Holiday greetings from InsightaaS!

December 20, 2017, Mary Allen

In the tech sector, change is today's breakfast, and we have feasted on no small amount this year. From the rise of distributed ledger, machine learning and AI technologies to ongoing efficiency improvement in cloud and other infrastructures to phenomenal advance in the instrumentation of the physical world, technology exhibits an impressive ability to evolve, creating and adapting to new opportunities that arise.

At InsightaaS, we will evolve in the coming year as well, in media that will train a closer lens on what is important to Canadian users and providers of technology, through expansion of our community-based approach to IT industry best practices research into advanced technology areas (AI, VR, robotic, Blockchain and the whole darned thing), and through the operation of more forums for the sharing of news, connections and insight on behalf of our community. Because 'no person is an island' and it's the community that counts.

Thanks from all of us at InsightaaS to all of you for your ongoing support, and our best wishes for a healthy, happy holiday and a prosperous New Year!

Cloud interoperability and portability – necessary or nice to have?
November 29, 2017 by Don Sheppard

Broad industry consensus has emerged around the need for interoperability and portability in cloud solutions. But what precisely do these terms mean, and are they critical to the seamless delivery of cloud-based applications?

If you guessed "yes," you are in line with author Don Sheppard. Read on to learn 'why', and to learn more about the role global standards bodies are playing to support the development of interoperable clouds.

Artificial what?

December 12, 2017 by Lynn Greiner

AI is the new cloud, Big Data and analytics - the capability that multiple vendors are now scrambling to build into products ranging from enterprise security solutions to personal assistants to BI and other business applications. "The funny thing is," Lynn Greiner notes, "AI isn't new," nor is its application consistent.

Artificial intelligence is in fact dependent on cloud and Big Data, in so much as they provide the infrastructure and content for the massive learning project that AI deployment entails. Click here to read more on the limits of AI "programs," and the issues users may encounter in the truth some AI will deliver.

Blockchain taking the legal route

November 23, 2017 by Denise Deveau

Blockchain is creating a firestorm in the financial world as bitcoins reach new, unimaginable levels of speculative valuation. Beyond early iterations in cryptocurrency realm, the distributed ledger technology is also gaining traction in other traditional industries, and the legal field is a good example.

“As an immutable ledger, it can facilitate a whole range of complex operations, from mergers and acquisitions and litigation, to deed management and identification certification, while saving costs and reducing complexity,” noted Amy Ter Haar, president of Integra Canada. Click here to learn more about the foundational requirements for legal Blockchain.

An IoT report card on Dell EMC integration – pt 1
December 20, 2017 by Mary Allen

The Dell EMC merger was unlike any seen in the tech world; with 140,000 employees and product lines across the IT spectrum, the combined entity would be a market force to be reckoned with. Asssuming, that is, that the company could realize the synergies between products and divisions needed to leverage Dell EMC capabilities to capture new market opportunity - Michael Dell's decade long vision of the company as an end-to-end, or now edge-to-cloud solution provider.

Using the development of IoT capabilities as a test case for progress on the integration agenda, InsightaaS presents part one of the story here, a look a Dell EMC's initial IoT launch, and what challenges lay in the way of a move beyond hardware-centric approaches.