This blog will be a series of posts that will discuss some of the most important performance metrics. We will analyze real-time data and compare the top performing websites with those at the lower end of the spectrum. Best practices will be discussed in detail to help those who want to build websites that are optimized, without having to compromise on the design or content. Website development has come a long way – from a few simple lines of static HTML and drab layouts to dynamic pages with fluid and interactive designs. Websites are now a complex web of advanced HTML, intuitive code, heavy media content, images, and third-party plugins.
Just as writing has come to mean texting, blogging or any form of digital writing, the cloud today means one or all of the three Cs: computing, connectivity and communication. And just as nearly all thought to putting pen to paper has disappeared, all reference to the natural cloud is long forgotten. The three Cs have altered the way we consume services. The adage, “change is the only constant,” holds true in the IT landscape like no other, forcing IT admins to constantly learn new skills and make strategic decisions.
Keeping pace with advancements in software delivery processes and tooling is taxing even for the most proficient organizations. Point tools, platforms, open source and the increasing adoption of private and public cloud services requires strong engineering rigor - all in the face of developer demands to use the tools of choice. As Agile has settled in as a mainstream practice, now DevOps has emerged as the next wave to improve software delivery speed and output. To make DevOps work, organizations must focus on what is most relevant to deliver value, reduce IT complexity, create more repeatable agile-based processes and leverage increasingly secure and stable, cloud-based infrastructure platforms. In his session at @DevOpsSummit at 19th Cloud Expo, Flint Brenton, CEO of CollabNet, will outline strategies for unifying a continuously changing, fragmented and disparate set of technologies and processes within common community architecture.
As modern operations gain momentum, it is quickly becoming the new norm for business. Infrastructure has become malleable and self-service is in demand. As a result, traditional IT operations need to evolve from legacy models with outdated tools and methodologies — a thought that’s often met with opposition since it’s these very legacy tools that have kept systems up and business running. Yet it is more imperative than ever that ITOps build a framework for managing a more hybrid and agile infrastructure because it is this very agility that keeps organizations competitive in response to the ever-increasing demands of customers and partners.
IoT is fundamentally transforming the auto industry, turning the vehicle into a hub for connected services, including safety, infotainment and usage-based insurance. Auto manufacturers – and businesses across all verticals – have built an entire ecosystem around the Connected Car, creating new customer touch points and revenue streams. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Macario Namie, Head of IoT Strategy at Cisco Jasper, will share real-world examples of how IoT transforms the car from a static product into a dynamic hub, drawing from experience at Cisco Jasper working with the world’s top 23 automakers. He will discuss how enterprises can leverage IoT to cultivate meaningful customer relationships and lucrative business opportunities.
Fact is, enterprises have significant legacy voice infrastructure that’s costly to replace with pure IP solutions. How can we bring this analog infrastructure into our shiny new cloud applications? There are proven methods to bind both legacy voice applications and traditional PSTN audio into cloud-based applications and services at a carrier scale. Some of the most successful implementations leverage WebRTC, WebSockets, SIP and other open source technologies. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Dan Cunningham, CTO of ReadyTalk, will cover real world examples of how enterprises and vendors alike can modernize infrastructure without ditching existing investments.
Gartner’s concept of Bimodal IT argues that for successful digital transformation, IT needs to split into two parts: mode 1 for maintaining and modernizing traditional back-end IT services and mode 2 for agility in building front-end, digital apps. This allows IT to respond to the digital divide emerging in their organizations by operating in two coherent but deeply different modes.
With online viewership and sales growing rapidly, enterprises are interested in understanding how they analyze performance to positively impact business metrics. Deeper insight into the user experience is needed to understand why conversions are dropping and/or bounce rates are increasing or, preferably, to understand what has been helping these metrics improve. The digital performance management industry has evolved as application performance management companies have broadened their scope beyond synthetic testing that simulates users loading specific pages at regular intervals to include web and mobile testing, and real user monitoring (RUM). As synthetic monitoring gained popularity, performance engineers realized the variations that exist from real end users were not being captured. This led to the introduction of RUM - the process of capturing, analyzing and reporting data from a real end user's interaction with a website. RUM has been around for more than a decade, but the technology is still in its infancy. The digital performance management industry has evolved as application performance management companies have broadened their scope beyond synthetic testing that simulates users loading specific pages at regular intervals to include web and mobile testing, and real user monitoring (RUM). As synthetic monitoring gained popularity, performance engineers realized the variations that exist from real end users were not being captured. This led to the introduction of RUM – the process of capturing, analyzing and reporting data from a real end user’s interaction with a website. RUM has been around for more than a decade, but the technology is still in its infancy.
WebRTC adoption has generated a wave of creative uses of communications and collaboration through websites, sales apps, customer care and business applications. As WebRTC has become more mainstream it has evolved to use cases beyond the original peer-to-peer case, which has led to a repeating requirement for interoperability with existing infrastructures. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Graham Holt, Executive Vice President of Daitan Group, will cover implementation examples that have enabled early adopters to integrate and interoperate with existing Telecom, Contact Center and Enterprise Collaboration environments.
If you’re responsible for an application that depends on the data or functionality of various IoT endpoints – either sensors or devices – your brand reputation depends on the security, reliability, and compliance of its many integrated parts. If your application fails to deliver the expected business results, your customers and partners won't care if that failure stems from the code you developed or from a component that you integrated. What can you do to ensure that the endpoints work as expected and enhance your brand?
Web Real-Time Communication APIs have quickly revolutionized what browsers are capable of. In addition to video and audio streams, we can now bi-directionally send arbitrary data over WebRTC's PeerConnection Data Channels. With the advent of Progressive Web Apps and new hardware APIs such as WebBluetooh and WebUSB, we can finally enable users to stitch together the Internet of Things directly from their browsers while communicating privately and securely in a decentralized way.
Although it has gained significant traction in the consumer space, IoT is still in the early stages of adoption in enterprises environments. However, many companies are working on initiatives like Industry 4.0 that includes IoT as one of the key disruptive technologies expected to reshape businesses of tomorrow. The key challenges will be availability, robustness and reliability of networks that connect devices in a business environment. Software Defined Wide Area Network (SD-WAN) is expected to play a key role in overcoming these challenges. In his session at @ThingsExpo, Mike Wood, vice president for VeloCloud Networks, will discuss how SD-WAN can offer a simple, agile, cost-effective approach for enterprise IoT networks.
Developing software for the Internet of Things (IoT) comes with its own set of challenges. Security, privacy, and unified standards are a few key issues. In addition, each IoT product is comprised of (at least) three separate application components: the software embedded in the device, the back-end service, and the mobile application for the end user’s controls. Each component is developed by a different team, using different technologies and practices, and deployed to a different stack/target – this makes the integration of these separate pipelines and the coordination of software updates for IoT more problematic. How do you coordinate the diverse moving parts that must come together when developing your IoT product or updating each of its components?
SYS-CON Events announced today that Numerex Corp, a leading provider of managed enterprise solutions enabling the Internet of Things (IoT), will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo | @ThingsExpo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Numerex Corp. (NASDAQ:NMRX) is a leading provider of managed enterprise solutions enabling the Internet of Things (IoT). The Company's solutions produce new revenue streams or create operating efficiencies for its customers. Numerex provides its technology and services through its integrated platforms, which are generally sold on a subscription basis.
Between the mockups and specs produced by analysts, and resulting applications built by developers, there exists a gulf where projects fail, costs spiral, and applications disappoint. Methodologies like Agile attempt to address this with intensified communication, with partial success but many limitations. In his session at @DevOpsSummit at 19th Cloud Expo, Charles Kendrick, CTO at Isomorphic Software, will present a revolutionary model enabled by new technologies. Learn how business and development users can collaborate - each using tools appropriate to their expertise - to build mockups and enhance them all the way through functional prototypes, to final deployed applications. This approach helps you improve usability, exceed end-user expectations, and still hit project milestones.
Data is an unusual currency; it is not restricted by the same transactional limitations as money or people. In fact, the more that you leverage your data across multiple business use cases, the more valuable it becomes to the organization. And the same can be said about the organization’s analytics. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Bill Schmarzo, CTO for the Big Data Practice at EMC, will introduce a methodology for capturing, enriching and sharing data (and analytics) across the organization in a “as-a-service” cloud model, and discuss the role that the data lake plays in monetizing the organization’s growing wealth of data.
The Internet of Things can drive efficiency for airlines and airports. In their session at @ThingsExpo, Shyam Varan Nath, Principal Architect with GE, and Sudip Majumder, senior director of development at Oracle, will discuss the technical details of the connected airline baggage and related social media solutions. These IoT applications will enhance travelers' journey experience and drive efficiency for the airlines and the airports. The session will include a working demo and a technical deep dive into the solution delivered via the IoT Cloud platform. It will also address the regulatory change IATA Red 753 from the airline regulatory body around end-to-end custody of the baggage.
SYS-CON Events announced today that Pulzze Systems will exhibit at the 19th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on November 1–3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA. Pulzze Systems, Inc. provides infrastructure products for the Internet of Things to enable any connected device and system to carry out matched operations without programming. For more information, visit http://www.pulzzesystems.com.
Why do your mobile transformations need to happen today? Mobile is the strategy that enterprise transformation centers on to drive customer engagement. In his general session at @ThingsExpo, Roger Woods, Director, Mobile Product & Strategy – Adobe Marketing Cloud, covered key IoT and mobile trends that are forcing mobile transformation, key components of a solid mobile strategy and explored how brands are effectively driving mobile change throughout the enterprise.
19th Cloud Expo, taking place November 1-3, 2016, at the Santa Clara Convention Center in Santa Clara, CA, will feature technical sessions from a rock star conference faculty and the leading industry players in the world. Cloud computing is now being embraced by a majority of enterprises of all sizes. Yesterday's debate about public vs. private has transformed into the reality of hybrid cloud: a recent survey shows that 74% of enterprises have a hybrid cloud strategy. Meanwhile, 94% of enterprises are using some form of XaaS – software, platform, and infrastructure as a service.
There is growing need for data-driven applications and the need for digital platforms to build these apps. In his session at 19th Cloud Expo, Muddu Sudhakar, VP and GM of Security & IoT at Splunk, will cover different PaaS solutions and Big Data platforms that are available to build applications. In addition, AI and machine learning are creating new requirements that developers need in the building of next-gen apps. The next-generation digital platforms have some of the past platform needs and many new requirements. He will provide reference architectures for next-gen platforms and sample apps that can be built on this platform.
Web-scale IT is a pattern of global-class computing that delivers the capabilities of large cloud service providers within an enterprise IT setting by reimagining positions across several dimensions. The unprecedented explosion of Big Data and cloud services is driving the development of new storage architectures to store the information produced by this web-scale trend. It is becoming increasingly clear that even a linear growth trajectory for storage is insufficient to deliver the quantity of storage needed for data produced by the Internet of Things. Current architectures have bottlenecks that, while merely inconvenient for legacy data, are simply unacceptable for the scale of storage needed today.
DevOps is a term that comes full of controversy. A lot of people are on the bandwagon, while others are waiting for the term to jump the shark, and eventually go back to business as usual. Regardless of where you are along the specturm of loving or hating the term DevOps, one thing is certain. More and more people are using it to describe a system administrator who uses scripts, or tools like, Chef, Puppet or Ansible, in order to provision infrastructure. There is also usually an expectation of being able to deliver this in 100% cloud, or hybrid cloud environments.
Server Virtualization has transformed the way we manage server workloads but virtualization hypervisors were not the endgame of datacenter management. What is the role of server virtualization and hypervisors in the new age of cloud, containers, and more importantly, hyperconvergence? I covered SAN technology in my last Infrastructure 101 article, so for today I'm going to cover server virtualization and maybe delve into containers and cloud. Server virtualization as we know it now is based on hypervisor technology. A hypervisor is an operating system that allows sharing of physical computing resources such as networking, CPU, RAM, and storage among multiple virtual machines (sometimes called virtual servers). Virtual machines replaced traditional physical servers that each had their own physical chassis with storage, RAM, networking, and CPU. To understand the importance of hypervisors, let's look at a bit of history.
Security certainly feels a lot more like a journey than a destination. This is especially true with APIs becoming a critical piece of any mobile or web application. With so much information being shared through APIs, teams need to ask themselves: how can you effectively secure your API? While the security demands of developing and maintaining APIs will continue to evolve, there are a few key areas your team should be focused on if you have have responsibility for an Application Programming Interface (API).