IT Executive news

• Five big questions about Dell's mega-merger with EMC

  12-10-2015 23:17
  
  Where’s the cloud?The deal will make Dell one of the world's largest IT vendors, just behind IBM and Microsoft, but it will have very little in the way of public cloud services. Oracle, IBM and HP are all building out their own public cloud services, with varying degrees of success, but that’s not been a focus for Dell, and EMC will do little to help in that regard. How much that matters is an open question.“This deal makes Dell a far stronger player in the traditional sense o
  
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• CMOs need IT pros to tame big data

  12-10-2015 22:30
  
  CMOs have a lot to think about in terms of adopting evolving marketing technology. As technology becomes ubiquitous across organizations, CMOs need to not only be aware of the latest data-driven technologies, but also have the right employees to ensure they're using the technology to benefit the company.
  Not surprisingly, according Chris Chodnicki, CTO and co-founder of R2integrated, a marketing agency focused on helping companies achieve campaign goals through cloud and data strategies, one of
  
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• How to leverage the cloud to beat the IT skills gap

  12-10-2015 22:15
  
  The skills gap is very real, but savvy businesses are looking to the cloud for IT help and technology solutions that will allow them to do more with less personnel.Instead of looking to fill gaps with new, quick hires, it may make sense to leverage cloud services in place of IT support staff. In doing so, companies free up their existing IT teams to focus on strategic challenges instead of watching over infrastructure or managing change.
  "It's increasingly expensive, not to mention time-consumin
  
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• Microsoft finally delivers on Skype messaging promises with new Windows 10 beta

  12-10-2015 21:45
  Microsoft promised a lot of things in the run-up to the launch of Windows 10 and delivered many of them (especially for consumers) in time for the operating system's release on July 29. Now, it seems that Skype integration with the new OS will be coming soon, thanks to apps Microsoft is trying out on early adopters who get beta builds of Windows 10.The company released a new beta of Windows 10 Monday morning that includes new Messaging, Phone and Skype video apps. Those apps do exactly what thei
  
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• 10 tips for running a profitable subscription-based business

  12-10-2015 21:29
  
  The subscription-based business model is far from new. But as ecommerce and mobile commerce have taken off, so has the recurring revenue model, with dozens of new subscription-based businesses – from software services and app providers to subscription box companies like Birchbox and BarkBox – popping up each year. However, while it is often easy to attract new customers to a subscription business, especially if you have good marketing, keeping them (for more than a few months) is ano
  
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• Would Twitter layoffs be smart move or bad sign?

  12-10-2015 21:06
  
  With Jack Dorsey back at the helm as CEO of Twitter, employees better buckle up.
  If rumors are true, Dorsey isn't wasting any time making major changes in what appears to be an attempt to finally make the social network profitable. News reports say that Dorsey is getting ready to cut costs by reducing headcount and halting the company's plans to expand its San Francisco offices.
  The New York Times, citing unnamed sources, reported that the layoff announcement could come as soon as Tuesday, whil
  
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• Dell, EMC deal is a reconciliation of a conflicted 10-year marriage

  12-10-2015 20:10
  
  Dell is suffering from lagging PC demand. EMC is struggling to sell its high-end, proprietary storage arrays in an arena increasingly dominated by commodity hardware and software-defined storage.
  So what do the two companies do? They fall back on a business model that was extremely profitable for both companies -- their decade-long reseller partnership.
  The just-announced $67 billion deal, one for the Guinness Book of Records, will have to look vastly different from their previous hookup as the
  
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• Facebook adds 3D Touch support, tests a dedicated Shopping feed

  12-10-2015 20:08
  
  Plenty of apps are supporting the new 3D Touch feature on the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus—we rounded up 32 free apps using 3D Touch just the other day—but some pretty major apps were slow to add support. Looking at you, Facebook.
  Facebook updated its iOS app on Monday, with its usual incredibly unhelpful update notes. (Paraphrasing: We update our app every two weeks, but we won’t tell you what is in the new version until after you’ve updated and launch the app, that is, if we
  
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• Fake LinkedIn profiles lure unsuspecting users

  12-10-2015 20:05
  
  No doubt you've received a LinkedIn invition from someone you don't know -- or you're not sure you know. Next time, you might want to think a little harder before accepting.
  Researchers from Dell SecureWorks Counter Threat Unit have identified a network of at least 25 well-developed LinkedIn profiles as part of a targeted social engineering campaign against individuals in the Middle East, North Africa, and South Asia. The fake profiles were linked to 204 legitimate profiles belonging to individ
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Skating to the puck: Medtech in transition

  12-10-2015 19:22
  
  At the Advamed conference last week in beautiful San Diego, the Medtech industry’s big national meeting, executives expressed the need look beyond selling “widgets” in a fee-for-service world that is coming to an end. They are looking to become more of solution providers, and also embracing the growing consumerism sweeping across healthcare. At the same time, the industry’s innovation ecosystem is challenged, and revenue growth is likely to be driven by emerging markets,
  
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• Box's future lies in developer tools

  12-10-2015 19:15
  
  For a decade, Box has built its business on selling cloud storage services, but the company is now making a move in a slightly different direction.At BoxWorks, the company announced the availability of its Box Platform, a service that lets developers use Box's infrastructure to power the experience of handling files inside their apps without letting end users know that the functionality is being provided by another party. It's designed to make it easy for companies to focus on the core functiona
  
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• As a private company, Dell-EMC will enjoy a freedom HP can only dream of

  12-10-2015 18:47
  
  Dell's US$67 billion acquisition of EMC will give it access to a sales force notorious for its ability to "sell ice to eskimos," while EMC will gain a new foothold among mid-market customers. As a private entity, the combined result will face a freedom from market pressures that competitors such as HP can only dream of.Those are just some of the benefits that could follow from the deal announced early on Monday."This industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation," said Crawford del Pr
  
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• Microsoft hides $43B Apple-esque business in plain sight

  12-10-2015 17:58
  
  Microsoft has created a $43 billion business, a potential Apple-and-OEM-esque company-within-a-company that could be used to take up the slack if some of its computer-making partners falter -- or much less likely, go independent if Redmond decided to spin off into parts.
  With last month's reshuffling of how it reports financial results to Wall Street, Microsoft used pieces of six different groups to build three new segments: Intelligent Cloud, Productivity and Business Processes, and More Perso
  
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• What Dell buying EMC means for VMware

  12-10-2015 17:52
  
  With Dell acquiring EMC for a record $67 billion, it raises the question: What does this all mean for VMware and its customers?
  Officially, Dell says VMware will remain an independent publicly traded company. The wrinkle is that EMC owns 83% of VMware’s stock; and Dell is acquiring EMC.
  Forrester analyst Glenn O’Donnell says he expects the impact of the merger on VMware customers to be minimal. “You can basically look at this as some musical chairs at the high end,” he s
  
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• HP and SanDisk join forces to create storage 1000x faster than NAND flash

  12-10-2015 17:37
  HP and SanDisk are plotting new storage technology that could be 1,000 times faster than flash memory, though they’ll face some competition along the way.
  Details on the new technology are scarce, but the goal is to create a “universal memory” that serves as both long-term storage and RAM, theWall Street Journal reports. The goal is to commercialize this technology some time between 2018 and 2020.
  Why this matters: Today’s computers offer RAM and storage separately, beca
  
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• Sikur joins secure smartphone race with $849 handset

  12-10-2015 17:05
  
  With the GranitePhone, the latest entry into the market for secure smartphones, Sikur is hoping that people will put a high price on their privacy.The phone, first shown at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in February, is on sale now, according to security software developer Sikur and the phone's manufacturer, Archos. The GranitePhone contains Qualcomm's 64-bit, eight-core SnapDragon 615 processor, the same CPU as the Archos Diamond 50 smartphone, to which the Granite bears more than a pa
  
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• CIO returns to her financial roots, as CFO

  12-10-2015 16:47
  
  If you thought serving as a CIO was a demanding job, imagine what it's like pulling double duty in the C-suite. That's exactly what Ilene Anders is doing for Alliant Insurance Services. Anders, who has spent the last four years as the Newport Beach, Calif., company's CIO, was named CFO earlier this month. She’s retaining her CIO duties until Alliant can find her successor.Alliant Insurance Services CIO Ilene Anders was recently promoted to CFO.To read this article in full or to leave a com
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: iOS 9: How to adjust 3D Touch sensitivity

  12-10-2015 16:29
  
  3D Touch is one of the best new features in iOS 9 for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus. 3D Touch lets you press down on your screen to activate additional features such as menus, shortcuts, etc. It adds a whole new wrinkle to using your iPhone.But did you know that you can adjust the amount of force needed to activate 3D Touch? The default setting for 3D Touch is Medium in iOS 9, but you can quickly change that and I'll show you how in this tip.How to change the sensitivity of 3D Touch in iOS 9 You can
  
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• Digitaal zorgplatform krijgt meer mogelijkheden via IoT

  12-10-2015 16:29
  Philips gaat zijn samenwerking met Amazon Web Services (AWS) versterken om  nieuwe soorten 'connected' en gepersonaliseerde digitale oplossingen in de zorg te bieden. Amazon maakte vorige week bekend dat het met een een nieuw platform komt, AWS IoT, via welk apparaten eenvoudig kunnen worden... lees meer
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: What to do when you inherit a project mess

  12-10-2015 15:21
  
  How many of us have inherited a project in mid-stream? Show of hands? Everyone? Sounds about right. If you haven't yet...you will. And, much like buying a used car, there will be surprises. The question is, did you inherit something in decent working order or did you inherit a lemon?Sometimes you can tell by the reason the previous project manager gave up the reins to the project. If he left the company against his will, then you can probably assume it will be a mess. If he left for a better job
  
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• Will the Apple-Samsung battle help modernize patent law?

  12-10-2015 15:17
  
  The patent conflict between Apple and Samsung may finally be heading to a resolution, possibly at the Supreme Court. After four years of court battles around the world, Samsung says it will appeal federal circuit rulings that it pay Apple $548 million. The tussle is complicated, technically and legally. In the end, however, the case may have the salutary effect of simplifying and modernizing patent law, sweeping away some of its 19th century shortcomings and making it practical for a 21st centur
  
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• Why Verizon's 'zombie cookies' are scarier than ever

  12-10-2015 15:08
  
  Like the Walking Dead lurching across your TV screen, Verizon's "zombie cookies" never give up. These hard-to-kill bits of code that track your mobile surfing habits are about to be shared with Verizon's newest acquisition, AOL, and that means additional advertisers will learn even more about you.Beginning in November, if you access the Web via Verizon’'s network, data on "your gender, age range and interests," (according to a Verizon FAQ page on its Relevant Mobile Adv
  
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• A 'cyber Pearl Harbor' could mean new security mandates

  12-10-2015 14:51
  
  WASHINGTON -- If businesses don't put in place stronger cybersecurity defenses, Congress might do it for them.That's the warning from Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.), a prominent voice in Congress on IT issues, who cautions if the firms that oversee critical infrastructure such as the electric grid are hit with a catastrophic cyberattack, lawmakers could be compelled to impose new regulations that could rankle the industry."I will tell you this: In the event of a cyber Pearl Harbor, the public will
  
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• Dell agrees to acquire EMC for US$67 billion

  12-10-2015 13:33
  Dell has agreed to acquire EMC in a cash-and-shares deal valuing the company at US$67 billion, the companies announced Monday.Michael Dell will become chairman and CEO of the merged company.The deal will combine the world's biggest enterprise storage vendor with one of the largest server makers, forming a company that can serve a broad range of enterprise needs. It will take Dell's storage portfolio upmarket and help to resolve organizational issues vexing EMC.Dell has spent years trying to make
  
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• Dancing on the grave of Flash

  12-10-2015 13:25
  
  I’ll be honest. I hate Flash. I loathe Flash. I abhor Flash. And these are educated feelings. Flash is tremendously insecure, has no way of managing updates across a fleet of computers, is needlessly inefficient, chews up battery life, is as proprietary and closed a system as they come in an era where we have rich and stable open Web standards, and in general is a tax on the Web experience. I could not be happier to see Flash go.Opinions vary about exactly when Flash died. A minor but voca
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: IT best practice: A little thank you goes a long wayThank you very much

  12-10-2015 13:00
  
  You are a typical IT person. Almost no one thanks you for the problems you prevented, for the data incidents which did not occur, or for the system failures which did not escalate to the attention of your users. You know you are doing a good job, and your boss even tells you that occasionally, so you are OK.Now, put yourself in the shoes of the business person whom you asked for help. You invited this person into a conference room to pick his/her brain on the next generation of your product or y
  
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• Application attacks against clouds up 45%

  12-10-2015 13:00
  
  Application attacks against clouds jumped 45 percent last year, according to a new report from Houston-based cloud security firm Alert Logic, Inc.
  The report was based on an analysis of one billion security events in the IT environments of more than 3,000 enterprise customers, and showed that 78 percent saw incidents of application attacks last year, up from just 48 percent the year before.
  "The increase doesn't surprise us because more and more companies are moving to the cloud," said Rahul Ba
  
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• 10 healthcare tech conferences you shouldn’t miss

  12-10-2015 12:59
  
  Healthcare tech conferences you shouldn’t missImage by ThinkstockHealthcare technology is growing rapidly, a fact you can't miss whether you're in tech or healthcare. Emerging trends in healthcare IT, telehealth, electronic health records (HER) and mHealth are just a few of the major topics that span both tech and healthcare. And, as with most industries, attending conferences is one of the best ways to stay in the know and maintain a strong network of professionals and experts in these fi
  
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• 5 low-cost tricks for keeping up with new technologies

  12-10-2015 12:30
  
  Technology change has always been fast, but now it’s even faster. The current wave started with the famed foursome -- social, mobile, analytics and cloud – and has been quickly followed by emerging technologies like Internet of Things, robotics, 3-D printing, wearables, augmented reality and more.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• 10 new words you need to know in Silicon Valley

  12-10-2015 12:02
  
  Technology changes culture, and culture is reflected in language. As mobile and consumer technologies alter our lives, new coinages bubble up in the social networks to capture and express how people live.
  Here are 10 new words you need to know in order to describe the culture of Silicon Valley, and the wider cultural changes the valley is bringing into existence (in alphabetical order -- and no, that's not a Google reference):1. DecicornYou've heard the overused neologism unicorn, which describ
  
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• The power of PowerShell: An intro for Windows Server admins

  12-10-2015 12:00
  
  Until recently, a clear delineation existed between Windows system administrators and developers. You’d never catch a system administrator writing a single line of code, and you’d never catch a developer bringing up a server. Neither party dared to cross this line in Windows environments. Nowadays, with the devops movement spreading like wildfire, that line is fading away.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Review: Is white-box switching the future of networking?

  12-10-2015 12:00
  
  What if you could manage your data center switches and routers the same way you manage your servers, and cut capital expense costs in the bargain?To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Women celebrate ‘Our time to lead’ at Grace Hopper event

  12-10-2015 11:49
  
  Where are all the women in technology? Starting on Wednesday and running through Friday, you'll find 12,000 of them at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Technology, (GHC) held this year at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston.
  Anita Borg Institute's GHC conference was co-founded by Anita Borg and Telle Whitney in 1994, and was inspired by the legacy of computer scientist and U.S. Navy Rear Admiral Grace Murray Hopper. As the world's largest technical conference for women in co
  
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• Vopak-CIO Leo Brand legt accent op technologie als enabler

  12-10-2015 09:34
  De mondiaal opererende tankterminal operator Vopak staat aan de vooravond van een digitale transformatie. Het bedrijf wil met nieuwe technologieën als sensoren en het industriële internet of things (IoT) de bedrijfsvoering op een hoger plan brengen. Volgens CIO Leo Brand heeft die vernieuwing goede kans van... lees meer
  
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• Acer announces all-in-one Windows 10 PC with 5 hours battery backup

  12-10-2015 08:00
  
  For users inclined to carry their desktops around the house, Acer has unveiled a light-weight, all-in-one PC that offers 5 hours built-in battery backup.
  The launch of the Aspire Z3-700 all-in-one was part of an event on Monday in Taipei at which the company debuted two devices including a convertible notebook, the Aspire R 14, built around Microsoft's new Windows 10 operating system and technologies such as the Cortana personal assistant, the Microsoft Edge browser and Continuum that lets Wind
  
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• Apple draws cloudy line on use of root certs in mobile apps

  12-10-2015 03:28
  Apple's removal of several apps from its mobile store on Thursday shows the challenges iOS developers can face when app guidelines shift.Among the apps removed was Choice, developed by the Palo Alto-based company Been. The app interrupted encrypted traffic streams sent to a handful of companies, including Facebook, Google, Yahoo and Pinterest, in order to block in-app ads.Apple said the apps, which it did not name, used root digital certificates that could expose data to untrusted sour
  
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• Southwest Airlines blames technical issues for major flight delays on Sunday

  12-10-2015 02:41
  
  Southwest Airlines delayed hundreds of flights on Sunday due to unspecified technical issues affecting its website, mobile and reservation system.
  Long lines were reported at numerous airports and travelers took to social media to air their frustrations (i.e., "I have spent the last past 7 hours flying in opposite direction because of your computer issue. I am fed up and tired.")
  The company issued the following statement: "We’re experiencing technology delays on southwest.com, the Southw
  
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