TECHMinutes November 2016

WHEN AND WHEN NOT TO IMPLEMENT IT AUTOMATION

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GOOGLE CLOUD CONTINUES PURSUIT OF ENTERPRISE MARKET P3

HOW TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR WINDOWS 10 NOTIFICATIONS

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GOOGLE REWARDS HACKERS HANDSOMELY FOR EXPOSING About IronEdge FLAWS The IronEdge Group is a service-centered organi- Google has implemented a project to encourage assistance in collecting potential vulnerabilities for its zation with the customer in mind. IronEdge provides Nexus line of mobile devices, with some considerable prizes associated with it. an array of technology services and customized Called the Project Zero Prize contest, contestants must be able to hack into a and a solutions that work seam- with nothing but the phone numbers and associated email addresses. Additionally, any vulnerability lessly to facilitate a more found must be capable of executing codes on each device remotely after a message (either email or text) efficient business is opened. Simple, right? environment. Most of all,

we understand that the - - - Not really, and that’s probably because Google is running more than just your run of the mill bug bounty people that depend on initiative. Google also wants to collect information on the bugs; how they work, and what methods they your business, depend on can use to improve protections against just these types of exploits. your technology. That's why we are dedicated to As for prizes, Google is offering three top prizes awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis. your business. Worth $200,000 for first, $100,000 for the second, and “at least” $50,000 for third, the cash prizes come with the Read the Rest Online! Visit us online at: http://ieg.io/googlerewards opportunity to produce a guest post on their Project Zero... ironedgegroup.com

For the 4th year in a row, IronEdge Group was voted one of the best places to work in Houston, Texas.

Here are just a few of the highlights from the event:

WHEN AND WHEN NOT TO IMPLEMENT IT AUTOMATION

Automated systems continue to increase in popularity, especially for the purpose of automating IT operations. According to Accenture, 70% of IT executives are investing in artificial intelligence technology than just a few years ago. Further- more, an astounding 55% of corporate executives claim that they plan on imple- menting machine learning and embedded AI solutions to further their business ventures. It just goes to show that automation is the future of IT management.

Automation is becoming so important that titles such as the Chief Automation Officer (CAO) are becoming a reality. In a sense, the CAO works alongside the CIO to manage an organization’s technological assets. The CIO focuses on developing new processes and strategies for managing technology, while the CAO uses auto- mation tools to make the transition to the new processes as painless and effi- cient as possible. The most notable trend is that automation is happening sooner rather than later; a significant development that allows businesses to better manage time and resources in the long run.

Some of the most notable shifts in the use of IT automation include:

 Help desk automation: One of the most common ways that automation has invaded the business environment is through machine-learning automated help desk solutions. These systems look at the current needs of the user and feed them possible resolutions, allowing for a self-serve type of help desk. In some cases, the help desk is monitored by a real employee who addresses issues that the automation system cannot. This is helpful if your enterprise’s IT staff is too busy to respond to urgent requests.  Connectivity: By taking advantage of API technology, applications can com- municate with the cloud to perform various tasks or retrieve data. However, most APIs require custom scripting for organizations to take full advantage of them. It’s thought that in the near future there will be end-to-end connec- tivity with universal APIs that don’t require the intensive scripting procedure.  Workload automation: Organizations that once relied on batch processing to schedule and execute IT commands can now take advantage of a work- load automation solution. Where batch scheduling is often independent to an application or operating system, workload automation seeks to break down these barriers and offer a solution designed to work in a more compli- cated and connected environment, thus saving both time and money.

IT AUTOMATION PITFALLS If you plan on implementing new automation solutions, be sure to watch out for Gartner’s top IT automation pitfalls. Keep in mind that these need to be ad- To check out more of the fun, head on over to our dressed before the implementation of automation solutions… Facebook page!

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GOOGLE CLOUD CONTINUES PURSUIT OF ENTERPRISE MARKET

It's been an uphill battle for Google in their latest business endeavor--providing Google Cloud services to the enterprise environment. Since Google has to compete with other software giants like Microsoft and Amazon Web Services, some have questioned Google's decision to invest in this particular market. Despite the opposition, however, Google has proven that it is vehemently pursuing a slice of the enterprise cloud market share.

THE BIG ONES At the 2016 Next conference in San Francisco, Google announced that two major enterprises would be joining the ranks of Google Cloud's enterprise service: Disney Consumer Products Interactive Media and Coca Cola. With Download our FREE Guide! such large companies taking a chance with Google's services, it's likely that more will 3 Ways Outsourcing Your IT Does be willing to turn to the emerging enterprise cloud provider. More Than Cut Cost Additionally, Google purchased Orbitera, which eWeek describes as “a West Hollywood, California-based startup that has developed a new-gen platform for buying In this digital age, CIOs and IT departments are under pressure to and selling cloud-based software, something Google did not already have at its continuously find innovative solutions disposal.” It's thought that this purchase will help Google compete with larger that streamline operations and improve enterprise cloud providers, particularly in regard to how enterprise services are overall productivity. Unfortunately, many delegated through the cloud. Orbitera is responsible for automating processes such as IT departments struggle to find the time billing, packaging, and pricing, so it's a valuable investment for Google as it works to to research and implement these types differentiate itself from the competition. of projects.. In addition to saving money,

outsourced IT has a lot to offer CIOs and

BUT CAN IT CATCH UP? their organizations. This guide dives into a Despite Google's best efforts, it still struggles to capture similar statistics to other few technology pain points commonly major players in the enterprise cloud market. Compared to Amazon Web Services and experienced by enterprises and how co- Microsoft Azure, Google is still trailing behind in terms of profits. However, you might managed technology support can be surprised to know that according to Synergy Research Group, Google Cloud now alleviate these issues. makes up a larger percentage of the worldwide cloud infrastructure services market - - share than Salesforce, and the only company to exceed Google's impressive year on In this guide you’ll learn: year growth rate of 108% was Microsoft, at 124%.  How co-managed IT can eliminate the CURRENT AND UPCOMING ENTERPRISE FEATURES potential financial risks associated with Google Cloud's enterprise platform offers a comprehensive list of services, making it recruiting and training IT technicians. appealing to an enterprise. These features include: computing/virtual machines,  How outsourcing can reduce the time storage and databases, networking, big data, management and developer tools, and and effort your IT department requires to security. For a full list of Google Cloud's enterprise offerings, click here (on our keep up with daily operations and maintenance. website).  How a flexible IT solution can easily scale up or down to meet your company’s Most notably, Google has expanded its enterprise offerings to touch upon the needs of needs. enterprise database management. Cloud SQL, Cloud , and Cloud Datastore are all available, as is a beta-release of its Microsoft SQL Server images that…

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THE INTERNET HAS A FIELD DAY P4 WHEN AOL’S CEO GETS HACKED If you’re the CEO of a mass media organization, you should know intimately well how brutal a hacking attack could be for your reputation. This happened to Tim Armstrong, the HOW TO CUSTOMIZE YOUR WINDOWS 10 NOTIFICATIONS CEO of AOL. His Twitter account was posting 20 spam-filled tweets every second. As you can imagine, this is a problem for any business that wants to take itself seriously. Windows 10 has been issued updates that provide users with brand new ways to receive notifications. While you can go through Android and iOS’s Cortana app, The hackers responsible created there’s a better way to manage your notifications. We’ll walk you through the pro- tweets that included links from a cess of customizing your Windows 10 notifications. Chinese search engine called Baidu.

These links redirected to a fraudulent

On the Lock Screen TMZ article containing an advertise- One of the more controversial uses of notifications in Windows 10 is on the lock ment for a weight loss supplement. It’s screen. While this is great for times when you don’t want to log into your device, it possible that the link could have been can be considered a privacy concern. If you’d like to remove all notifications from meant to generate revenue for hackers, the lock screen, go through Settings > System > Notifications & actions > Notifica- but one thing is certain; it resulted in a tions. Then, turn off the switch for Show notifications on the lock screen. If you fair amount of online hilarity. Plenty of want to hide certain notifications from appearing on the lock screen, go through observers posted online security advice System > Notifications & actions > Get notifications from these senders. Now se- to Armstrong, while others “thanked” lect the app that you want to change and turn it On under the Keep notifications him for the recommendation or took a private on the lock screen option. jab at AOL’s financial…

Set Priority Notifications If you receive notifications from several sources, it’s clear that not every single one Read the Rest Online! http://ieg.io/aoltwitterhack of them is a priority. Thankfully, Windows 10 makes it easy to set certain apps to varying priority levels. You can set them to either Normal, High, or Top priority in order to layer them into groups based on importance. Go to Settings > System > Contact IronEdgeGroup Notifications & actions > Get notifications from these senders, and select the app Visit us online at: that you want to configure. Under Priority of notifications in the action center, Ironedgegroup.com assign it a priority level. Houston You can also choose how many of an app’s notifications will appear in the Action 3000 Wilcrest Drive Center at any one time. The default is three, but you can extend this number all the Suite 300, way to 20. Change this setting by going to Number of notifications visible in Action Houston, TX 77042 Center. Voice: 713-574-5555

Change the Sounds of Your Notifications San Antonio To further customize your notifications, you can remove or change their sounds. All 888 Isom Road you have to do is go through Settings > System > Notifications & actions > Get noti- Suite 101, fications from these senders > Your Chosen App > Play a sound when a notification San Antonio, TX 78216 arrives. Right-click the Start button and select the Control Panel. Select sound and Voice: 210-757-4222 you’ll open up a menu. In Program Events, scroll down to Notification and select it. Underneath the Sounds dropdown you can change the sound that plays when you facebook.ironedgegroup.com receive a notification. If you’d rather not have sounds play for your notifications, linkedin.ironedgegroup.com just select None.

twitter.ironedgegroup.com Turn Off Notifications If you aren’t keen on notifications in the first place, you can turn them blog.ironedgegroup.com all off at once. If you don’t mind… Read the Rest Online! [email protected] http://ieg.io/custwindows10