More core-systems analytics

IPhones, iPads and Android devices are making their way into your company--like it or not. These devices are opening a new gateway for malware that old security tools and procedures can't completely close. Security professionals must combine education, policy development, and the use of existing tools and new mobile device management systems to effectively balance mobile device risk with productivity rewards.

Private clouds are more than a trendy buzzword. They represent Virtualization 2.0, ushering in a new wave of software designed to turn a rack of commodity servers into an adaptive, scalable platform that further blurs the link between applications and the runtime operating system. For IT organizations willing to dispense with traditional application hosting models, a plethora of pure cloud software options beckons.

As ARM chips go beyond being just the power inside iPads and Kindle Fires, Intel and AMD have reason to worry. Enterprise IT, on the other hand, can expect more choice and savings in end-user computing and data center consolidation projects, as ARM innovation positively affects procurement of infrastructure gear and related application development and migration.

A security information and event management system serves as a repository for all the security alerts and logging systems from a firm's devices. But this can be overkill for a company that is understaffed or has overestimated its security information needs. In this report, we discuss 10 questions to ask yourself in determining whether SIEM makes sense for you--and how to pick the right system if it does.

More than 500 IT pros weighed in on their use of public cloud services, and we can sum the results up in two words: blind leap. Just 28% assess the impact on their internal networks, even though 73% are using multiple providers. It's not too late to reverse the lemming migration. Here’s how.

When it comes to protecting PCs and laptops, IT puts too much emphasis on malware detection. You'll get better results by focusing on performance, management and--most importantly--how users and the security software interact. This report tells you how to evaluate endpoint security software based on what really matters.

Kaspersky Lab and Sophos top our IT evaluations of nine antivirus/anti-malware vendors. Upstart Malwarebytes scores a 4.3 out of 5 for malware removal, the highest score in that category. Symantec and McAfee are the most widely used vendors, but 46% of respondents are considering replacing or adding a vendor. Lucky for them, choices abound in this market.

The biggest threat to your company’s most sensitive data may be the employee who has legitimate access to corporate databases but less-than-legitimate intentions. And while the incidence of insider data breaches has decreased, external attacks often imitate them—and do serious damage. Follow our advice to mitigate the risk.

To protect company and customer data, we need to determine what makes it so vulnerable and appealing. We also need to understand how hackers operate, and what tools and processes they rely on. In this report, we explain how to ensure the best defense by thinking like an attacker and identifying the weakest link in your own corporate data chain.

Storage and networking are ground zero for the next enterprise data center upgrade wave. This time, architecture designs will be based on virtualization and private clouds, not discrete servers and local disks. Translation: Plenty of IT teams are in the market for SANs. Here’s how to make vendors work for your business.

At CES we saw dozens of new tablets and smartphones with unprecedented capabilities. Employees want to make full use of their shiny new devices, while IT teams want to maintain security and control. The principles of secure user access provide a strategy for CIOs to maintain equilibrium.

If businesses rise or fall on their IT prowess, then the way our 508 respondents manage tech projects is a key determinant in business health. So why do just 60% have PMOs? And how does that relate to the fact that just 30% say IT initiatives almost always deliver value to the business? Time to change the world, one project at a time.

Understanding what Azure is and isn't can be confusing, but the platform's place in the enterprise is becoming more clear with a more standardized taxonomy and nomenclature.

Recent compromises of smartcard data have exacerbated concerns about the technology’s privacy, security and standards (or lack thereof). Yet the promise of smartcards is too compelling to ignore. New technologies and applications prompt us to take a fresh look.

We look at the pros and cons of OpenFlow and SDN and how they stack up with existing options to simplify networking.

Apple, RIM, Google and other smartphone makers are adding near field communication capabilities to their devices for release in 2012. Enterprise mobility teams should be ready to advise business leaders on how to incorporate mobile commerce into the organization's plans.

Only 43% of non-IT people consider their IT teams integral to the business, our survey finds, and 54% consider IT a support or maintenance organization and not an innovator. But 59% say technology's becoming more critical to the business.

More government agencies are plugging into the cloud, finding savings and exploring new uses, according to our survey of federal IT professionals.

In this report, we recommend database security strategies and tools for smaller enterprises and workgroups -- as well as for smaller databases -- that have a big stake in protecting their data but don't have big budgets or skilled, and dedicated, security staff.

Windows 8 continues the work that Microsoft undertook with Windows 7: to build a more secure operating system and browser from the ground up. The new OS makes significant changes around application controls to limit the fallout of exploits. It also offers improved password management tools, a beefed-up anti-malware package and more encryption options.

Do you know everywhere business documents reside? Storage pros are often tasked with aiding discovery, yet as IT increasingly relies on cloud repositories while employees substitute mobile devices for PCs, that question is getting much harder to answer. Problem is, in the event of litigation, courts won't accept "the cloud ate my homework" as an excuse. Here's how to cope.

Collaboration. Efficiency. Speedier customer service. The same factors that have long been cornerstones of unified communications projects are prompting companies to support a range of mobile devices. However, closed operating systems like Apple's iOS present a formidable obstacle for UC vendors.

When you build an app for Android, BlackBerry, iOS or Windows, it reflects your company. Yet few IT shops have the in-house skills to make this a smooth process. There are five main strategies to get custom apps from the drawing board into the hands of customers and employees; we'll discuss what development skill sets to look for, questions to ask and pitfalls to avoid, and how to compare costs.

Many vendors now offer cloud-based management options for wireless networks. We have extensive details from six vendors-Aerohive Networks, AirTight Networks, Meraki, Motorola, Ruckus Wireless and ZyXEL-that compare and contrast their cloud management offerings for 802.11n networks, including pricing, deployment, configuration, troubleshooting and security.

The decision to move an application from in-house into the public cloud is a significant one. Organizations have to consider a range of issues, from business drivers to application availability to compliance and security to user adoption. We have nine questions you should ask and answer to help you pick the right course of action.