A Truckload of Excitement for IT This Season

by Christine Cignoli on December 02, 2016

In re:Invent 2016 news this week, Amazon Web Services announced Lightsail, its easy-to-deploy virtual private server service that hides all the underlying complexity from users. Did you think deploying cloud instances was easy already? Now it’s even easier and even more do-it-yourself, and at only $5, may make shadow IT purchases even more prevalent. We’ll look on the bright side, though, and instead hope for the service to make IT’s daily tasks ever more about innovation.

We’re always taken in by the really old-school techniques that come up in modern technology, and this one, also announced at AWS, is pretty good. Amazon’s new Snowmobile moves data to the cloud all at once, with a time-tested method that won’t clog up the network: a trusty 18-wheeler and a shipping container. It’s good to be reminded that there are limits to these complex data centers and networks we’ve set up. Plus, it brings back fond (?) memories of trucking tapes off-site for long-term data storage and backups.

More from the department of Things That Are Easy: defining the value of data integration, according to one cloud expert. That’ll be important as the maturing cloud allows for more big data projects. Data integration really boils down to having near-perfect information, which, in most industries, can make a big impact on decision-making, according to the piece. Building the case for a new tool isn’t always so straightforward, but these days it always comes down to how IT can contribute to business value.

Until next week, when we’ll still be mulling over which of these should top an IT wish list this holiday season. What’s on yours?