The Challenges and Opportunities of Big Data in Cybersecurity

While big data is a challenge to defend, big data concepts are now applied extensively across the cybersecurity industry.
by Maria Korolov via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Apple Is Set to Unveil Software That Helps Cure IPhone Addiction

Apple engineers have been working on an initiative dubbed Digital Health, a series of tools to help users monitor how much time they spend on their devices and inside of certain applications. These details will be bundled into a menu inside of the Settings app in iOS 12, the likely name of Apple’s refreshed mobile operating system.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

IBM Builds New Ultra-Fast Platform for Hoovering Up and Analyzing Data from Anywhere

Says new Cloud Private for Data "enables real-time analytics like never before."
by Christine Hall via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

5 Key Considerations When Selecting a Public Cloud Service

What the Gartner IaaS Magic Quadrant tells us about enterprise cloud buying decisions.
by Nicole Henderson via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

How Microsoft is Keeping Its Cloud More Efficient Than Your Data Center

Data center design, hardware design, and operational efficiency combine for a dramatic reduction in energy use.
by Mary Branscombe via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

First Line of Defense in U.S. Elections Has Critical Weaknesses

With congressional primaries already underway, and elections planned next month in almost two dozen states including California, New York, New Jersey, Virginia and Iowa, administration critics say not enough has been done to harden the U.S. election infrastructure against attacks like those seen in 2016.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

The Rise of Cryptojacking: Virtual Currency Mining Malware Gets More Sophisticated

Fortinet has found that virtual currency mining malware is affecting more and more companies, and the malware tools themselves are getting more diverse.
by Jeffrey Burt via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Box Pitches New Multi-Zone Feature to Help With GDPR Compliance

Multizone support will allow Box users to address data residency and compliance requirements to meet GDPR and other regulatory obligations.
by Christine Hall via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Box Offering Multizone Support to Help With GDPR and Other Regulations

Multizone support will allow Box users to address data residency and compliance requirements to meet GDPR and other regulatory obligations.
by Christine Hall via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

GDPR Is Here: Mess Up and We'll Fine You, Says Privacy Chief

Mess up now and you can expect very little tolerance, warns Andrea Jelinek, the Austrian in charge of policing the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation, or GDPR, which took effect on May 25.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Admins Aren't Patching Open Source Says Black Duck Security Report

According to the latest Black Duck security report, the average unpatched vulnerability running on data center servers is six years old.
by Christine Hall via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Alexa's Snafu Should Be a Turning Point for Tech

Whether it's the fault of coding gone wrong or well-intentioned engineers disconnected from public norms (like privacy or the supremacy of man over machine), too often the darkest sci-fi imagining of the future of technology turns out to be the right one.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Open Source IoT Is Growing in Importance

Partnerships have long been a hallmark for the Internet of Things in enterprise, but, increasingly, an Open Source IoT ethos is taking root.
by Brian Buntz via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Qualcomm Is Said to Unveil Dedicated Chip to Run VR, AR Headsets

Qualcomm Inc. plans to unveil a dedicated chip to power standalone virtual-reality and augmented-reality headsets as it seeks to break into new businesses beyond smartphones, according to people familiar with the matter.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Giving Low-Tech Industrial-Grade Cyber Defense Its Due

Old-school cyber-defense strategies based on careful risk analysis can be invaluable.
by Brian Buntz via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Simplify Remote Access for Home Labs and Offices with Veeam PN

Veeam PN Version 1 is a lightweight SDN appliance that is completely free to use.
by Veeam Guest Blogger via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

VMware, Okta Unveil Pact to Take on Microsoft in Mobile Security

Joint customers will be able to use VMware’s digital workspace platform and Okta’s software that enables secure logins to access business smartphones, laptops, tablets, cloud applications and network information.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

HP Enterprise Tumbles on Earnings Outlook That Fails to Inspire

HPE’s forecast wasn’t encouraging enough right before the company is about to move into the seasonally weaker July quarter. And while second-quarter results were good, it was less of a beat than the first quarter, he said.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Giving Low-Tech Industrial-Grade Cyberdefense Its Due

Old-school cyberdefense strategies based on careful risk analysis can outperform newer “cyber-hygiene” initiatives.
by Brian Buntz via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Microsoft Will Share Data, Tools to Speed Chinese AI Development

Microsoft Corp. will set up an open platform with four of China’s most prestigious universities to share its data and tools on artificial intelligence, quickening efforts to try and wrest clients away from local giants.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Samsung Will Open AI Research Center in Cambridge, England

Samsung joins a number of technology companies ramping up research into artificial-intelligence around the globe. Facebook Inc. announced the opening of two new AI labs, in Pittsburgh and Seattle, earlier this month. DeepMind, the London-based artificial intelligence company owned by Alphabet Inc., announced the opening of a new lab in Paris in March and last year expanded in Montreal and Edmonton, Alberta, in Canada.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

IoT World Q&A: IoT Adoption Is Risky, but Not Deploying It Is Riskier

IoT adoption may have not kicked into high gear, but the biggest risk in IoT is not trying at all, said Avnet exec Lou Lutostanski in a recent interview at IoT World.
by Brian Buntz via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Biggest Web Security Vulnerabilities Haven’t Changed Much – And That’s Not a Good Thing

After 15 years, the OWASP Top 10 list remains largely the same
by Maria Korolov via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

7 Things to Consider When Making IoT Infrastructure Decisions

Experts highlight some big questions companies should answer before jumping into an IoT project.
by Yevgeniy Sverdlik via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

What's new in SharePoint Online, Microsoft 365 and SharePoint Server 2019

This week, the big event of the year is happening in the SharePoint space. SharePoint Conference in Las Vegas. During a couple of days from May 21 to May 23, Microsoft and some world-class speakers are announcing exciting news and features that are happening in the SharePoint space.

This blog post aims to give a recap of the most interesting announcements and features we've learnt about so far.

First off - the introductory stats about SharePoint is pretty incredible. I remember back in 2006 when I started my journey in the SharePoint landscape. A LOT has happened since!

Wow! #SharePoint is used by 400 000 organizations and 70% of them are in the #Office365 cloud! #microsoft365 - WOW! pic.twitter.com/X2sMhlc5E1

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

• 400 000 organizations are on SharePoint
• 70% of all seats are in the cloud
• 135 million active users in Microsoft 365

Compare this to when BPOS launched its first preview about 9 years ago ;)
https://twitter.com/zimmergren/status/974383219939467264

Anyway, here's some of the recent announcements I really liked from the first day of the conference along with some of my thoughts.

General SharePoint Updates

List Creation is getting a major update

I am fairly certain that anyone working with lists and libraries on a daily basis will find these announcements very welcome. List creation is getting a major update, and allows for a more powerfull and easy list creation process.

#SharePoint is getting a revamped list creation experience. It's a new, pretty slick UX. More power to SharePoint lists. Right?#Microsoft365 #Office365 pic.twitter.com/gAWZRNZIPE

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

Copy and Paste from Excel into a SharePoint List. YES!

One of the things that was announced is the simplicity and ease of which you can now copy rows from an Excel-sheet directly into a SharePoint list. Good bye old datasheet views, welcome native support for copy-paste from Excel.

I don't think I have to explain how much we've wanted to see this capability come true, and become easier than ever before. Well done Microsoft. Now let's hope it's as good in action as it is in the demo.

Okay THIS is REALLY useful. I needed it 7 years ago, but now it's here! Copy and paste from #Excel into a #SharePoint list, natively. #Microsoft365 #Office365 announced by @cmcnulty2000 at #SPC18 pic.twitter.com/GScCbYayOE

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

Row formatting coming to lists

As Maarten pointed out, Lists will also come with other new capabilities like row formatting to easier make your lists render the data as you want them to.

Cool! Row formatting coming to #SharePoint lists soon! #SPC18 pic.twitter.com/6oj9uhsaci

— Maarten Eekels (@maarteneekels) May 21, 2018

Tag Pages with Metadata

Dan Holme announced that SharePoint will get tagging of pages with metadata. It does indeed look pretty slick and simple.

#SharePoint gets tagging of pages with metadata! #Microsoft365 #Office365 as heard by @danholme at #SPC18 pic.twitter.com/oRkaBhcajt

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

Updated SharePoint Mobile experience/app

The #SharePoint mobile app is getting some big updates. Simplified, revamped and easier. #Office365 #Microsoft365 pic.twitter.com/2gozyBYtJv

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

Improved file activity, usage tracking and stats for files

File activity, usage tracking, stats for files and items.#Microsoft365 #Office365 #SharePoint and #OneDrive is getting a really hot list of improvements. Announced at #SPC18 by @aaronlrimmer pic.twitter.com/2JdpP6outR

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

Image analysis in SharePoint

One pretty interesting feature is the new image analysis. Images uploaded into Microsoft 365 will automatically be scanned (and possibly recognized).

Administration

SharePoint Admin Center - Revamped

This is very welcome news. The Admin Center for SharePoint Online has for a long time been pretty bad. Really bad, in many ways. With the recent announcements for an improved admin center (which we've been able to test a bit already), they also announced a -very- welcome addition: Better Site Management!

The #SharePoint Admin center is getting a revamped experience. Not a day too late if you ask me. Great to see this improvement. For example, here's the site management (a LOT of improvements vs. old)#Microsoft365 #Office365 #SPC18 pic.twitter.com/Vwh02dkmGJ

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

Development and Extensibility

Dynamic Data and Azure-Connected Web Parts

Creating engaging pages using connected web parts and extensions. This is what the messaging was for some new improvements in the extensibility model of SharePoint. I'm really excited about seeing this in action, and to see this come full-circle. Developers today can leverage many technologies, and the easier it becomes to integrate with data and services in the Azure stack, the lower the bar becomes for new developers to embrace these new workloads. This is good news.

Coming soon in #SharePoint, announced by @vesajuvonen at #SPC18: Dynamic Data and #Azure connected Web Parts and Extensions. #Microsoft365 #Office365 bring on the modern world! pic.twitter.com/j0d4wTODbG

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

Automatically run scripts when joining a Hub site

When you join a site to a hub site, it by default inherits the theme of the hub site. With the recent announcements, new capabilities will offer Site Scripting methods to help with things like:

• Enforced permissions
• Shared metadata
• Preferred content management
• Brand elements
• Policies

Associate a site with a Hub easily. Also, add scripts to run when you join a hub site! Yay for more customization scenarios! #SharePoint #Office365 #microsoft365 as heard on #SPC18 pic.twitter.com/dU1ncxUQUn

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

See the link section at the end of this post for references and more information.

Mixed Reality (MR) in SharePoint

SharePoint Spaces has been announced

SharePoint Spaces was announced. I guess my only comment on this right now is to see where the train goes.

So, #SharePointSpaces. For everyone (?), powered by AI and extensible. #SharePoint #Microsoft365 #Office365 pic.twitter.com/f4QCPm4s2u

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

SharePoint Server

SharePoint Server 2019 goes GA during the fall 2018

Microsoft announced that SharePoint Server 2019 will hit GA by fall 2018. Exciting news for anyone who is still running their SharePoint deployments in-house and on-premises.

#SharePoint Server 2019 is coming as a preview this summer, and aim to release by this fall. #OneDrive files on demand, Modern Sites, Communication sites, improved hybrid scenarios. #Office365 #microsoft365 #SPC18 @jeffteper says they advocate cloud first, but support on-prem! pic.twitter.com/iasbYmNYPs

— Tobias Zimmergren (@zimmergren) May 21, 2018

Communication sites comes SharePoint Server 2019

The "Modern Experience" isn't just about running in the cloud anymore. With SharePoint Server 2019, communication sites can now also be created and configured on-prem.

SharePoint Server 2019 gets the best from Office 365

As Bill Baer says, Microsoft is using the cloud as a baseline - and brings the best things over to SharePoint Server 2019 as well.

Things like:

• Communication Sites
• Team News
• Modern Team Sites (and thus, modern Lists and Libraries)
• SharePoint Home
• Next Generation Sync Client (NGSC) for OneDrive
• Better Hybrid support
• PowerApps and Flow support

While I live in the cloud most of my time, a lot of organizations I talk to are still on-prem, and these announcements will probably be pleasing to hear.

Links

• What's new for your intranet in Office 365 - by Mark Kashman
• SharePoint innovations transform content collaboration with mixed reality and AI
  
• SharePoint Spaces Video
• Enrich your SharePoint Content with Intelligence and Automation
• Welcome to SharePoint Server 2019, a modern platform for choice and flexibility

by Tobias Zimmergren via Zimmergren

Americans Are More Worried That AI Will Hurt Jobs Than Help Them

A Brookings Institution survey offers fresh fodder for the debate, showing opinion is heavily tilted against AI at a time companies are increasingly looking for ways to include it in everything they do.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

How Can Pre-Trained Neural Networks Boost Image Classification?

Pre-trained neural networks have the potential to offer significant time savings and advance the development of image classification models.
by Jasmine Morgan via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

IoT World Q&A: IoT Adoption Is Risky, but Not Deploying IoT Is Riskier

IoT adoption may have not kicked into high gear, but the biggest risk in IoT is not trying at all, said Avnet exec Lou Lutostanski in a recent interview at IoT World.
by Brian Buntz via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

`Sexiest Job' Ignites Talent Wars as Demand for Data Geeks Soars

People with data science bona fides are among the most sought-after professionals in business, with some data science Ph.Ds commanding as much as $300,000 or more from consulting firms.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

ITPro SnapShot: What Else Happened This Week? (May 11 - 18, 2018)

ITPro SnapShot offers a short and snappy round-up on the week's industry-related announcements and news around the globe. Here's what happened in the last week.
by Richard Hay via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Now is a Good Time to Consider Cloud Architect Career

Thinking about a cloud architect career? This job will be in high demand as organizations bring a digital transformation strategy to life, Gartner says.
by Nicole Henderson via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Q&A: IoT Adoption Is Risky, but Not Deploying IoT Is Riskier

IoT adoption may have not kicked into high gear, but the biggest risk in IoT is not trying at all, said Avnet exec Lou Lutostanski in a recent interview at IoT World.
by Brian Buntz via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

IoT World: The Edge is Getting Smarter, Smaller, and Moving Further Out

‘Data gravity’ means IoT of the future will be less like a collection of dumb connected devices and more like a distributed compute fabric.
by Yevgeniy Sverdlik via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

How to Benefit from Windows’ Ease of Access Features

Do you have trouble seeing small fonts or using a mouse or keyboard? Maybe you have issues with your vision or perhaps you’re suffering from carpal tunnel syndrome or another problem that makes it difficult to type or control your mouse? You can take advantage of the Ease of Access options in any version of Windows from 7 to 10.
by Lance Whitney via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Edge Computing in Focus, VMware Eyes Cloud Partnerships

VMware is looking to add more functionality to help deliver more integrated IoT infrastructure management capabilities.
by Courtney Bjorlin via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Achieve Continuous Availability: Bringing RPO/RTO to Zero

Date: Tuesday, June 19, 2018Time: 02:00 PM Eastern Daylight TimeDuration: 1 hour As organizations of all sizes move to 24/7/365 operation, the need for high availability storage continues to grow in importance. For decades, vendors have marketed solu
by via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Microsoft Wins Lucrative Cloud Deal With Intelligence Community

The cloud agreement gives Microsoft more power to make its case to the Pentagon as goes up against competitors like International Business Machines Corp., Oracle Corp. and Amazon for the agency’s winner-take-all cloud computing contract for up to 10 years.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

How IT Is Impacted By the Internet of Things

IT professionals have a vital role to play in helping to sculpt the economy of the 21st century and the Internet of Things can serve as a powerful tool in that quest. While such ideas may still seem abstract, the Internet of Things, an era of pervasi
by via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Microsoft Is Said to Plan Low-Cost Tablet Line to Rival IPad

Microsoft Corp. is planning to release a line of lower-cost Surface tablets as soon as the second half of 2018, seeking a hit in a market for cheaper devices that Apple Inc. dominates with the iPad.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Changing Lanes: Shifting Between Relational and Big Data Platforms

Date: Wednesday, June 20, 2018Time: 12:00 PM Eastern Daylight TimeDuration: 1 hour Sponsored by: Idera & Aquafold  Today’s IT faces a flood of new data streams, from eCommerce, mobile devices, social media, IoT, and other new technologies. To a
by via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Nvidia Data Center Chief: On-Prem GPU Deployments for AI Rising

Hyperscale cloud platforms are a big GPU market, but big enterprises often have reasons to keep AI infrastructure in-house.
by Yevgeniy Sverdlik via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Welcome to our family!

Microsoft Makes Bid for IoT Devices with Linux and CASB

Microsoft Azure Sphere may provide a way for enterprises to ensure IoT device security deployments through long life cycles.
by Tom Henderson via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Easing Edge Computing for DBAs Eyed with HarperDB Studio

A new interface for HarperDB’s IoT database allows for more visibility into and control over edge computing environments.
by Courtney Bjorlin via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

AWS Now Verizon's 'Preferred Cloud Provider'

Can you hear me now? Only two weeks after its Oath division adopted Amazon Web Services exclusively, Verizon goes all in with AWS.
by Christine Hall via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

IBM Executives Press U.S. Lawmakers Not to Adopt EU Privacy Law

The officials from International Business Machines Corp., who are scheduled to meet with about 200 members of Congress and staff members on Monday and Tuesday, are going to tell lawmakers the U.S. needs its own privacy framework and shouldn’t adopt the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), which goes into effect on May 25
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

As Workloads Change, ‘Scale Up’ Augments ‘Scale Out’ in Cloud Data Centers

Machine learning and big data analytics are making hyper-scale data centers less and less homogeneous.
by Mary Branscombe via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Is Windows Defender Mature Enough to Replace Third-Party Anti-virus/Anti-malware?

The need for comprehensive cybersecurity has skyrocketed. As IT pros roll out Windows 10, they are re-evaluating their need for third-party anti-malware.
by Adaptiva Guest Blogger via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Cloud Providers Target Developers with New Blockchain Applications

As CIOs struggle to see value in blockchain applications, cloud providers target developers with new offerings.
by Nicole Henderson via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Intel Documentation Blamed for Multiple Operating System Security Flaw

A security flaw affecting four families of operating systems as well as other software seems to be the result of misunderstood Intel documentation.
by Christine Hall via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google Builds Military Ties for AI Cloud Business as Staff Quit

Employees against the deal see it as an unacceptable link with a U.S. administration many oppose and an unnerving first step toward autonomous killing machines.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Facebook Suspends 200 Apps in Investigation Over Data Abuse

The company is examining apps that had access to user data before the platform’s policies changed in 2014, reducing the information they could access.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google, Microsoft Use AI to Tackle Corporate Email Inboxes

Google and Microsoft are embracing the idea that task management relies on communication, a lot of our task-based communication takes place in corporate email inboxes -- so why not use a workplace communication tool to complete those tasks?
by Lisa Schmeiser via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Best Linux Distros for DevOps Workstations and Servers

The best Linux distro for one company many not be best for another, but there are many good "out-of-the-box Linux distributions to choose from.
by Christopher Tozzi via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

SPJS Charts v7 BETA 3

I have fixed an issue with BETA 2 where I accidentally left a user group in the variable spjscharts_restrictAddNewChartToGroup in the SPJSCharts_loader.html like this:

var spjscharts_restrictAddNewChartToGroup = "TestGroup1";

This would prevent the add new chart button from showing. The default value here should be like this:

var spjscharts_restrictAddNewChartToGroup = "";

I have also removed a call to get the user profile for the current user because this failed in SP foundation where the user profile is not accessible.

You find information about SPJS Charts v7 and a link to download it here: http://spjsblog.com/2018/04/29/spjs-charts-v7/

Alexander

by Alexander Bautz via SharePoint JavaScripts

Forget Stuxnet, Even Simple IoT Hacking Can Disrupt

While advanced attacks like Stuxnet and BlackEnergy often get mentioned in IoT-hacking contexts, relatively simple attacks can cause outsized damage.
by Brian Buntz via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

ITPro SnapShot: What Else Happened This Week? (May 4 - 11, 2018)

ITPro SnapShot offers a short and snappy round-up on the week's industry-related announcements and news around the globe. Here's what happened in the last week.
by Richard Hay via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

$125 Million Richer, Mesosphere Tackles Big Data at the Edge

Whether it's autonomous cars, connected factories, or shipboard data centers, Mesosphere seeks to make multi-cloud hybrid connectivity easy.
by Christine Hall via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Dropbox Sales, Profit Top Estimates in First Post-IPO Report

Dropbox Inc.’s sales and profit topped estimates in its first quarter as a public company, lifted by growing corporate demand for paid versions of its cloud-based file-sharing software.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

IoT Analytics and AI Are Next for NYPA’s Energy Manager Program

As the New York Power Authority scales to accommodate more state buildings, the next iteration of its Energy Manager program will bring in more IoT analytics and AI.
by Courtney Bjorlin via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Obama-Era Net Neutrality Rules End June 11 as Challenges Proceed

The Federal Communications Commission’s Obama-era requirement that internet service providers treat web content equally will end June 11 and be replaced by new rules compelling them to disclose their practices.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google Grapples With `Horrifying' Reaction to Its Uncanny AI

Duplex emerged at a sensitive time for technology companies, and the feature hasn’t helped alleviate questions about their growing power over data, automation software and the consequences for privacy and work.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Don't Skype Me: How Microsoft Turned Consumers Against a Beloved Brand

Since acquiring Skype from private equity investors, Microsoft has refocused the online calling service on the corporate market, a change that has made Skype less intuitive and harder to use, prompting many Skypers to defect to similar services operated by Apple, Google, Facebook and Snap.
by via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google Brings Liquid Cooling to Data Centers to Cool Latest AI Chips

TPU 3.0 is 8x more powerful than last-year's chip
by Yevgeniy Sverdlik via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google Flexes AI Muscle, While Chasing Rivals at I/O Conference

Google introduced new products and technology upgrades at its annual developer conference that showed the internet giant lagging behind Apple Inc. and Amazon.com Inc. in some areas while driving home its superiority in artificial intelligence.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Nutanix Adds SDN to Its Hyperconverged Infrastructure

Also rolls out database deployment easy-button and public cloud management tool at its .Next conference
by Wylie Wong via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Iranian Hackers Expected to React to US Exit of Nuclear Deal

The 2010 Stuxnet attack against Iran has become a prime example of an IoT attack. Now that the U.S. has exited the Iranian nuclear deal, retaliation is likely.
by Brian Buntz via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Red Hat Eyes Enterprise Push, Stands Up Consulting Service

Red Hat is working with IBM and Microsoft to create closer ties to its OpenShift container platform. But how will this play in the channel?
by Tom Kaneshige via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Intel Exec Says Companies Need to Better Retain Diverse Talent

Intel Corp.’s Barbara Whye, the chipmaker’s head of diversity and inclusion, said that creating a diverse workforce is about more than just the new employees a company is hiring.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google's Assistant Will Now Book You an Appointment on Its Own

Google’s assistant is a central part of Pichai’s strategy to place the voice search tool on as many devices as possible, a race to catch Amazon.com Inc.’s Alexa system and Echo speakers.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Hybrid Cloud 101: What Business and IT Leaders Need to Know

While one can nitpick the many assumptions and interpretations regarding the exact meaning of “hybrid cloud,” there’s no denying that
the days of enterprises solely relying on monolithic, isolated private data centers are numbered. What’s less clear
by Kurt Marko via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google Stresses Responsibility of Tech Power With New Products

Google used the start of its annual I/O conference to highlight its responsibility over the impact of technology on society, unveiling new products that advance health care, limit digital device usage and promote trustworthy news sources.
by Bloomberg via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Google Building Cloud Data Centers Close to Swiss Banks

New GCP region located in Zurich, Switzerland is expected to be operational in 2019.
by Christine Hall via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Microsoft Unveils AI Stack for On-Premises Data Centers and Edge Computing Sites

‘Intelligent Edge’ solution combines rugged FPGA-powered hardware and Microsoft’s deep neural network
by Mary Branscombe via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Microsoft BUILD 2018: Day Two Keynote News and Notes

The second day of the developer-focused Microsoft BUILD 2018 conference offered one final keynote by Joe Belfiore, Corporate Vice President for Windows, and it focused on the developer opportunities around Microsoft 365. We dive in and take a closer look at the key news announcements from today’s keynote.
by Richard Hay via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Sands Shift for Docker Platform, Company--But by How Much?

The Docker platform gets an update with Enterprise Edition 2.0 just a month after the announcement of CTO Solomon Hykes' departure.
by Todd R. Weiss via IT Pro - Microsoft Windows Information, Solutions, Tools

Hubify: Create Hub Sites in SharePoint Online to 5 Steps to Improve Usability Series

The new site hubs already need to be demistified.  Much of the way people speak about hub sites is already incorrect understanding.  Hub sites are not a new template, but are simply an existing Team or Communication site or taking an existing site and enabling it.  Many don’t realize the Hubs have rolled out.  This is not a new template, this is a feature that can be enabled via powershell with new association UI coming soon.  You can read more about the release and information on Hub sites by Mark Kashman.

Hubs can improve your global navigation, rollup activities and provide search scopes…

The easiest way of verifying you’re ready to go is by running in powershell:

Get-SPOHubSite
This will lists hub sites or hub site information.

1. Scoped Search – If you search within the hub site, it will automatically provide results from all the associated sites.
2. Activity Webpart rollup of associated sites (This is a good way to determine if the hub was setup properly.)
3. News Webpart rollup of News from associated site (Now you know another reason why I suggest communication site)
4. Hub Navigation – Cross Navigation in the top nav bar to associated sites
5. Consistent Logo and information across all associated sites
6. Consistent look across all associated sites.  The simple “Change the look” option is what is used.

Personally I’ll be prescriptive for you and help you understand why.  While you can take an exisiting site and turn it into a hub site, it’s better to start with a new communication site… Why?  A new team site is a group and contains a lot more than you’d need for a hub.  You likely won’t need a planner, inbox, calendar, and other group items.  A communication site, focuses on the new modern interface with a simplified, but focused site.  An old classic site doesn’t have modern pages and also doesn’t have the new updated webparts.  While you can take an old site through the steps to get updated there are a few examples of reasons why.  Classic sites don’t have the new webparts like activity, and they don’t have the new pages which the new webparts should be listed on them.

1. Create a new Communication site.  Doesn’t matter which type, a Topic or Showcase is fine.

2. Add Activity Feed

3. Open powershell and add the Site as a hub.  There is currently no other way to do this other than in powershell for setting up the initial parent hub sites.

Register-SPOHubSite https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/Marketing

Note: You should not copy and paste powershell commands from the browser.  It’s often messed up due to the dashes not coming across properly.

4. Either Add News or make sure it is displayed.

5. On the child sites (If the UI is showing up) you can Click Settings (gear icon) > Site information > hub site association and select the desired hub.  You’ll only see the hubs you have permission to associate to. And then click Save. You will see the hub navigation appear above. The site itself will inherit the hub theme, and news and activities will begin to flow up to the hub site home page – along with a search crawl of content for any site associated to the hub site.In powershell associate a Site to the new hubsite.  Or you can do it in powershell.

Add-SPOHubSiteAssociation https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/Research  -HubSite https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/Marketing

NOTE: You can currently only add 50 Hubsites per tenant, but no maximum number of sites associated with any given hub.  A site can only have one parent hub site.

6. Gear/Settings – Change Look and Feel on parent – Once the hub site has been established, you’ll then want to further set it up and refine it for that organization –a preferred theme, so the hub site carries the right name and logo

7. Navigation – You should see the HubNav show up after some time.  Some may decide to call it sites or subsites, in a single label. You may need to move sites to subnavigation as you add sites. the preferred navigation elements, and the desired layout for news, sites and highlighted content. The navigation is NOT a webpart.  You won’t see how to configure that as it isn’t as intuitive.  Note there is a fix coming to add the nav to the hamburger menu when on smaller screens.

Note: Sites can only belong to one Hub. For example a site in Europe cannot belong to both the EU hub and the HR Hub.

8. Mobile – SharePoint hub sites have now been rolled out to 100% to all tenants worldwide in Office 365, including enterprise, education and government customers. Also, the SharePoint mobile apps have been updated in the production versions to fully support them

Troubleshooting: Once you’ve setup your associations it can take a couple of hours  or more after proper indexing to get the scoped search, navigation, and rollups working.  Don’t fret.  Search is used for rolling up News, Activities, and more.

Now that you’ve got lots of Hub Sites, you should plan on an Office 365 Home site… the parent of all HUBS.  We’ll talk about this one more later.

Key Powershell commands for setting up hubsites:

Register-SPOHubSite
Enables the hub site feature on a site to make it a hub site.

Register-SPOHubSite https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/Marketing

Add-SPOHubSiteAssociation
Adds a new association between a site and a hub site.

Add-SPOHubSiteAssociation https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/Research  -HubSite https://contoso.sharepoint.com/sites/Marketing

Bonus Related Powershell:

Remove-SPOHubSiteAssociation
Removes an association between a site and a hub site.

Set-SPOHubSite
Sets the hub site information such as name, logo, and description.

Get-SPOHubSite
Lists hub sites or hub site information.

Grant-SPOHubSiteRights
Grants rights to users or security groups to access the hub site.  You can do normal permissions.

Revoke-SPOHubSiteRights
Revokes rights for specified principals to a hub site.

Unregister-SPOHubSite
Disables the hub site feature on a site.

by Joel Oleson via Collabshow.com

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