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In the previous report in this series, “The road to SDN begins now,” we laid out the business case for software-defined networking (SDN). A network actively, reactively, and proactively defined by software is far more ready than one constructed of static devices, connections, and configurations. So how do you prepare your organization for SDN? A good first step is to examine your present networking environment and network support practices. Also, staying ahead of the software management challenge will be critical for success. And the SDN solution immediately will be compared to the pre-SDN environment, so deployment must deliver positive results from day one. Read more »

Cyber threats are now a critical issue affecting the national security of nation countries worldwide. At the same time, the IT world is witnessing a wave of new innovation, and there are numerous business opportunities for technologies built around the emerging market sectors of mobile and cloud computing. These technologies and the companies creating with them will form the future of cloud security over the next several years. Read more »

Today, functioning networks hide many faults. Software-defined networking (SDN) offers network operators a solution for poor traffic visibility and clumsy operational systems. A network actively, reactively, and proactively defined by software is far more ready than one constructed of static devices, connections, and configurations. Read more »

On June 4 IBM acquired cloud computing infrastructure provider SoftLayer. This report analyzes the deal and discusses how the greater IT ecosystem will be affected and the benefits and challenges IBM now faces. Read more »

Innovation activity is growing across many more markets than in the past and at the same time forming narrower markets. Narrow innovation leads to what we call systematic innovation. This report defines that terms, discusses how it is a key driver of innovation for large companies, and offers advice on how to manage ideas. Read more »

The key building blocks of a modern IT organization include a highly flexible infrastructure, an automated software delivery life cycle, and a devops-driven IT organization. This report focuses in particular on OpenStack as an underlying cloud platform to support this new type of organization. It defines the continuous delivery approach, addresses the benefits as well as disadvantages of OpenStack, and, finally, discusses the role of devops. Read more »

On Tuesday, May 21, Microsoft raised the curtain on its first new gaming console in nearly seven years: the Xbox One. In order to better understand how the Xbox One is being received by the larger tech community, we surveyed GigaOM’s own readership on the new offering. So which new feature of the Xbox One was chosen to have the biggest impact? Read this analysis to find out. Read more »

Roughly half a dozen new mobile operating systems will come to market over the next 6 to 12 months. Many of these look to be more sophisticated than the older ones controlled by Apple and Google. This report will examine the most noteworthy of these new operating systems, Blackberry 10, Firefox, Tizen, and others. It will also document their competitive advantages and disadvantages and gauge what their chances of success — or even true disruption — might be. Read more »

Few companies today have the time or the analytics expertise to apply statistics and complex data modeling to regular or even daily business decisions and operations. Now, however, an ecosystem of companies is emerging to fill this need. Read more »

A recent survey found that 76 percent of respondents store their digital photos on multiple devices using multiple services.That means ample opportunity exists for companies offering solutions that tackle this "dispersed photo problem." This report analyzes the aforementioned survey's results, and also measures 18 different vendors against what respondents value most when it comes to photo-organizing solutions. Read more »