5 Capabilities That Your Wireless Network Needs Now Posted on August 21, 2014 by Tim Burke We can’t afford to ignore the myriad of mobile devices and apps currently saturating our attention and wireless connections. In my last post, I laid out some of the industry’s eye-popping numbers. This time, I’m offering up just one graphic (from Cisco’s recent Global Mobile Data Traffic Forecast Update) showing why you must upgrade your network infrastructure. Pronto. Continue reading →
Your Wireless Network: Signs That the Tail has Begun to Wag the Dog Posted on August 7, 2014 by Tim Burke In many companies, the wireless capability added on to their enterprise network a few years ago has become some employees’ primary network. It’s a development that signals just how quickly mobile devices are proliferating the workplace. The so-called “consumerization of business” changes the way we work — and our data networks have to keep up. This transformation has been in the works for a while. In 2011, market analyst firm Gartner predicted 80% of corporate wireless network technologies would be obsolete by 2015. Gartner may well be right, given the findings of more recent research. Continue reading →
Cloud Computing best practice: Evaluate Cloud provider security with these 7 questions Posted on April 18, 2013 by Tim Burke Unless you’re an expert in security issues, doing proper Cloud provider due diligence can be daunting. Yet it’s essential, given the importance of your business’s data and applications. So I offer seven questions for you to ask of every Cloud provider you’re considering. Pay attention to the answers you get and don’t hesitate to demand drilldown details. Remember: You’re contemplating putting at least some of the data and apps your business relies on into this provider’s Cloud environment. Continue reading →
Dangerously vulnerable: 3 quick (and scary) anecdotes Posted on September 29, 2011 by Tim Burke How secure are the data, applications, systems, and networks your business depends on? If you’re like too many of the executives I talk to, you may believe all is well — but only because you haven’t asked the right questions. One executive told me recently, “We’re cool; we haven’t had to touch our firewalls in three years.” Continue reading →
Don’t let your firewall get burned by employees’ mobile devices Posted on September 27, 2011 by Tim Burke As more and more of your employees use mobile devices, these machines may start out behind your firewall — but they don’t stay there. They move around, to other networks with different firewall rules. Or no firewall at all. When that mobile device returns to its trusted place behind your firewall, it may carry a cyber-infection that can attack your network from the inside. The great firewall challenge lies in balancing the tradeoffs between degree of protection, usability, and cost. That balancing act starts with understanding what your firewall actually does. Continue reading →
Employee smartphones and tablets getting to be a huge administrative hassle? Posted on September 22, 2011 by Tim Burke If so, I’ve got good news: Now it’s easy to optimize mobile communications functionality and security while minimizing downtime. Quest’s new Mobile Device Management Service will secure, monitor, manage, and support 50 to 5,000 mobile devices, regardless of whether these devices are company-owned or BYOD (bring your own device). The Service is available for virtually all smartphones and tablets, including: iPhone® / iPad®, BlackBerry®, Windows® Mobile, Palm™, and Google Android™ / Android™ Tablet. Continue reading →
Infrastructure security and coping with cloud and social media: 9 key questions to ask Posted on September 13, 2011 by Tim Burke Our chief technical officer, Mike Dillon, estimates that the number of infected sites is growing by 20% to 25% a year. “If your company is shifting more toward cloud services and hasn’t addressed security, you will be attacked,” he says. So here are the (non-technical) questions you need to ask and get answered to protect your business: Continue reading →
