http://www.ectnews.com/ ECT News Network business and technology updates, with news and feature commentary from industry experts. en Wed, 16 May 2012 15:05:16 PDT ECT News Network podcasts@ectnews.com no ECT News Network http://www.ectnews.com/images/2006/ect_podcast_300x300.png http://www.ectnews.com/ Security is often regarded as a drag on cloud adoption -- a necessary but complex chore that must be dealt with. However, if you understand the security risk, gain a detailed understanding of your own infrastructure, and follow proven reference architectures and methods, security can move from an inhibitor of cloud adoption to an enabler. http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-05-14.mp3 Fri, 11 May 2012 14:56:34 PDT Security and the Cloud: The Great Reconciliation Security is often regarded as a drag on cloud adoption -- a necessary but complex chore that must be dealt with. However, if you understand the security risk, gain a detailed understanding of your own infrastructure, and follow proven reference architectures and methods, security can move from an inhibitor of cloud adoption to an enabler. 50:06 ECT News Network "Probably one of the biggest wins for us has been just driving compliance against our contracts," said Brooke Krenn, whose company, Cox Enterprises, recently moved to a cloud-based ERP system. "We're able to see very easily now when a location or a business unit ... is purchasing off-contract or when they're not utilizing one of our preferred or negotiated suppliers." http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-05-07.mp3 Fri, 04 May 2012 15:35:39 PDT Getting What You Want From ERP in the Cloud "Probably one of the biggest wins for us has been just driving compliance against our contracts," said Brooke Krenn, whose company, Cox Enterprises, recently moved to a cloud-based ERP system. "We're able to see very easily now when a location or a business unit ... is purchasing off-contract or when they're not utilizing one of our preferred or negotiated suppliers." 9:39 ECT News Network Having a comprehensive disaster recovery system in place doesn't just come in handy when calamity strikes. "We're starting to move now into a slightly different world, but it has been the catalyst of DR that's enabled [business units] to start thinking in these new ways, which they weren't able to do before," said SAI Global's Mark Iveli. http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-04-30.mp3 Fri, 27 Apr 2012 15:19:44 PDT Disaster Recovery: It's Not Just for Catastrophes Anymore Having a comprehensive disaster recovery system in place doesn't just come in handy when calamity strikes. "We're starting to move now into a slightly different world, but it has been the catalyst of DR that's enabled [business units] to start thinking in these new ways, which they weren't able to do before," said SAI Global's Mark Iveli. 21:39 ECT News Network Sometimes the only way you know whether your disaster recovery plan is any good is when you face a real disaster. After 2008's Hurricane Ike hit, insurance wholesaler Myron Steves & Co. had a difficult time getting its systems back on track just when customers needed the company's help the most. That motivated its IT team to set the stage for a faster, cheaper and more robust DR capability. http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-04-23.mp3 Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:33:50 PDT Disaster Recovery: Learning From Painful Experience Sometimes the only way you know whether your disaster recovery plan is any good is when you face a real disaster. After 2008's Hurricane Ike hit, insurance wholesaler Myron Steves & Co. had a difficult time getting its systems back on track just when customers needed the company's help the most. That motivated its IT team to set the stage for a faster, cheaper and more robust DR capability. 31:45 ECT News Network Motorcycle maker Ducati has virtualized nearly all its servers, having gone full-throttle for virtualization in a relatively short period of time. “ Given the targets we would face in just three to four years, it was absolutely a necessity to move quickly into virtualization to enable all the other products,” said CIO Daniel Bellini. http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-04-16.mp3 Fri, 13 Apr 2012 14:24:22 PDT Burning Rubber on the Road to Virtualization Motorcycle maker Ducati has virtualized nearly all its servers, having gone full-throttle for virtualization in a relatively short period of time. “ Given the targets we would face in just three to four years, it was absolutely a necessity to move quickly into virtualization to enable all the other products,” said CIO Daniel Bellini. 11:27 ECT News Network The networked economy comes as a consequence of the major business and IT trends of the day -- those being cloud computing, mobile, social and big data -- according to Ariba CMO Tim Minahan. To appreciate the full impact of the networked economy, we need to recognize how previously internal processes are now becoming increasingly externalized. http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-04-09.mp3 Fri, 06 Apr 2012 15:04:41 PDT The Cloud's Booming Potential for the Networked Economy The networked economy comes as a consequence of the major business and IT trends of the day -- those being cloud computing, mobile, social and big data -- according to Ariba CMO Tim Minahan. To appreciate the full impact of the networked economy, we need to recognize how previously internal processes are now becoming increasingly externalized. 17:59 ECT News Network In the business of providing educational and training applications, there's often a very short time in between when people book their courses and when they show up to class. "So we have only a very short amount of time over the weekend to set up the systems," said SAP's Wolfgang Krips. "That was one of the big challenges that we had to solve." http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-04-02.mp3 Wed, 28 Mar 2012 14:55:10 PDT Building a Private-Cloud Home for Complex Ops In the business of providing educational and training applications, there's often a very short time in between when people book their courses and when they show up to class. "So we have only a very short amount of time over the weekend to set up the systems," said SAP's Wolfgang Krips. "That was one of the big challenges that we had to solve." 20:02 ECT News Network IT support has grown ever more complex with the increased use of virtualization and the cloud. Virtualization isn't just server by server; really impacts the entire data center. It needs to be thought about holistically, particularly in regard to things like security and performance. http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-03-26.mp3 Fri, 23 Mar 2012 14:26:26 PDT The Proper Care and Feeding of Highly Virtualized Environments IT support has grown ever more complex with the increased use of virtualization and the cloud. Virtualization isn't just server by server; really impacts the entire data center. It needs to be thought about holistically, particularly in regard to things like security and performance. 29:49 ECT News Network "Software vendors are so focused on building the next great application and on features and functions in that application that they've lost sight of what really matters, which is making sure that the application that you build gets used, gets in the hands of the users, and that they get their work done," said Embarcadero CEO Wayne Williams. http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-03-19.mp3 Fri, 16 Mar 2012 15:31:08 PDT The Software Distribution Generation Gap "Software vendors are so focused on building the next great application and on features and functions in that application that they've lost sight of what really matters, which is making sure that the application that you build gets used, gets in the hands of the users, and that they get their work done," said Embarcadero CEO Wayne Williams. 33:30 ECT News Network Enterprise architecture and enterprise transformation and two distinct concepts, but how much of a role should the former play in the latter? Should EA's role be tightly constrained in the process of transformation? Or is enterprise transformation nowadays significantly dependent upon architecture? Should we make enterprise architecture a critical aspect for any business moving forward? http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-03-12.mp3 Fri, 09 Mar 2012 16:25:01 PST Enterprise Architecture and Transformation at the Crossroads Enterprise architecture and enterprise transformation and two distinct concepts, but how much of a role should the former play in the latter? Should EA's role be tightly constrained in the process of transformation? Or is enterprise transformation nowadays significantly dependent upon architecture? Should we make enterprise architecture a critical aspect for any business moving forward? 40:03 ECT News Network To businesspeople, cloud computing is often regarded as a revolution. But to IT, it's just an evolution of infrastructure efficiency. Where does this dual vision come from? For IT, it's all about ways to improve delivery of the current server-centric, application-centric environment, according to Capgemini CTO Andy Mulholland. "However, businesspeople ... reflect on it in terms of the change in society and the business world." http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-03-03.mp3 Fri, 02 Mar 2012 14:31:04 PST Cloud Computing: Revolution vs. Evolution To businesspeople, cloud computing is often regarded as a revolution. But to IT, it's just an evolution of infrastructure efficiency. Where does this dual vision come from? For IT, it's all about ways to improve delivery of the current server-centric, application-centric environment, according to Capgemini CTO Andy Mulholland. "However, businesspeople ... reflect on it in terms of the change in society and the business world." 36:27 ECT News Network "The thing we're learning about enterprise architecture is that there's a cultural shift that takes place in an organization when it commits to doing business in a new way," according to MIT research scientist Jeanne Ross. "And that cultural shift starts with abandoning a culture of heroes and accepting a culture of discipline." http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-02-27.mp3 Fri, 24 Feb 2012 14:33:14 PST The Transformative Power of Enterprise Architecture "The thing we're learning about enterprise architecture is that there's a cultural shift that takes place in an organization when it commits to doing business in a new way," according to MIT research scientist Jeanne Ross. "And that cultural shift starts with abandoning a culture of heroes and accepting a culture of discipline." 33:46 ECT News Network Ever since the term "the cloud" came into use, security has been one of the subject's most hotly debated topics. Is it riskier from a security perspective to conduct operations and store data outside a business' own four walls? Or can security actually be better in the cloud, in the same way a safe deposit box may be a safer place to store valuables than one's own home? http://www.ectnews.com/shared/audio/ect-gardner-2012-02-20.mp3 Fri, 17 Feb 2012 16:10:40 PST The Over/Under on Cloud Security Ever since the term "the cloud" came into use, security has been one of the subject's most hotly debated topics. Is it riskier from a security perspective to conduct operations and store data outside a business' own four walls? Or can security actually be better in the cloud, in the same way a safe deposit box may be a safer place to store valuables than one's own home? 36:24 ECT News Network