IT Trends & Technology

Private cloud solutions make sense when they make sense. One of the challenges for the CTO of a company is trying to determine if their strategic IT direction will be to utilize a private cloud.

Once upon a time the term outsourcing was deemed automatic job loss or loss of control over your critical systems. With technology changing, the lines between consumer and business blurring, security and compliance standards rising and business drivers changing the technology world continually – the role of the CIO has changed and now outsourcing has become an extension of your staff – not a replacement.

What can companies do about the security of private company information when it comes to employees using their own devices for work?

Do:

For years business leaders have been forced to get creative due to budget constraints.  Today’s IT leaders are in a very challenging position; the business cannot operate without the services provided by the technology team.  Everybody wants the best, fastest technology available but due to capital constraints it is very hard to get new hardware purchases funded.  How can an IT leader provide the latest, greatest, fastest technology with no money to buy what they need?  The answer is easy — work with a private, enterprise-class cloud services provider.

Do you ever reach a point in your life where and unexpected opportunity arises and you can’t help but think it is the forces of nature that presented it so you might as well take advantage of it? That is exactly how I ended up on a plane thousands of feet in the air getting ready to tandem skydive.

After using Microsoft Word for so many years, I was introduced to Microsoft OneNote. To be honest, I had never heard of this software before but sure glad I did! In the Project Manager world, OneNote has helped in the organization of multiple projects and tasks within each project.

This is always a tough question for me.  I personally think First National Technology Solutions (FNTS) has great products, services and exceptional engineers.  I am also an employee of FNTS so it’s possible my judgment is skewed. I asked one of our current customers the question and here are his responses:

As an IT professional who works with many corporations that have mission critical websites that cannot experience outages, I am not alone in wondering what went wrong with the http://www.healthcare.gov site launch. For the amount of time and money that was invested in launching this site, the types of outages and problems encountered should have been significantly less than what was experienced. Not every implementation, especially one on this large of a scale, is flawless but with proper planning and testing many of the pitfalls could have been avoided. A recent article in CIO magazine highlighted areas necessary to be evaluated for other companies to avoid similar problems.

Netflix, founded in 1997, is championed as the spearhead for “Cloud Computing v1.0.” But with great power comes great responsibility. Since it’s the first of its kind, it hasn’t quite worked out all the kinks. For example, in 2012 four outages occurred. These outages happened at the most inopportune times- like on Christmas Eve when your family has finally gathered around for the traditional yearly viewing of the classic Die Hard.

With the new year and the BCS playoffs both right around the corner, I am reminded of a great memory. It will be remembered for the rest of my life. One of those, “once in a lifetime” events, in which I will never forget being there, witnessing it first hand, feeling the rush of adrenaline and pure jubilation, and hearing the thunderous roar of the crowd!

One of the first questions I get from most prospects is “What does FNTS provide for Disaster Recovery?”  The answer is: a lot.  But let me digress before tackling the answer in detail.

On a recent business trip to Chicago we took a break in our day to play tourist and went to the Sky Deck on the 103rd floor of the Willis Tower, formerly named Sears Tower.  It was a rainy overcast day so visibility was not ideal but it was a great opportunity to see the Windy City from 1,353 feet in the air.

Many of you may be a little nervous about placing cardholder data in the “Cloud”.  Don’t worry-this is a normal and welcomed concern.  In February 2013, the PCI Security Standards Council released an Information Supplement titled PCI DSS Cloud Computing Guidelines.  This supplement provides organizations guidance if they are going to be placing cardholder data in the “Cloud”.

Give a girl the right shoes, and she can conquer the world. -Marilyn Monroe