Data management - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

• SAP reports strong revenue growth from HANA and cloud

  SAP reported strong revenue growth in its HANA in-memory database and cloud businesses, but also saw revenue from software decline in the third quarter.

• Oracle Data Integrator 12c ready for real-time analysis

  Heeding the call from enterprise customers who clamor for more immediacy in their data-driven reports, Oracle has updated its data-integration software portfolio so that it can more rapidly deliver data to data warehouses and analysis applications.

• The America's Cup: nerves, skill and a lot of computers

  This year's America's Cup will be remembered for Oracle Team USA's jaw-dropping comeback against Emirates New Zealand, but it should also be remembered for the huge role computers have come to play in the competition.

• Enterprises confident about tackling big data Initiatives

  CompTIA's Big Data Insights and Opportunities study finds that a majority of organisations feel more positive about big data as a business initiative. They also see significant costs associated with falling behind in managing and using data.

• Critical collaboration

  Graeme Osborne, National Health IT Board director, on working across sectoral groups to create the platform supporting personalised health records for all patients throughout New Zealand.
  

• Why does IT exist?

  The fundamental information within an organisation is way more important than any of the technology used to manage that information. This is what the ‘I’ in CIO represents, writes Geoff Lazberger. So how do you impress upon the executive team the real value of information?

• IDC tracks 'third platform' computing

  IT research firm IDC New Zealand has appointed former Telecom strategic alliances manager Adam Dodds to the role of research manager, IT services.

• Big data has potential but requires care

  The proliferation of large-scale data sets is just beginning to change business and science around the world, but enterprises need to prepare in order to gain the most advantage from their information, panelists said at a Silicon Valley event this week.

• Strategies for pruning data in the Cloud

  Year after year, the cost of disk space has plummeted. Since you can pick up a terabyte for $50, it's often seemed a false economy to be careful with storage.

• Are CIOs Too Cocky About Security?

  There's been no shortage of high-profile and damaging data breaches in the past year. And the targets are widely varied-they include security firms RSA Security and HBGary Federal, defense contractors Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman, entertainment giant Sony, major retailers, healthcare companies and marketing firms.

• Easing the information management headache

  To meet the demands of today’s business landscape organisations must do everything possible to secure and integrate their information assets, while satisfying compliance mandates and optimising corporate efficiency.
  Files are getting larger and data transfer is a major headache for most IT departments. Large files moving back and forth between corporate groups and their datacentres account for the greatest volume of transfers: financial firms transfer checking account transactions or credit-card data; healthcare companies have to collate and synchronise data on specific procedures with the medical files; and retailers have to upload their latest sales data from their numerous stores.

• How big is ‘big data’?

  I came across a link to a new report from IDC called the 2010 Digital Universe Study. The report echoes what we've been telling our clients for the past year: the projections of the past few years about the growth of data significantly underestimate how much data is going to be created.
  Some highlights of the report:

• Data everywhere, but not enough smart management

  Today, most enterprises are finally facing up to the "data, data everywhere" phenomenon-an awe-inspiring and unprecedented push and pull of data and information needs. The push: Terabytes of data flooding enterprise systems and applications, a surge which Gartner predicts will grow by 650 percent during the next five years. The pull: Savvy users demanding sweeping, individualized access to analytics and business information.

• Unmaking a digital landfill

  In a survey 74 percent of local public-sector organisations admitted to holding some digital information they can no longer access.
  The digital continuity team led by Archives New Zealand conducted the survey last year. It included core government departments and institutions such as universities and district health boards.

• Solving the data loss prevention puzzle

  A company can buy every top-of-the-line security product known to man, but it won't make a difference for data loss prevention (DLP) unless end users are educated on their own role. Technology is indeed critical to DLP, but security experts say user awareness is key to keeping sensitive data safe from online predators.
  "DLP is a process first. The technology is simply an enabler for the automation of the process," said Rick Lawhorn, a Richmond, Virginia-based chief security officer. "The process needs to include education and awareness training and cover human resources, records management and compliance. The objective is to continuously train data owners and data custodians (the employees) on the company policies to reduce instances of non-compliance."