Volume LII, Issue 7

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In This Issue

Join the New ADRM Working Group

Excerpted from DCIA Report from the CEO

Harm from digital network breaches now can be even more serious than data loss and exposure of confidential information. With such advances as connected vehicles and embedded medical devices, dangers have escalated literally to the level of life-and-death.

Protection of consumer and enterprise end-users requires broad adoption of the best possible access-control mechanisms, as well as related advancements in underlying technologies and business practices.

Digital rights management (DRM) — with its key components of encryption, authentication, analysis, and response — is what ensures access control; and yet DRM, in part as a result of overbearing deployments, is maligned by digital freedom advocates. This area is in urgent and enormous need of attention.

At the request of Member Companies, the DCIA is starting a new Advancement of Digital Rights Management (ADRM) Working Group to address the critical issues in this space. If you’d like to get involved — or wish to recommend a colleague or contact who may be more appropriate — we’d welcome your participation.

Initially, the group will focus on completing its voluntary code of conduct, an initial draft of which is offered in the DRM Manifesto white-paper published on the DCIA website. Please email adrm@dcia.info at your earliest convenience for more information.

Firefox 38 Released, Adds Support for DRM

Excerpted from InfoQ Report by David Iffland

Mozilla released the latest version of Firefox yesterday, bringing promised HTML5 digital rights management (DRM) capabilities to replace the use of Silverlight or Flash.

Starting with version 38, Firefox now supports Encrypted Media Extensions (EME) on 32-bit versions of Windows Vista and later. This will enable users of that browser to view DRM-controlled content such as Netflix without a separate plug-in. The release comes a year after they announced their plans to do so.

By default, when protected content is needed, the browser will download and enable the Adobe Primetime Content Decryption Module (CDM). Mozilla has provided a guide for those who wish to disable or opt-out of the CDM. In addition, there is a separate download available that does not contain the EME support.

Chrome, Internet Explorer, and Safari already have EME support.

While Firefox’s EME support is not available on Mac OS X yet, Mozilla did ship partial support for the Media Source Extensions (MSE) API. This feature will let users view non-DRM video content, such as YouTube, using the native HTML5 video player. This support has existed in Firefox for Windows since version 37. On Hacker News, Firefox Prod. Mgr. Javaun Moradi says this is just a start… Read More

IoT & Cloud Tech Bring Growth to BPO Sector

Excerpted from Economic Times Report

Business process management (BPM) firm WNS sees more business opportunities in evolving technologies like Internet of Things (IoT) and cloud computing, saying these would bring next phase of growth for the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

“If you look at where business is today, I think there is a very dramatic shift taking place, which is very exciting for us. It is going to create the next phase of growth of BPO or BPM as we like to call it,” WNS CEO Keshav Murugesh told ET in an interview.

IoT and disruptive technologies such as mobility, cloud, 3D printing, and autonomous cars are bringing in the next phase of growth for India’s BPO sector, which worth around $25 billion, he said.

Clients need to be serviced in their traditional, transitional as well as in their innovative thinking businesses and firms such as WNS with their models can help them achieve this transition, he added.

“Look at the kind of change that is taking place. If you look at what is happening in banking. Brick-and-mortar models are giving way to mobile wallets, digital models. Branch networks are shrinking by half,” he said. Murugesh heads the NYSE-listed firm… Read More

Report from DCIA CEO Marty Lafferty

Click Here for Video

The DCIA is expanding our marketing program with Mediaplanet — entitled Future of Business & Tech — from an initial focus on Cloud Computing now to zero in on the Internet of Things (IoT) with unprecedented depth of coverage.

Our introductory contribution to this major initiative included Cloud Technologies Will Take our Connected Lives to a Whole New Level highlighting Mobile Cloud, Big Data, DevOps, Social Networking, and introducing the IoT.

Prominently featured in the new installment are the DCIA’s three lead articles on 5 Ways the Internet of Things Will Change Your Life This Year, Think before You Click: What to Expect from Big Data and the IoT, and Cloud Power: Is Your Small Business IoT Ready?

The IoT campaign launched in a special technology edition of the San Francisco Chronicle on Friday and is now also published online.

Through targeted print and digital distribution, Future of Business & Tech initially reaches a core audience of more than two million readers.

Here’s the introduction to our IoT commentary:

“The Internet of Things presents a whole new class of smart objects and applications ushering in novel forms of automation for nearly all fields of human endeavor.

Industry analysts project a steep growth trajectory for connected IoT devices, with a range of numbers that underscores the newness of this phenomenon: Gartner forecasts 26 billion IoT devices by 2020, meanwhile ABI Research projects more than 40 billion and IDC has estimated the figure to exceed 50 billion.

One thing we can already see, however, is that five industry verticals are being significantly impacted by the phenomenon.

The IoT is opening unprecedented opportunities for entrepreneurs and large established enterprises alike. Whether you prefer to think of it as the ‘Internet of Everything’ or the ‘Internet of New Services for Me,’ your life will be changed in ways not yet imaginable.”

Read the full article here and visit the Future of Business & Tech website to gain new insights into the technology sector’s most exciting and fastest growing new phenomenon — the IoT. Share wisely, and take care.

Equinix Sponsors DataCloud Europe

Excerpted from Press Announcement

International business exchange (IBX) data center and colocation provider Equinix announced its participation as a Gold Sponsor of DataCloud Europe, which takes place in Monaco on June 3rd and 4th.

DataCloud Europe is hosted by BroadGroup and co-sponsored by the DCIA.

Eric Schwartz, Equinix President of EMEA, will speak on a colocation and data center hosting panel, which will include John Sarkis, General Manager of Colocation & Connectivity, Digital Realty, and be chaired by Tim Anker of Colo-X.

Other recent program additions included Michael Tobin, industry entrepreneur and the former CEO of TelecityGroup, who will deliver a much-anticipated presentation of his perspective of post-merger Europe.

During a packed two-day program attended by 1,800 executives from more than 50 countries, DataCloud will focus on the radical impact of cloud on data centers. The Internet of Things (IoT), smart cities, and data center investment will also be featured among the range of topics in the content-rich program.

“DataCloud Europe is the premier meeting place and forum for IT and cloud innovators,” said Philip Low, Managing Director at BroadGroup… Read More

Samsung Debuts IoT Platform for Developers

Excerpted from NetImperative Report

Samsung has launched a new open platform to help developers create smart devices.

The ARTIK package includes three circuit boards, software support, developer tools, and embedded encryption for security.

In addition to ARTIK, Alex Hawkinson, Chief Executive of SmartThings, which was acquired by Samsung last August, also announced SmartThings Open Cloud to help developers create apps for their devices.

If the platform works as advertised, developers new to the IoT category will have an easier time taking a concept and forming it into a shipping product, whether that product is aimed at home consumers or solving social challenges.

To encourage the latter (and no doubt drum up interest in Artik), the firm also announced the Samsung Artik Challenge, with a $100,000 top prize for whoever develops the most effective use of IoT and Artik to reduce water consumption: The Internet of Things can change the world, and we’re offering our new ARTIK platform to help. As part of your solution, ARTIK has the power and flexibility to collect data at all scales of water consumption for new insights. Learn more!

“Makers Against Drought” is about building, and the competition happens in two stages. In the Challenge Building Period, makers submit… Read More

IoT Will Be a Backbone of Israeli Tech

Excerpted from the Times of Israel Report by David Shamah

The “Internet of Things” (IoT) has set the tech world abuzz as the new Next Big Thing, and everyone — from the software developers to the user interface designers — is rushing to claim their stake as the ones who are “making it happen.”

But while you need software, UI, and a dozen other things to turn a dumb refrigerator into a smart one that connects to the Internet, none of it is going to matter unless the chips that go into that refrigerator can communicate, upload and download commands, and function for months or years without requiring a change of batteries, according to Shlomo Gradman, CEO of ASG. and Chairman of the Israeli High Tech CEO Forum.

Gradman was speaking at ChipEx 2015, the largest annual event of the Israeli microelectronics industry, which was held last week. The semiconductor industry, which is out in full force at ChipEx, has had its ups and downs in recent years, admits Gradman, but IoT is a major game-changer that could become “a major growth engine,” he said.

Actually, the chip industry in Israel had been doing fine even before IoT came along, he said.

“I know the perception has been that semiconductors were long ago eclipsed by other areas, like mobile and networking technology… Read More

Verizon Buying AOL in Latest Mobile Video Push

Excerpted from CED Magazine Report by Ben Munson

Verizon Communications this week announced an agreement to buy AOL for $50 per share, valuing the deal at $4.4 billion.

The transaction will have to clear regulatory approval and closing conditions. Verizon estimates the deal will be finalized by this summer and, following that, AOL will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Verizon.

AOL Chairman and CEO Tim Armstrong will stay in place as head of AOL.

The deal comes as Verizon prepares an over-the-top (OTT) mobile video service for launch this summer. Verizon says combining with AOL will allow the companies to create a scaled, mobile-first platform for advertising and give Verizon access to AOL’s large digital content portfolio.

Verizon CEO Lowell McAdam put the AOL acquisition in the context of Verizon’s recent investments in Verizon Digital Media Services and OTT.

“AOL’s advertising model aligns with this approach, and the advertising platform provides a key tool for us to develop future revenue streams… Read More

What Does Verizon-AOL Have to Do with the IoT?

Excerpted from Fortune Report by Stacey Higginbotham

Nestled in Verizon’s press release trumpeting its $4.4 billion plan to acquire dot com dinosaur AOL is a sentence that says the deal will help somehow with Verizon’s Internet of Things’ (IoT) platforms, which might strike normal readers as a bit confusing. Some may be wondering what the IoT is, and why the phrase is creeping into everything lately.

The concept is the latest business jargon, but beneath that is a real trend — namely, that ubiquitous connectivity and cheap sensors are allowing consumers and businesses to connect a variety of devices and gather reams of data at a pace that we’ve never known.

This data is effectively letting us put everything from our food intake to factory performance online in a format that can be searched and analyzed, much like we can with social media and text-based content.

The implications of this are enormous. So what does this have to do with Verizon buying AOL? That’s less clear. The press release actually says, “The agreement will also support and connect to Verizon’s IoT (Internet of Things) platforms, creating a growth platform from wireless to IoT for consumers and businesses.”

Broken into normal English, the AOL assets will somehow tie into the products Verizon calls its IoT platform… Read More

Emerging Cyber-Threats Present Big Challenges

Excerpted from Baseline Report by Samuel Greengard

As digital connectivity grows, legacy technology will result in larger and more damaging incidents. Consequently, enterprises should review legacy systems and modern infrastructure.

Greater connectivity and more powerful digital technologies represent a double-edged sword for organizations across every sector. While they introduce remarkable opportunities, these technologies also create new and sometimes great risks.

A recently released research report from the Information Security Forum (ISF), “Threat Horizon 2017: Dangers Accelerate,” offers insights into the changing threat landscape and how organizations can manage this dynamic environment.

The organization, a leading authority on cyber-threats and cyber-security, found that the dangers revolve around nine areas that represent big challenges for senior business and IT managers, information security professionals and other key organizational stakeholders.

In fact, these emerging threats could reshape and reframe the business environment over the next few years. “The pace and scale of information security threats continues to accelerate,” warns ISF Managing Director Steve Durbin. “The nine threats highlighted in the ‘Threat Horizon 2017’ report expose the imminent dangers that the ISF considers the most prominent… Read More

Telefonica Results: Spanish Home Market Turnaround

Excerpted from Financial Times Report by Tobias Buck

Telefonica on Thursday hailed the start of a “new growth cycle”, as the Madrid-based group reported a 162 per cent jump in first-quarter profits and said it was seeing strong signs of a turnaround in its long-suffering Spanish home market.

Net earnings in the three months to March reached 1.8 billion euros, up from 688 million in the same period last year. The jump reflected a 1.2 billion euro tax gain linked to the sale of Telefonica’s O2 operations in the UK to Hutchison Whampoa. Revenues rose 12.6 per cent to 11.5 billion euros, while operating income before depreciation and amortization (OIBDA) rose 7 per cent to 3.6 billion.

Analysts had expected OIBDA to be slightly lower, though some sector specialists also voiced disappointment that sales and income had continued to decline in Spain despite the economic recovery there. “The performance of the domestic market was quite disappointing in our view,” analysts at Mirabaud said in a note, pointing out that first-quarter revenues in Spain had declined 3.8 per cent compared with 2014.

But Telefonica said it was confident that earnings in Spain would soon pick up. “Spain has already begun its return to growth after reporting in the quarter a year-on-year increase in accesses,” said Cesar Alierta, Executive Chairman… Read More

Distributed Computing in for Augmented Reality Check

Excerpted from The Platform Report by Nicole Hemsoth

The arrival of augmented reality for the masses is imminent with Google Glass and other competing devices, but in many respects, the makers of these have put the proverbial cart before the horse.

There is still a long wait ahead as the infrastructure backbone straightens enough to back the diverse array of workloads that run in tandem in near real-time. And it’s not just a matter of application developers getting on board — the shortfalls begin in the datacenter.

According to Chris Rossbach, a Microsoft Research veteran who has been working on virtual and augmented reality systems for years (including on the early team that developed the Kinect), the “devil is in the details” when it comes to widespread adoption of augmented reality.

Now with VMware Research, he and his team are exploring just how deep the chasm is between real use of the technology set for augmented reality and actual implemented reality.

“Even if the devices that give us what we imagine is an augmented reality experience are there, which they are, most of the rest of the system stack is not. A lot of this is far harder to build than people realize. And while everyone knows what augmented reality is… Read More

5 Tips for Securing Your Cloud Computing System

Excerpted from Data Center Knowledge Report by Sameer Bhatia

As convenient as cloud computing can be for your business, you need to be fully aware of how your system is operating. It must be secure enough to prevent it from being lost, stolen or hacked. Here are a few tips your business can use to ensure the security of data in your cloud system.

1. Make sure the cloud system uses strong data security features.

Your cloud system must be designed to utilize antivirus programs, encryption controls and other features that help protect data. A cloud system and its dedicated servers must also use the right security controls to see that all data moves back and forth as needed without other people being at risk of breaking into the data. A firewall may be added to a cloud server in most cases.

2. Backups must be available as well.

The backup setup that your cloud computing system uses must also be checked. The backup can be set up directly on the cloud computer, but you might have to do it manually. You might want to use your own server or something similar to a portable hard drive or a secondary cloud server to help you out. There’s no guarantee that your cloud computing system will have backup… Read More

IT Employment Reaches a 15-Year High

Excerpted from Baseline Report by Dennis McCafferty

There are currently more than 3.2 million IT employees in the US, a little more than the number of tech workers in 2000. Overall tech employment is soaring, and the number of IT workers now exceeds that of the dot.com peak in 2000, according to recently released research from Janco Associates. Demand remains strong for tech talent across-the-board, especially for those skilled in computer systems design, data processing and hosting. Hiring managers are scrambling to fill tech positions, and, as a result, salaries are increasing for IT staffers, middle managers and executives at both large and midsize enterprises.

“The recovery is well under way for IT pros and should continue for some time,” says Victor Janulaitis, CEO of Janco Associates. “Hiring is up across the board, as many CIOs have been given the green light to start hiring, and many have open requisitions they cannot fill because of a lack of qualified candidates. … CIOs are now starting to look for lower and mid-level project leads and managers.

This is definitely a signal that job prospects will continue to be positive for IT pros.” The research is based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Janco Associates’ salary survey, which included technology professionals representing more than 900 companies… Read More

Congressional Cloud Computing Caucus Inaugural Report

Excerpted from Business Wire Press Release

The Congressional Cloud Computing Caucus and Congressman Gerry Connolly (D-VA) today announced an inaugural report, “Don’t Be a Box Hugger,” that provides the most comprehensive visibility into the state of business transformation via cloud computing in the federal government.

Based on interviews with federal CIOs, CFOs, and senior federal IT officials, the report illustrates the substantial progress agencies have made in adopting cloud solutions since the federal government unveiled its Cloud First policy in 2011. President Obama’s FY 2016 budget request would invest $7.34 billion of the Federal IT Budget — 8.5 percent of all IT spending — in provisioned services, such as cloud, on par with leading private-sector companies.

“Calendar year 2014 introduced numerous advances with regard to tracking compliance across CSPs, and instituting mechanisms to accelerate the adoption of cloud computing in the federal government.”

With the President’s budget request calling for an IT budget of $86.4 billion for FY 2016, the federal government is the largest buyer of IT in the world. And, the cloud market is $176 billion globally, according to IT market analyst firm Gartner — making it the fastest growing segment in global IT. Half of federal agencies have already moved their email systems to the cloud… Read More

5 Critical Ways Cloud Computing Has Revolutionized Business

Excerpted from Host Review Report

The whole notion of cloud computing is still being realized by business owners. Unlike a tangible in-house system of computing that entrepreneurs became used to having around the office, cloud computing seems to have changed the modern workplace in ways that cause many business owners to beg for clarification. To understand if cloud computing is right for their company to indulge in, it might help to take a closer look at five ways cloud computing has revolutionized how companies do business today.

Prior to the introduction of cloud computing to the business world, companies were under pressure to provide large amounts of space for massive computer networks.

IT departments were basically a huge expense and involved a vast number of different employees to manage a company’s IT needs. Today, with the advent of cloud computing services, many companies have embraced ways of outsourcing their entire IT department to be managed by offsite cloud computing service providers who handle the IT concerns of numerous companies at the same time.

In some ways this transformation has caused IT professionals to lose jobs, which has translated to a reduction in overall costs… Read More

Coming Events of Interest

Data Center and Cloud Awards — June 2nd in Monaco. Europe’s most prestigious awards for data center and cloud achievements will be announced at an evening ceremony prior to the opening of Europe’s ‘must-attend’ DataCloud Europe conference and exhibition.

DataCloud Europe — June 3rd-4th in Monaco. This is eighth annual European Congress & Exhibition focusing on data center and cloud computing, and is co-located with the DataCloud 2015 Awards.

Freescale Technology Forum — June 22nd-25th in Austin, TX. FTF, this year focusing on the Internet of Things (IoT), is the heart of discovery, imagination and innovation. Together we will strategize and design the next market-shifting products.

Cloud World Forum — June 24th-25th in London England. This marquee event is presented by Informa Telecoms & Media. Co-located with the seventh annual major international conference will be Enterprise Apps World.

Cloud Computing Boot Camp — July 30th in Washington, DC. Designed for small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) and their counterparts in government agencies and healthcare organizations whose responsibilities include evaluating, purchasing, and implementing cloud-based solutions.

Internet of Things World Forum (IoTWF) — December 6th-8th in Dubai, UAE. IoTWF is an exclusive event that brings together the best and brightest thinkers, practitioners, and innovators from business, government, and academia to accelerate the market adoption of the Internet of Things.

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