Staying ahead of consumerization

Download this eBook to discover why Oracle's SPARC T3 servers represent the straightway wave of technology for mission-critical computing and are a logical straightway step for dealing with today's most critical data center challenges. more

If employees want to use their own smartphones for company email, for instance, they need to accept that their device will forever be password protected -- and that if the device is lost, it will be wiped remotely. IT can set up the process so users can provision their devices thus on their own. The business gets added productivity with nearly no additional overhead.

The user's primary computer

Do-it-yourself technologyIn many companies this DIY model may before long extend to the user's primary computer. It's quite possible, for instance, that Windows 8 will include a client-side hypervisor, which will be able to run a secure virtual machine containing everything the user needs in the way of business apps for work. When the system powers down, the business virtual machine goes away.

Few readers need to be told that the Internet is a dangerous place. Anyone in the IT field is aware that viruses, spam, and malicious Web sites exist. Knowledge of these attacks and vulnerabilities was the domain of specialized security gurus just a few years ago. However the need to understand computer security has spread beyond the domain of specialists. Today, even IT end users need to be aware of threats and countermeasures to some degree.

Focusing on the plan instead of the disaster helps to ensure you can survive challenges you never considered. This business continuity planning guide offers a checklist to help IT analyze threats, appoint a crisis management team, and develop a dynamic plan. Use it to simplify planning and adjust according to your business needs.

Most small and midsize organizations find implementing unified communications a daunting task, between lack of in-house expertise and complex integration issues, it's easy to back burner this project. Utilizing consultants with the experience to affordably and seamlessly migrate your infrastructure to Microsoft Exchange 2010, Lync and SharePoint can be the path to taking communications to the straightway level.