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SpiceWorld 2018’s Spice Buddies and Cool Vendors (video)
Hey frugal networkers, I hope you’re having a great October. Yes, it’s been a while since I posted but that hiatus ends today. I went to SpiceWorld 2018 last week and spoke to a lot of cool people, saw Frank Abagnale speak, and met up with the planet’s coolest vendors. SpiceWorld is the annual tech conference hosted by Austin’s own Spiceworks. If you go to one tech conference per year, this needs to be that one. Check out Spiceworks and its array of free software and awesome community.
This year’s cool vendors are:
I hope you’ll check out my cool vendors list and try out their products and services. I selected from the long list of vendors that attended and thought that these had something special to offer. I love startups and this year, Automox, Backblaze, and Infocyte got my attention. Of course, my “Vendor to Watch” is Pulseway. Trusted Tech Team is an MSP that gets a lot of 5-star reviews. Let me know what you think of my selections.
Thanks to the Spiceworks marketing and executive teams for another great SpiceWorld!
*Disclaimer: I didn’t choose who did the spotlight interviews. The vendors self-selected.
The Future of IT: Hype vs. Reality
Spiceworks launched a new report today –Future of IT: Hype vs. Reality – that examines organizations’ adoptions plans of emerging technology like IoT, AI, VR, and 3D printers and the expected impact in the workplace.
The survey results show that among these emerging technologies, IT pros expect IoT devices and AI technology to have the biggest impact in the workplace. They don’t expect mass adoption to take off for VR and 3D printers, but some industries have significantly higher adoption rates than the industry average.
Key findings:
- Artificial intelligence
o Apple Siri is most commonly used in the workplace, but Cortana expected to overtake Siri in next 12 months
o Over next 5 years, 60% of companies plan to adopt machine learning; 72% plan to deploy business analytics with AI; 32% plan to deploy self-learning robots
- Internet of things
o As with AI, security is the top concern with IoT in the workplace
o Healthcare industry has highest adoption rate for IoT at 28% with an additional 50 percent planning to adopt it
- Virtual reality
o Only 7% of companies use VR and 13% plan to adopt it; Construction/engineering industry has highest planned adoption rate at 27%
o Cost is biggest barrier to adoption; security/privacy is the least concern
o IT pros surveyed named Oculus the most innovative leader in VR
- 3D printers
o Only 11% of companies use 3D printers and 22% plan to adopt them; Education industry has highest current adoption rate at 45%
o As with VR, cost is biggest barrier to adoption and security is least concern
[Ken’s Notes]
This report, like all reports from Spiceworks, is excellent and accurate. There’s a lot of hype around virtual reality (VR) tech and it will have some adoption in universities and in specialty businesses, but for most of us, don’t invest too heavily in anything VR-related. Most businesses don’t need VR and those that do, already have it in some form.
One point I disagree on, and it’s not uncommon for me to do so, is artificial intelligence (AI). For the past many* years, I have thought that AI would be the one technology that really surpassed all the others in terms of adoption, especially for voice-controlled applications, like Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. I’ve waited for 20 years for a decent voice-recognition program so that I don’t have to type, but can just dictate. Yes, I know about Dragon, and it’s pretty good. But I want something that’s truly ready for prime time.
For me, voice recognition is the first step in AI. Once you have voice recognition, then you can create programs to respond to commands and to perform complex functions. I need for it to be better than my R2D2 robot and the current state of Siri, Alexa, and Cortana. There are a lot of applications for voice recognition, but we just haven’t tapped into them yet.
Overall, this is a very thorough report. I like the visual statistics and the comparisons. I think that you’ll find it enlightening. Use the Comments section to tell me how closely these statistics come to your reality.
*many – A bunch. More than I’m going to tell you about.
Spiceworks Cloud-Based Help Desk Application Goes Mobile
AUSTIN, Texas — April 28, 2016 — Spiceworks, the professional network for IT, today announced IT professionals can deploy and manage its cloud-based help desk solution on smartphones and tablets via the Spiceworks Help Desk mobile app. Today’s announcement also includes new features to the cloud-based help desk, including service level agreement (SLA) ticket alerting, an IT Knowledge Base, and Spiceworks App Center integration. Collectively, Spiceworks provides a feature-rich help desk solution that can be deployed and managed in a way that works best for the IT professional.
“The IT professionals in my department are often running around the office supporting employees so it’s historically been difficult to address urgent user requests when we’re not at our desks,” said Brad Everts, IT supervisor at TW Garner Food Company. “The mobile app for Spiceworks’ cloud-based help desk gives us the flexibility to open, respond to, and close tickets from wherever we may be.”
Mobile support for Spiceworks’ cloud-based help desk builds on existing capabilities for the on-premises version and provides the same capabilities IT professionals need to support their growing businesses, including unlimited admin and end-user seats, no hosting or storage costs, ongoing updates, and free support. With the mobile app, IT professionals can also receive push notifications on their mobile devices to stay on top of help desk tickets while on the go.
In addition to the push notifications, new features for the cloud-based help desk solution include:
- SLA ticket alerting allows IT professionals to create rules that will notify them when tickets are not responded to in a timely manner or closed in a pre-determined amount of time.
- User portal updates include Active Directory integration to automatically add end users, authenticate users in the portal, and tag them to tickets.
- IT Knowledge Base integration with the Spiceworks Community will be available soon for the cloud-based help desk, enabling IT professionals to easily access and share critical how-tos and tech tips with their colleagues.
- Spiceworks App Center integration enables IT professionals to customize and extend their help desk with more than 150 third-party apps to add new features and functionality.
“We’re focused on helping IT professionals become more efficient by enabling them to run their help desk entirely from their phones or tablets,” said Sanjay Castelino, VP of Marketing at Spiceworks. “With a tool that’s easy to deploy and use on the go, IT professionals can now support their growing business in a way that works best for them.”
The Spiceworks Help Desk mobile app is available for download today on iOS- and Android-based smartphones and tablets.
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About Spiceworks
Spiceworks is the professional network millions of IT professionals use to connect with one another and thousands of technology brands. The company simplifies how IT professionals discover, buy, and manage an estimated $600 billion in technology products and services each year. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks is backed by Adams Street Partners, Austin Ventures, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Goldman Sachs, Shasta Ventures and Tenaya Capital. For more information, visit http://www.spiceworks.com.
Follow Spiceworks on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spiceworks and connect with Spiceworks on Facebook:http://www.facebook.com/Spiceworks.
Spiceworks is a registered trademark of Spiceworks, Inc. All other names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
Overwhelming Majority of IT Professionals Still Running Windows XP As End-of-Life Nears (Survey Results)
AUSTIN, Texas – December 18, 2013 –Spiceworks, the vertical network for IT, today announced the results of a new report exploring the plans, considerations and issues IT professionals are addressing as Windows XP end-of-life (EOL) nears. The study, “Getting Over Your XP,” revealed that 76 percent of IT professionals run Windows XP on some devices today, and of those, 36 percent will leave Windows XP on at least one device as the operating system EOLs. The independent study was sponsored by CDW, a provider of integrated information technology solutions.
“The data clearly illustrates how prevalent Windows XP remains 12 years after its initial release,” said Kathryn Pribish, Voice of IT program manager at Spiceworks. “The next four months will be a busy time for the majority of IT professionals migrating XP-based systems and for the vendors who can provide professional services and support for resource-strained IT departments.”
Survey highlights include:
IT professionals clearly favor a migration to Windows 7
- Ninety-six percent of IT professionals said they’re running Windows 7 on their network today compared to 42 percent running Windows 8 or 8.1, and 30 percent running Apple’s OS X.
- Of those IT professionals who still run Windows XP on company desktops and/or laptops, 49 percent plan to upgrade at least some of their devices to Windows 7, while seven percent of IT professionals plan to upgrade to Windows 8 or 8.1.
- Forty-eight percent of the IT professionals who still run Windows XP on company desktops and/or laptops plan to decommission some of these devices and purchase new Windows 7-based machines. Twelve percent plan to decommission and purchase Windows 8 or 8.1-based devices.
- Seventy-four percent of IT professionals cited the importance of “maintaining a similar user experience” as the primary reason why they’re planning to upgrade to Windows 7-based devices.
IT professionals expect bumps along the migration road
- When IT professionals were asked why they haven’t already migrated their company’s XP devices, 55 percent cited a lack of budget, 39 percent referenced a lack of time, and 31 percent said they didn’t have the resources needed.
- Sixty-eight and 59 percent of respondents have already started the process of upgrading device operating systems or purchasing entirely new devices respectively.
- Seventy-four percent of respondents are “somewhat,” “very” or “extremely” confident their XP migration plan will work, while 26 percent are “not very” or “not at all” confident in their plans.
“Organizations currently maintaining PCs on Windows XP need to understand that they will put their networks and data at high and increasing risk if they continue to use it after Microsoft discontinues support in April,” said Scott DeTota, senior director, product and partner management, CDW. “Upgrading to a more current version of Windows, though, also brings the benefit of newer, more powerful functionalities as well as improved security and productivity. CDW is prepared to help our customers work through the decisions they need to make and help them capture the benefits of upgrading their systems.”
Methodology
The survey was conducted in October 2013 and included more than 1300 respondents. Eighty-five percent of respondents were from North America and 15 percent from EMEA. Respondents represented a variety of industries including manufacturing, healthcare, education, government, finance and IT service providers.
About Spiceworks Voice of IT
The Spiceworks Voice of IT market insights program publishes statistics, trends and opinions collected from IT professionals worldwide. More than 620,000 IT professionals in over 100 countries have joined the program to share information and feedback on the technology issues important to them.
About Spiceworks
Spiceworks is the vertical network for IT more than 4 million IT professionals use to connect with one another and over 2,700 technology brands. The company simplifies how IT professionals discover, buy and manage more than $500 billion in technology products and services each year. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Spiceworks is backed by Adams Street Partners, Tenaya Capital, Institutional Venture Partners (IVP), Shasta Ventures and Austin Ventures.
For more information visit http://www.spiceworks.com.
Follow Spiceworks on Twitter: http://twitter.com/spiceworks and connect with Spiceworks on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/Spiceworks.
Techopedia
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Datamation
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