March ITAM News Roundup
News
Amazon Cloud to offer unlimited cloud storage (Computer Weekly) – Who doesn’t like unlimited stuff? Even if it is unlimited cloud storage which-you-don’t-even-know-where-your-documents-are-stored! Computer Weekly are reporting that Amazon are to offer unlimited cloud storage in response to competitors such as Dropbox, Google and Microsoft. The article states “The first plan allows users to store an infinite number of images online for $11.99 (£8) a year, and the second – The Unlimited Everything Plan – permits people to store a multitude of file types, including documents, photos, videos and music, for $59.99 (£40) a year”.
European High Court to consider the future of online data privacy (Computer Weekly) – Data privacy is a big deal for our European and American ITAM professionals as there are a lot stricter rules on what data can be stored and how long for. This also relates heavily to mobile device management (MDM) and Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policies and processes. Computer Weekly state “Commentators said the ruling could shape international regulations on online information and affect all US companies dealing in Europeans’ data, such as Facebook, Twitter, Google, Microsoft and Yahoo”.
Skype for business is on its way! (Microsoft) – Microsoft has stated that Skype for Business is coming for all organisations in April 2015. Skype for Business will be available to Office 365 customers and there will be a connecting Skype for Business Sever license that will also be released. Microsoft stated “Skype sees 50 billion minutes of traffic every month—one third of the world’s long distance traffic—and over 50% of Skype users now come in over video”.
India uses Open Source software for all e-governance projects (PC World) – PC World states “A policy document released by the federal government over the weekend makes it mandatory for all new e-governance projects and upgrades of existing legacy systems by federal agencies and participating states to first consider free and open source software (OSS) alternatives”. This is an interesting move as Open Source Software can have a number of gaps in security, which could potentially be harmful to the subsequent project.
Microsoft teams up with Adobe to create new web browser (The Register) – Microsoft have announced that Adobe will be helping them in developing their new Spartan web-browser. Adobe will be helping with the interface and design of the web-browser, and not the security elements (thankfully!). Spartan is due to replace Internet Explorer soon.
Interesting Reads
IBM Licensing Quick Guide 2015 – Our previous IBM Licensing Quick Guide was a huge hit, and was still getting large amounts of reads each month. We have therefore updated the licensing guide to represent new IBM products and licensing metrics.
Oracle License Management – The second part in our series on Oracle licensing has released in March. This focuses on Oracle License Management and how to manage your Oracle databases. This article comes from our Oracle Whitepaper, which can be found here.
Alternatives to Oracle databases – Martin Thompson talks to a number of experts who give their opinions on viable Oracle alternatives.
We.CONECT conference review – Our very own Glenn Thompson was in Berlin to attend we.CONECT’s DACH Region SAM event. He has written a review on the event, and recorded a video! Well worth a read and a watch.
Secret Diary of an IT Manager – Part 4 in our series from our Secret IT Manager talks about the challenges faced when managing hardware assets in relation to ITAM. In this article, our friend talks about the issues faced with data reporting, and how they are tackling the datacentre.
New software licensing forum!
CCL Forum Launch – The Campaign for Clear Licensing have released a software-licensing forum. Here you can ask any burning licensing questions you have, and SAM and software licensing experts will answer it! The forum has a cool ‘ranking’ system, which will show which software licensing professionals are true experts!
Events
- 28th April [London] IBM and SAP Seminar
- 29th April [London] SAM Workshop hosted by Martin Thompson and David Foxen
- 12th May [New York] Tools Day
- 13th May [New York] SAM Workshop hosted by Martin Thompson and David Foxen
- 14th May [New York] IBM and SAP Seminar
- 15th May [New York] Oracle Seminar
Find out more here
As always IAITAM Spring 2015 promises to be an excellent learning and networking opportunity for those in SAM & ITAM.
Event Summary
- Who: IAITAM
- What: IAITAM Spring 2015 Annual Conference and Exhibition (Spring ACE)
- When: Tuesday 29th April – Thursday 1st May
- Where: Hilton San Diego Resort and Spa
- Cost: Between $1,194-$2,094 (see site for more details)