Network Communications News (NCN) May 2017 | Page 4
EDITORIAL
A virtual reality
I
f the key to business success
is to concentrate on the things
you do well, then outsourcing
computing services and
resources ‘into the cloud’
constitutes a natural next step for
many businesses to take.
A key feature of cloud
computing, which is also known
as virtualisation, is hardware
consolidation, but there are
also savings to be considered
as businesses will have a
smaller carbon footprint with
less electricity and less air
conditioning needed.
Virtualisation, meanwhile, is
fundamentally about efficiency
and is as appropriate for
small businesses as it is for
multinational businesses.
Virtualisation is not for the
preserve of just the big corporates
– if you’re a small business owner,
Simon King,
Editor
running a virtual infrastructure
makes sense, because it means
the business has got to spend
less on IT – and they should get
more bang for their buck, with less
waste and more value.
The cloud is a central pillar
of Cisco’s overall business
efforts and the company has
recently made two interesting
announcements in its IoT space,
including a new hardware platform
and a collaboration with Microsoft
on hybrid IoT solutions.
Through the Cisco/Microsoft
collaboration, Azure IoT Suite will
be able to connect to Cisco Fog
deployments, which Cisco hopes
will give its customers added value
through an integrated solution.
Microsoft thinks there is a
natural balance between the cloud
and the edge in IoT. There is no
doubt that the cloud is a natural
place to manage IoT devices,
to collect data from them, gain
insights using analytics and then
operationalise those insights.
Edge is a natural place to collect,
optimise and react to data with
low latency based on the insights
generated in the cloud. In this way,
cloud and edge work together to
help IoT reach its full potential.’
IoT, cloud and IoT edge will
continue to play a critical role in
digital transformation and it will
be interesting to see how these
two giants work together, with
Cisco able to bring the value of
Microsoft’s IoT technologies and
solutions to even more customers.
NEXT TIME…
Standards & training
Green IT
The June issue of Network Communications News will contain two major
features as well as its regular range of features and news items. This
month’s features will be Standards & Training and Green IT.
It will comprise major articles and a comprehensive product round up
which will be used as a reference point by network cabling infrastructure
installers, integrators and end users.
To make sure you don’t miss the oppor tunity to adver tise your products
to t his exclusive readership, call Francesca on 01634 673163 or
email [email protected]
4 | May 2017
Network Communications News