ZapThink recently conducted our Licensed ZapThink Architect Bootcamp course for a branch of the United States Department of Defense (DoD). As it happens, an increasing proportion of our US-based business is for the DoD, which is perfectly logical, given the strategic nature Service-Oriented Architecture (SOA) plays for the DoD. SOA is so strategic, in fact, that SOA underlies how the DoD expects to achieve its mission in the 21st century -- namely, defending US interests by presenting the most powerful military presence on the globe. Furthermore, the story of how SOA became so strategic for the DoD provides insight into the power of SOA for all organizations, both in the public and private sector. This story begins with the issue of complexity. The DoD, as you might imagine, is an organization of astounding complexity, perhaps the most complex organization in the w... (more)

My Next Adventure

A funny thing happened on my way to my 11 year anniversary at Xiotech…. For those of you that are new to my blog, here is a little background information.  I started with Xiotech back in January 2000 and embarked on a remarkable ride.  The past 10+ years were amazing, with tons of professional and personal opportunities but as they say, all great things must eventually come to an end and this ending is especially difficult. Xiotech is a FANTASTIC company, and Alan Atkinson and his team of rock stars are bound and determined to take this company to great places. I think in the pure storage space, there are very few that can go head to head with Sicola’s ISE technology.  It’s just solid.  Although this is an end to my Xiotech career, it’s an absolutely awesome start to the next chapter in my life and has me vibrating with excitement (my A.D.D is in OVERDRIVE). What wou... (more)

VI's Archie Hendryx Chinwags with Mike Laverick

If you've ever been involved with VMware it's more than likely that you've heard of Mike Laverick. As well as being a VM Guru, vExpert, all-round cool guy and author of great books such as "Administering VMware Site Recovery Manager 5.0", Mike also has a popular site of blogs, info and videos, namely RTFM. Occasionally Mike invites certain vendors or tech folk for a "chinwag"and publishes this on his site and this week I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to discuss Virtual Instruments' solution and how it enables the successful virtualization of Mission Critical Apps. Here's a link to the video: I hope you enjoy it!   ... (more)

BlackBerry taps Trend Micro for app screening, DoE hit by ‘sophisticated’ cyber attack and more

By RyanKamauff Here are the top cyber news and stories of the world. BlackBerry signs up security firm to screen third party apps – BlackBerry has signed a contract with Trend Micro to screen all their App World submissions. This is a solid move, to further enhance BlackBerry’s reputation for security. While no app screening is perfect, it does provide value add. Via Mobile News UK, more here. Government/Industry Collaboration Delivers Improved Levels of Security, Performance, and Cost Savings for Mission-Critical Applications (WHITE PAPER) – The Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) recently released a white paper on SecureView collaboration with Intel and Citrix. “”Client strategies for the U.S. Government must be affordable and readily deployable while meeting the most stringent requirements for data security and operational efficiency.  At the request of a custom... (more)

Labor Day Rewind: Larry Bonfante, CIO USTA

In honor of the ongoing US Open (and its emphasis on the smart use of technology to reach new audiences) Gathering Clouds proudly re-presents our Cloud Player Interview with USTA’s CIO larry Bonfante. We recently had the pleasure of having an extended conversation with the United States Tennis Association’s Chief Information Officer, Larry Bonfante. Our discussion covered a range of topics, including the evolving CIO role, how cloud is changing the way businesses function, and cloud migration challenges.  This is the first of two parts. Part 2 is available here. As always, let us know your thoughts on Twitter @CloudGathering. Gathering Clouds: How has the CIO role changed in the last 10 years? Larry Bonfante, CIO USTA Larry Bonfante: I think if you look at the role of the CIO 10 years ago, the primary function was to run the utility. We were really focused on deliver... (more)

Extreme Networks Addresses Networking Challenges of Cloud Computing With Presentation at Next Generation Data Center Conference

SANTA CLARA, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 08/11/09 -- Extreme Networks, Inc. (NASDAQ: EXTR), today announced that it will present at the Next Generation Data Center(TM) (NGDC) event, held August 12-13 at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco. The conference is focused on complete solutions for 21st century data centers and related new technologies. Kevin Ryan, director of Data Center Solutions for Extreme Networks, along with representatives from operator Engine Yard and data center provider Pacific Internet Exchange, will deliver presentations for the session: "Networking Challenges in Co-location," on Thursday, August 13th, at 10:15 a.m. Engine Yard, a leading cloud computing service provider specializing in Ruby on Rails applications, will discuss best practices in deploying and managing Ethernet networks in a managed hosting and cloud computing environment. Pacifi... (more)

Liquidware Labs Acquires Entrigue Systems

SAN FRANCISCO, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Liquidware Labs Inc. (LWL), the market leader in virtual desktop and application assessment and diagnostics, today announced at VMworld 2009 they have acquired Entrigue Systems, creators of ProfileUnity - a privately held company based in Atlanta, GA that develops enterprise-level user profile and configuration management solutions for VDI and traditional Windows desktops. Entrigue's VDI and desktop management solutions are the ProfileUnity line of products. The solutions offer comprehensive user profile and desktop management configuration features. Liquidware Labs will offer ProfileUnity in a Standard version and a Pro version. ProfileUnity Standard enables organizations to manage, migrate, and make Windows user profiles completely portable from VMware View, Citrix XenDesktop, Citrix XenApp, Microsoft MED-V, a laptop -whe... (more)

Polycom Honored by Prestigious InformationWeek 500 List for Second Consecutive Year

MONARCH BEACH, CA and PLEASANTON, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 09/15/09 -- Polycom, Inc. (NASDAQ: PLCM), the global leader in telepresence, video, and voice communications solutions, today announced that it has once again been named to the 2009 InformationWeek 500, an annual listing of the nation's most innovative users of business technology. Polycom has earned this recognition for two consecutive years. This year, InformationWeek editors honored Polycom for its next-gen Web project, which involved retooling the company's online presence including a number of intranet and extranet sites. "The goal of our project was to radically change the online experience for Polycom's customers, partners and employees," said Polycom CIO Glenn Noga. "Since launching the project, we've seen significant cost savings due to streamlined and improved globalization practices. Additionally, our... (more)

The Big Data Revolution: Using Hadoop and Vertica to Tackle Big Data Challenges

BILLERICA, Mass., Nov. 17 /PRNewswire/ -- WHO: - Mike Olson, CEO and Co-Founder, Cloudera - Mike Stonebraker, CTO and Co-Founder, Vertica - Christopher Gillett, Chief Architect, Visible Measures WHAT: Hadoop and Vertica are two revolutionary technologies for handling big data challenges. Hadoop's MapReduce framework provides a scalable platform for powerful data processing and data analysis including data mining, ETL (Extraction, Transformation and Loading) and complex processing. Vertica's Analytic DBMS (database management system) provides structured analysis and query of big data. Attendees will learn: The power of Hadoop for large scale data processing and data analysis;What Cloudera is doing to Hadoop;How Vertica delivers fast analysis and query of large volumes of structured data;The difference between Vertica's integration with Hadoop versus other ven... (more)

How Much Faster Is Fragmentation Prevention?

BURBANK, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/25/09 -- Two very common computing environments today are virtual machines (VMs) and databases. In that VMs greatly reduce resource consumption while making it possible to better utilize existing resources, and while databases are the heart and soul of just about any enterprise, it is vital that both uniformly achieve maximum performance. It's a known fact that file fragmentation will slow both down, and quickly. For many years, defragmentation was the answer. And an efficient answer it was; sites found that drives that had been routinely defragmented performed many times faster than those that hadn't, and lasted at least as long as their expected lifespan as well; in some cases, they lasted well beyond expectations. Diskeeper Corporation, long the leader in defragmentation and performance solutions, has now taken the next evoluti... (more)

Media Alert: Check Point IPS and Endpoint Security Solutions Preemptively Protect Businesses Against Latest Unpatched Microsoft Internet Explorer Vulnerability

REDWOOD CITY, CA -- (Marketwire) -- 11/25/09 -- Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ: CHKP), the worldwide leader in securing the Internet, today announced users of Check Point Security Gateway R70, VPN-1® R65, VPN-1 VSX R65, InterSpect®, IPS and Endpoint Security WebCheck products are protected against the zero-day vulnerability in Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). Check Point customers are preemptively protected from the unpatched threat that if exploited causes the browser to crash and leave systems vulnerable. Also known as "Summoner," the still unpatched vulnerability can occur when IE tries to access an object that has been deleted (or "summoned from the dead"). To trigger the issue, an attacker may create a malicious web page that will cause IE to exit unexpectedly, leaving a system vulnerable and allowing a hacker to execute arbitrary code on the... (more)