itaas

Network, don't fail me now!

Everything in IT depends on the network.--and not just in an abstract, "need it occasionally" sort of way. The packets must flow for virtually every operation, every job, every transaction. Whenever packets drop, or links go down, we're disconnected and isolated. Information doesn't flow; apps don't work; users don't proceed. We need the network up and running, millisecond by millisecond, every millisecond of every day.

Our utter, urgent dependency won't lessen in the coming years. It will intensify--redoubling and redoubling again. Cisco calls its vision of the future "together." HP … Read more

The public cloud: Friend or foe for storage vendors?

Last year, storage vendors were all about cloud. They saw major-league opportunities in the private, public, hybrid, and federated versions. No cloud was too big or too small. In fact, because clouds were "infinitely scalable," there was no limit to the number of yotta bytes they could sell.

Storage users and data center storage administrators in particular were decidedly more sanguine. You say cloud is a new services delivery model? Hey storage vendors, where have you been lately? We've been all about services delivery for some time now. Tell us something about cloud we don't know. … Read more

'Cloud' means something important

"Cloud computing" is so overused and overhyped that it doesn't really mean anything anymore. It's has become kind of a vague "what comes next in IT" label, with no specific meaning, applied indiscriminately to whatever the latest vendor to stop by wants to sell us today.

I now hear this complaint with great regularity--but I don't entirely agree. Sure, every vendor is eagerly "cloud washing" whatever products or initiatives they have to fit in with the latest buzzhype. And the "cloud" term is thrown around with pretty reckless abandon. … Read more

AeA and ITAA to merge

Mimicking a larger technology industry consolidation trend, the American Electronics Association and Information Technology Association of America trade groups announced on Tuesday plans to merge lobbying efforts.

The AeA-ITAA deal, aiming to create a stronger industry advocacy voice in Washington, D.C. and provide a greater breadth of technology sector-specific programs, is expected to close by the end of the year. The combined group, to be known as the Technology Association of America, is expected to have approximately 2,000 member companies.

Tech lobbying groups look into possible merger

Two tech trade and lobby groups say they are exploring a merger.

The two groups together would represent more than 2,000 companies--right now AEA has 2,500 member companies, the Information Technology Association of America about 350, with some overlap. The two say becoming one would increase their size and clout.

ITAA and AEA (formerly known as the American Electronics Association) would complement each other, according to AEA President Christopher Hansen. AEA lobbies mainly at the state level, while ITAA works with at the federal and international level.

The merger is not a done deal yet, but both groups … Read more

Tech lobbying groups CSIA, ITAA merge

John W. Thompson, chairman and CEO of Symantec, used part of his keynote address Tuesday at RSA 2008 to announce the merger of the Cyber Security Industry Alliance and the Information Technology Association of America.

CSIA includes the top security providers and seeks to influence security policy in the U.S. and the European Union; ITAA is a much larger policy group. He said "this will give CSIA a bigger platform and a stronger voice on these critical public policy issues and the ability to work with governments and key stakeholders around the world."

In a press release, … Read more