ECT News Network Broadcast
ECT News Network business and technology updates, with news and feature commentary from industry experts.
The Networked Economy
Dynamic discounting proved to be a real game-changer for Mediafly. "We joke that it would be interesting if all of our customers leveraged something like dynamic discounting," said CEO Carson Conant. "It would be transformative for our business. It would drastically accelerate how we can deploy cash. Then you think about it in terms of what could it do for the economy."
Posted on 19 May 2012 | 1:54 am
Verizon Lets the Sun Go Down on Unlimited Data
In this episode: Verizon plans to end its practice of letting old customers renew their unlimited data plans, possibly foreshadowing similar moves from other carriers; Google considers resurrecting an old Nexus sales strategy; Google puts a new spin on its search service with "Knowledge Graph," the tablet edition of Windows 8 has browser makers in an uproar; Yahoo's embattled CEO leaves the company.
Posted on 18 May 2012 | 9:13 pm
Security and the Cloud: The Great Reconciliation
Security is often regarded as a drag on cloud adoption -- a necessary but complex chore that must be dealt with. However, if you understand the security risk, gain a detailed understanding of your own infrastructure, and follow proven reference architectures and methods, security can move from an inhibitor of cloud adoption to an enabler.
Posted on 11 May 2012 | 11:56 pm
The Thompson Crisis: Sloppy Whopper or Poor Career Personal Hygiene?
In this episode: Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson comes under attack when it's revealed his resume has for years falsely claimed he holds a degree in computer science, a discrepancy discovered by an activist shareholder who wants changes made to the company's board of directors; Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg dons his dress hoodie for his company's IPO road show; jurors reach an impasse regarding a key question in Oracle's lawsuit against Google; Nevada gives the green light for Google to take its self-driving cars for a spin in the state.
Posted on 11 May 2012 | 9:18 pm
Getting What You Want From ERP in the Cloud
"Probably one of the biggest wins for us has been just driving compliance against our contracts," said Brooke Krenn, whose company, Cox Enterprises, recently moved to a cloud-based ERP system. "We're able to see very easily now when a location or a business unit ... is purchasing off-contract or when they're not utilizing one of our preferred or negotiated suppliers."
Posted on 5 May 2012 | 12:35 am
Samsung's Galactic Empire
In this episode: Samsung lifts the curtain on the Galaxy S III, its latest smartphone touting Android Ice Cream Sandwich and an array of new features; Research In Motion sweats it out at BlackBerry World 2012; Samsung closes in on -- and perhaps overtakes -- Apple in smartphone unit sales; Microsoft and Barnes & Noble go from enemies to partners thanks to a new $300 million deal; Target axes Amazon's Kindle line of products.
Posted on 4 May 2012 | 9:21 pm
Disaster Recovery: It's Not Just for Catastrophes Anymore
Having a comprehensive disaster recovery system in place doesn't just come in handy when calamity strikes. "We're starting to move now into a slightly different world, but it has been the catalyst of DR that's enabled [business units] to start thinking in these new ways, which they weren't able to do before," said SAI Global's Mark Iveli.
Posted on 28 April 2012 | 12:19 am
Would You Let Your Data Sleep Over at Google's House?
In this episode: Google unveils Google Drive, a free data storage service, though its ToS makes privacy advocates do a double-take; Google and Oracle land blows against each other during their second week of courtroom testimony; patent alliances become tangled as Facebook buys IP that Microsoft just picked up from AOL; the FBI marks July 9 as the date it'll pull the plug on a server operation, potentially leaving thousands of computer users without Internet access; an organization reveals plans to mine asteroids for resources.
Posted on 27 April 2012 | 9:03 pm
Disaster Recovery: Learning From Painful Experience
Sometimes the only way you know whether your disaster recovery plan is any good is when you face a real disaster. After 2008's Hurricane Ike hit, insurance wholesaler Myron Steves & Co. had a difficult time getting its systems back on track just when customers needed the company's help the most. That motivated its IT team to set the stage for a faster, cheaper and more robust DR capability.
Posted on 20 April 2012 | 11:33 pm
Larry vs. Larry
In this episode: CEOs Larry Ellison and Larry Page take the stand in Oracle's suit against Google, in which the Android maker is accused of ripping off Java code; Samsung and Apple are ordered to attempt a settlement in one of their many patent fights; confusion abounds regarding Windows Phone's upgrade path; a report indicates Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg kept his company's board all but out of the loop during the Instagram purchase negotiations, Ikea melds TV with furniture to create Uppleva.
Posted on 20 April 2012 | 9:03 pm
Burning Rubber on the Road to Virtualization
Motorcycle maker Ducati has virtualized nearly all its servers, having gone full-throttle for virtualization in a relatively short period of time. Given the targets we would face in just three to four years, it was absolutely a necessity to move quickly into virtualization to enable all the other products, said CIO Daniel Bellini.
Posted on 13 April 2012 | 11:24 pm
The People vs. Apple
In this episode: The Department of Justice smacks Apple and several book publishers with e-book price-fixing allegations; the CEO of Best Buy departs under peculiar circumstances; Nokia and Microsoft kick off their U.S. WinPho push in earnest with the Lumia 900; AOL sells 800 patents to Microsoft; Facebook forks over $1 billion for photo-sharing app and network Instagram.
Posted on 13 April 2012 | 9:04 pm
The Cloud's Booming Potential for the Networked Economy
The networked economy comes as a consequence of the major business and IT trends of the day -- those being cloud computing, mobile, social and big data -- according to Ariba CMO Tim Minahan. To appreciate the full impact of the networked economy, we need to recognize how previously internal processes are now becoming increasingly externalized.
Posted on 7 April 2012 | 12:04 am
Google Gazes Into the Looking Glass
In this episode: Google reveals Google Glass, its plan to create high-tech, Web-connected eyeglasses; Research In Motion reports another dismal quarter and leaves no strategy off the table, including a sale; Yahoo announces layoffs for 2,000 employees, roughly 14 percent of its workforce; Groupon gets the stinkeye from the SEC when it admits it miscounted its Q4 numbers; a creepy mobile app gets the boot from FourSquare and iOS following an outcry over privacy.
Posted on 6 April 2012 | 9:22 pm
Building a Private-Cloud Home for Complex Ops
In the business of providing educational and training applications, there's often a very short time in between when people book their courses and when they show up to class. "So we have only a very short amount of time over the weekend to set up the systems," said SAP's Wolfgang Krips. "That was one of the big challenges that we had to solve."
Posted on 28 March 2012 | 11:55 pm
The Proper Care and Feeding of Highly Virtualized Environments
IT support has grown ever more complex with the increased use of virtualization and the cloud. Virtualization isn't just server by server; really impacts the entire data center. It needs to be thought about holistically, particularly in regard to things like security and performance.
Posted on 23 March 2012 | 10:26 pm
Another iThing, Another iTempest
In this episode: The latest iPad is flying off the shelves, but some early buyers say the devices become significantly hot during heavy use; Apple decides to shell out a dividend to investors for the first time in years, promising $2.65 per share; Sprint takes a hit as analysts see problems relating to iPhones and LTE service on the horizon; Nokia has a new idea for silent cellphone notifications; "Mass Effect 3" buyers feel so jilted by the game's ending they're complaining to the FTC.
Posted on 23 March 2012 | 8:11 pm
The Software Distribution Generation Gap
"Software vendors are so focused on building the next great application and on features and functions in that application that they've lost sight of what really matters, which is making sure that the application that you build gets used, gets in the hands of the users, and that they get their work done," said Embarcadero CEO Wayne Williams.
Posted on 16 March 2012 | 11:31 pm
AT&T Flails in the Quicksand
In this episode: A tangle with an angry customer over throttled cellular data speeds causes much angst for AT&T; Encyclopedia Britannica gives up on printed editions after centuries of bound volumes; a Samsung executive reportedly spills the beans on an iPad mini Apple supposedly has in the works; a Yahoo lawsuit bombards Facebook with patent violation allegations; Intel reportedly makes moves to break into the TV business.
Posted on 16 March 2012 | 7:26 pm
Opening the Vault: How Classic B-Ball Footage Finds New Life Online
March Madness is here, but basketball fans who also want a look at the past can find an abundance of classic highlights in The Vault, powered by Thought Equity Motion. "What we found out is that people didn't want to watch the game as a whole anymore," said CEO Kevin Schaff. "What they really wanted was smarter content. They wanted to be able to come in and consume the content in a different way."
Posted on 15 March 2012 | 12:09 am
Enterprise Architecture and Transformation at the Crossroads
Enterprise architecture and enterprise transformation and two distinct concepts, but how much of a role should the former play in the latter? Should EA's role be tightly constrained in the process of transformation? Or is enterprise transformation nowadays significantly dependent upon architecture? Should we make enterprise architecture a critical aspect for any business moving forward?
Posted on 10 March 2012 | 1:25 am
iPad: What's in a Name?
In this episode: Apple reveals a new iPad -- not an iPad 3 or iPad HD, just an iPad -- with LTE, an improved processor and better screen resolution; Google herds its digital content stores into a single site, Google Play; Netflix flirts with cable providers; a squealer helps authorities arrest several alleged members of LulzSec; inventors in Japan build a shut-up machine.
Posted on 9 March 2012 | 8:44 pm
Cloud Computing: Revolution vs. Evolution
To businesspeople, cloud computing is often regarded as a revolution. But to IT, it's just an evolution of infrastructure efficiency. Where does this dual vision come from? For IT, it's all about ways to improve delivery of the current server-centric, application-centric environment, according to Capgemini CTO Andy Mulholland. "However, businesspeople ... reflect on it in terms of the change in society and the business world."
Posted on 2 March 2012 | 11:31 pm
Google's Walls Come Crashing Down
In this episode: Google implements a new privacy policy that tears down the data-sharing barriers between its various services, much to the displeasure of regulators on both sides of the Atlantic; Apple reportedly prepares to issue an extremely rare dividend to shareholders; the fight heats up between Apple and Proview over ownership of the word "IPAD"; Yahoo stares down Facebook, threatening a patent suit shortly before the social network plans to go public; Lytro releases its shoot-first, focus-later camera.
Posted on 2 March 2012 | 8:27 pm
ACTA Action, Part 3
There are two main problems with Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, according to the EFF's Maira Sutton. "The first is that, in process, it's been secret from the start. There has been no input from civil society members," she said. And the second? "It extends the U.S.' Digital Millennium Copyright Act to the rest of the world."
Posted on 1 March 2012 | 6:35 pm
The Transformative Power of Enterprise Architecture
"The thing we're learning about enterprise architecture is that there's a cultural shift that takes place in an organization when it commits to doing business in a new way," according to MIT research scientist Jeanne Ross. "And that cultural shift starts with abandoning a culture of heroes and accepting a culture of discipline."
Posted on 24 February 2012 | 11:33 pm