up to 50 per centor releasing resources to focus on innovation for your business? Until recently, this has been a hazy concept, but now new products and services which leverage cloud computing are available.

Technology as a driver of success

IT is one of the biggest enablers of business success whether large or small. All too often, investment in IT is usually limited to just ‘keeping the lights on,’and not innovation to reduce costs, boost efficiencies, and maximise productivity. Taking advantage of cloud-based services can release resources to focus on developing added-value initiatives.Itex Hosted Desktop is an example of a number of cloud-based services available today.This technology is a secure reliable and cost effective desktop computing environment delivered from world class data centres. Itex Hosted Desktop is a fixed-fee monthly service that utilises Itex’s technology management platforms to provide everything users require of a desktop service and can accommodate clients with multiple offices and well as home based remote and mobile workers.

Hosted Desktop in Action

Ultimate Cleaning Services have been using Itex’s Hosted desktop solutions across their offices in the Isle of Man and Tenerife. Hosted desktop has allowed them to track what their staffs is doing, access their information no matter where they are in the world, send out sales proposals, issue invoices; giving them the flexibility needed working across multiple locations. Itex also provide a data backup solution and remote email meaning that they can access their emails and work information no matter what mobile device they are using. Rob Wakenshaw, Owner and Managing Director at Ultimate Cleaning Services says ‘I have to travel a lot between the Isle of Man and Tenerife so Hosted desktop offers our business the flexibility we need and allows me to work wherever I am.’

Itex: offering safe, secure computing

Choosing the right service provider for your IT solutions has never been more important. In recent times businesses across the Offshore Islands have been enjoying reduced IT costs and greater efficiencies afforded by Cloudsolutions. Itex has a strong heritage in providing flexible, scalable cloud services to customers and we currently manage over 5,000 desktops with round-the-clock desktop support, every day of the year. Itex also guarantees auditable data security and segregation, ensuring businesses have the protection they need.

Itex is one of the world’s most trusted offshore IT experts. The company and its staff are celebrating 40 years experience in providing a wide variety of technology services to offshore companies and eGaming providers. We are highly accredited by multiple leading global IT vendors like Hewlett Packard (HP) and Cisco and are the only HP Gold Accredited Partner in the offshore jurisdictions. Our employees hold unique sector qualifications that help differentiate our services from other providers. Across the Group we have invested over £5M recently to ensure we offer clients the best available technology which helps to facilitate mobile working practices and ultimately business innovation.

Enable IT to evolve your bottom line

Fri, 18 Feb 2011 10:19:36 +0000

IT provides the core framework for all business operations whatever the size. Efficient, smart business operations drive business growth. Too often IT and business operations work in isolation despite the fact that very often the smallest of changes to integrate IT efficiencies into the business can translate into stark improvements in performance, which ultimately impact on the bottom line.

There are many new technologies available to help boost business and innovation and reduce IT costs. Most CEO level surveys conclude that IT enables and drives innovation in business. More specifically, a major recent study by HfS Research and The Outsourcing Unit at the London School of Economics showed that three quarters of executives believed that cloud based services enable business service innovation and provide a platform that can transform organisations.

Increasingly in Jersey, IT service providers are being approached to provide managed cloud services like hosted desktop or Software as a Service (SaaS), as well as co-location services, where a company’s intellectual assets are stored on a server situated with and managed by a third party. For those organisations yet to review the need to integrate a new IT system, what are the key considerations that should be evaluated?

Where is your business in its growth lifecycle?

When reviewing your business objectives, always consider how IT can support the overarching strategy. IT is an enabler of innovation as automating or outsourcing will allow your business to focus on delivering value of its core product - not simply on ensuring systems are running 24/7. If your business is small and growing, IT systems and services can help you grow at a manageable cost - allowing you to scale up as and when growth dictates. Indeed, the second most popular reason for adopting outsourced cloud services – after cost reduction - is the ability to implement business applications faster than more traditional methods. If you are a large business, consolidation of data and systems may be integral to your future stability and growth.

Is there a regulatory need to review my IT systems?

Businesses operating in the offshore financial services sector in particular will continue to face increased regulation of the security of their activity. Regulators are tightening guidelines for risk and security controls in order to safeguard investors’ intellectual assets. Data security and privacy remains the top concern for cloud decision makers. Outsourcing IT to experienced third party providers is an important step to improving security measures to meet these new demands. It is understandable however that some offshore companies might be nervous about outsourcing.

This is understandable but ill founded. Offshore data security has become the benchmark for all companies managing data security, be it in-house, or outsourced. To meet the critical need to protect the intellectual assets of your company - it’s important to provide adequate back-up and fail-over measures that are all compliant with regulation.

This is best provided by an IT services company who specialise in devising and building the best possible resilience and security offerings to ensure data is available 24/7. A good IT services provider will work with the in-house team to devise the appropriate solution. It is entirely feasible for a business to retain control of its data management - i.e. of all the software applications and internal operational systems, with the IT provider managing the infrastructure solutions, either in a robust data centre or on-site.

Managed services in practice: a case study

Itex has been working with a large regulated business in Jersey for over a year to integrate a hybrid managed services solution into their operating model to help them limit spiralling IT costs and promote innovation.

Itex designed, built and managed a comprehensive and inclusive set of IT services that ranged from a managed network and hosted servers to managed desktops. By choosing this solution the client has stepped away from owning IT hardware and software and replaced it with a single all encompassing fully serviced solution that releases capital and management time. The company’s focus has shifted to working with one prime service partner rather than managing several relationships, ensuring that future services continue to meet the needs of the business rather than creating technology distractions. Itex has taken on end-to-end responsibility for IT services to ensure they deliver value-for-money. The company is now not concerned with hardware upgrades, software licensing or the technical implications of business growth.

Key criteria to assess your IT partner

Confidence, expertise and track record

Working with an experienced technology provider who already has a wealth of practical knowledge of implementing specific technologies successfully in the offshore jurisdictions and across different industries is paramount. Many offshore businesses will have data security, data location and regulatory concerns and it is vital to work with a provider who not only guarantees that data remains offshore, but can work with businesses to meet their security, risk, compliance, and data segregation requirements.

Minimal downtime - maximum productivity

Even before a specific solution - like Hosted Desktop for example, has been integrated into an organisation, business and IT leaders should question the Service Level Agreement (SLA) of the proposed solution. Often, dedicated IT service providers can offer better SLAs and higher availability to business then they can provide in-house as they are able to leverage the very latest technology, and have a wealth of expertise available to them.

Added value

You may only wish to source Hosted Desktop - but what if you require additional advice and counsel on how to use IT in your business? Working with a provider who can offer a range of professional and managed services and who can help procure specific technologies is vital as not all local players can offer this full expertise. Accreditations from leading global IT vendors like HP also validate expertise and qualification.

Itex - your preferred partner

Itex has operated a private cloud environment for over two years and has already integrated Hosted Desktop technology into many offshore companies, some of which are large financial services institutions. We currently manage over 5,000 desktops offshore with 24/7 service desk support. This month we have made a one-off additional half a million pounds investment in our hardware to support businesses in Jersey. We also anticipate announcing our roadmap to further technology launches in coming weeks.

We are committed to building enterprise-class technology solutions - supporting these with our team of consultants and our 24x7 service desk. Itex is therefore able to provide local and international companies with a wide range of proven and secure, managed service solutions that allow businesses to focus on building value.