Blog: The Advisor

In a previous blog post, we explored how blockchain, a distributed ledger technology, is revolutionizing our lives. Just as the internet was a game-changer 50 years ago, blockchain is up-ending the way we do business, and not just as the underpinnings for cryptocurrencies in the financial industry. We’ve seen innovative uses for blockchain in healthcare, agriculture, shipping – and now gaming.

In the data center industry, we have been singing the mantra for over 10 years that Disaster Recovery is more than just about backup. Unfortunately, that message is still relevant today, possibly more so given the many different cloud options available for organizations of all sizes to quickly and easily backup data.

There’s been a rapid upheaval in corporate America, with some job titles disappearing entirely and new ones rising to the top of organizational charts. In my opinion, the job description of a Chief Information Officer has potentially changed the most. In fact, a number of people argue that the position is obsolete, particularly with the advent of BYOD and personal applications, platforms like Salesforce.com and the use of offsite servers.

SD-WAN is a technology that appears poised to upend the telecommunications world. Short for software-defined wide area network, the SD-WAN market is growing quickly and is predicted to top $8 billion by 2021. If you’re wondering why, the answer is simple: the use-case for SD-WAN is being fueled by the evolution of cloud and software-driven services.

Everyone's talking about blockchain’s untapped potential. Its touted benefits may include lower cost, risk, and capital requirements, faster transactions, more transparency and reliability, improved privacy, and unparalleled security, to name a few.

StrataCore, the premier IT services broker for data center, cloud, connectivity and cybersecurity, has been recognized by its suppliers with awards for top performance.

We’ve worked with many companies over the past few years that have made the business decision to move into or out of the cloud. As our client's businesses grow and change, we're happy to help them make sense of the ever-evolving marketplace to source IT solutions that enable them to meet their goals.

Late last year, industry analyst group Gartner issued a report on the market for Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB), a software service that’s not yet widely understood. The report included a startling statistic: by 2020, Gartner predicts that 60 percent of large enterprises will use a CASB to govern cloud services. Today, we’re at just over 10 percent usage.

The digital communications wave has flooded the enterprise market with new tools that offer better ways for employees to collaborate, share data and conduct meetings. It’s reshaping how we manage our businesses; in fact, one could argue that the digital revolution is really all about people. The enterprise is being challenged to deliver new ways to communicate, from giving the Millennial workforce instant access to everything to a creating a secure channel for a dedicated project team in regional offices.

Blockchain is one of the most ingenious inventions of the last decade. The underpinning technology for digital currencies, blockchain is a methodology for enabling, recording and reconciling transactions across a completely transparent, ultra-secure distributed digital ledger. While its origins are rooted in the world of finance, blockchain technology has the potential to revolutionize the way we conduct business in industries ranging from healthcare to shipping and more.

M&A activity in the world of "all things related to cloud" didn't disappoint in 2017. While there was only one blockbuster cloud service provider acquisition, it seemed like every week we saw a new merger or purchase in the news. Many of these were the purchase of cloud-related service companies by traditional enterprise hardware and service companies looking to move their businesses into the cloud era.