Wednesday, July 31, 2013

Big Data and BI: Organizations Hunt Actionable Insights to Improve Business Ops

In the past few years Big Data has grown quickly, from fringe topic to a top concern of CIOs and business leaders. No surprise; organizations of all sizes are drowning in ever-growing pools of data, desperate to put it to good use. Worldwide data production is now estimated at a staggering 1,800 exabytes per year. Little wonder that leveraging Big Data is a major focus of organizations today.

The challenge is like the television show "Hoarders." How do you sift through incredible amounts of materials, figuring out what’s trash and what’s treasure? Many organizations face an even more basic problem: In a recent study one in three executives said they couldn’t find the right people internally with the right data. Clearly something is wrong.

 
(Read my complete white paper at www.slashdotmedia.com)

Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Parallel Computing Set to Take Center Stage in Europe

Europe is hosting two major parallel computing conferences that provide an exciting forum for industry luminaries to exchange and discuss experiences and new ideas as well as give an overview of new developments in the field.

(Read my entire article on the topic at goparallel.sourceforge)

CSIR Launches Supercomputer to Enter New Research Era

India’s largest research and development organization has announced it is launching a new supercomputer in late July. The machine, which will be the fourth fastest in the country, will usher in a new era of data-intensive scientific discovery for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) in Bangalore.

(Read my entire article at goparallel.sourceforge)

New Benchmark for Fastest Supercomputer

The way the power and speed of supercomputers are measured is about to change.

A new benchmark will be introduced in November to rank the world’s fastest supercomputers, and will eventually replace the Linpack metric that is currently the basis for the Top500 list.  Called the High Performance Conjugate Gradient (HPCG), the new benchmark is being introduced by Jack Dongarra, distinguished professor of computer science at the University of Tennessee, and the developer of the Linpack system.

(Read my complete article at goparallel.sourceforge)

Monday, July 29, 2013

Spotlight: Consortium offers clound vendor lock-in advice

One of the most difficult issues with cloud platforms is the risk of vendor lock-in, Joe McKendrick notes in ZDNet's Service Oriented blog. He does an excellent job of summarizing the guidelines released by The Open Group on what enterprises should be aware of, and what actions the industry should be taking to achieve greater standardization in the cloud.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at FierceInterpriseCommunications)

IT managers have investment heads in the coulds

IT managers definitely have their heads in the clouds, as cloud computing is reportedly the number one area for IT investment over the next five years. That is the finding of new research by Compuware and Research in Action.

(Read my complete article on the topic at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

Enterprise communications predictions for 2013--did ON24 get it right?

Like many FierceEnterpriseCommunications readers, I'm a numbers guy, myself. I've done my stint as a research analyst (Aberdeen Group) and a research project manager (Computerworld), so a good survey report or market analysis always gets my attention.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

Siemens Enterprise Communications and NextPlane partner on federation services

A partnership was announced last week between Siemens Enterprise Communications and NextPlane UC Exchange Service, under which the NextPlace UC Exchange service will provide extended federation services for the Siemens OpenScape UC platform.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

Confusing messages on networking pros salary demand

Networking professionals seeking tools to negotiate their next job or raise may find themselves very confused on just how in demand they are, or what salaries they should be earning.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

New Zealanders learning to play nice in the cloud

A series of nationwide consultative workshops are underway this week in New Zealand, intended to help develop a Code of Practice for Cloud Computing.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

Sunday, July 28, 2013

Downtime numbers are downright distressing

A new study by Gartner finds that while network bandwidth issues are on the decline, network availability and downtime concerns are front and center on the minds of IT managers.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

Spotlight: IDC MarketScape a who's who of UC market

A new MarketScape report from International Data Corp provides a vendor assessment of the global unified communications and collaboration market for 2013 that reads as a virtual Who's Who of the UC market.

(Read my complete blog at FierceExterpriseCommunications)

NSA revelations taking toll on ISP market

The recent revelation that the National Security Agency (NSA) has been collecting huge amounts of data from Internet Service Providers and telecommunications companies is taking its toll on the international market.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

Siemens' Project Ansible would unify communications channels

Siemens Enterprise Communications recently offered a sneak peak at its Project Ansible, a dynamic communications and collaboration platform intended to enable teams to collaborate across virtually any communications channel or device. Siemens provided the first public view of the new product last week. Project Ansible is expected to begin limited customer trials at the end of this year and be generally available later in 2014.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

Broadband speeds hitting high gear

It may often seem like your computer, laptop or personal device is getting slowed down by all the applications on it, but don't blame the Internet--that is getting faster.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

UC market on track for 4% growth through 2016

The Unified Communications market is projected to grow at a rate of just over 4 percent through 2016, according to a new report from TechNavio.

(Read my complete article at FierceEnterpriseCommunications)

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

How to Craft a BYOD Governance Program

Despite all its promises of increased productivity and morale, BYOD programs carry inherent risks. The challenge for IT and business leaders are to come up with a program that satisfies employee desires for flexibility with corporate needs for security. A well-crafted governance program is the answer.

A BYOD governance program outlines the rules and responsibilities around data access, device use, and employee behavior. It should inform employees what they are allowed -- and expected -- to do with their personal devices. It details the authority that IT has to restrict access to certain employees or devices remotely, to manage devices connected to the network, and to wipe devices in the event of emergency. It should also address such issues as privacy, compliance, and acceptable use.

(Read my entire article on the topic at InternetEvolution)

Layoffs bolster outplacement services

Despite the regular news that the healthcare industry is adding jobs, the pressures of mergers and acquisitions, declining reimbursements and the fears over national healthcare reform have led to several recent announcements of layoffs, which is putting a greater focus on outplacement services for healthcare workers – a service not traditionally used by doctors, nurses and senior staff.

“Outplacement is different in healthcare,” said career counselor Danielle M. Dayries, president of Louisiana-based career services firm DMD & Associates, Inc. “It’s not that the services are different, it’s the approach we take as career counselors.”

(Read my complete column on the topic in Healthcare Finance News)

Monday, July 22, 2013

10 Interactive Whiteboard "Don'ts"

When it comes to interactive whiteboards (IWBs), nearly everybody has heard a horror story. You know, like the one about some ignorant teacher who grabbed the nearest magic marker and began scribbling a lesson all over that inviting, shiny surface.

Using IWBs as mere dry erase boards may be an obvious misuse, but it is by no means the only one. These “worst practices” generally stem from failing to understand what whiteboards can really do in the classroom. T.H.E. Journal asked several educational technology leaders to share some common “don’ts” for teachers using an IWB. Here are the top 10.

(Read my full article at THE Journal)


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

CIOs Crow -- & Cringe -- About BYOD

Bring-your-own-device programs are everywhere now and that is giving execs plenty to crow -- and cringe -- about. The greatest gain: productivity. The most important concern: data security.

Moving data across a variety of devices and networks puts corporate data at increased risk of leaks or attacks. Several recent studies have shown nearly half those organizations that allow employees to connect to the corporate network via BYOD programs have encountered data breaches.

(Read my complete article at InternetEvolution)

Monday, July 15, 2013

Integrated care benefits weak

The integrated care model has been touted as being able to deliver better care for patients and lower costs and improve efficiencies for the healthcare system. A recent study of the model in the United Kingdom by RAND Europe suggests that it does indeed provide benefits, but those benefits are most likely perceived by healthcare professionals rather than by their patients, and cost savings were minimal.

(Read my complete article at Healthcare Finance News)

Saturday, July 13, 2013

HPC Drives Life Science Research at Texas Supercomputing Center

Life science accounts for a key segment of the 3,000 research scientists in astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics, aerospace engineering, petroleum engineering and geosciences using the Stampede supercomputer system at the Texas Advanced Computing Center (TACC) at the University of Texas, Austin. “Oscar” Jiao, the center’s life science computing specialist, recently sat down with the Go Parallel Editor Joe Maglitta to talk about how researchers are using the nine-petaflop supercomputer to pursue new discoveries in their fields.  

(Read my complete blog at GoParallel)

Rejuvenating Steady, But Slow Profmerge

Developers know that profmerge is used for merging the intermediate data files produced by the Profile Guided Optimization (PGO) instrumentation. These files are merged into a form that can be efficiently used to enable higher levels of optimization during the profile-guided feedback compilation step. They can also be used for generating reports with the Intel Code Coverage tool.

(Read my complete blog at GoParallel)

Intel's System Studio Can Debug Your Debugging Process Too

Nothing is more frustrating than trying to clean up problems in the middle of debugging. In other words, no developer wants to have to debug her or his debugging process. Intel’s System Studio targets these frustrations by extending the reach of Intel developer tools to correcting the debugging process.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at GoParallel)

Purdue Takes Top Honors in Campus Supercomputer Speed Ranking

The need for supercomputing power is becoming insatiable even on college campuses, and Intel’s Xeon Phi coprocessor has again helped set a fastest supercomputer record.

The University of Purdue has unveiled its new supercomputer Conte, which gives it bragging rights for having the nation’s fastest university-owned supercomputer for the third year in a row. Conte clocked a maximum speed of 961.9 teraflops and a peak performance of 1.341 petaflops, according to the Top500 list of the world’s fastest supercomputers.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at GoParallel)

BYOD in healthcare brings new mobile device security strategies

While tighter HIPAA security regulations going into effect this year may intimidate some healthcare organizations in implementing wide-scale bring your own device (BYOD) programs, the NCH Healthcare System in Naples, Fla. has embraced it with open arms. In fact, BYOD practices are being encouraged to help the hospital make a total break from its paper-dependent past.

"As of July 15, 2013, all of our processes will be electronic," said NCH CIO Helen Thompson. "It is part of our journey to the digital hospital. There will be no more paper."

(Read my entire article at SearchHealthIT)

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

The Rise of BYOD: By the Numbers

Organizations are embracing the bring your own device concept. Report after report confirms anecdotal evidence that companies are loosening centralized control over mobile devices and allowing employees to choose and use the smartphone or tablet of their preference.

Adoption can mean happier employees who are willing to work longer hours -- even during time off. And BYOD certainly generates a lot of work for the IT department, which must provide these workers with remote access to corporate data and email while ensuring everything remains secure and free of malware.

(Read my entire blog, and slide show, on the topic at InternetEvolution)

Monday, July 8, 2013

Supercomputers and Big Data Lead Effort for Oil Independence

The Middle East has lots of oil. But the United States has lots of  supercomputers. And the hope of energy officials is that the latter can help cancel out the former.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at GoParallel)

Xeon Leaves Others Green With Envy

Making competitors green with envy, Intel’s Xeon Phi coprocessors are quickly taking top spots on the list of the world’s most efficient supercomputers.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at GoParallel)

Space Junk: Supercomputing's Final Frontier

Tons of junk piling up in space causes lots of problems for the space travel. Fortunately, researchers at the University of Texas have launched a supercomputing project to simulate space junk collisions, and better protect unsuspecting space travelers from potential dangers.

(Read my entire blog at GoParallel)

DOE Supercomputer Budget Threatened with Major Cuts

June was the pits for the Department of Energy’s Titan supercomputer. First researchers at the DOE learned they had been knocked off the top slot of the world’s fastest supercomputers — bested by China’s new Milky Way 2 supercomputer. Then the news last week of a threatened major budget cut.

(Read my entire blog on the topic at GoParallel)

Intel Powers Most of the World's Fastest Supercomputers

The unveiling of China’s Milky Way 2 supercomputer two years ahead of schedule could prove that even robust projections for the high performance computer market may be way too conservative. That would bode very well for Intel, which finds itself represented in more than 80% of all of the systems that made the Top500 list and 98% of those screamingly fast systems making their first appearance on the list.

(See my complete blog on the topic at GoParallel)

Monday, July 1, 2013

Supercomputing Titans Pack Punch, But Lack Power to Beat Exflop Barrier

Supercomputing’s holy grail – the exaflop performance barrier – is still a dream, despite efforts with China’s new Tianhe-2 supercomputer. When unveiled this month, China’s great wall of coprocessors did perform admirably, but far below the industry’s golden heights.

(Read my complete blog at Go Parallel)

Fast and Cool: New Tigon HPC Unveiled

The new Aurora Tigon supercomputer is the first in the market that applies liquid cooling directly to both Intel Xeon 5 processors and Intel Xeon Phi 5120D Phi coprocessors inside. By cooling water temperature to over 50C degrees, Tigon eliminates the need for data center air cooling.

Created by Eurotech SpA, which specializes in supercomputing and embedded, Tigon was unveiled last week at the International Supercomputer Conference (ISC) in Leipzig, Germany. Early measurements pegged performance at 3 GFlops/Watt and approximately 310 TFlop/s for single rack, with a footprint of approximately 1.5 m2.

(Read my complete blog at Go Parallel)

Solutions to doctor shortage needed

As an estimated 14 million additional Americans become eligible for health insurance next year under the Affordable Care Act, recent survey data reveals that the number of doctors entering the healthcare field remains flat, and existing physicians are reducing the number of patients they are willing to service. Solutions to the shortage are urgently needed experts say.

“We are at a critical juncture,” said Steven Wartman, MD, PhD, president and CEO of the Association of Academic Health Centers. “As the 2014 deadline for most Americans to have health insurance approaches, the healthcare workforce is not ready, and we are quickly running out of time.”

(Read my complete blog on the topic at Healthcare Finance News)

Unions make inroads in healthcare

In April, unionized nurses at the Quincy Medical Center in Massachusetts ended a one-day strike over looming job losses, only to see 30 of those in their ranks laid off the next day.

A month later, in Worcester, Mass., the UMass Memorial Medical Center and the union representing 1,100 nurses reached a contract agreement that narrowly avoided a strike there, guaranteeing maximum patient-to-nurse ratios.

(Read my complete blog on the topic at Healthcare Finance News)