People in the IT Business can chat for hours in an alphabet soup of code words that fly over the heads of even some of the technically connected. It’s easy to tune them out (and often a saved migraine). Sometimes, however, it is good to know what all those letters mean. We have moved past the days when tech people did their thing and the rest of us just went on with our lives. In the case of planners in any business, even poets, it is important to know what those tech guys are droning on about, and even ask a few questions occasionally. In the Primer of Basic IT Acronyms, the connection terms LAN, WAN, and SD-WAN are lesson one.

(more…)

Robust, Modular & Good Looking

At the end of 2016, Corey, our IBM expert received five IBM Power 770 Servers (9117-MMC). We had them shipped from their previous installment in Las Vegas. Although IBM withdrew the P770 from the market in November of 2015, these are in no way EOL. The P770 is a server for cloud implementation. As IBM says, they are “virtualized from within.” IBM expected users to consolidate the functions of entire racks of blades or other small servers into one P770.

(more…)

At the end of December, everyone looks to the trends for the coming year. Let’s summarize what everyone else is saying. In 2017, more IT managers will virtualize and more operations will move to the cloud. Security is going to be not just a concern, but also a full time position for larger IT operations. Around the office, you are going to have to figure out if you really want hook up your new “smart” refrigerator to the same network where you keep your inventory and accounting records.

(more…)

In October of 2016, Gartner issued a report on the direction things will take in 2017. The vision is forward looking, examining what will come and begin to develop. They break it into three broad categories, Intelligent, Digital, and Mesh. They include Artificial Intelligence, Advanced Machine Learning, Intelligent Things, Adaptive Security Architecture, Virtual and Augmented Reality, and Digital Twins. They all have implications for today’s connectivity planning.

(more…)

Old IT hardware has a habit of multiplying. One afternoon during a system upgrade, you put last year’s server in the back of a maintenance closet. Before you know it, the mop bucket ends up in the hallway because the closet has become the IT graveyard. Most businesses avoid thinking about the closet, storeroom, or warehouse full of old IT hardware. Unused servers, switches, and routers are the dust bunnies of the IT world. Everyone knows they’re there, but no one want to talk about them.

(more…)