This report looks at the developing enterprise tech landscape – practices and systems that are becoming more widely adopted, prevalently enough to be considered business trends. We will proceed with the following sections:

• Introduction: Additional 2015 Trends
• Endpoint Security Advances for Better Protection
• Machine Learning for Intelligent Automation
• Devops for Increased Agility
• Nixing Network Switches for Streamlined Systems
• Conclusion: Open Source Theme
• Guaranteed Open Source Cloud VPS.

Introduction: Additional 2015 Trends

In our most recent article, we explored several ideas from a list of 2015 trends compiled by InfoWorld editor Eric Knorr, summarized as follows:

1. Infrastructure as a service – Companies have started to realize that due to the rate of cloud advances, it makes sense to choose a provider over an internal datacenter.
2. Containers – Docker has created an easy-to-use system that makes it much faster to move applications from development to testing to production, or between clouds.
3. Microservices architecture – The ability to use microservices, simple applications meant to fulfill specific needs within more complex applications, was also given a huge boost by Docker.
4. Liquid computing – This concept, first introduced by InfoWorld’s Galen Gruman, refers to the ability to move seamlessly between one’s different devices, as with Apple’s Handoff tool.

Here are the rest of the 2015 trends from Eric’s InfoWorld report:

Endpoint Security Advances for Better Protection

Knorr is not impressed with the current enterprise security status quo, noting that the ability of the average firm to protect itself “will remain in a desperate state as long as systems remain unpatched and untrained users continue to accidentally download malware.” However, Eric recommends that you look into a number of different security applications that he expects will become increasingly popular in 2015:

• Tanium– This software allows you to look at endpoints throughout the company, using data that has “near-real-time” accuracy for hundreds of thousands of clients, finding any aberrations and where security patches are needed.
• Fingerprint recognition – This technology is becoming more refined and widespread.
• Proximity – Similarly to pairing a Wi-Fi printer with a computer or a Wi-Fi speaker with a tablet, a few Bluetooth LE tools streamline security by using cell phones as security keys or pairing a smart phone with a “physical token” to authenticate on the basis of location.
• Location, location, location – Trusted places, built into the Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system, allows you to forgo pins and passwords if you are at a recognized safe place (e.g., home or work), making security easier in the right places: “Convenience is an important factor, because it increases the likelihood users will practice good security,” says Knorr.

Machine Learning for Intelligent Automation

This concept is essentially a new way to think of artificial intelligence. It would be easy to exaggerate how much machine learning will progress in the next few years, says Eric. However, making servers smarter is critical for optimizing the use of data analytics, with open source tools such as Spark/MLlib andNahout simplifying the process. Knorr paraphrases James Kobielus, who commented in early 2014 that “machine learning is so pervasive, we can often assume its presence in big data applications.”

Devops for Increased Agility

Devops, a term that combines development with operations , is a way to create applications that focuses on strong interconnection between IT staff (as a part of operations) and developers. This model has been around since 2009 per Eric, but it has become more popular lately as the need for operations that can allow true development agility has become more pronounced.

Knorr thinks that there is general miscomprehension of the devops concept: “In some circles, devops is considered a way to give developers ongoing responsibility for applications in production, but that doesn’t scale.” Instead, Eric argues that the best way to think of this strategy is as the most streamlined, integrated method for development and testing – since businesses are wanting to deploy sophisticated applications faster than ever.

Nixing Network Switches for Streamlined Systems

Network switches are gradually on their way out. Virtual networking tools, software-defined networking, and the incredible power of today’s servers are all prompting datacenter specialists to reconsider the best possible way of structuring the network. As Eric puts it, a futuristic idea of “the network being reduced to ‘the wires between the servers’” is becoming more of a possibility each year.

Conclusion: Open Source Theme

At the end of his report, Eric zeros in on a theme that he sees as pervasive throughout – a sort of macro-trend, similar to virtualization: open source. Knorr describes the transparent, community-based approach as “the vehicle of choice for startups to gain traction, as customers… take new technologies for a spin, provide feedback, and eventually put them into production.” Some developers, rather than focusing on independent applications, look at popular systems and engineer tools to support them. Examples of thriving open source ecosystems include OpenStack, Hadoop, and Docker.

Guaranteed Open Source Cloud VPS

Eric closes by reiterating what was briefly mentioned above – that enterprises need strong applications as quickly as possible in order to outperform their competition. In order to achieve that goal, companies are transitioning from in-house hardware to cloud providers. Get started today with a cloud that actively embraces open source technology.

By Kent Roberts

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