Vol. 24, #28- July 15, 2019 - Issue #1240

WServerNews: Regulations: bogeyman or tech industry savior?

Transform the data center with Cisco HyperFlex & Veeam

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Cisco HyperFlex delivers the full potential of hyper-convergence — from big data to automation, intelligence, cloud integration, and much more. Veeam gives you a simple and reliable way to protect all of it. Natively integrated data protection solution built to minimize downtime and support the needs of next-generation, hyper-converged IT. Learn more


Editor's Corner

The proliferation of large organizations and government agencies being hacked seems to be spurring an expansion of regulatory frameworks seeking to control what many consider an out-of-control tech industry. Many executives in tech companies of various sizes are nervous that more government restrictions will stifle innovation. But should we be scared of more regulations? Can growth in regulatory frameworks hold a hidden opportunity for those willing to seize it?

To try and get some insight into this subject I recently asked Omri Braun the CEO of Lightico several questions and I've shared his responses below for our readers to consider and think about. 

 

Interview with Omri Braun

MITCH: What's the current regulatory landscape like for companies in the tech sector? Are governments clamping down with more regulations or are they beginning to ease off a bit?

OMRI: The tech sector's regulatory landscape is in a constant state of change. New technologies are disrupting the status quo, and it's a natural next step to figure out how these technologies play into the day-to-day. Part of that means regulation. This can be overwhelming for companies that rely on innovation, but regulatory bodies are doing their best to keep up with the ever-evolving tech industry. Governments will always clamp down with more regulation, but this presents an opportunity for the tech sector to develop products and solutions that address compliance requirements for highly regulated industries. 

MITCH: How do tech companies in general feel concerning the changing regulatory landscape? Is it impacting their ability to innovate?

OMRI: Most tech companies are hesitant and skeptical of the regulatory landscape because it can feel like they are being targeted. When your company is the one being looked at and there are potential consequences to your business model, you're going to be on the defensive. Additionally, more regulation means more overhead coming from compliance efforts. What it comes down to is working closely with regulators and ensuring your solutions adhere to compliance standards. There are a lot of technologies out there built to evolve with the regulatory landscape in ensuring compliance, so it's a matter of leaning on those partners. 

Regulations should never have an impact on innovation, and that's certainly not their purpose. Companies should start to look at regulations as a positive, enabling innovation and creating opportunities to help businesses in heavily regulated markets.

MITCH: Is it possible for tech companies to view compliance issues as an opportunity instead of a burden? 

OMRI: It's absolutely possible for companies to view compliance issues as more of an opportunity than a burden. Consider regulations around privacy and data. By complying with these standards, you're building trust with your customers. Ultimately, any tech companies' solutions should be built to make things better for consumers and businesses. Regulatory bodies set out with a similar mission - to protect people and businesses. By working hand in hand, the tech industry and regulators can create an ideal experience for users.

You can also view it from a competitive advantage standpoint - regulations aren't going away, and non-compliance fines can have a huge impact on business success. If your business is able to keep nimble and ensure compliance standards are met, you can beat out competitors getting hit with fines and losing customer trust. That said, this isn't always possible for non-tech companies that are powered by legacy systems - being nimble isn't as easy, so it's important they choose partners that can easily integrate with their systems and allow them to adjust to new regulations easily.

 

What do you think?

What do our newsletter readers think about this subject? And how to you feel yourselves about working in an industry sector like IT that is coming under increasing regulatory scrutiny and compliance legislation in your country? Email your feedback to me at [email protected]

Cheers,
Mitch Tulloch, Senior Editor




Got questions? Ask our readers!

WServerNews goes out each week to more than 500,000 IT pro subscribers worldwide! That's a lot of expertise to tap into. Do you need help with some technical problem or are looking for expert advice on something IT-related? Ask Our Readers by emailing your problems and/or questions to us at [email protected]

 


Tip of the Week

Got any IT pro tips you'd like to share with other readers of our newsletter? Email us at [email protected]

Don't trust Excel workbook protection to keep your worksheets secure

A reader tipped me off to the fact that it's easy as pie to remove both workbook and sheet protection from an Excel workbook file without knowing the protection password. The steps are outlined here:

http://www.wservernews.com/go/d37h0lt0/

 

 

Admin Toolbox

Admin Tools We Think You Shouldn't Be Without 

GOT ADMIN TOOLS or other software/hardware you'd like to recommend? Email us at [email protected]

Learn how NetApp and Veeam deliver a complete, modern data protection storage platform with data tiering capabilities through an integrated storage and software solution.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/0esya5cs/

Have you ever wondered if you need an email archiving solution? We say: Definitely! And we recommend the standard in email archiving - MailStore Server. A free trial is available for download on the vendor's website.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/lz88e1gg/

Altaro VM Backup removes the complexities of backing up Hyper-V & VMware. Easy to use, sets up within just 15 mins & comes with the best deduplication in the industry. Download the free copy here

http://www.wservernews.com/go/k3m6ys6x/

Bvckup 2 is light, versatile data replication software:

http://www.wservernews.com/go/n5jc9l0d/

CommandTrayHost is a Command Line program monitor systray for Windows:

http://www.wservernews.com/go/ypa1qnci/

f.lux lets you automatically adjust your computer screen to match lighting:

http://www.wservernews.com/go/vi2hmnh8/

 

Mailbag

Here's some more feedback from our readers on the phony war of Email vs. Slack (or Teams) that a lot of the tech media is trying to make everybody excited about. 

Martin Urwaleck from Germany agrees that the new platforms are definitely not a replacement for good old reliable email:

Hi Mitch, we used Teams in my former company. It was initially set up as a collaboration tool for one department that had a lot of travelling users and worked in a matrix organization. We implemented it together with an external consultant (which took over one year including user training) and it does pretty well what was expected. And it was not rolled out into the whole organization. However, it's definitely not an email replacement. The biggest problem in my opinion when introducing a new tool like that is user training. Assuming that users know how a collaboration tool works because they are using slack at home is simply wrong. BTW it's the same with SharePoint. 

Jurriaan Nijkerk the Chief Editor of Photonmagazine.eu chimed in from The Netherlands/Belgium by putting his own money on email as the winner:

Hi there, In our opinion e-mail is the most reliable messaging service. It's not annoying, and straight forward, effective and cheap.. It does wat it does and is what it is. One of the advantages: people are forced to be brief. It's of no use to send complete bibles. This saves a lot of time and time is money. So it saves a lot of money. What we experience these days more and more people tend to use it (again?) and it's a lot less stressy like Facebook, Whatsapp and others. And it's safer and there are no privacy-issues. 

Kelvin Jones from South Africa also had lots to say on this subject:

Saw your headline a few days ago "Is email really dead? Or has its use just Slack-ed off a bit?" and was tempted to reply/comment but felt guilty about not reading the NY Times article you referenced. I wanted to read it first but had so many comments swimming around in my head about "chat" and "IM" systems. They've been trying for over a decade to displace email but they simply never do. ... I can sense I'm about to share my thoughts anyway now that you got me started so here they are.

It's just that I actually agree with all the safe comments you cited. I say "safe" with reference to the NY Times bits you commented on. Undoubtedly they said a lot about both sides and in the end left everyone wondering what the Times opinion really was. Truth is, and this is just my opinion after watching communication tools come and go for a couple decades, communication tools are like any other tool -- you use the right tool for the job at hand. In development cycles with a group doing daily work on code, I agree, you need something like Slack or Teams or [ place favourite IM/chat tool name here ]. But I find I use email for record keeping and long term information storage or archiving. I have found there are times when an email thread gets "chatty" but at that point I'll quickly switch to WhatsApp [my favourite IM tool] or slow the conversation down. 

I don't think email will be replaced, ever. Did email replace the postal services? Not yet. Email has reduced the amount of posted mail and some post offices around the world have closed, that's true, but it hasn't put the last nail in the postal service coffin yet. Why not? Because you can't email your friends and family a gift box or anything that isn't digital. Ah, but you can use a courier instead of the postal service. Depending your need it doesn't cost much more and in most cases is faster. I suppose that's analogous to email vs IM and chat. The postal service has lived for over a century and continues to survive amid alternative services including email. I would think email will survive equally amid alternative communication tools. It's "Slack-ed off" for sure, but only because each service or tool has it's usefulness depending on the job at hand. 

I think what will be interesting to see in the years to come is which tool becomes the de-facto standard for IM and chat. In the early days there were MANY email providers but two have become the de-facto standard -- Google and Microsoft with Microsoft taking the lead in business email. Right now there are a few newcomers on the IM and chat scene but in the years to come which one will come out on top? Or, will something different take the world by storm? Time will tell and *email* will be used to tell us.

Other readers who want to chime in on this discussion can reach out to me via email (sorry not Slack or Teams) at [email protected]

 

 

Factoid - Mad about Mad Magazine

Last week's factoid and question was this:

Fact: Popeye was right -- spinach really DOES make you stronger!!

Question: What was your favorite cartoon you watched on TV as a kid? Was it Popeye or was it some other cartoon like Johnny Quest (my own favorite) or maybe The Jetsons?

Susan Mertesdorf was the winner here with the following comment:

I'd have to say mine was Scooby Doo and those interfering kids. It was empowering to a child to see other "kids" making a difference and fighting crime even if Scooby and Shaggy were always getting into trouble and messing up the plans.

My response however is "Scooby who?"

:-)

Now let's move on to this week's factoid:

Fact: MAD Magazine to Cease Publication

Source: http://www.wservernews.com/go/3kd2ydiq/

Question: Why was Mad Magazine so popular in its time? I remember as a kid my friend was obsessed with the magazine, but when I tried to read it I couldn't see the attraction. Same question too for Monty Python and similar shows that used to run on TV. And what's the equivalent if any of these things today? 

Email your answer to [email protected]

 

 

Conference calendar

>> Got an IT conference happening in North America that you'd like to promote in our newsletter? Email us at [email protected]

Microsoft Ignite 2019

Nov 4-8, 2019 in Orlando, Florida

http://www.wservernews.com/go/d9xi0005/


More Microsoft conferences

Microsoft Ignite - Nov. 4-8 in Orlando, Florida USA

http://www.wservernews.com/go/e2tv1bcu/


Infosec conference

RSA Conference 2019 - July 16-18 in Singapore

http://www.wservernews.com/go/4mb7ya6d/

Cyber Security Summit - July 18 in Seattle, Washington USA

http://www.wservernews.com/go/0eq6g60b/

Black Hat USA - August 3-8 in Las Vegas, Nevada USA

http://www.wservernews.com/go/4kp09wbs/

Cyber Security Summit - August 27 in Chicago, Illinois USA

http://www.wservernews.com/go/01qq8rus/

Cyber Security Summit - Sept. 25 in Charlotte, North Carolina USA

http://www.wservernews.com/go/do4ctnlk/


Other conferences

SPTechCon - August 25-28 in Boston, Massachusetts USA

http://www.wservernews.com/go/uw96wxqd/

VMworld - August 25-29 in San Francisco, California USA

http://www.wservernews.com/go/bxq4qymf/

 


 

New on TechGenix.com

Windows Virtual Desktop: What we know -- and rumors we are hearing

Windows desktop virtualization has come a long way. Here's a rundown of where it came from and where it stands today with Windows Virtual Desktop.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/l2ndheyo/


What in the world is hybrid VDI? And is it right for you?

Hybrid VDI provides the centralized management benefits of virtual desktop infrastructure to IT while providing the best possible experience for end users.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/tys9uimm/


Digging deeper into Hybrid VDI: Desktop management and device drivers

Hybrid VDI is all about providing device driver isolation strategies to simplify your Windows management desktop. Here is a closer look.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/hs8ul7eu/


Prepare for the inevitable: Incident response plan to phishing attacks

Phishing attacks are on the rise, and every business is a prime target. Do you have an incident response plan if this happens to you?

http://www.wservernews.com/go/t9de7uo0/


Identity and access management best practices to keep your data safe

What are some best practices when you want to implement an identity and access management solution to safeguard your company's precious information assets?

http://www.wservernews.com/go/2793ebxt/

 

 

Podcast Corner

T-Suite Podcast: Future of chatbots with Alex Masycheff

http://www.wservernews.com/go/ikb8bcdd/

Azure GA and Preview News (Microsoft Cloud Show)

http://www.wservernews.com/go/ukm5ulu8/

Episode 132 -- Why Friends Don't Let Friends Buy Office 365 Business (Microsoft Cloud IT Pro Podcast)

http://www.wservernews.com/go/6wyhxrac/

IoT in 2019 with Sam George (RunAsRadio)

http://www.wservernews.com/go/0x8k5kia/

Garbage In, Garbage Out (This Week in Enterprise Tech)

http://www.wservernews.com/go/5tpak1zk/

Got a podcast channel you listen to regularly and want to recommend to other IT professionals? Email us at [email protected]

 

 

Fun videos from Flixxy

Image

Terry Grant's Jaguar F-Type Hillclimb On Two Wheels

Stunt driver Terry Grant does a four-minute hillclimb on two wheels in a Jaguar F-Type at the Goodwood Festival of Speed:

http://www.wservernews.com/go/nf3bvwv4/

Your Printer Works For The Government

Did you know that your color laser printer is putting secret codes on every page you print?

http://www.wservernews.com/go/zvy0szlc/

Doublespeak - The Use of Language to Deveive You

William Lutz explains 'Doublespeak' - language that deliberately obscures, disguises, distorts, or reverses the meaning of words.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/3i1ydksu/

David Blaine Shocks TV Hosts With Incredible Card Trick

David Blaine shocks Eamonn and Ruth with an incredible card trick at the UK TV show 'This Morning.'

http://www.wservernews.com/go/9nrx4dtf/



 

 More articles of Interest

SCVMM vs. Hyper-V Manager: Which Tasks are Best Suited to Each?

Although SCVMM offers capabilities far exceeding those of Hyper-V Manager, Hyper-V Manager has the advantage of being simpler to use and not requiring an additional license. Learn more here.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/gqnap37z/


Common VM Network Latency Causes Explained

There are many potential causes of network performance problems when it comes to VMs. Familiarize yourself with the most common causes to aid in troubleshooting here.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/y8q37fhr/


How to Tackle an Email Archive Migration for Exchange Online

A move from on-premises Exchange to Office 365 also entails determining the best way to transfer legacy archives. This tutorial can help ease migration complications.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/95pb2ca9/


Compare the Top Vendors of Thin Client Systems

Explore some of the top thin client systems currently on the market -- based on industry, cost and data usage -- to help you make the right buying decision.

http://www.wservernews.com/go/g6acfnxq/

 
 

Send us your feedback

Got feedback about anything in this issue of WServerNews? Email us at [email protected]

 

WServerNews - Product of the Week

Transform the data center with Cisco HyperFlex & Veeam

Image

Cisco HyperFlex delivers the full potential of hyper-convergence — from big data to automation, intelligence, cloud integration, and much more. Veeam gives you a simple and reliable way to protect all of it. Natively integrated data protection solution built to minimize downtime and support the needs of next-generation, hyper-converged IT. Learn more

WServerNews - Editors

Mitch Tulloch is Senior Editor of WServerNews and is a widely recognized expert on Windows administration, deployment and virtualization. Mitch was lead author of the bestselling Windows 7 Resource Kit and has been author or series editor for almost fifty books mostly published by Microsoft Press. Mitch is also a ten-time recipient of Microsoft's Most Valuable Professional (MVP) award for his  outstanding contributions in support of the global IT pro community. Mitch owns and runs an information technology content development business based in Winnipeg, Canada. For more information see www.mtit.com.

Ingrid Tulloch is Associate Editor of WServerNews and was co-author of the Microsoft Encyclopedia of Networking from Microsoft Press. Ingrid is also manages research and marketing for our content development business and has co-developed university-level courses in Information Security Management for a Masters of Business Administration program.