MCPc Blog

March Monthly Roundup: Top IT Industry Articles

Each month we share a collection of articles that provide insight into the ever-evolving world of IT. March’s roundup looks at: the changing role of the CIO and IT departments, the case for BYOT (Bring Your Own Technology), how upgrade your network for mobile employees, cloud computing security, and trends in data center design.

IT Industry & Expectations

In The Four Personas of the Next-Generation CIO, R “Ray” Wang focuses on the advancement of the role of CIO as it assesses new and disruptive technologies with a business purpose in mind.

Wang outlines the personas he anticipates for the next-generation CIO:

• Chief “Infrastructure” Officer – responsible for cost reduction and technology.
• Chief “Integration” Officer – responsible for connecting internal and external ecosystems.
• Chief “Intelligence” Officer – responsible for bringing the business actionable insights, and improving access to information and data.
• Chief “Innovation” Officer – responsible for identifying disruptive technologies for pilot projects through trial and error.

For more on the changing expectations for CIOs, see our blog post, The Evolving Role of the CIO.

In Stewardship, Not Ownership: It’s Time for IT to Give up on Control, Bob Lewis argues for IT to shift from the ownership and regulation of technology to application, device and user management.

Several historical and current trends combine to indicate the need for a fresh look at IT’s role:

• Changes in IT responsibilities over time (from the 1960’s to present day)
• The consumerization of IT and increased sophistication of end users
• Changing computing processes that put end users in more control of their technology assets

Lewis argues that IT departments need to let go of control and take advantage of new opportunities provided by becoming “stewards, not owners,” of the company computing processes.

For more on the trends driving Lewis’ recommendations, as well as a few “baby steps” to help you get started, see his complete article.

Bring Your Own Technology (BYOT)

As employees continue to bring their own devices — such as personal laptops, smartphones and tablets — to the office, some companies are starting to transition from supporting only standard, recognized corporate devices to creating “BYOT” (or BYOD – Bring Your Own Device) workplaces.

In the article, Is it Time for Bring Your Own Technology? John Parkinson outlines three trends that are making BYOT a more likely reality for many organizations:

• Mobility – Today’s innovation is focused on mobility and evolving technology in the mobile market. Advancements in this technology have also upped the cost of a mobile device, making BYOD even more attractive.
• Virtualization – With end-user technology as an access point, companies can allow multiple devices to log in securely through device identification and user authentication.
• Contracted Support – When working with partner organizations and consultants, it’s unlikely that you can dictate the technology they use, but you’ll likely need to provide support for their devices when used within your environment.

To learn more about these trends, check out the new section of our website focused on managing mobile devices in the workplace, and BYOD options.

Mobility

Galen Grumen discusses the fallbacks of local area networks (LANs) in today’s IT landscape, and shares a new technology designed to help push LANs into the post-PC era, in his article, In the Smartphone Era, Why is Your LAN Still Dumb?

As Gruman states, “the network itself is not architected to handle the post-PC environment rapidly developing at many businesses. LANs are generally designed under the assumption that each user works in a designated space, so an Ethernet port is a proxy for a specific user.”

This article describes a possible solution from Aruba Networks: a set of network-management tools called Mobile Virtual Enterprise that includes wired switches, wireless access points, iPad and iPhone self-registration, VPN and more. The solution provides enhanced visibility into what devices are connecting to your network when, as well as security controls.

Expect to see similar solutions arise, and talks about network stability continue, as mobility support comes to the forefront with increased use of personal devices in the workplace.

Cloud Computing

One of the top concerns among executives thinking about a move to the cloud is security. In his article, Simon Crosby discusses Why the Cloud is Actually the Safest Place for Your Data.

In traditional IT environments, data security issues arise when organizations loose control of the data. Questions like, “How is data stored and transmitted?” and, “What do end users do with that data?” could show leaks in the security of any infrastructure.

From data center to delivery to endpoint, clouds can give control back. With defense resources far beyond anything most corporations could match with in-house data centers, reputable cloud providers are equipped with vast and deep resources for data management and control.

For details on the security advantages you can find in the cloud — including back-end automation, data accessibility models and new methods for endpoint security — see the complete article.

Looking for more on cloud computing? Check out David Taber’s Cloud Computing: Advice for Application Control Freaks, which discusses benefits and drawbacks of private and public cloud solutions, and how to choose what’s best for your company based on both cost and business impact.

Green Data Center Design

According to Pike Research, global investment in energy efficient data center technology will represent 28 percent of the $150 billion data center infrastructure market by 2015.

The study also identifies seven key trends driving the move toward green data center design, such as virtualization, dynamic infrastructure, increased business value of data centers and modularity. For more, see the complete report, Green Data Centers (requires registration).

What Do You Think?

What articles, blog posts, videos or podcasts did you find interesting last month? Post a comment, and we’ll be sure to keep an eye on those sources for future wrap-up articles like this one.

 

This post is an MCPc blogging team collaboration.

Stay Connected with MCPc: Subscribe to the blog; follow us on Twitter, Facebook or LinkedIn.