The next BriefingsDirect enterprise architecture (EA) discussion explores how a comprehensive portfolio of open standards and associated best practices powerfully supports digital business transformation. As companies chart a critical course to adopt agility using artificial intelligence (AI)-driven benefits, they need proven and actionable structu…

The next BriefingsDirect expert interview podcast explores best practices for deploying artificial intelligence (AI) with a focus on sustainability and strategic business benefits. As AI rises as an imperative that impacts companies at nearly all levels, proper concern for efficiency around energy use and resources management has emerged as a key i…

The next BriefingsDirect mobile devices security and privacy discussion examines how a new balance needs to be struck between giving users at the remote edge all the productivity they want, while protecting the most sensitive information. Listen to the podcast. Subscribe to it on iTunes. Read a full transcript or download a copy. Stay here to learn…

The next BriefingsDirect IT security best practices discussion examines how a leading German home builder has adjusted to a major economic market disruption. Germany’s home building demand has recently reversed, putting pressure on builders to reduce IT costs while remaining secure. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Read a full transcript or down…

The next BriefingsDirect business modernization discussion focuses on how optimizing and automating accounts payable (AP) functions gives businesses improved insights and levers to better transform. We’ll examine how improved control and management over cash flow, payables, and related fiduciary functions elevate overall financial situational aware…

The next BriefingsDirect security enhancement discussion examines how innovative managers are increasingly benefiting from interactive dashboard analytics. The resulting actionable knowledge elevates security situation awareness to the higher order value of overall business risk assessment and mitigation. Learn how Bruce Auto Group has gained such …

The next BriefingsDirect security innovations discussion examines how the rapid shift to remote work has accelerated a rethinking of security and IT processes at a New York-based publishing organization. Rearchitecting the security posture of a business means adjusting work patterns and IT in ways that both reduce risk and heighten performance. But…

Amid rapidly growing IT security costs and the added complexity of distributed workforces, the challenges facing IT services providers are clearly outrunning past practices. That’s why more automation, integration, and acquiring security “as a service” are in hot demand. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Read a full transcript or download a copy.…

For managed service providers (MSPs), making the IT infrastructure as invisible as possible isn’t just a “nice-to-have" — it's also elemental to delivering the best customer experience. Securing IT for these tech services and support users is no different. The less complexity and interference with productivity from the underlying security apparatus…

An underappreciated aspect of enhancing IT security is the impact on an end user’s comfort and trust in the services provided. In the case of health care services and support, making the patient feel welcome and safe can be a game-changer as they seek access to needed services and care. The next BriefingsDirect security innovations discussion exami…

A special breed of company -- even though it has a relatively small number of employees -- does very big jobs with those lean and often distributed workforces. A perfect example of such a concentrated and efficient business is A-Core Concrete Specialists, which builds large and complex structures across the Western United States. When it comes to m…

We’re all now part of a massive worldwide experiment about the very definition of work. Remote, in-office — or tightrope walking along some sliding scale between the two? How each business and each worker finds the next new work-life balance remains an ongoing "work in progress." In the post-rapid adoption of remote work world -- a full two and hal…

For those tasked with delivering unwavering performance of their apps and data, there have never been more unknowns to account for and manage. That’s because today’s hybrid clouds and mixed-network environments come with a multitude of dynamic variables -- and an unprecedented degree of complexity. Yet modern digital business demands that the entir…

The growing prevalence of complex multi- and hybrid-cloud environments has opened a Pandora’s Box of unseen risks around security and performance. But unlike when IT and network operators had the tools and access to track their own internal systems and data, the mixed-cloud model of today is much harder to know and secure. Pandora’s Box is open but…

As businesses worldwide seek to maximize their value to their customers and communities, the total value equation has expanded to now include the impact on sustainability for the environment. The ways that companies, along with their partners, suppliers, and employees best manage and govern their resources and assets speaks volumes about their plac…

The world’s office workers have more clout and influence now than ever over where and how they do their jobs. Those who have worked from home and want to continue are spurring on their employers to do more than just embrace hybrid work. They’re seeking to reinvent the very nature of employment. Subscribe to the podcast on iTunes. Read a full transc…

Closing the gap between the applications and services a company needs -- and the ones they can actually produce -- has long been a missing keystone for attaining digital transformation. For increasingly software-driven organizations, the speed by which developers produce the needed processes, data flows, and business transactions has been much too …

Just as cloud computing initially seeped into organizations under the cloak of shadow IT, application programming interface (API) adoption has often followed an organic, inexact, and unaudited path. IT leaders know they’re benefiting from APIs -- internal, via third parties, and often outwardly exposed -- they just don’t know where they are, how mu…

Predicting the future took on a whole new degree of difficulty the past two years. And while we can’t always know what Mother Nature will throw our way, we can learn from what worked -- and what didn’t work -- in 2021. Clearly, adjusting swiftly to persistent change and leveraging digital -- and often virtual -- tools, environments, and processes w…

Complexity and security challenges can hobble the growth of financial transactions for private-data-laden, consumer-facing software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications. Add to that the need to deliver user experiences that are simple, intuitive, and personalized -- and you have a thorny thicket of software development challenges. So how did streamline…

The so-called great resignation has anywhere from half to two-thirds of U.S. workers looking for something other than their current situation. Whatever the percentage, there’s no question that workers across the board have and continue to quit in droves. And whether the exit is due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the culmination of decades of various tre…

Way back in 1996, when web browsing was novel and central processing still ruled the roost of enterprise IT, The Open Group was formed from the merger of the Open Software Foundation and X/Open. This October marks the 25th anniversary of remarkable achievements in the technology standards arena by The Open Group. Beginning with a focus as the publi…

In the last BriefingsDirect sustainable business innovation discussion, we explored how operational resiliency has become a top priority in the increasingly interconnected financial services sector. We now expand our focus to explore the best ways to anticipate, plan for, and swiftly implement the means for nearly any business to avoid disruption. …

The speed and complexity of microservices-intense applications often leave their developers in the dark. The creators too often struggle to track and visualize the actual underlying architecture of their distributed services. The designers, builders, and testers of modern API-driven apps, therefore, need an ongoing and instant visibility capability…

The rapidly expanding use of application programming interfaces (APIs) to accelerate application development and advanced business services has created a vast constellation of interrelated services -- often now called the API Economy. Yet the speed and complexity of this API adoption spree has largely outrun the capability of existing tools and met…

Today’s diversity of hybrid IT models and environments demands that IT services and support accommodate more digital variables than ever. This burgeoning complexity and the fast-changing dynamics of digital businesses are pushing enterprises to seek a complete and holistic way to support all their technology -- from every edge to every cloud -- in …

Bringing broader awareness of security risks and building a security-minded culture within any public or private organization has been a top priority for years. Yet halfway through 2021, IT security remains as much a threat as ever -- with multiple major breaches and attacks costing tens of millions of dollars occurring nearly weekly. Why are the t…

Self-awareness as an individual attribute provides the context to better understand others and to find common ground. But what about self-awareness of entire generations? Are those born before the mass appeal and distribution of digital technology able to make the leap in their awareness of those who have essentially been Born Digital? Does the awa…

The last few years have certainly highlighted the need for businesses of all kinds to build up their operational resilience. With a rising tide of pandemic waves, high-level cybersecurity incidents, frequent technology failures, and a host of natural disasters -- there’s been plenty to protect against. As businesses become more digital and dependen…

While the use of machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) for IT security may not be new, the extent to which data-driven analytics can detect and thwart nefarious activities is still in its infancy. As we’ve recently discussed here on BriefingsDirect, an expanding universe of interdependent application programming interfaces (APIs) f…

The burgeoning use of application programming interfaces (APIs) across cloud-native computing and digital business ecosystems has accelerated rapidly due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Enterprises have had to scramble to develop and procure across new digital supply chains and via unproven business-to-business processes.Companies have also extended thei…

Thinking of IT security as a fortress or a moat around your compute assets has given way to a more realistic and pervasive posture. Such a cybersecurity perimeter, it turns out, was only an illusion. A far more effective extended-enterprise strategy protects business assets and processes wherever they are -- and wherever they might reach. As busine…

As businesses plan for a future where more of their workforce can be located just about anywhere, how should they rethink hiring, training, and talent optimization? This major theme for 2021 and beyond poses major adjustments for both workers and savvy business leaders. The next BriefingsDirect modern workplace strategies discussion explores how a …

The clear and present danger facing businesses and governments from cybersecurity threats has only grown more clear and ever-present in 2021. As the threats from runaway ransomware attacks and state-sponsored backdoor access to networks deepen, too many businesses have a false sense of quick recovery using traditional business continuity and backup…

The tumultuous shift over the past year to nearly all-digital and frequently at-home work has amounted to a rapid-fire experiment in human adaptability. While there are many successful aspects to the home-exodus experiment, as with all disruption to human behavior, there are also some significant and highly personal downsides. The next BriefingsDir…

The next BriefingsDirect Voice of Innovation discussion explores how services and support for enterprise IT have entered a new era. For IT technology providers, the timing of the news couldn’t be better. That's because those now consuming tech support are demanding higher-order value -- such as improved worker productivity from hybrid services deli…

Now that hybrid work models have been the norm for a year, what’s the long-term impact on worker productivity? Will the pandemic-induced shift to work from anywhere agility translate into increased employee benefits -- and better business outcomes -- over time? The next BriefingsDirect workspace innovation discussion explores how a bellwether UK ac…

Cyber attacks are on the rise, harming brands and supply chains while fomenting consumer and employee distrust -- as well as leading to costly interruptions and service blackouts. At the same time, more remote workers and extended-enterprise processes due to the pandemic demand higher levels of security across all kinds of business workflows. Stay …

The next edition of the BriefingsDirect Voice of Innovation video podcast series explores new and innovative paths for businesses to attain digital transformation. Even as a vast majority of companies profess to be seeking digital business transformation, few proven standards or broadly accepted methods stand out as the best paths to take. And now,…

The next BriefingsDirect data strategy insights discussion explores the payoffs when enterprises overcome the hurdles of disjointed storage to obtain global data access. By leveraging the latest in container and storage server technologies, the holy grail of inclusive, comprehensive, and actionable storage can be obtained. And such access extends a…

This BriefingsDirect Data Strategies Insights discussion series, Part 2, explores the latest technologies and products delivering common data services across today’s hybrid cloud, distributed data centers, and burgeoning edge landscapes. New advances in storage technologies, standards, and methods have changed the game when it comes to overcoming t…

The next BriefingsDirect data strategies insights discussion explores how consistent and global storage models can best propel pervasive analytics and support digital business transformation. Decades of disparate and uncoordinated storage solutions have hindered enterprises’ ability to gain common data services across today’s hybrid cloud, distribu…

The next BriefingsDirect digital business innovation discussion explores the growing importance of contingent workforces. As more businesses look to external workforces and services to satisfy their skills and information technology (IT) needs, the ability to manage those workers and services is lagging. Even as upward of 42 percent of workforce sp…

Businesses, schools, and governments have all had to rethink the proper balance between in-person and remote work. And because that balance is a shifting variable -- and may well continue to be for years after the pandemic -- it remains essential that the underlying technology be especially agile. The next BriefingsDirect worker strategies discussi…

The next BriefingsDirect digital business innovation discussion explores how companies need to better understand and respond to their markets one subscriber at a time. By better listening inside of their products, businesses can remove the daylight between their digital deliverables and their customers’ impressions. Stay with us now as we hear from…

Businesses these days are quick to declare their intention to become data-driven, yet the deployment of analytics and the use of data science remains spotty, isolated, and often uncoordinated. To fully reach their digital business transformation potential, businesses large and small need to make data science more of a repeatable assembly line -- an…

The next BriefingsDirect intelligent procurement discussion explores the rationales and results when companies transform how they acquire goods and services. By injecting intelligence, automation, and standardization into the source-to-pay process, organizations are supporting even larger digital business transformation efforts. Stay with us now as…

The way people work has changed more in 2020 than the previous 10 years combined -- and that’s saying a lot. Even more than the major technological impacts of cloud, mobile, and big data, the COVID-19 pandemic has greatly accelerated and deepened global behavioral shifts. The ways that people think about where and how to work may never be the same,…

The next BriefingsDirect Voice of Analytics Innovation discussion focuses on the latest insights into end-to-end data management strategies. As businesses seek to gain insights for more elements of their physical edge -- from factory sensors, myriad machinery, and across field operations -- data remains fragmented. But a Data Fabric approach allows…

Like many businesses, innovators in higher education have been transforming themselves for the digital age for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic nearly overnight accelerated the need for flexible new learning models. As a result, colleges and universities must rapidly redefine and implement a new and dynamic balance between in-person and remote inte…