In effort to trim $1.5 billion from IT, Navy proposes placing most non-classified data into commercial cloud offering. Internet Of items: 8 Cost-Cutting Ideas For Government (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) In its ongoing efforts to attenuate network and IT infrastructure costs, the U.S. Navy desires to move most of its non-classified, publically available data to a commercially provided cloud, cut the variety of Navy data centers from 150 to twenty-five, and eliminate redundant costs including duplicative software applications. The move reflects the Navy’s want to cut $1.3 billion from its IT budget, and cloud-based data storage is a price-effective option, Navy CIO Terry Halvorsen told executives at a central authority IT event in Washington D.C. on March 13. a considerable portion of those savings would come from consolidating the Navy’s data centers and adopting cloud computing and virtualization for many of the service’s non-classified data, Halvorsen said, adding that the Navy would continue to maintain mission-sensitive and demanding information in its classified... Read More »

Fidelity Investments works with ElectroRack, Delta Computer, and CPS to present an innovative new rack design to the Open Compute Project. 6 Ways SDN Shakes Up The Enterprise (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) As the Open Compute Summit ended last week, details emerged of the second one user-originated design of the Open Compute Project: a convertible datacenter rack designed by Fidelity Investments. Fidelity designed the rack to fulfill the desires of its telco providers within the carrier room, where facilities from different communications suppliers are brought together, while continuing its traditional datacenter operations. The telcos wanted a 23-inch design, but a lot of Fidelity’s datacenters require the EIA-standard 19-inch rack that’s utilized by most enterprises. These requirements fit with the Open Rack design initially submitted by Facebook. Its version, which serves as a building block of the company’s air-cooled datacenter complex in Prineville, Ore., is a 23-inch rack that permits for spread-out components on a motherboard. Fidelity’s convertible design incorporates dual-sided internal vertical... Read More »

CIOs can learn from Consumerization 2.0 issues akin to restless employees, shadow IT, and BYOD. According to Gartner, in 2012-2013, 64% of enterprises said mobility projects forged ahead without the total involvement of IT, with employees acquiring connected mobile devices, personal DropBox accounts, or even developing personal applications through Amazon Web Services (AWS) infrastructure. “We do not need IT anymore” became the tagline for the consumerization of IT 1.0 movement during the last few years where employees moved to independence through programs like bring-your-own-device (BYOD). By the tip of 2013, even cautious companies in heavily regulated industries started to embrace this consumerization. Just 18 months ago, Wells Fargo stated that BYOD wasn’t within the cards, but today the bank is testing its use/rollout. There has been a time when CIOs thought that tablets had no need in a business environment. Now tablets are changing the manner employees communicate, especially those within the field. The CIO of Verizon Wireless indicated that its field technicians have reinvented... Read More »

Courting the socially connected should help make games more profitable. Web Turns 25: 10 Graphics To See (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) Casinos for years have pursued “whales,” gamblers who spend quite a lot of money, called “high rollers.” They are trying to entice them to go to with lavish perks, like free rooms and free airfare. With the increase of mobile devices, online social games, and the free-to-play business model, the pc gaming industry has joined the quest. It isn’t hard to work out why: 0.15% of players account for half the in-app purchase revenue in free-to-play games, in step with Swrve, an in-app marketing company. Winning the affinity of those few big spenders could make a tremendous difference in a game’s profitability. At the sport Developers Conference in San Francisco on Monday, Dmitri Williams, CEO of NinjaMetrics and associate professor at USC’s Annenberg School for Communication, made the case for going after another species of whale: the social whale. Williams argues that,... Read More »

“Intel Inside” will tackle a complete new meaning inside the age of wearable tech and the web of factors. CES 2014: 8 Technologies To Watch (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) Intel CEO Brian Krzanich faced myriad questions as he took the stage Monday night to deliver his keynote speech on the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Chief many of the concerns: After missing the initial shift from PCs to mobile devices, how can the corporate make up the floor it has lost to ARM-based competitors? Making his first CES appearance since taking the corporate reins in May from Paul Otellini, Krzanich articulated an ambitious plan that extends well past smartphones or tablets: “Make everything smart.” A marketing catchphrase waiting to happen, the remark would have smacked of typical Silicon Valley hyperbole if not for one fact: When Intel’s new boss says “everything,” he evidently means it literally. From biometric earphones that track the wearer’s heart rate to a coffee mug that... Read More »