Page 15 - GCN, May 2016

SECURING THE ENTERPRISE
The Army, for example, is giving the IoT a lot of thought. Speaking on Jan. 29 at the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C., Lt. Gen. Edward Cardon, head of the Army Cyber Command, said that the Defense Department is looking for ways to leverage the military’s countless IoT assets, while also thinking hard about the security.
“People are connecting stuff to the Internet that we never thought would be connected,” Cardon said. “You know people are working on hacking your Fitbit.”
This is a familiar dilemma for federal agencies. More often than not, the emergence or evolution of key technologies inevitably increases the complexity of the federal IT enterprise, raising new concerns about both security and performance. But there is no going back to simpler times, because the benefits of innovation are worth the extra work involved.
The task now is to leverage other new or evolving technologies to manage that complexity. Here is a look at some of the tools that are making this possible.
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NETWORK VIRTUALIZATION
By now, just about every agency has invested in server virtualization, recognizing how it improves the manageability and scalability of the data center. Now they are realizing the value of network virtualization, which allows them to treat their physical network as a pool of transport capacity.
STORAGE VIRTUALIZATION
Like server and network virtualization, storage virtualization puts the intelligence at the virtual machine level. This simplifies the management of storage resources, while also providing storage managers with an unprecedented ability to define service levels.
ADVANCED ANALYTICS
Agencies might not realize it, but they already have a wealth of data on the security and performance of their enterprise. This is data generated by their various networks and systems. Given the right tools, IT managers can gain unprecedented visibility into inefficiencies, performance bottlenecks, and hidden vulnerabilities or cyber threats.
APPLICATION DELIVERY AND SECURITY
When it comes to enterprise performance and security, people often focus on the infrastructure. But it is also critical to optimize operations at the application layer for both availability and security. This is especially important as agencies look to mobilize the workforce.
DIGITAL RIGHTS MANAGEMENT
Video and other rich media will play a vital role in the new generation of digital services. The question becomes how to manage and protect that content across various platforms. A new generation of digital rights management software is rising to the challenge.
CLOUD AUTOMATION
As agencies begin to shift applications and services to the cloud, they will see immediate benefits in terms of the adaptability, agility and efficiency of the enterprise. But to make the transition really pay off, they need to invest in pervasive automation, as a way to both reduce the workload on IT administrators and to enforce consistent, effective processes.
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