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 »

Cloud computing represents a completely unique opportunity to re-think enterprise security and risk management. Cloud security has become a divisive topic within many companies. Some see cloud computing as a business necessity, required to maintain with competitors, or a vehicle to seriously change “old world” IT. Others see daunting and threatening security risks. To me, cloud computing represents a chance to re-think, re-design, and operationalize information security and risk management to drive business agility. Cloud computing offers a completely unique change in managing information systems: using automation. While most observe automation because the cornerstone of cloud computing’s cost savings and efficiency, automation is equally valuable, if not moreso, for information security and risk management. today’s security problems, the landscape is plagued by methods which are largely manual and disconnected. Business systems are launched and retired faster than security teams can identify, analyze, and track. Risks are implicitly accepted by business sponsors during design, development, and operation, but mitigated only when pressed by security and risk... Read More »

Cisco, SAP, Salesforce.com back MuleSoft and its quest to simplify on-premises and cloud integration; $131 million raised to this point. 8 Data Centers For Cloud’s Toughest Jobs (Click image for larger view and slideshow.) Mulesoft has grown up, from a firm built around a quiet open source project to provide an enterprise service bus, right into a potential cloud behemoth. It now offers 200 connectors to supply integration, either on-premises or in its CloudHub service running on Amazon Web Services. Its three most modern rounds a big gamble capital funding have boosted its take to $131 million, with the newest round of $50 million backed by Cisco. The former round was backed by Salesforce.com, and the only before that was backed by SAP AG. “It shows the neutrality of what we’re doing in the midst of everything,” declared Greg Schott, president and CEO, in an interview after Mulesoft announced the third round March 13. Mulesoft will use the cash to expand all phases of its... Read More »