IT Executive news

• Intel earnings reveal weaker chip sales offset by a growing data center business

  13-10-2015 23:39
  Intel’s profits fell 6 percent as the company’s PC business continued to struggle. But Intel’s revenues mildly exceeded its own expectations as the datacenter business continued to report strong results.
  The one obvious black mark on the company’s third-quarter earnings were sales of its Atom processors into tablets. Intel sold 8 million tablet chips, a 39 percent drop compared to a year ago.
  Overall, Intel reported net income of $3.1 billion on revenue of $14.5 billion,
  
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• Luxury retailer taps Walmart CIO amid customer analytics push

  13-10-2015 22:43
  
  Burberry has hired as CIO Fumbi Chima, currently corporate vice president and CIO for Walmart Asia, to oversee the high-end apparel retailer's technology division. The move comes as part of a push to better aggregate and leverage the data its customers generate in its retail stores, as well as online and via mobile devices. One analyst says the hire also suggests Burberry is getting more serious about expanding its presence in China and Japan.Fumbi Chima joins Burberry as its CIO next month.To r
  
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• Cisco dedicates security project to 'pissing off the bad guys'

  13-10-2015 22:09
  
  Following its disruption of a major distributor of Angler ransomware, Cisco is offering up free security consulting for hosting providers that’s aimed at wiping out persistent attacks that abuse providers’ services and threaten the rest of the Internet.
  Cisco’s Talos security intelligence and research group has launched Project Aspis, which hosting providers can sign up for to work with Talos and in return receive help including systems forensics, reverse engineering, threat i
  
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• Cars should never be fully driverless, MIT prof says

  13-10-2015 22:02
  
  If the problems that robotics encounters in extreme environments are any indicator, then self-driving cars are a bad idea, according to an MIT engineer and author of a new book on the subject.
  David Mindell, a professor of the History of Engineering and author of  Our Robots, Ourselves: Robotics and the Myths of Autonomy, said his argument against fully autonomous vehicles isn't based on principles, but on history.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Why you want a bare metal hypervisor and how to choose

  13-10-2015 21:33
  
  Once upon a time, there was nothing but native, or bare metal, hypervisors (a.k.a. virtual machine managers). In the 1980s, I cut my teeth on IBM System/370 mainframes running VM/CMS, but bare metal's history goes all the way back to the 1960s. With bare metal hypervisors, the hypervisor runs directly on the hardware. There is no intervening operating system.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Beware of Oracle's licensing 'traps,' law firm warns

  13-10-2015 21:33
  Oracle's aggressive licensing practices have gained it considerable notoriety over the years, and on Tuesday, a Texas law firm specializing in technology issued a warning urging enterprises to beware.
  "Oracle software licensing is full of traps," wrote Christopher Barnett, an associate with Scott & Scott LLP, in a blog post. "Businesses need to understand the risks associated with those traps and to proceed with caution."
  Of particular note is Oracle's License Management Services compliance
  
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• Cambridge University study finds 87 percent of Android devices vulnerable to attack

  13-10-2015 21:07
  
  Android handset makers’ failure to deliver timely security updates leaves almost everyone open to attack.
  That’s among the conclusions of a study from Cambridge University that sought to quantify just how bad the Android security situation had become.
  To compile the data, the group of researchers published a Data Analyzer app to the Google Play Store. Along with giving a lot of people the ability to participate, it ensured that phones without Google Play services that are
  
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• UL creating standard for wearable privacy and security

  13-10-2015 20:36
  
  UL, formerly called Underwriters Labs, soon expects to certify wearables for safety and security, including user privacy.
  Founded in 1894 and more commonly known for certifying appliances for electrical safety, UL is developing draft requirements for security and privacy for data associated with Internet of Things devices, including wearables. A pilot program is underway, and UL plans to launch the program early in 2016, UL told Computerworld.
  UL first announced its interest in wearable complia
  
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• Tesla’s batteries to power two dozen Calif. office buildings

  13-10-2015 19:39
  
  A California real estate development company plans to install Tesla batteries in nearly two dozen of its highest profile offices in the Los Angeles area.
  The Irvine Company, a Newport Beach-based developer that is a dominant landlord in Orange County, said the deal with Advanced Microgrid Solutions (AMS), will save it as much as $1 million a year in energy expenses.
  San Francisco-based AMS, a renewable energy company, will install Tesla's commercial-grade battery, called the Powerpack, which st
  
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• SANS: 20 critical security controls you need to add

  13-10-2015 19:34
  
  Prioritizing security measures is the first step toward accomplishing them, and the SANS Institute has created a list of the top 20 critical security controls businesses should implement.They include some obvious steps, such as getting a comprehensive inventory of all network devices and software, implementing secure hardware configurations and providing for data recovery, but also gets into areas that are less evident.+More on Network World: Gartner: IT should simplify security to fight inescap
  
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• IDG Contributor Network: Why I didn't buy Apple's new Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2

  13-10-2015 18:48
  Apple announced today its new Magic Keyboard, Magic Trackpad 2 and Magic Mouse 2. I was initially quite excited when I found out that there was a new Magic Keyboard and Magic Trackpad 2 available. I have no use for the new Magic Mouse 2 though as I stopped using mice years ago.So I hopped over to the Apple store online and ordered three new Magic Keyboards and three new Magic Trackpads (one for each of my Macs). I thought it would be great to have trackpads and keyboards with built-in batteries,
  
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• Here’s how Windows 10 Mobile updates will work

  13-10-2015 18:23
  
  Microsoft will get a little help from wireless carriers on new versions of Windows 10 Mobile, even as it bypasses them to deliver the updates to consumers.““Microsoft is working closely with mobile operators to leverage their testing and our flighting to meet and exceed current quality bars,” the company told WMPowerUser in a statement. “We will use their input but will decide when to send the updates out based on input from Mobile Operators and our Windows Insiders.&rdqu
  
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• Windows tablets for business hit 10% share in second quarter

  13-10-2015 18:20
  
  Microsoft has recently shown improvement in Windows smartphones and tablets shipments for use in businesses.
  Microsoft and its Windows devices globally accounted for 6% of business smartphones and 10% of tablets in the second quarter of 2015, breaking the double-digit mark for business tablets for the first time, according to Strategy Analytics. Overall, the market research firm said business smartphone shipments were 89.3 million in the second quarter, while shipments of business tablets were
  
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• Windows 10 Insider dawdlers face blank screens Oct. 15

  13-10-2015 18:09
  
  Windows 10 users who have not updated their Insider preview since early July have until Thursday to get the latest code or face staring at a blank screen because the PC won't boot.
  All builds issued between Jan. 23 and July 9 -- there were 11 builds during that period, numbered 9826 through 10166 -- will refuse to boot after Thursday, Oct. 15, according to a revised message posted by a Microsoft support engineer on the company's discussion forum.
  Build 10166 was the last one issued by Microsoft
  
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• The Web's 10 most shady neighborhoods

  13-10-2015 16:36
  
  The top 10 shady neighborhoods on the WebImage by ThinkstockJust like any city or town, the Web has parts -- neighborhoods if you will -- where dubious activities frequently take place: spam, scams, the distribution of potentially unwanted software (PUS), malware, botnets, phishing and other suspicious activity.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Gartner guru 'shocked' by corporate reaction to Windows 10

  13-10-2015 16:17
  
  Orlando, FLA. -- After the debacle that was Windows 8/8.1, no one was sure how enterprises would respond to Microsoft’s Windows 10, which was released on July 29. “We knew the reception was going to be better than the reception for Windows 8,” said Gartner’s Stephen Kleynhans. But that was setting the bar pretty low.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here(Insider Story)
  
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• Twitter cuts engineering team, lays off one in 12 employees

  13-10-2015 15:41
  Twitter will lay off up to one in 12 employees as it streamlines its product roadmap, new CEO Jack Dorsey told his workforce on Tuesday morning.
  The company will in future focus "on the experiences which will have the greatest impact," he wrote in a letter to staff.
  In Dorsey's tweet announcing the news, he said that he had made "some tough but necessary decisions that enable Twitter to move with greater focus and reinvest in our growth."
  Although Dorsey was only confirmed in his role as CEO la
  
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• TrackR bravo locator helps find your lost wallet, keys

  13-10-2015 15:10
  
  My spouse recently lost his wallet while hiking in San Francisco. Four days later, he received a call from someone who found the wallet's contents — drivers license and credit cards — in the parking lot of a Walmart 25 miles away. (The actual wallet and cash that was in it are still MIA, of course.)Playing a small but important role between the "lost" and "found" parts of this drama was TrackR bravo, an inexpensive, thin Bluetooth Low Energy device that's designed to help locate
  
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• SAP unveils SaaS analytics platform

  13-10-2015 15:01
  
  SAP is aiming to redefine analytics with a new software as a service (SaaS) offering that rolls up business intelligence (BI), planning and predictive analytics into a single service built on the SAP HANA Cloud Platform."Really it's about simplifying access to a public cloud analytics experience that customers can trust," says Nic Smith, senior director of Marketing for Analytics at SAP.SAP plans to embed SAP Cloud for Analytics with existing SAP solutions that can connect to cloud as well on-pr
  
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• Too many healthcare employees complacent about security

  13-10-2015 15:00
  
  Non-technical health care employees are too complacent about the possibility of a data breach, and few are aware that it has happened to their organizations, according to a survey released today of employees at large and mid-sized health care organizations.
  "There's a typical 'it can't happen to me' phenomenon," said Steve Kelley, at Chicago-based Trustwave Holdings, Inc., which sponsored the survey.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• SAP unwraps Project Orca and gives it a new name

  13-10-2015 15:00
  
  SAP has taken the wraps off of Project Orca and given the service a new name: SAP Cloud for Analytics.Due in the fourth quarter, the technology is built natively on SAP's Hana Cloud Platform, which has the company's Hana in-memory database at its core.SAP will deliver the service in a scalable, multitenant environment, it said, allowing customers to unify business intelligence, planning, budgeting and predictive capabilities in a single cloud service.The goal is to allow business users to s
  
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• BrandPost: A Seamless Generation

  13-10-2015 15:00
  
  A recent CIO Survey proves it’s time for CIOs to grab the reins and become disruptive innovators, leaders who are willing to take a few calculated risks to integrate next-generation technologies into their organizational infrastructure. As such, CIOs are plowing substantial portions of their IT spending into potentially game-changing technologies. For example, 61 percent of the respondents worldwide report that they’re investing heavily in application modernization and 64 percent say
  
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• Provincie Gelderland gaat IT uitbesteden

  13-10-2015 14:40
  Gelderland krijgt ondersteuning van managementadviesbureau Quint Wellington Redwood bij de outsourcing van zijn IT. Het gaat om selectie en contractering van leverende partijen en inrichting van een professionele interne afdeling die de regie over de uitbestedingen gaat voeren. Omdat steeds meer taken worden... lees meer
  
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• What's the CIO’s next logical transformation?

  13-10-2015 14:32
  
  In a recent CIO magazine cover story, on CIOs who shoulder non-IT responsibilities, was a déjà vu moment — I know I read the same story in the ‘90s and ‘00s. In today’s digital business environment, the CIO role enjoys the broadest and deepest impact potential than at any other time in history. Yet, that question endures: “What can successful CIOs step up to?” I don’t think the answer is any one of the traditional C-suite positions, but rat
  
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• How the CIOs of 4 Fortune 500 companies got their jobs

  13-10-2015 13:55
  
  For ambitious technology professionals, achieving a promotion to CIO represents the ultimate career goal. Sure, in start-up companies, a technically inclined cofounder might assume the title of CIO. But what if you’re working your way up the ranks of a Fortune 500 company? In that context, you need to develop the skills – and the mindset – required to reach that role.There are different paths to the CIO roleThe path to the CIO office varies depending on the organization and the
  
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• 5 practical project management certifications

  13-10-2015 13:22
  
  “Do you have what it takes to be a project manager?” looked at the pros and cons of project management as a career choice. This field is fast-paced, hectic, filled with ambiguity and challenging, yet highly rewarding at the same time.If you’ve decided this is the right career choice for you, the next step is determining which project management certification will work best and offer you not only practical and real-world utilitarianism, but promising job prospects to boot.Many o
  
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• Moto 360 (2nd gen) review: The Android Wear watch to beat

  13-10-2015 13:00
  
  If you’re looking for a smartwatch that delivers a “next-generation” experience, the 2nd generation Moto 360 isn’t it. In fact, none of the Android Wear watches really move the platform forward in a significant way—perhaps because Google is largely in the driver’s seat for software development.
  But if you want a smartwatch that delivers a great experience for everything Android Wear can do, this is the one. Numerous hardware refinements and a year of software
  
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• Apple’s 3D Touch system may be useful — someday

  13-10-2015 13:00
  
  The 3D Touch system that Apple is delivering with its newest iOS devices is the quintessential solution in search of a problem. It doesn’t seem to do much that is useful (yet, anyway), but it delivers that uselessness in such an elegant and Apple-ish way.[ Related: 10 3D Touch tips for the iPhone 6s and 6s Plus ]The concept is intriguing. 3D Touch allows users to communicate different things to their devices depending on the amount of pressure behind their gestures. But though Apple is pus
  
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• Advertising network takes on malvertisers

  13-10-2015 13:00
  
  In the war between malvertisers and legitimate advertising networks, the bad guys seems to be winning. Attackers use real-time bidding platforms to place malicious ads on otherwise reputable sites, infect target users and disappear -- often before anyone has even noticed that there's a problem, according to a new report by Fairvax, Vir.-based security firm Invincea, Inc..
  Attackers can use the targeting features offered by advertising networks to zero in on victims based on which operating syst
  
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• The secret to first-rate mobile apps for customers? Iterate, iterate, iterate

  13-10-2015 12:30
  
  Take four heavy-hitting brands -- Allstate, Hilton, United Airlines and American Express, all of which place a premium on customer loyalty and retention. Mix in the customer-pleasing form of mobile devices and the ever-advancing function of mobile apps.
  What you get are four organizations using mobile to connect better with customers by leveraging their well-organized IT structures and well-skilled IT staffers.
  "Mobile is really about supporting your overall business objective," says Forrester
  
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• VMware brings Michigan to Europe to boost virtual networking

  13-10-2015 12:22
  
  VMware is taking Michigan to Europe as it works to make networking as secure in the hybrid cloud as it can be in a private datacenter.
  At its VMworld Europe conference, it unveiled new features and tools to make it easier to roll applications out to its unified hybrid cloud platform, expanding the range of management functions available on its public cloud, vCloud Air, which can be linked with private clouds using vSphere.
  The company also previewed a new technology, Project Mich
  
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• Google Graveyard: What Google has killed off in 2015

  13-10-2015 12:12
  
  Six feet deepGoogle is truly a company that has more technology and products than it can handle sometimes, and in 2015 the company with the recent name change shed a host of tools and products to enable it to focus on more pressing needs. Here’s a look back at what Google this year has offed or announced plans to off (To go back even further, check out 2014’s Google Graveyard.)To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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• Node.js adds long-term enterprise support version

  13-10-2015 12:00
  
  The community around Node.js, the popular server-side JavaScript platform, has released the first version of the technology covered under a new long-term support plan -- a key benefit for enterprise deployments.
  The Node.js Foundation, which now has jurisdiction over the open source platform, emphasizes support as the key feature in Version 4.2.0 of Node.js. "As an LTS release, support for v4.x will continue for a period of 30 months from today. This means that individuals and businesses b
  
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• Chinese SSD maker eyes U.S. market for 8TB drive intro

  13-10-2015 11:59
  
  Sage Microelectronics (SageMicro), a four-year-old company based in Hangzhou, China, plans to release an 8TB solid-state drive (SSD) next month as it attempts to break into the U.S. market.
  The company, which emerged from quiet mode last year, already sells a 5TB SSD in a 2.5-in. form factor, along with SD cards and NAND flash memory controllers. The 8TB SSD simply adds another stack of eMMC flash memory crammed into a 9.5mm-high SSD.
  What makes SageMicro different from most other SSD makers is
  
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• To scare people better, Android ransomware gets a snazzy UI

  13-10-2015 04:57
  
  Hackers are like any other coders: they want to built better software, even if it's a program that merely aims to extract a ransom from a hapless Android user.Symantec said it has seen a new version of the Porn Droid ransomware that uses Google's custom-built design language, Material Design, to create more intimidating warnings.Discovered last year, Porn Droid purports to be an adult content viewer. If installed, it locks a device and warns that users have viewed illicit pornography and de
  
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• BrandPost: Tired of Disconnected ERP? It’s Time to Stop Trying to Fix What’s Broken

  13-10-2015 03:28
  
  The relationship isn’t working. It’s making you miserable but it’s familiar so you hang in there. It’s scary to walk away after all these years but it’s killing your career. We’re talking about on-premise ERP and the recurring cycle of software upgrades, patches, bugs, and the umpteen different versions that are running across your business.This is the right time to let go of fixing disconnected ERP and transform your role into a value-added, forward thinking
  
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• Four questions about the Dell-EMC merger

  13-10-2015 02:58
  
  Dell dropped a bomb on the enterprise IT market Monday by announcing plans to buy storage giant EMC for a whopping US$67 billion. The deal raises many questions; here are four of them.Where’s the cloud?Assuming it goes ahead, the deal will make Dell one of the world's largest IT vendors, just behind IBM and Microsoft, but Dell will still have little to offer in the fast-growing area of cloud services. Oracle, IBM and Hewlett-Packard are all building out cloud offerings with varying degrees
  
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• Ideas are better than ideology

  13-10-2015 01:47
  
  As an IT manager, you probably spend a good part of your day dealing with ideas — weighing them, refining them, rejecting them and embracing them. You’re bombarded by ideas all day, every day. They might come from you, your subordinates, your boss or even people like me who write for the media.“If we rewrite that section of the SQL to avoid using cursors, it might improve performance substantially.”
  “If we deploy a mobile reporting app, the salespeople will be able
  
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• Microsoft's latest Windows 10 Insider build offers alt activation approach

  13-10-2015 01:46
  
  Microsoft today shipped the latest Windows 10 preview to its Insider testers, with improvements to the Cortana assistant and the default Edge browser, and betas of the "universal" Skype apps for messaging, audio calling and video conferencing.
  Monday's build, tagged as 10565, was the first issued by Microsoft to the Insider ring -- the public preview of all Windows 10 changes -- since Sept. 18.
  Build 10565 also made significant changes to how Windows 10 is activated, Microsoft's term for provin
  
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• Google loads up virtual reality toolbox for developers

  13-10-2015 01:45
  
  Google is trying to entice developers to take a look at its virtual reality platform, Google Cardboard, by offering updated SDKs and documentation and making the Cardboard app available in 39 languages.
  The Google Developers Blog today revealed the availability of the app in dozens of languages and more than 100 countries for both Google's Android and Apple's iOS mobile platforms. Google Unity 3D apps can be adapted for virtual reality as well.[ Find out how to handle the real-world problems fa
  
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• What the Dell, EMC merger really means

  13-10-2015 01:44
  
  Despite its whopping price tag, the $67 billion Dell acquisition of EMC doesn't radically reshape the technology market.
  The acquisition, announced today, is not as disruptive to the tech market as, say, Oracle's purchase of Sun Microsystems, or Hewlett-Packard's acquisition of Digital Equipment Corp., companies with competitive platforms and technologies.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
  
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