We’re waiting and waiting for a national e-health network
The Federal Government first announced its plans for an all-encompassing national e-health network midway through the naughties. Fast-forward to 2010 and Australia is still waiting. Andrew Collins takes a look at the e-health roadblocks and the consequences of a long development time. Read more »
Optimising storage infrastructure using deduplication
With massive volumes of data being generated daily, organisations are being flooded with data and they are struggling to effectively manage information growth. Symantec’s Paul Lancaster sets out the reasons why deduplication technologies will help with data storage. Read more »
Desktop virtualisation explodes
This is the year that desktop virtualisation comes into its own. Read more »
A practical look at cloud computing
Lower costs, greater flexibility and access to resources on demand: it’s no wonder cloud computing is attracting attention. Oracle’s Robert Gosling, Vice President of Technology Sales, Oracle ANZ, discusses the ways in which organisations can take advantage of the benefits of cloud computing while mitigating risks around security, compliance and quality of service. Read more »
Why use SIP for IP communications?
Interactive Intelligence’s Brendan Maree exhorts businesses thinking about implementing IP telephony to ask one question before anything else. Why use a network architecture based on the session initiation protocol (SIP) to support internet protocol (IP) communications? Or put it this way … they should at least take a look at the SIP open communications standard and do their homework on it. Read more »
Transforming a data centre is a sheer necessity
There is certainly movement in the camp when it comes to data centre transformation (DCT) with the federal government and the NSW, Victorian and Queensland state governments each planning rationalisation of their data centres. Merri Mack reports on the steps in data centre transformation and what organisations should eventually aim for. Read more »
Why green is green
The business benefits of eco products can rival the environmental advantages. Here’s why - and what it means to product design teams. Read more »
Preventing data loss from internal and external threats
Information is the most valuable asset the vast majority of businesses own. Keeping this information safe from harm should be a priority for any company but this is a complex task. This article sets out some steps that need to be undertaken to protect company data. Read more »
The future of videoconferencing
Cisco’s acquisition of videoconferencing vendor Tandberg is interesting in itself - but the move didn’t occur in a vacuum. Andrew Collins talks to the pundits about what the acquisition means for the industry, and what else the future holds. Read more »
Predictions for 2010
Cloud computing, virtualisation, unified communications and smarter ways of conserving energy in data centres were the main issues for our crystal ball gazers for 2009. Security, as usual, is still a focus and it seems it always will be with the cyber criminals always being one step ahead of the security industry. These issues will still be important for 2010 according to our pundits but we can add the National Broadband Network, the continuing explosion of data and what that means to storage, mobile broadband, 4G, desktop virtualisation and machine-to-machine technology. Read more »
Dense disks make for smart storage
Disk drives will soon reach 10 terabytes, but the storage industry is worrying about how these new drives will complicate storage, rather than rejoicing in extra capacity. Simon Sharwood explains the new technologies pushing disk capacity higher and explores why larger disks are not entirely good news. Read more »
Virtual desktops set to come into their own in 2010
Once-doubtful users can easily be swayed to virtual desktop infrastructure's (VDI) myriad benefits, if the technology is presented to them the right way. The aim is to make VDI as good for users as physical desktops or even better. Read more »
The evolution of the data centre
While CIOs continue to focus on maximising the value of their data centre investments, we’ll see vendors develop technologies like virtualisation and automation that will help to drive down costs and improve quality of service as they mature and gain traction. HP’s Mark Nielsen outlines how customers will benefit from increasing flexibility of choice for their infrastructure, either by building it themselves, outsourcing it or tapping into cloud-related services. Read more »
Outsourcing UC management
Paying someone to do grunt work is one of the more satisfying aspects of running a business. And for some small and medium businesses, outsourcing is the best way to deal with managing a UC deployment, reports Andrew Collins. Read more »
Secure the pearly gates, not the cloud
Cloud computing is fast becoming one of the most widely adopted IT trends of recent years. Lured by the offer of flexible, low-cost and easily scalable IT, many businesses are relying more and more heavily on cloud-based applications, storage and security. However, as highlighted by Gartner and many others, big questions remain over the security of cloud computing. Clearswift’s Peter Croft* explains how the big security questions should be answered. Read more »
Storage virtualisation myth busters
While the demand for storage virtualisation has opened up sales opportunities for vendors, it has also created numerous myths about it. Hitachi’s Simon Elisha sets out to quash these myths in order to distinguish the facts from the hype. Read more »
Why data centre deployments continue during downturns
Enterprises continue to invest in data centre infrastructure despite the economic downturn. Dr Ispran Kandasamy*, Vice President and Managing Director of Asia-Pacific, CommScope, shines the light on data centres and the drivers for continuing investment. Read more »
Technology transforms business, process and management
Business process management (BPM) was unheard of just a few years ago, but the concept has now taken centre stage to become one of today’s most discussed business and technology management trends. Software AG’s Stephen Keys outlines the genesis of BPM and how it has evolved. Read more »
Is your network VoIP ready?
Enterprises and equipment vendors are learning the value of a complete readiness assessment before deploying voice over internet protocol (VoIP) across an organisation. The assessments are a critical step to a successful VoIP deployment, but many enterprises do not perform an assessment because of cost or because, after performing a baseline on network utilisation, they assume that their network has enough bandwidth to accommodate the voice traffic. Fluke Networks’ Wayne Allen* reports on the importance of assessment and the consequences of not assessing the network correctly. Read more »
Energy measurement use in data centre evolves
With the world running out of energy and the concomitant need to conserve energy, measuring the amount of energy used in data centres and the whole enterprise is critical. Merri Mack looks at proposed ways energy is to be measured and some of the small steps being made to implement a standard metric. Read more »