Digital Transformation will kill ERP

It is a strong statement but at this time nothing is more certain than change. When giant corporations are created from a basement in San Francisco or a student hall in Harvard, it is not hard to question the future of a software. If Digital Transformation can “disintegrate” enterprises why could not destroy a concept? 

Forget about ERP and the way we run enterprises for years, despite technological changes, everything is kept in a book. The book of transactions called general ledger. Payable, receivables, cash flow, fixed assets and purchasing.

Why? In a simple sentence? Because we need to know if we can take money home! And does not matter if is a small-one-owner or a large shared public company. It is the same. But if there is not a centralised book? We need to know if we can take the money home still. But if there is no money? 

It is a technology for a new generation of transactional applications that establishes trust, accountability and transparency while streamlining business processes.

It is a design pattern made famous by bitcoin the reason I used in this text but its application go far beyond. With it, we can re-imagine the world’s most fundamental business interactions and open the door to invent new styles of digital interactions.

It has the potential to vastly reduce the cost and complexity of cross-enterprise business processes. The distributed ledger makes it easier to create cost-efficient business networks where virtually anything of value can be tracked and traded—without requiring a central point of control.” 

Edge Computing vs. Cloud Computing: What’s the Difference?

You are likely hearing a new term now, edge computing. Technologists (and the press, let’s be honest) we to throw a word around before it is well-defined, and in that vacuum come a variety of guessed definitions, of varying accuracy.

The term cloud computing is now as firmly lodged in our technical lexicon as email and Internet, and the concept has taken firm hold in business as well. According to my observation “no cloud” policy will be as prevalent in business as a “no Internet” policy. Which is to say no one who wants to stay in business will be without one.

Edge computing is a term you are going to hear more of in the coming years because it precedes another term you will be hearing a lot, the Internet of Things (IoT). You see, the formally adopted definition of edge computing is a form of technology that is necessary to make the IoT work.

And again as a victim of the same, let me brand edge computing is a “mesh network of micro data centers that process or store critical data locally and push all received data to a central data center or cloud storage repository, in a footprint of less than 100 square feet.” I think I did not lose you.

Meet Edge Computing, processing data at the edge of the network  where it is taken in has a number of benefits, starting with reducing the latency and makes connected applications more responsive and robust. Some applications might need immediate response, such as a sensor for failing equipment or for detecting a break-in.

It also takes the computation load off the data center if data can be processed and reacted upon at the point of origin rather than making the round trip to and from the data center. So it reduces the burden on both the data center and the network.

You may hear edge computing referred to by other names than micro data centers. They include fog computing and cloudlets. Fog computing, or “fogging,” is a term used to described a decentralized computing infrastructure that extends the cloud to the edge of the network.

Cloudlets are mobility-enhanced micro data centers located at the edge of a network and serve the mobile or smart device portion of the network. They are designed to handle resource-intensive mobile apps and take the load off both the network and the central data center and keep computing close to the point of origin.

HADES (High-fidelity Adaptive Deception & Emulation System) an alternate reality that thwarts hackers by tricking them into believing attack worked

Cyberspace has become the new frontier for next-generation battle. As hackers launch more sophisticated attacks, security researchers are racing against time to develop effective cyber defences. Now, experts have developed a new system that could deter hackers like never before. HADES (High-fidelity Adaptive Deception & Emulation System) is the new next-gen cyber-defensive system – an "alternate reality" that has been designed to trick hackers into exposing their tools and techniques by making them believe that their attacks are progressing successfully.

HADES is the brainchild of security researchers at Sandia National Laboratories. It is essentially a system, which clones the targeted environment a hacker aims to breach. When an attack isdiscovered, instead of immediately cutting off a hacker's access into the system, the attacker is lured into HADES. The alternate reality provided by HADES allows the hacker is to carry out the attack, without alerting him/her about already having been detected.

HADES also provides security experts with a unique opportunity to analyse hackers' techniques and tools in real time.

"Deception is the future of cyber defense," security researcher Vince Urias, who along with his team, created HADES, said in a statement. "Simply kicking a hacker out is next-to-useless. The hacker has asymmetry on his side; we have to guard a hundred possible entry points and a hacker only needs to penetrate one to get in."

So, a hacker may report to his handler that he or she has cracked our system and will be sending back reports on what we're doing. Let's say they spent 12 months gathering info. When they realize we've altered their reality, they have to wonder: at what point did their target start using deception, at what point should they not trust the data? They may have received a year or so of false information before realizing something is wrong," Urias explains.

By the time the attackers eventually figures out that something is wrong, they would have already exposed their methods and tools. "Then he's like a goldfish fluttering in a bowl," Urias said , "He exposes his techniques and we see everything he does."

However, HADES has one disadvantage – the more complex the deceptive environment, the more CPU power and memory resources required to deploy the system.

HADES has already allowed security experts to locate malware introduced into a system by an attacker and is capable of active attack. The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) is working with Sandia to deploy it.

The unique system may be helpful in barricading against threats, while simultaneously gathering information on adversaries.

Why the Anti-Bitcoin is Loved by Banks and Hated by The Internet

Ripple is revolutionizing international finance by making it possible to transfer money around the world within seconds. Ripple’s innovative use of blockchain technology has excited major financial institutions such as American Express and Standard Chartered. By bridging the gap between Bitcoin and traditional finance, Ripple has also become a figure of hate for many within the world of cryptocurrency. 

With all the hype surrounding cryptocurrencies these days, surprisingly little mainstream media attention has been focused on Ripple. This is despite Ripple having a market cap of almost $10 billion, making it the fourth largest cryptocurrency after Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum. Ripple’s market cap is more than double that of Dash and Litecoin and around four times larger than Monero and Neo.

Ripple is also much more stable than most cryptocurrencies. While it has seen some huge swings in its valuation, Ripple experiences far less volatility than almost any other cryptocurrency

Unlike most cryptocurrencies, Ripple has the backing of many major financial institutions. American Express is one its most recent supporters. Santander and Standard Chartered are two of many big banks who’ve been on board longer. But when Ripple is mentioned on cryptocurrency forums and in comment sections, it attracts stronger criticism than any other coin.

Creating the Internet of Value

Ripple’s connection to major financial institutions is part of the reason it’s hated by many in the cryptocurrency world. Many of Bitcoin’s early adopters are hardcore libertarians who see crypto as the ultimate escape from government and corporate control of financial markets. They see Ripple as an existential threat to everything that Bitcoin stands for.

But Bitcoin is no longer the rebellious outsider it was a few years ago. Until recently, Bitcoin’s primary function was facilitating sales of illegal goods on the dark net. Governments have since gotten a lot better at tracing Bitcoin payments. Cryptocurrencies such as Monero offer much stronger anonymity and are now much more likely to be used for transactions of questionable legality. Big money has already moved into cryptocurrency. This trend will only grow as Bitcoin futures begin trading on Wall Street.

Ripple isn’t an alternative to Bitcoin. Ripple is instead a tool that massively increases Bitcoin’s usefulness as a form of currency. It has been designed with the purpose of moving and converting money as easily and cheaply as possible. Its natural customers are therefore big banks.

A Bridge Between Blockchain and Fiat

In its earliest form, Ripple predates the creation of Bitcoin by several years. It was first conceived in 2004 by Ryan Fugger, a Canadian web developer with experience working for a local currency exchange. Early iterations of Ripple found little success, but the project and team expanded quickly once Bitcoin had shown the possibility of blockchain and distributed ledger technology to facilitate financial transactions.

While it operates on similar underlying principles to Bitcoin, Ripple was expressly intended to be different than Bitcoin in several important ways. Transactions on the Ripple network are verified by consensus in a similar way to Bitcoin’s proposed Segwit2x hard fork. Scarcity is built into Ripple in a way that is almost opposite to Bitcoin. Where Bitcoin is mined with increasing difficulty until 21 million coins are in circulation, Ripple was launched with all one hundred billion XRP in circulation. Every time a transaction is conducted, a small amount of XRP is destroyed forever.

The most important difference between Ripple and most alt-coins is that Ripple is intended to supplement rather than supplant Bitcoin. Ripple is designed to facilitate the transfer of any currency, from US Dollars and Euros to Bitcoin and Ethereum. It can even be used to transfer token-like items such as air miles. One of the biggest problems facing Bitcoin is a slowdown in transaction speeds as network activity increases. Ripple overcomes this problem by allowing instant transfer of Bitcoin over its network.

While much of the attention online focuses on Ripple’s connection to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, Ripple’s effect on transfers of fiat currency is likely to be even more revolutionary. Bitcoin transfers are slow compared to other cryptocurrencies but they are lightening-quick compared to traditional international payments, which can take as much as a week to clear. Ripple reduces typical wait times of around four days to just four seconds.

The Future of International Finance

Ripple is at the forefront of technological development in the incredibly lucrative cross-border payment space. The deep connections between Ripple and major financial institutions mean it is likely to retain its enviable position as the bridge between the brave new world of cryptocurrencyand the staid old world of traditional finance.

Whenever cryptocurrency skeptics cast doubt on the long-term potential of something within the blockchain space, they typically point to a lack of real utility underlying the value of digital assets. However, it’s clear that central banks and major financial institutions recognize Ripple has incredible utility value. 

Ripple, therefore, has the potential to massively increase the ease and speed of global trade. Its connection to Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies lends the space both utility and legitimacy. There is no longer any question of whether Ripple has the potential to shake up the world of finance. The only question is just how quickly the Ripple revolution is going to take place.

How hybrid cloud helps businesses to be more productive

The two most well-known types of cloud computing are the public cloud and the private cloud.

A public cloud is one that is entirely operated by a third party. Your data is stored away in a remote server, and all software and hardware necessary for the operation are handled and owned by the provider.

While the architecture of a private cloud may not be worlds apart from its public counterpart, the main difference is that the server is reserved exclusively for your business. The data centre may be on location at your business or kept by the provider.

Both iterations have their own advantages and limitations – however, providers have recognised there is demand for a combination of these traits. This is where the hybrid cloud comes into play. A hybrid cloud gives you the best of both the public and the private cloud worlds due to interlinking technology that allows transfer of data and applications between both types of servers, maximizing flexibility, scalable elasticity and methods of deployment.

Working with two interconnected servers – one public and one private – provides more than the simple ability to parse data out into different servers. It gives you the scalable elasticity and management efficiency of the public one combined with the speed, customisation, and on top of all, the security of the private one. Then, it’s just a matter of choosing which server is better suited for a particular task.

However, that doesn’t mean you’re stuck with a fixed choice. Cloud bursting allows for data to be moved around across servers, especially when a spike in demand requires you to move it to a public one.

At a time when modern business ethics and expectations don’t allow for internet connection failure as a justifiable excuse, unhindered access to data allowing for business continuity is a crucial factor. This doesn’t mean that you’ll have a contingency plan in case of server failures; it simply means the ability to continue doing work even during an unprecedented disaster with no down time. By replicating data from primary servers onto a secondary remote one, such business-crippling issues can be nipped without missing a beat.

Cost is another factor many businesses take into consideration. Owning a private data centre implies capital expenditure for hardware, staffing, power, research, installation, upkeep, and maintenance, and all of this for equipment that will eventually become obsolete and need replacement.

The issue of costs extends itself to concept testing, as a hybrid cloud environment allows for prototyping and testing before actual deployment.

Scaling resources is also an area for which hybrid cloud services can cut down on costs, while also increasing efficiency and the need to make predictions amidst fluctuating variables. When workloads require customised formatting and scalability of resources, hybrid clouding ratchets these settings up or down depending on the business demands, optimising the workload environment accordingly.

With hybrid cloud technology rising in popularity, both the businesses adopting this technology and the providers are turning more towards an OpEx (operating expense) funding model instead of a CapEx (capital expense) one. By opting for a SaaS (Solution as a Service) vendor such as BMIT, businesses have the option to scale the level of functionality in accordance with company growth rate, without having to invest more time and money in restructuring data management methods.

Speed of connectivity is one more key player, and business continuity mentioned earlier is but one reason. Time taken to connect with subject markets is also reduced, making it easier for your business to release tailor-made products or campaigns into the right channels in double time. Taking things one step back, even prototyping and testing we’ve touched upon earlier get an extra gear. Spinning up the right environment for application or product-testing becomes a reality thanks to hybrid cloud technology. All of this can otherwise be bogged down by unreliable public internet connections that act temperamental without forewarning.

Let’s suppose that despite the attractive features hybrid cloud technology offers, you still lean towards the public cloud option. So, which public cloud is best? How do you handle network security and resilience, and what’s the best way to configure your setup? In addition to offering a locally-hosted public cloud set-up, BMIT also offers an alternative platform designed to cater for specialised needs called multicloud connect.

Multicloud connect serves as a liaison between your business and a cluster of major public clouds, including Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, Microsoft Azure, and many more, connecting you to all of them simultaneously. It does this by running your data through BMIT’s own secure private network. It also takes care of all setup, configuration, and after-services you may require down the road. This implies improved performance, enhanced security, and lower latency thanks to the direct private connection.

We’ve only skimmed the surface of what hybrid cloud as well as multicloud connect technologies are bringing to the field of data storage and management. There is very little doubt that bespoke technologies are rising in popularity amongst businesses, and this along with individual business needs is undoubtedly nudging service providers such as BMIT to optimise and stay on top of things.

And now that you are more aware of what’s out there, it’s worth reiterating our earlier question: which cloud technology is best for you and your business?

Are you making the most of cloud for your digital transformation?

The key to capitalizing on cloud is to stop talking tech and demonstrate the business value for your organization.

People adopt cloud for reasons like efficiency and velocity, but they need to focus on the capability it can bring to your organization. It has features and functions that the organization may not have on premise and would otherwise take a significant investment to achieve.

Cloud is the hottest technology trend. However, cloud computing services related to the Internet of Things and artificial intelligence rated lower in terms of the perceived return on investment.

IT Teams should develop a matrix showing how cloud services could be used to benefit the business. As well, a non-technical storyboard on how technology could improve a ‘day-in-the life’ of the company can show concrete benefits to business leaders.

Here is a practice that has seen massive success in Cloud Computing. The Azure cloud services deliver business value.

Simplify backup & disaster recovery

Traditional backup solutions are resource intensive and complex so it means that important data that should be backed up may not actually be backed up.

With Azure Backup, the infrastructure and management is handled by Microsoft. All the company has to do is set up its backup policies. Backup servers can be deployed on-site or in the cloud to support hybrid or on-premises environments. Similarly, if an organization has an existing backup solution, it can continue to leverage that investment by using the Azure Vault for storage to take advantage of the flexibility and cost savings of cloud.

To protect against disasters, Azure Site Recovery automatically replicates an organization’s virtual machines. If disaster strikes, services can be quickly restored according to a predetermined plan. Organizations only pay for the storage, a license per protected workload and compute time used during the disaster. From a business perspective, “it allows for huge cost savings for disaster recovery because you no longer have to run another hot data centre.” It also makes disaster recovery more feasible for smaller businesses that otherwise might not have that capability.

Automate your infrastructure

Over time, there is often some tinkering with the settings on infrastructure components like virtual machines and load balancers, resulting in configuration drift. When the configuration of every component becomes unique, it’s more time consuming to manage and more likely to cause errors.

The answer is infrastructure as code. It uses stored definition files or templates to automatically provision and manage the infrastructure. It protects against misconfiguration or tinkering by monitoring the settings with alerts about changes, and can even revert things back to the original state. It’s more predictable and avoids manual errors.

It sounds technical but it can have a big impact on business transformation. By giving an organization the ability to automatically spin up services in a reliable and consistent way, they can respond faster to customer needs.

IoT Platform Market To Grow in the Coming Years.

The global Internet of Things (ToT) platform market is moderately competitive. With a handful number of players, the market is still said to be in its nascent stage. Analysts anticipate that the competition is likely to intensity in the coming years due to increasing investment in research and development and introduction of intellectual property such as patents. Some of the leading players in the global market are Microsoft Corporation, Google Inc., PTC Inc., and IBM Corporation.

Demand for Better Connectivity Opens Up Tremendous Opportunities for Global IoT Platform Market

The growing demand for internet and seamless connectivity has been driving the global IoT platform market in recent years. The market’s growth has also been supported by the improved connection speed over the last few years. Today, IoT platforms have become an integral part of the industrial as well as domestic setups. Improved accessibility to information and actions through cloud has accelerated the uptake of IoT platform over the years. The biggest advantage of cloud is that data can be accessed from anywhere and at any time.

 Furthermore, the fact that it requires minimal investment is likely to propel market’s growth in the coming years. The decreasing cost of internet has made it affordable to many. This trend has especially supported the rise of the global IoT platform market.

The growing penetration of mobile phones and various other PDAs have also made a fair contribution to the soaring revenue of the global IoT platform market. These devices have enabled greater flexibility while controlling other devices on the IoT platform. Features such as Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, and infrared have enabled an inherent connectivity for smartphones and other PDAs. Owing to these reasons, IoT platforms have been able to penetrate at a rapid rate in recent years. The terrific advancement in production of IoT sensors, their increasing affordability, and their optimum size are also expected to support market growth in the coming years.

Threat of Cyber-attacks Dampens Market Spirit

Despite the advantage of using IoT platform, the global market continues to face certain challenges such as the high possibility of losing data to cyber-attack. The growing concerns about software, network, or encryption are expected to restrain the growth of the overall market in the coming years. The lack of awareness about IoT platforms, especially in the developing regions, is also expected to dampen the spirit of the market in the near future.

The IoT Platform market has been segmented as below:

The IoT Platform Market, By Deployment

• On-Premise
• Cloud

The IoT Platform Market, By Application

• Inventory Management
• Human Capital Management
• Customer Service
• Enterprise Performance Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Infrastructure Management
• Other (Security, Asset Performance Management)

The IoT Platform by Industry

• Retail
• Healthcare
• BFSI
• Oil and Gas
• Transportation and Logistics
• Manufacturing
• Government and Defense
• Energy
• Other (Education, Hospitality)