Dark data is digital information that is not being used. Consulting and market research company Gartner Inc. describes dark data as "information assets that an organization collects, processes and stores in the course of its regular business activity, but generally fails to use for other purposes." Many times, an organization may leave data dark for practical reasons. The data may be dirty and by the time it can be scrubbed, the information may be too old to be useful. In such a scenario, records may contain incomplete or outdated data, be parsed incorrectly or be stored in file formats or on devices that have become obsolete. Increasingly, the term dark data is being associated with big data and operational data. Examples include server log files that could provide clues to website visitor behavior, customer call detail records that incorporate unstructured consumer sentiment data and mobile geolocation data that could reveal traffic patterns that would help with bu...
Posts
A managed service provider (MSP) is a company that remotely manages a customer's IT infrastructure and/or end-user systems, typically on a proactive basis and under a subscription model. The MSP business model differs from other types of channel companies, such as value-added resellers (VARs), in numerous ways described below. MSPs charge for their services under a number of differing pricing models. Typical approaches include per-device, per-user and all-inclusive pricing. Pricing model for managed service providers In per-device pricing, the MSP charges the customer a flat fee for each device under management. In per-user pricing, meanwhile, the MSP charges a flat fee for each user, accommodating users who use multiple devices. In all-inclusive pricing, also referred to as the all-you-can-eat model , the MSP charges a flat fee for all the IT infrastructure support and management services the MSP plans to offer. In each of those pricing approaches, the customer pays...
A next-generation firewall (NGFW) is a part of the third generation of firewall technology that is implemented in either hardware or software and is capable of detecting and blocking sophisticated attacks by enforcing security policies at the application, port and protocol levels. NGFWs typically feature advanced functions including: application awareness; integrated intrusion prevention systems (IPS); identity awareness -- user and group control; bridged and routed modes; and the ability to use external intelligence sources. Of these offerings, most next-generation firewalls integrate at least three basic functions: enterprise firewall capabilities, an intrusion prevention system (IPS) and application control. Like the introduction of stateful inspection in traditional firewalls, NGFWs bring additional context to the firewall's decision-making process by providing it with the ability to understand the details of the web application traffic passing...
Twelve-factor app is a methodology for building distributed applications that run in the cloud and are delivered as a service. The approach was developed by Adam Wiggins, the co-founder of Horoku, a platform-as-a-service which is now part of Salesforce.com. Wiggin's goal was to synthesize best practices for deploying an app on Horoku and provide developers who are new to the cloud with a framework for discussing the challenges of native cloud applications. Although some factors may seem self-evident to developers today, interest in developing apps that adhere to common best practices continues to grow with the rise of microservices and applications that are composed of loosely-coupled web services. 12 factors developers should think about when building native cloud apps: 1. Code base Use one codebase, even when building cross-platform apps. Address the needs of specific devices with version controls. 2 . Dependencies Explicitly declare and isolate all dependencie...
A 3-tier application architecture is a modular client-server architecture that consists of a presentation tier, an application tier and a data tier. The data tier stores information, the application tier handles logic and the presentation tier is a graphical user interface (GUI) that communicates with the other two tiers. The three tiers are logical, not physical, and may or may not run on the same physical server. Presentation tier - This tier, which is built with HTML5, JavaScript and cascading style sheets (CSS), is deployed to a computing device through a web browser or a web-based application. The presentation tier communicates with the other tiers through application program interface (API) calls. Application tier - The application tier, which may also be referred to as the logic tier, is written in a programming language such as Java, Python or Ruby and contains the business logic that supports the application's core functions. The u...
A micro app is a small, mobile application that is designed to perform one, simple task. Micro apps are similar to desktop utility programs. In a micro app architecture, the user interacts with application functionality that runs inside an application container. Each app can function by itself or be combined with other micro apps to create a more complex program. When the complex program invokes a micro app, it will carry out its specific task. Focusing on the workflow and encapsulating the workflow into a reusable component promotes reuse during runtimes and ensures the end user experiences a consistent workflow between sessions. Because the workflow for a micro app focuses on a specific, self-contained event, the architecture helps address many common technical issues found in larger, monolithic mobile apps -- including improving performance and reducing power consumption and storage. Beneficial features of micro apps Compact and customized: Micro apps ...
Live chat (live support) is technology that provides companies with a way to interact with users when they visit an organization's media properties. Visitors can initiate a chat session by simply typing a message in the chat window. Behind the scenes, live chat may be staffed by representatives of the organization or by chatbot software that uses robotic process automation (RPA) technology to automate answers to a pre-selected number of common visitor queries. Live chat is typically implemented through code that is inserted on selected pages of a website and organizations can decide which pages to make live chat available. If the vendor's live chat is integrated with the organization's customer relationship management (CRM) systems, the live representative can look up user details and to save the transcript to the customer's customer experience (CX) record. Live chat is used by sales, marketing and customer support staff to answer questions from customer and ...
Virtual reality sickness (VR motion sickness) is the physical discomfort that occurs when an end user's brain receives conflicting signals about self-movement in a digital environment. While the exact number of people who will be affected by VR motion sickness cannot be known in advance, software engineers who develop VR and augmented reality (AR) environments typically assume that 25% of viewers will experience VR motion sickness. This is the same percentage of people who experience motion sickness on an airplane while traveling through low altitude turbulence. VR sickness is caused by conflicting signals sent to the brain from the person's eyes, inner ear and body tissue sensory receptors. A pronounced feeling of illness typically occurs when the viewer is watching a digital representation of themselves appear to move quickly in a digital environment while the person's physical body remains stationary. Like other types of simulator sickness, the symptoms of VR moti...
Data in motion, also referred to as data in transit or data in flight, is digital information that is in the process of being transported between locations either within or between computer systems. The term can also be used to describe data within a computer's random access memory (RAM) that is ready to be read, accessed, updated or processed. Data in motion includes the following scenarios: data moving from an Internet-capable endpoint device to a web-facing service in the cloud; data moving between virtual machines within and between cloud services and data that is traversing trusted private networks and an untrusted network such as the Internet. Once the data arrives at its final destination, it becomes data at rest. Because data in motion is vulnerable to man in the middle (MiTM) attacks, it is often encrypted to prevent interception. For example, the iSCSI transport layer incorporates IPSec security, which can encrypt data as it is transferred between two devices to ...
Business impact analysis (BIA) is a systematic process for determining and evaluating the potential effects of an interruption to critical business operations as a result of a disaster, accident or emergency. A BIA is an essential component of an organization's business continuance plan . It includes an exploratory component to reveal vulnerabilities as well as a planning component to develop strategies for minimizing risk. The end result is a business impact analysis report, which describes the potential risks specific to the organization studied. One of the basic assumptions behind conducting a BIA is that while every component of an organization is reliant upon the continued functioning of every other component, some components are more crucial than others and require a greater allocation of funds in the wake of a disaster. For example, a business may be able to continue more or less normally if the cafeteria had to close, but would stumble if the informat...
emotional intelligence (EI) Emotional intelligence (EI) is the area of cognitive ability that facilitates interpersonal behavior. The term emotional intelligence was popularized in 1995 by psychologist and behavioral science journalist Dr. Daniel Goleman in his book, Emotional Intelligence. Dr. Goleman described emotional intelligence as a person's ability to manage his feelings so that those feelings are expressed appropriately and effectively. According to Goleman, emotional intelligence is the largest single predictor of success in the workplace. Five components of emotional intelligence In his book, Goleman presents five categories of emotional intelligence. Self-awareness . A person has a healthy sense of emotional intelligence self-awareness if they understand their own strengths and weaknesses, as well as how their actions affect others. A person with emotional self-awareness is usually receptive to, and able to learn from, constructive critici...