Former US Transportation Department CIO Nitin Pradhan discusses why advanced HD desktop videoconferencing systems are a sensible choice for enterprises, and provides 12 tips for using them effectively. A critical portion of the CIO’s job is to maintain the enterprise’s technology environment recent and relevant. Relating to communication, most CIOs have thinking about upgrading email systems and bringing in VOIP telephones — but many have missed the boat on desktop videoconferencing. A easier and efficient alternative to traveling, videoconferencing is becoming a popular approach to conduct both one-on-one and group meetings. It allows employees to take part in a more relaxed and comfy setting, whether they’re working from home or inside the office. Live video feeds allow participants to engage in real time. This results in increased involvement and stronger personal connections. Throughout the enterprise, videoconferencing might also reduce time spent walking between campuses and buildings. Better yet, recent advances in videoconferencing technology make it more appealing and price-effective than ever. Why conference... Read More »

Responding to surveillance revelations, EU officials seek changes in commercial and law enforcement data sharing arrangements with america. The European Commission, the EU’s executive body, is demanding that the usa respect the privacy rights of EU citizens and is looking for changes in its commercial and law enforcement data sharing arrangements with the united states to “restore trust.” The Commission on Wednesday issued a methodology paper, an analysis of the Safe Harbor agreement that governs international commercial data flows, and an information Protection report, among other documents, in line with ongoing revelations about the level folks surveillance. The latest such disclosure, that the NSA spied at the porn habits of “radicalizers” with a view to be discredited, was published late Tuesday by The Huffington Post, in accordance with documents provided by ex-NSA contractor Edward Snowden  “Massive spying on our citizens, companies and leaders is unacceptable,” said EU Justice Commissioner Viviane Reding in a press release. “Citizens on each side of the Atlantic should be reassured that their... Read More »

AWS Kinesis service takes in thousands of knowledge streams, processes them on an Amazon cluster, and provides ends up in near real time. Top 10 Cloud Fiascos (click image for larger view) Kinesis, Amazon Web Services’ new service for processing a high volume of real-time data, corresponding to that pouring off a stock ticker, is open for business. The system was announced, but not made generally available, Nov. 14 during AWS’s Re:Invent event in Las Vegas. A customer can start off feeding kilobytes of information into Kinesis and move as much as terabytes over the process an hour, reckoning on the demands of the actual-time data stream. Streams from hundreds or thousands of sources, which includes social media, investment research services, or news services, could be added to an original stream, allowing Kinesis to indicate correlations between real-time events. Breaking news items, inclusive of a report that the anchovy harvest has failed off the coast of Chile, could have a huge impact on trading at... Read More »

Google continues to spiff up Gmail, Calendar, Docs, and other Google Apps. Cash in on the improvements with these smart tips. Google grabbed plenty of headlines this year, from its advancements in Google Glass to Android news to the company’s mysterious barge inside the San Francisco Bay. However the search giant also pushed out updates to its cloud tools, Google Apps.   More than 5 million businesses and 50 million people now use Google Apps, which launched in 2006 and includes Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Docs, Sheets, and Slides. This year, Google announced a big redesign of Gmail that included customizable tabs to show you how to organize emails; it revamped the Google Drive menu; and it launched a brand new interface for Google Groups. Google released more than a few other new productivity features and tools, from Google Wallet integrations to tweaks that make composing emails, managing your calendar, and sending files easier. [ Google’s Web-to-TV media device has also been updated. See Google Chromecast Adds... Read More »

IBM will shed its low-margin, low-end server business for $2.3 billion after greater than a year of on-again, off-again negotiations with Lenovo. IBM announced Thursday that Lenovo has agreed to purchase IBM’s x86 server business for $2.3 billion. The deal gets IBM out of a low-margin business where revenue declined 16% last year. The business Lenovo is acquiring includes System x, BladeCenter, Flex System blade servers and switches, x86-based Flex integrated systems, NeXtScale and iDataPlex servers and associated software, blade networking, and upkeep operations. IBM had hopes of marketing the x86 business last year, but widely reported negotiations with Lenovo broke down, and IBM announced in May it will not realize what it hoped probably a $5 billion divestiture. IBM will continue to develop its Windows and Linux software portfolio for the x86 platform. It’ll also continue to sell several systems according to x86 processors through its PureApplication and PureData appliances, high-margin products that still include IBM software. [Want more on IBM’s... Read More »