Network Communications News (NCN) May 2017 | Page 4

EDITORIAL A virtual reality I f the key to business success is to concentrate on the things you do well, then outsourcing computing services and resources ‘into the cloud’ constitutes a natural next step for many businesses to take. A key feature of cloud computing, which is also known as virtualisation, is hardware consolidation, but there are also savings to be considered as businesses will have a smaller carbon footprint with less electricity and less air conditioning needed. Virtualisation, meanwhile, is fundamentally about efficiency and is as appropriate for small businesses as it is for multinational businesses. Virtualisation is not for the preserve of just the big corporates – if you’re a small business owner, Simon King, Editor running a virtual infrastructure makes sense, because it means the business has got to spend less on IT – and they should get more bang for their buck, with less waste and more value. The cloud is a central pillar of Cisco’s overall business efforts and the company has recently made two interesting announcements in its IoT space, including a new hardware platform and a collaboration with Microsoft on hybrid IoT solutions. Through the Cisco/Microsoft collaboration, Azure IoT Suite will be able to connect to Cisco Fog deployments, which Cisco hopes will give its customers added value through an integrated solution. Microsoft thinks there is a natural balance between the cloud and the edge in IoT. There is no doubt that the cloud is a natural place to manage IoT devices, to collect data from them, gain insights using analytics and then operationalise those insights. Edge is a natural place to collect, optimise and react to data with low latency based on the insights generated in the cloud. In this way, cloud and edge work together to help IoT reach its full potential.’ IoT, cloud and IoT edge will continue to play a critical role in digital transformation and it will be interesting to see how these two giants work together, with Cisco able to bring the value of Microsoft’s IoT technologies and solutions to even more customers. NEXT TIME… Standards & training Green IT The June issue of Network Communications News will contain two major features as well as its regular range of features and news items. This month’s features will be Standards & Training and Green IT. It will comprise major articles and a comprehensive product round up which will be used as a reference point by network cabling infrastructure installers, integrators and end users. To make sure you don’t miss the oppor tunity to adver tise your products to t his exclusive readership, call Francesca on 01634 673163 or email [email protected] 4 | May 2017 Network Communications News