Blogs

This should be obvious by now, but container-based apps are different from traditional applications. Yet too many IT vendors still treat container-based application environments with the same expectations and the same infrastructure design.

I wonder when people sleep at HYCU! I have been tracking the company for 2.5 years, and it's been innovating and introducing new solutions at a very nice clip, demonstrating focused execution.

I work in a data company. I’ve watched the container market evolve very similarly to the hypervisor market—a lot of experimentation at first, and eventually an exploding, massive commercial market.

Containers (namely Kubernetes) are still in the early phase, but we know that the experimentation phase has occurred much faster than it did with hypervisors. We also know who is going to win—Kubernetes. And, most importantly, we know that the leap from science project to production is happening now—again, much faster than VMware’s takeoff.

For the last decade, IT pros have mapped their career paths to server virtualization and have truly become heroes inside their organization. Now, they have the opportunity to accelerate their careers with containers as they map closer to modern application development. Tune in as Scott Sinclair and I share our observations on VMworld 2020 and what the future holds for IT professionals.

 The acceleration of digital workspaces has been fascinating to observe, as businesses have had to flip the switch to remote work. Businesses have found themselves exposed and underprepared, but platforms like VMware Workspace ONE are helping organizations enable remote work for employees with confidence. How organizations managed & maintained applications and devices was slowly rounding the curve 12+ months ago. Now, organizations are living the benefits real-time with the help of VMware. Please listen in as I share some observations from VMworld 2020 and keep tuned in as ESG focuses on user experiences and employee monitoring.

Anton Chuvakin knows his stuff, so I was excited to have him participate in ESG’s SOAPA video series. In part 2 of our video, Anton and I chat about:

1. Security data. I mention to Anton that many SOC teams are buried in large volumes of security telemetry and then ask if we are trying to collect, process, and analyze more data than we need. Anton responds that we have too much “dirty data” that really isn’t useful. Therefore, the challenge is understanding which telemetry is useful, how it’s useful, and which other data elements we need for data enrichment to improve the efficacy and efficiency of our analytics.

It’s hard to believe that almost exactly a year ago, on October 14, 2019, Commvault launched Metallic, which is now an award-winning solution. As a product guy, I know from experience how difficult but rewarding it is to get an award at VMworld for your solution. A one-year old solution with a best in show is very impressive. Well done Metallic team! More importantly: well executed!

IBM’s announcement last week that it is to split into two companies by spinning off a big chunk of itself leads with a compellingly bold statement, saying it is “…to accelerate hybrid cloud growth strategy and execute spin-off market-leading managed infrastructure services unit.” By the way, when I say “big chunk,” I actually mean a relatively small percentage (just under 25% of current revenues)…but anything at IBM-scale is big compared to most businesses; the NewCo has a current revenue run-rate of $19BN, a backlog of $60BN and does business with 75% of the Fortune 100. Not bad, eh!?

Like so many industry and vendor events so far in 2020 (and no doubt like many more for a good while yet), VMworld was presented digitally this year. That significant change did not however affect its scale, whether measured by ambition, breadth of coverage or likely impact.

Application modernization efforts are pushing traditional infrastructure to its limits in an era where businesses across nearly every industry depend upon data and applications to not only continue operations, but to also create new opportunities. High performance improves customer experience, accelerates business operations, and can deliver superior business results. Technology is no longer simply a passenger for business operations, it is the now the engine and often the driver as well.

As with many Oracle product names, one of its latest monikers – Oracle Cloud Observability and Management Platform – doesn’t exactly get one’s IT juices flowing…but it should. For all the talk of "cool" modern apps, DevOps, highly distributed and sophisticated infrastructure solutions and ubiquitous AI/ML, the fact of the matter is that –for all these things– users still need to know what’s going on in these increasingly complex ecosystems. It’s like crossing a road: it doesn’t matter whether the vehicles are horse-drawn, pedal-, gas-, or electric-powered, you still need to look both ways before deciding when to step off the curb (or “kerb”…but more on that later).

I’ve long admired the work of Dr. Anton Chuvakin, head of solution strategy at Google Chronicle. Anton really knows security analytics and operations so now that he’s no longer a Gartner analyst, it was great to have him participate in the SOAPA video series. In part 1, Anton and I discuss:

• Detection as code. In a recent blog, Anton proposes, "detection as code." The thought here is that you want to “devops” your detections to keep up with threats and strive for constant improvement. This is an intriguing concept that may be especially useful for large organizations in specific industries under attack. We have focused industry ISACs, why not focused industry detection code?

As we all work through the various impacts of the novel coronavirus – from the depressing and the serious to the merely inconvenient – it's vital that as much industry and business as is safe and possible continues. When thousands are dying, it can seem trite to even consider this, but it is not only important in terms of us having a vibrant post-virus world; IT is an important contributor to sustaining our lives and communications today, and also a vital element to finding ways to overcome the virus.