by Felicien | May 6, 2019 | Education
Java and JavaScript still the most widely-used languages in business, outpacing C# and Python by a relatively large margin in a recent survey by Cloud Foundry. These flexible, cloud-native languages represent 57-58% of businesses that responded to the study, with Python only being used in about 25% of businesses. Java and JavaScript, along with C++, continued to show market growth through the end of 2018, unlike some other languages whose share continues to decline. With the strong user base and growth for Java, it’s not surprising that Oracle has decided to consolidate several different models into a more streamline licensing agreement. While this has been discussed since mid-2018, as of January 2019 organizations that want to continue receiving support for Java may need to revise their licensing agreement to incorporate the paid model. See how this could impact your continued usage of a programming language that continues to gain importance in the business world.
Building Flexibility Into Business Systems
Being able to reference multiple languages helps businesses retain the flexibility and agility that they need to be relevant in today’s fast-paced business world. With startups claiming niche markets, established businesses and enterprises need access to well-known and widely used languages such as Java and C++. Even though Java has been around since “Green Team” developers at Sun Microsystems released it 1995 after a multi-year marathon of programming, it is still revolutionizing the way we interact with digital devices. As the invisible force behind many of today’s most complex solutions, Java has been building flexibility into business systems since the mid-1990s. Java is a platform independent, meaning it can run a variety of different operating systems which creates a highly extensible base language.
Creating Cloud-Native Practices
Businesses are continually looking for ways to drive innovation as a way to differentiate from their competitors, and cloud-native languages such as Java will help drive these initiatives into the future. Says Cloud Foundry Foundation CTO Chip Childers: “Cloud-native practices enable developers within large companies to pick the language that best supports their functional needs—and our research shows that the most commonly chosen languages for cloud-native application development are Java and JavaScript”. While more than 25 languages were noted by respondent companies, the majority were only used by 1-2% of businesses, unlike Java which was prevalent in close to three-fourths of the organizations. It would not be surprising for there to be consolidation within the various platforms as organizations look to bring consistency to their overall development practices.
Java’s New Licensing Model
While Oracle’s July 2018 announcement caused many organizations to rethink their Java usage, it’s clear that the platform is still required for development. The particular version that was impacted is Java SE (Standard Edition), Java SE Advanced, Java SE Advanced Desktop and Java SE Suite. These licensing options will be consolidated down to two paid models starting in January 2019: Java SE Subscription and Java SE Desktop Subscription. Each version is a monthly subscription that includes public updates for Java SE 8 or later, with terms available from one to three years. This shift will impact all users of commercial-grade Java, although customers of older Java SE models will not be forced to make the switch. While moving to the new model is not mandatory for non-commercial use, business users will require a license according to Oracle’s new licensing policies.
Business users do have a few decisions to make as their model shifts:
Server-based deployments will use a processor-based metric such as CPUs to calculate license requirements, starting with an Oracle-licensed server and the number of cores and the processor core factor into the calculations
Desktop deployments use a Named User Plus-based metric to make the calculation of ongoing licensing costs
Businesses who opt out of the paid model, should not expect to receive additional Java SE critical updates after January 1, 2019, a situation which can easily place business operations at increased risk of breach or failure.
Review Use of Java in Your Business
If you have significant usage of Java SE in your business, it’s time to launch a full review to determine whether you need to upgrade or renew licensing agreements with Oracle. Determine whether your business is fully compliant with new Java SE requirements based on your current and estimated future usage on servers or desktops. You could find that it is more cost-effective to make a switch to the new Java SE licensing models based on your current business requirements and maintenance agreement. Reviewing future development needs is also an important part of your analysis. If you plan to reduce overall Java use in the next few years, that could dictate the term of the negotiated agreement. You could also look for ways to incorporate a sliding scale based on estimated future usage.
Even though the language is now more than two decades old, there is no indication that the usage of Java is declining in the near future. As long as this flexible platform provides the link between computers and other digital devices, developers will continue to use and value this agile platform for business development.
by Felicien | May 6, 2019 | Education
Cloud computing transformed the way companies approached their infrastructure. You’re not locked into using on-site resources only. Instead, you have access to a range of cloud-based service providers. It’s common knowledge that the cloud saves businesses money, but you may be wondering about the specifics of how that works and how to get the best value out of these solutions.
Easier Collaboration
Many cloud solutions have features that streamline collaborative efforts between employees, teams and departments. Everyone accesses the files from a centralized location and can make changes at the same time. Employees don’t need to be in the office to make that possible, as cloud-based systems support remote access from a variety of devices.
Improve Customer Experience
Customers have high expectations of the companies they do business with. They want rapid responses through a variety of platforms. Trying to maintain that level of availability through customer support solutions that are tied to a specific workstation is difficult. A cloud-based unified communications solution brings all of the customer contact channels together in one place and provides the necessary mobility. The improved experience and response time leads to more customer recommendations, higher satisfaction ratings and a loyal audience.
Securing Bring Your Own Device Environments
Employees enjoy working on devices that they’re most familiar with, but it’s challenging to maintain a safe environment. Malicious applications installed on personal smartphones, tablets and laptops can compromise your entire network. The IT department can go through every piece of equipment that comes into the workplace, but that takes their time away from other critical tasks.
Cloud-based solutions eliminate this need since it takes your network out of the equation. The service provider has security measures in place to stop compromised devices from accessing its application. They handle the security measures necessary to work with remote connections from a variety of devices.
Eliminating Update Downtime
Updating software is a time-consuming process for your IT team. Patches come out regularly, and they have to track all of this information and find the time to deploy them to the network. If an application’s updating process is difficult to program a script for, the IT technicians have to go to individual workstations to push out the latest version. Cloud-based solutions are updated by the service providers on their own servers. Your employees connect to the cloud resource as usual. Downtime is minimal or nonexistent, and you don’t have to dedicate your in-house IT team to this process.
Since the cloud provider covers the ongoing maintenance and support of the product, your IT workers have more bandwidth to handle their daily duties. They can move to a proactive and strategic approach that improves your company’s infrastructure and supports your business goals.
Avoid Expensive Licensing Fees
The software licensing structure for non-cloud applications can be cost-prohibitive, especially when you consider that a new version typically comes out every few years. The subscription model that cloud-based services use does away with the upfront cost and spreads the total cost of ownership throughout the life of the product.
Reduce the Need for New Hardware
Hardware failures are a fact of life. Servers stop working or grow too outdated to support the applications. Over time, these expenses far outweigh the total cost of ownership associated with cloud-based systems. Consider the long-term equipment expenses when you’re evaluating whether a cloud infrastructure is the right choice for your organization.
Cost-effective Backups
Disaster can strike your business at any time, whether it’s a tornado or a malicious internal actor. Downtime eats away at your profitability and causes long-term damage. Robust backup solutions that give you all the features you need to have business continuity are expensive and require a lot of upkeep. When you use cloud-based solutions, you’re automatically moving vital systems and data offsite. The typical cloud company handles the necessary backups and follows best practices for this process.
Getting Help with Compliance
Regulated industries have many compliance rules that they need to adhere to. Businesses without a compliance team have to bring in costly consultants and legal experts to ensure that they are following the requirements. If you fail to comply with these regulations, you may be subject to financial or criminal penalties. Working with cloud-based platforms allows you to leverage the provider’s legal team rather than shouldering the cost yourself.
Seamless Scaling in Both Directions
Demand for your products and services isn’t a static number. Traditional IT infrastructure requires you to have enough on-site hardware to accommodate the capacity needed at your highest demand levels. When you have seasonal shifts and other factors that impact your company’s activity level, you’re stuck maintaining equipment that’s not actively in use. One of the best cost benefits of the cloud is the ability to scale up and down as needed. Since many cloud-based systems have a subscription model based on actual use, it’s easy to adjust your payments.
Moving part or all of your infrastructure to the cloud provides many direct and indirect cost benefits. While on-premises equipment has its uses, especially when you’re dealing with extremely sensitive data, the cloud drastically reduces how much you pay for vital systems.
by Felicien | May 6, 2019 | Education
Do you still surf the Web with Internet Explorer? If so, you’re not alone. Even after Microsoft came out with their new Edge browser in 2015, some people are still using Internet Explorer.
The Problem?
Security experts have found serious security flaws in Internet Explorer’s code. This means that if you use it, you’re opening yourself and your business up to hacking and computer viruses.
Another Problem?
Microsoft won’t be fixing this for the foreseeable future.
What Are These Flaws?
The most recent of these was found by an independent researcher named John Page. He published a proof of concept that demonstrates a flaw in the way that Internet Explorer handles MHT files. MHT is a Web page archive file format.
How Do These Flaws In Internet Explorer Create Security Issues?
If you use Windows 7, Windows 10, or Windows Server 2012 and it comes across an MHT file, it will try to open the file using Internet Explorer. This presents an easy opportunity for savvy hackers. All they have to do is to use an MHT file containing a malicious virus and present it to you via a phishing email or other form of social engineering. Once you take the bait, the malicious virus gets into your computer/server.
Are We Safe If We Use Another Type Of Browser?
Not really. Any Windows-based system is still very much at risk from infected MHT files. This is because Internet Explorer 11 still ships with all Windows-based PCs. This includes computers that use Windows 10.
What Can We Do To Prevent Being Hacked Due To Internet Explorer Flaws?
One good thing is that Internet Explorer isn’t enabled on Windows 10 computers. For it to be enabled, you need to set it up yourself.
For now, this is the simple solution — Just don’t enable Internet Explorer. And to be completely sure, it’s best if you uninstall Internet Explorer from your Control Panel altogether.
John Page reported the issue to Microsoft on March 27, 2019, and received the following reply from them:
“We determined that a fix for this issue will be considered in a future version of this product or service. At this time, we will not be providing ongoing updates of the status of the fix for this issue, and we have closed the case.”
Unfortunately, it looks like, for the foreseeable future, that Microsoft won’t be providing a fix regarding the flaws with Internet Explorer. As we said above, the answer, for now, is for you and your staff to uninstall Internet Explorer from your computers.
by Felicien | May 3, 2019 | Education
The self-proclaimed “search engine that doesn’t track you,” DuckDuckGo is likely the most successful search engine available when it comes to privacy and security.
While Google remains the most popular search engine by far, many users are concerned about its practice of collecting and using your personal data. Namely, Google tracks what you search (yes, everything), stores it, and uses it to provide you with a personalized user experience. Oh, and they also make a profit from it.
What Are the Specific Benefits of Switching to DuckDuckGo?
No Tracking
Of course, this is the biggie. DuckDuckGo doesn’t track you or what you look up online. All searches are 100% anonymous.
No Ads
Google tries to trick users by situating ads at the very top of the page — ads, by the way, that look like search result listings. The only difference is a little box that says “Ad” next to the web address. DuckDuckGo foregoes ads like these, generally starting at the very top of the page with your first search result listing.
Minimalist Interface
Speaking of no ads, DuckDuckGo provides an overall clean and minimalist appearance. Like Google’s results pages, you can toggle between “Web,” “Images,” “Video,” etc. at the top. You can also filter results by region, “Safe Search” mode (for strict or non-filtered adult content), and time period.
Non-personalized Search Results
“Why wouldn’t I want personalized search results?”
Well, you might. But the advantage of not having personalized results is that you’ll see exactly what everyone else sees. In other words, when you search “cocktail recipes” in Duluth, Minnesota, you’ll get the same results as someone searching for “cocktail recipes” in Lyon, France.
Seriously, What’s Actually So Bad About Search Tracking?
Many people’s argument against worrying about Google and other tech giants tracking them (hi, Alexa) is this: “I don’t do anything bad or shameful on the Internet, so why should I care if I’m tracked and my data’s stored?”
That may be true. Certainly, for some, the sheer fact that you’re being listened to, your movements are being tracked, and essentially everything about you (from your age and income to your shoe size and favorite local bar) is being stored … well, it’s alarming and disturbing.
But if that still doesn’t make you ponder the importance of personal data tracking and storing, consider this: Google is using your data to get rich, like, really rich. They’re monetizing everything you do through their platform and making billions in annual profits as a result. The stuff their using? Your shopping habits (Google Express), your online searches (Google Search), your personal conversations (Google Assistant and Google Hangouts), where you go (Google Maps), the news you read and your political leanings (Google News), and much more.
To make matters worse, in many ways, they’re being less than honest about their tactics. For example, their so-called “incognito” mode is far from fully private. Your employer and ISP can still track your searches when you’re in incognito. Furthermore, Google documents you’ve “deleted” and searches you’ve “cleared” aren’t really gone. Google stores them … indefinitely.
Consider a Switch to DuckDuckGo
There’s no doubt that companies like Google provide useful services to individuals and businesses of all kinds. Their search engine is definitely useful as well. Extensive, highly complex algorithms can help you find exactly what you’re looking for, often faster than other search engines.
But if you’re at all concerned with privacy and security for your business and/or at home, consider a search engine switch to the up-and-coming DuckDuckGo. Set it as your homepage, try it out, and see what you think.
by Felicien | May 3, 2019 | Education
For as long as the roles of CMO and CIO have existed, their work has rarely overlapped. CMOs focused on the company’s marketing efforts while CIOs stuck to the technology side of the business. But in today’s digital world, the hard lines that once separated marketing and tech have dissolved. Now, any business that wants to remain competitive must engage in digital transformation—which requires strategic use of information technology incorporating both marketing and IT. That transformation can only be effective if CMOs and CIOs work together.
The Importance of Digital Transformation
According to the Altimeter Group, digital transformation is “The realignment of, or new investment in, technology and business models to more effectively engage digital customers at every touchpoint in the customer experience lifecycle.” The goal of digital transformation should be to better provide value for the client or customer and to improve competitiveness. To achieve these ends, a strategic approach to information technology must be utilized. And for that to happen, CMOs and CIOs must communicate and strive together in seeking the same goal.
The vast majority of businesses were not founded with digital technologies in mind, and even less were created from day one to take advantage of the digital platforms that have emerged in the past decade, much less those that continue to spring up on a seemingly daily basis.
Chances are, as a CMO you have probably already been thinking long and hard about how your marketing efforts can incorporate the vast array of digital technologies available. Just some of the areas where digital transformation could deliver notable improvements include:
Mobile computing
Social media
Big data
Cloud features
Data privacy compliance
BYOD
Data security
And more…
Of course, to achieve the kind of transformation that you want and need, certain obstacles must be overcome. You have to determine where you are, where you want to go and how you are going to get there—all of which is best facilitated through the partnership of the CMO and CIO.
Partnership Between Marketing and IT Facilitates Competency
The terrain of digital platforms is difficult to navigate for even the most experienced professionals. To conquer this terrain and make it work for your business, it only makes sense to utilize all the resources at your disposal. Between building, running and managing the digital tools necessary to reach and retain customers, and ensuring that marketing efforts are as well integrated with new technologies as possible, there is simply too much required for one department—marketing or IT—to do alone.
Both CMOs and CIOs face unique challenges from the digital technology field. Some of these include:
Challenges for CMOs
For CMOs, the number of existing and upcoming digital technologies can be overwhelming. There are so many areas that must be considered to achieve competitiveness, including:
Buying appropriate technology solutions
Managing the technology stack
Creating infrastructure for technologies
Integrating new technologies with existing enterprise solutions
You could be the most effective CMO in the world when it comes to marketing, yet feel completely in the dark when it comes to how to manage the nuts and bolts of new technologies. That is why different departments exist in organizations—because true competency and skill take years to develop, and no one is capable of being an expert in everything.
Challenges for CIOs
The technology your business needs to operate and serve your customer base is the focus of the CIO. However, the marketing end of the equation is rarely an area where the CIO will have much expertise. Some of the things that the CIO may struggle with include:
Continued awareness of company efforts to reach and retain customers
Understanding the value proposition presented by the company to the client or customer
Needed adaptations in marketing messages as new information comes in
Which technologies are most effective for marketing based on company needs
CIOs have their own challenges to contend with as they strive to keep the ship running and determine what the best technology solutions are among an increasingly vast array of options. If they are not brought into the marketing conversation, there is a real risk that the left hand can become detached from the right—possibly even to the point where the CMO and CIO are working at cross purposes.
The benefits of CMOs and CIOs partnering quickly becomes apparent as your company embraces technology. Marketing has never had so much reach as it has today with digital platforms and real-time data. But utilizing that technology requires expertise that is found in the CIO and the IT team.
CMO and CIO—In it Together for the Long Haul
CMOs and CIOs share the same ultimate goal—the success of the organization for which they work. Success in today’s digital environment means utilizing appropriate technologies to keep the business strong, competitive and attractive to the customer. To obtain success requires a partnership between the CMO and CIO to identify areas for improvement, move forward with effective action that will achieve improvements, and to continue to adapt to the rapid changes that are inherent in today’s business world.
