Yuletide Blog: 2012 in Review and Can We Expect More of the Same in 2013?

Joel Stradling

Summary Bullets:

• Making the Internet and private data networks faster is still going to be a top priority in 2013
• Security remains of paramount importance for any data service
• Data centre and computing infrastructure become more tightly integrated and embedded with network infrastructure in 2013

Looking back at what happened in 2012, the highlights of the year within the enterprise network and IT service industry include consolidation such as the acquisition of Cable&Wireless Worldwide by Vodafone, the march towards fatter pipes with 100G launches, and progress on the part of carriers to become cloud-based IT providers and cloud service aggregators. Network security remains very high on the agenda, with two providers reporting daily attacks and hacking at major events, namely BT during the Olympics and Interoute supporting UEFA in the Euro 2012 event. However the most impactful initiatives are in the building of new generations of cloud-ready data centres as an intrinsic part of the network to fuel the desire of service providers to claim a stake in the cloud IT service market.

My New Year’s Resolution Suggestions for CISO/CSOs

Paula Musich

With 2012 drawing to a close in a year punctuated by a continuous stream of security breach headlines in mainstream business media, it’s an appropriate time to contemplate what New Year’s resolutions might look like for the CISO/CSO and others charged with securing IT infrastructure and the valuable business assets they carry. I’d like to offer up a couple of suggestions for those individuals to consider.  Those follow, in no particular order.