Mike Vizard

All posts by Mike Vizard

Mike Vizard has covered IT for more than 25 years, and has edited or contributed to a number of tech publications including InfoWorld, eWeek, CRN, Baseline, ComputerWorld, TMCNet, and Digital Review. He currently blogs for IT Business Edge and contributes to CIOinsight, The Channel Insider, Programmableweb and Slashdot. Mike blogs about emerging cloud technology for Smarter MSP.

Docker containers
How Docker containers accelerate cloud migrations

How Docker containers accelerate cloud migrations

By now most managed service providers are at least aware of Docker containers. But, far too many of them view Docker containers simply as a tool for building next-generation applications based on microservices. The most pressing use case for Docker...

/ March 27, 2018
Cloud security
Appreciating the complexity of cloud security

Appreciating the complexity of cloud security

It looks like IT organizations finally are starting to appreciate how difficult cloud security is to achieve and maintain. A new survey of 618 IT decision makers, conducted by Dimensional Research on behalf of Barracuda Networks, finds that 74 percent...

/ March 22, 2018
AI arms race
AI arms race bodes well for IT services providers

AI arms race bodes well for IT services providers

There’s a lot of hype about artificial intelligence (AI) applications that exceeds any reality. But, it is true that just about every application imaginable will soon be infused with machine- and deep-learning algorithms capable of automating a wide variety of...

/ March 20, 2018
cyber resiliency
MSPs need to focus more on cyber resiliency opportunity

MSPs need to focus more on cyber resiliency opportunity

Large numbers of managed security services providers are making a promise they know they can’t deliver on. There’s no such thing as perfect security. In fact, given the sophistication of social engineering attacks it’s probable malware is already lurking somewhere...

/ March 15, 2018
VoIP
VoIP services rapidly becoming table stakes for MSPs

VoIP services rapidly becoming table stakes for MSPs

Managed service providers tend to overlook voice communications as an opportunity, mainly because it’s a space that’s been dominated by telecommunications carriers for decades. There’s not a lot of love lost between carriers and MSPs, especially among MSPs that also...

/ March 13, 2018
Spiraling Cloud Costs Create Optimization Opportunity for MSPs

Spiraling Cloud Costs Create Optimization Opportunity for MSPs

The great paradox of cloud computing is that the primary reason most organizations embrace it is cost, and the number one issue they need to address after adopting cloud services is also cost. A new report from 451 Research drives...

/ March 12, 2018
More organizations starting to come to terms with need for cybersecurity help

More organizations starting to come to terms with need for cybersecurity help

When it comes it cybersecurity an increasing percentage of IT organizations are starting to realize they are pretty much sitting ducks. A survey of 1,300 IT and security professionals conducted by CyberArk, a provider of privileged account management software, finds...

/ March 6, 2018
MSPs are conflicted when selling managed security services

MSPs are conflicted when selling managed security services

Managed service providers (MSPs) often find themselves caught between two conflicting interests when it comes to cybersecurity. On the one hand they want to deliver cybersecurity services. But on the other hand, MSPs don’t necessarily want to seem to be...

/ March 1, 2018
Waiting for 5G Networking

Waiting for 5G Networking

A cast of thousands descended on the Mobile World Congress 2018 conference this week to await the arrival of 5G networking. The GSMA consortium that puts on the show estimates that by 2025 about 14 percent of all global connections...

/ February 27, 2018 / 1 Comment
Survey Suggests IT Leaders Are in Need of a Lot More Help from MSPs

Survey Suggests IT Leaders Are in Need of a Lot More Help from MSPs

It appears that more IT projects than ever are being built on a foundation of wishful thinking. A survey of 650 IT decision makers published this week by MuleSoft, a provider of an application programming interface (API) management platform, discovers...

/ February 22, 2018