Independent security audits, such as a penetration test or vulnerability assessment, serve a critical purpose in an information systems security program. I’ll offer you two distinct perspectives to consider, depending on your role in your organization.

All kidding aside, you may or may not be aware of a pending change in how secure sites (think SSL/TLS) are secured. This is the SHA-1 to SHA-2 transition. It’s actually been in the works for a while, and primarily involves upgrading the certificate(s) on your public-facing websites, with more secure certificates. So what is SHA-1 or SHA-2 and why do we need to change?

iPads, tablets, and other ‘smart’ devices are well known as popular entertainment mechanisms. But considering how distracting these devices can be, should your company allow and encourage their use?

It happens all the time – for all the right reasons, one of our customers is interested in VDI until they see the price. Sticker-shock doesn’t begin to describe the experience one goes through, when looking into traditional VDI for the first time. Many organizations, large and small, understand the operational overhead (i.e. cost) of managing desktops, seeing VDI as a way to both streamline operations and deliver a consistent end-user experience.

Developing supply chain management that improves efficiency and profitability is a common difficulty for hundreds of thousands of companies. Many of the inherent problems come in the form of difficult communication, prediction failures, and lack of demand management, although these easily visible problems barely scratch the surface.

Virtualization has changed the way we think of the office. What was once a physical space has now become a network of workers plugged in from various locations. With laptops and mobile phones, even the infrastructure has become less and less rooted in the physical space of the traditional office.

Desktop Environment Managers share several concerns about the challenges of managing a company’s desktop and laptop environment. Chiefly, they struggle with the maintenance of the separate images used to support both hardware and users. The quandary of simultaneously supporting operating systems during an upgrade is also a challenge.

There’s so much written and talked about, targeting “big IT”. It probably misses the mark, when it comes to the small and medium business (SMB) space. It’s likely that your server room doesn’t look like a massive datacenter as pictured on many IT brochures and magazine covers. You might only have a closet, with just a server or two and some communication equipment. Your IT budget might not be in the millions and you probably have to be smarter with investing the right amount, in the right technology, at the right time. In reality, it’s more challenging for you to make the right decisions to develop your business, foster creativity in your employees, and efficiently manage an IT infrastructure. That doesn’t mean IT is any less important or critical to your success.