Freeform Comment:

Dealing with the growing problem of edge and IoT sprawl

Amidst all the hype regarding the massive growth potential for IoT[...]

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To maximise potential, mainframers must reach out and engage

The team here has always had immense respect for the mainframe community[...]

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Does application modernisation mean what you think it means?

Most people in IT probably think they know what application modernisation is[...]

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Kubernetes and the open-source maintainer question

While much of October's KubeCon-CloudNativeCon North America[...]

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VMware’s breadth and depth impresses, but is it still a safe bet?

At the recent VMware Explore conference in Barcelona[...]

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Digital identity and opening up the smartwallet

When an 80 year-old relative asks you how she can use her phone to both[...]

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Has the cloud caught up with the mainframe?

Yes, you read that right[...]

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What’s up with Google’s plan to supplant SMS and drive mobile e-commerce?

Ask most people what RCS stands for, and you’ll probably get a blank look.[...]

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Like a teenager, Kubernetes looks almost grown-up, yet still a bit awkward and confused

Platform: that’s the key word that sprung to mind after attending Kubecon[...]

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Frustrated with your company’s cloud obsession?

What goes around, comes around[...]

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HP Inc’s Poly opportunity: look beyond devices and software to a real collaboration strategy

Could its takeover of workspace collaboration specialist Poly[...]

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‘Traditional’ is not a dirty word

Sometimes ‘new’ and ‘disruptive’ really doesn’t make sense[...]

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Singing the key management blues

We need cryptographic keys, but who is going to manage them?[...]

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Hybrid working isn’t turning out as expected

Last year, as companies recognised both the value of face-to-face interaction[...]

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Citrix and Microsoft: who’s really leading the transformation agenda?

Citrix loves Microsoft and Microsoft loves Citrix[...]

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Do you feel trapped by Microsoft?

Thoughts on loosening Redmond’s grip on your business[...]

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Is the commodity server bandwagon running out of steam?

The term “paradigm shift” gets flung about far too much in IT, but we may[...]

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One SSD to ruler them all

Why the new EDSFF storage format is hot stuff – and what else you need[...]

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Why does ransomware still work?

As someone who first encountered ransomware during the last millennium[...]

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Ransomware teaches the importance of data protection

Several years ago, around the time that ransomware attacks started making the front pages[...]

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Having trouble overcoming the S/4HANA confidence gap?

As John Lennon and Yoko Ono didn't quite sing[...]

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Got a strong story to tell? Don’t settle for a place in the chorus

Have you lost your voice? Or is the market just not hearing you?[...]

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Has Windows 11 strengthened the case for Chromebooks?

Analyst Opinion: I was left with two overriding thoughts[...]

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Forget the ‘free’ software, the real value of open-source is the collaboration

Analyst Opinion: It’s a cliché, but why are we still reinventing wheels?[...]

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Which is worse: noise, or the sound of silence?

Analyst Opinion: If you’re one of the many people who find offices too noisy[...]

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Google Calendar auto-adds shared meeting notes

Analyst Opinion: If, like me, you often find yourself hunting for notes[...]

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Is it a Suite, Package, Bundle or Platform?

People have been selling collections of products and tools for centuries, and with the advent[...]

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Is ‘suite’ becoming a dirty word?

How much attention do you pay to the pros and cons of software and service[...]

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Windows 11: could this ‘feel good’ update actually help IT pros?

Much has been written about Windows 11, and many YouTube videos have been published. If[...]

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Where vendors too often go wrong: SMBs need enterprise-grade IT too

For far too long now, many vendors seem to have assumed that the IT requirements[...]

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Remember when Agile was treated with suspicion?

Throwback Thursday: When we researched the topic of Agile development back in 2008[...]

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Is IT investment handled better now than a decade ago?

Throwback Thursday: People like to think that the way IT works with business has changed[...]

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From virtual desktops to Chromebooks and the work-anywhere web

Throwback Thursday: If there’s one thing our report from eight years ago reminds us[...]

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The allure of the log-in-anywhere desktop

How can organisations simplify desktop management if we all still want our own devices?[...]

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Of cats and clouds

A lifetime TCO question[...]

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So many ways to pay for IT

Which best suits your needs?[...]

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The SMB solution selection challenge

It's all too easy for smaller businesses to get caught out[...]

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The business change agenda

Throwback Thursday: Research carried out in 2011[...]

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How to boost supplier commitment without spending more money

Time to tune into those non-revenue goals[...]

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Even data fragmentation has gone virtual

Throwback Thursday: If there’s one thing our report from eight years ago reminds us[...]

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Data governance in software testing

Throwback Thursday: this week we're going back to 2008[...]

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Private cloud in contexts old and new

Throwback Thursday: What a difference a decade can make[...]

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Mobile moments and the past left far behind

Throwback Thursday We have looked at many reports from years ago that show that, whilst[...]

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Remember when cloud was going to kill the IT channel?

Throwback Thursday: taking a regular stroll in the Freeform Dynamics archives. [...]

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Has the data centre of the future already arrived?

Throwback Thursday: Predicting the future back in 2012[...]

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Effective IT recovery in small/midsize businesses, 10 years on? Maybe tomorrow…

Throwback Thursday: this week we're going back to 2011[...]

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The #WFH ‘New Normal’ is nothing of the sort

Analyst Opinion At least, not yet. The world is still in the very abnormal grip[...]

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10 years on, and HPC is taken for granted

Throwback Thursday: Heading back to 2010[...]

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Business performance management still chasing the real-time dream

Throwback Thursday: This week we are going back to 2007[...]

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How have attitudes to risk and resilience changed?

Throwback Thursday: Looking back to June 2008[...]

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A prophetic look back at Green IT

Throwback Thursday: Back in the summer of 2008[...]

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x86 Server virtualisation check point

Throwback Thursday: This week we are heading back to 2010[...]

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Why I’m uneasy about the Salesforce Slack acquisition

Analyst Opinion: Most coverage on the Salesforce acquisition of Slack has focused on the industry[...]

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Linux on the Desktop

Throwback Thursday: The first thing that struck me when I re-read our ‘Linux on the[...]

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We need to start prioritizing workforce health and wellbeing

Analyst Opinion: “This has been a shot in the arm for those who have long[...]

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The authentication arms race continues

Throwback Thursday: This week we are heading back to 2006[...]

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Social interaction in the digital workplace

Analyst opinion: As workplaces increasingly pivot to virtual presence, how can we stay connected?[...]

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IT Support, now and then

Throwback Thursday: Comparing IT support in 2020 with IT support in 2006[...]

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The #WFH extended talent opportunity

Analyst Opinion: The rise of the virtual “workplace” – implications for inclusivity and Generation Z[...]

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Make the camera work for you, not against you

Analyst Opinion: Hands up anyone who expected not just to spend 2020 at home, but[...]

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The pandemic and productivity: a Covid-19 conundrum

Analyst Opinion “I’ve never been more productive!” With so many people getting their first experience[...]

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Are you ready to pay the ‘mental debts’ of Covid-19?

Analyst Opinion It’s easy to predict many of the pains that are going to hit[...]

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AI without tears: the drive for automation and self-service

Analyst Opinion In the post-pandemic, post-Brexit world, businesses of all sorts face a range of[...]

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How Covid-19 can sicken your AI apps too

Analyst Opinion AI might not be the first thing you think of when you start[...]

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Outsourcing: a clear look at a cloudy subject

Analyst Opinion “Wasn’t cloud just another name for outsourcing back then?” joked another guest in[...]

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Data protection is too complex for RTO and RPO to be singular

Analyst Opinion I think we can all agree that protecting data is important – perhaps[...]

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Consent and GDPR: get the basics right!

Analyst Opinion Why do companies find it so hard to get their heads around even[...]

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For business AI, focus on psychology, not technology

Analyst Opinion There’s no doubt now that AI works, and it can work very well[...]

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DevOps needs more perspective and humility

Analyst Opinion DevOps started as a grass-roots movement led by practitioners. The motives were pure,[...]

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Today’s hybrid clouds look more closed than open

Analyst Opinion We’ve had convergence towards hybrid clouds and ‘universal’ applications, but now we are[...]

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Kubernetes catches up with operational reality

Analyst Opinion With Kubernetes now established in many organisations as the container orchestration platform of the future,[...]

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Mea culpa: Trendy isn’t the same as important

Analyst Opinion I hate it when you realise that your point of reference has been[...]

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New financing models target IT’s acquisition challenges

Analyst opinion The availability of funding – or rather, the lack of it – is[...]

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Threat vs trust: the overlooked power of words

Analyst Opinion Words have power – in particular, your choice of words modifies how your[...]

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Growing fast, OpenStack shakes off old misconceptions

Analyst opinion One of the most interesting things about the recent Open Infrastructure Summit – the new[...]

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Hard drives that do their own data processing

Analyst opinion It’s getting hard these days to find places where container technology doesn’t feature,[...]

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Cybersecurity needs both psychologists and generals

Analyst opinion Many cybersecurity professionals like military analogies. Indeed, some security pros are ex-military. But[...]

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Beware the application complexity monster

Analyst opinion How many new applications, tools, devices, and cloud services have you introduced into[...]

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How Brexit-friendly are your SaaS contracts?

Analyst opinion If you think Brexit will be advantageous for the UK economy and the[...]

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Six months on, GDPR is a qualified success

Analyst opinion Anyone hoping that we would by now have greater clarity on GDPR will[...]

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How long will your New Year stay Happy?

The Freeform Dynamics fortune-telling kit has been dusted off for 2019. Here some of the[...]

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Google Chrome: It’s more than a browser

Chrome has come a long way, but the journey might only just be starting I[...]

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Don’t ignore the complexity of hybrid multi-cloud

Analyst opinion Many vendors will argue that moving to cloud brings consistency and simplicity, thanks[...]

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Open source is growing up – and here’s how

Analyst opinion If you’re among those who still think that open source is just for[...]

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The mainframe returns – as a platform for large-scale Linux

Analyst opinion There are several ways to build large scale Linux server environments, with x86[...]

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Last call for a European public cloud?

Analyst opinion Europe’s self-described No.1 ‘hyper-scale cloud provider’, OVH, held its 6th annual customer conference[...]

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Industrial IoT makes your people more important, not less

Analyst opinion The recent Industry of Things World conference in Berlin offered insights into the[...]

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Google has got serious about Enterprise IT

Analyst opinion Google has made a complete about-face on the enterprise. It took so long[...]

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Cloud Foundry’s growth highlights open source success and the cracks in commercial licensing

Analyst opinion Open source has crested the hill of enterprise acceptance. There’s no longer the[...]

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When modern meetings don’t work

Analyst opinion Once upon a time, pretty much every meeting had a minute-taker – someone[...]

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Is IBM relevant to today’s mainstream?

Analyst opinion When IT vendors talk about the market, they tend to focus on how[...]

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DevOps is wasted unless the business goes Agile too

Analyst opinion When analysts and journalists write about Agile and DevOps, the focus is typically[...]

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What can Chromebooks offer the enterprise desktop market?

Analyst opinion If you’re an IT professional managing a large desktop estate or an end[...]

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A conference room for the future

Analyst opinion In some ways, the recent completion of Plantronics’ $2 billion purchase of Polycom[...]

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Workplace software as an occupational hazard

Analyst opinion The US Department of Labor has updated its Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) system.[...]

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Millennial versus Mature – who’s the real IT security risk?

Analyst opinion Passwords have been the mainstay for securing applications, devices and the data they[...]

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Your PC is rooted and jailbroken: deal with it!

Analyst opinion One of the defining characteristics of the modern digital workplace is a PC[...]

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Cloud storage is hot

Analyst opinion But do people know what they mean when they talk about it –[...]

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Xero highlights the role of the modern software ecosystem

Looking beyond the technology I recently caught up with Gary Turner, co-founder and managing of[...]

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Growth mindset lets Microsoft love Linux

Analyst opinion Timed to coincide with the RSA security conference, Microsoft has announced Azure Sphere,[...]

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Routes to AI goodness

Analyst opinion It’s all too easy to conflate the kind of AI being hyped in[...]

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Time to dump the all-flash scepticism

Analyst opinion When we surveyed several hundred IT professionals on the topic of All-Flash Arrays,[...]

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Microsoft’s challenge for 2018: mindshare & market relevance

Analyst opinion Microsoft’s revenues are up, but compared to its biggest competitors — Amazon, Apple,[...]

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