Issuu

MOBILITY ISSUE

+ SPOTLIGHT ON A CHANGING WORLD

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2016

Real-Time

HEALTH Advances PM

40065710

also: Canadian Telecom Summit 2016

Musings from VMwareâ€™s Gelsinger

Shifting Workplace Trends

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CONTENTS Fe a t u r e s

14 Real-time health advances Patient data enters a whole new era

16 EMM delivery Workplace trends are shifting towards mobility.

18 Your desktops may be virtual

their back-end needs are real

Departments

Editorâ€™s Note Mobility Movements

4 6

New & Noteworthy 19

The Back Page 22

I n the Ne xt Issue member of:

>> Look Ahead 2017

www.connectionsplus.ca

September/October 2016

Connections+

EDIT O R ’S N O TE

Mobile advances are everywhere elcome to our third annual special mobility issue, which examines how mobile is changing not only the corporate landscape, but every industry imaginable. The effect is and will be so huge, that when combined with cloud advances Pat Gelsinger, CEO of VMware in an article that appears on p. 8 likens it to a massive tectonic shift. “In terms of the IT industry, none is as significant as the period that we are in right now,” he said during a recent press briefing in Toronto. “Consumer-driven technologies, the shift from on premise to off premise, the disruptive effects of mobile and mobile cloud, all of these are coming together.” The need to change is pervasive in all sectors, but particularly in the health care industry, the subject of a cover story, which describes how sensors, mobile devices and advanced machine learning capabilities are enabling new ways to track valuable patient data. An example of that is IBM Corp. and biopharmaceutical giant Pfizer, which recently announced plans for the development of a remote monitoring solution, the two say could transform care for Parkinson’s patients. The author of the piece notes that advances in cognitive technology now make it possible to measure the tremors the disease cause, through a wearable sensor on the elbow or

wrist. Wearables can also track sleep and level of activity. Mobile advances were certainly on the minds of the 16,000+ delegates who attended the 2016 Microsoft Worldwide Partners Conference (see p. 10) and of course, executives attending the 2016 Canadian Telecom Summit (see p. 6). It is something Michael Murphy, country manager of Citrix Canada, writes about (see p. 16) in an article on Enterprise Mobility Management. Clearly, there is no stopping this movement. Murphy points out that a recent survey by his firm found that 64% of Canadian employees believe the traditional 9-5 office setting is becoming something of the past. “With the evolution of smartphones and tablets employees can manage their time differently an work from almost anywhere,” he writes. “What’s more, almost half would trade perks, hours or pay at their current job to work in a more flexible environment. What is surprising is that nearly a third of Canadian IT decision makers feel that enterprise mobility is a passing trend. However, the shift towards and desire to work outside of traditional hours and locations are happening, regardless of whether or not IT embraces or encourages the concept.” For CEOs and CIOs that is definitely something to think about. C+

w w w. c o n n e c t i o n s p l u s . c a

Volume 4, Issue 5 September/October 2016

SPOTLIGHT ON A CHANGING WORLD

Editor Paul Barker 416-510-6752 pbarker@connectionsplus.ca

Advertising Sales Group Publisher John MacPherson – 905-713-4335 jmacpherson@annexweb.ca

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Brantz Myers, B.Sc Math and Computing Science Director of Healthcare Business Development, Cisco Systems Canada Co.

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Mob il e Mo v em ent s

Of Machines And People Canadian Telecom Summit 2016 speakers delve into the role both will play not only today, but well into the future By Paul Barker

here was yet another new buzzword that surfaced at the 14th edition of the Canadian Telecom Summit held recently in Toronto – The Exchange of Everything or EoE. Five weeks before appearing on stage to discuss EoE, David Walsh, president, CEO and chairman of Genband, posted a blog on the company’s corporate Web site in which he described a vision that merges the Internet of Things movement with Real Time Communications or RTC. It also formed the basis of his speech at an annual conference whose speaker content has morphed greatly over the years. “Where I see the world expanding into a completely disruptive realm is at the intersection of IoT and RTC – what I am calling the Exchange of Everything (EOE),” Walsh wrote. “Machines and people continue to live in more intuitively bonded ways – we can do just about anything on our smartphones, and with the combination of more powerful and affordable devices, bigger and better networks, easier and still secure access through cellular, Wi-Fi, mesh and more – exponential doesn’t even begin to describe the telecosmic growth over the next few decades. “When we bring every endpoint – and everybody – onto the Exchange of Everything – the opportunities for creativity and creating value are limitless. This is why we created Kandy. When real-time communications are embedded into how we live, we are no longer dialing the phone, but intuitively and almost invisibly living digitally.”

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September/October 2016

The theme of this year’s summit was Transforming Our Digital World: The Journey to Universal Connectivity, and to that end, Kandy, Walsh said in his speech, the firm’s communications Platform as a Service (cPaaS), can play a critical role. Genband defines it as a disruptive real time communications software development initiative designed to help companies build communications that are more integrated and immediate. The company is also bullish enough about Kandy that in early June it announced the opening of a new Cloud Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Ottawa. Paul Pluschkell, founder and CEO of Kandy, said that the appetite for embedded real-time communications is only growing, fueled by the Internet of Things and a recognition that contextual real-time communications are the best avenue towards value creation in today’s digital landscape. “The CoE will enable us to further propel our development of these solutions and Ottawa, aptly named the Silicon Valley of the North, allows us to draw on a tech-savvy talent pool while participating in a thriving ecosystem.” There is, Walsh said, in an interview with Connections+ following his speech, world-class talent in Ottawa that is every bit as good as Silicon Valley. “It was a logical place to put it. We are investing in the Kandy platform upwards of $25 million annually in R&D. This is in addition to the billion dollars worth of intellectual property that we have either created or purchased. www.connectionsplus.ca

Michal Tomaszewski / Pinpoint National Photography

David Walsh is shown during his keynote speech at the Canadian Telecom Summit. Real time communications, he said, is making everybody’s software applications more human.

Dragan Nerandzic, chief technology officer at Ericsson Canada: 5G will expand the growth curve for “every industry around us.”

M o b i le M o vemen ts

”

The applications that are most interesting are a combination of things and people. Things are being measured, but there is a person that is being engaged.

”

Summit co-founders Michael Sone (l.) and Mark Goldberg: ICT is the lynchpin of the global economy.

“We see an incredible demand for embedded real time communications. It’s like drinking from a firehose. We have serious pressure to develop real-time communications capabilities. Walsh added that real-time communications is making everybody’s apps more human: “When you make something more human you get better engagement. What we are seeing is that a lot of our engagement had been with IT people, but now we are seeing engagements into enterprises is more with the business heads. People who are running their business or marketing people who are promoting their business. “You don’t need to have technical skills to make things happen. “The applications that are most interesting are a combination of things and people. Things are being measured, but there is a person that is being engaged. It’s like Uber in the sense that there are a combination of things and people that are being put together.” Canadian Telecom Summit co-founders Mark Goldberg and Michael Sone likened such activity to a “big data world that relies on light-speed sharing of information for personal and commercial purposes. “The ICT sector is more than indispensable; it is the lynchpin of the global economy,” the two wrote in the conference show guide. “Not only does it continue to enable business and consumer interaction at the micro level, but also drives Canada to a leadership position in a global digital economy. “As always, technological innovation presents us with social and cultural implications that need to be considered. With the Internet of Things impacting all facets of the economy and with shifts in the nature of service and device competition, the next 12-18 months promise to maintain the heightened level of activity that has come to characterize the industry.” Dragan Nerandzic, chief technology officer with Ericsson www.connectionsplus.ca

Canada, pointed out in his presentation that 2015 marked the first time that the number of mobile devices was higher than the entire human population. He also shared findings from the latest Ericsson Mobility Report, which tied into Goldberg and Sone’s theory about IoT. According to the report, between 2015 and 2021 the number of IoT connected devices is not only expected to grow 23%, but within two years will overtake mobile phones as the largest category of connected device. Of the projected 28 billion total devices that will be connected by 2021, upwards of 16 billion will be IoT devices. There is, he added, consistency in the report’s projections. The industry is growing and the use of networks and the use of communications are growing rapidly, Nerandzic said. “What is amazing is that mobile communications is becoming the primary access to the Internet,” he said. “We see that the industry is in a very strong position to expand its addressable market and that market extends into the IoT space. “When you get into that space, you end up with completely different challenges. There are so many different types of usage and different types of devices and needs. It is not easy to address.” The inherent challenges are expected to spur on the rapid adoption of 5G, which Ulf Ewaldsson, senior vice president and Ericsson chief technology officer, recently described as the “biggest opportunity ever” for the telecommunications industry. 5G, said Nerandzic will also expand the growth curve for “every industry around us. They will all be supported by mobility.” Before that happens, he added, the allocation of spectrum must be addressed, “because without it you cannot build a network. In order to allocate spectrum you need policies in place. “5G trials allow us to determine what the minimum amount of spectrum needed will be and how much is practical.”C + September/October 2016

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Mob il e Mo v em ent s

Prepare for a wild ride, says VMware’s CEO Disruptive effect from mobile and the cloud will be massive: Gelsinger By Paul Barker

here is a tectonic shift in the ICT industry currently underway that shows no sign of slowing down, says Pat Gelsinger, the president and CEO of VMware. Gelsinger said during a recent press briefing in Toronto that every customer conversation he has covers one “of three topics and usually all three – security, cloud and mobility. And that, he added, is putting additional pressure on the entire IT department. He was in Canada for a business forum with 40 IT leaders to discuss the Pat Gelsinger, shown speaking at VMworld digital transformation movement and the 2016, says there is a tectonic shift under way. key technology issues they are facing. cure mobile environment is absolutely For any IT executive, Gelsinger likened it to being the best of times and huge. There are probably 100 million devices that have a secure managed the worst of times. “You have a lot of the harsh business environment on them and 2.5 billion derealities of the CEO calls, which is not vices that are unprotected. “What it will enable companies to good news and at the same time it is the best of times for IT for they are the do over the next decade will blow you most competent technology folks who away compared to what we have done can actually determine how to navigate over the last decade or two. It’s just going to pick up. Imagine if you were the this digital business future’’ he said. That future will be widely different guy writing the business plan for What’s App. I am going to deliver communicathan what currently exists today. “In terms of the IT industry, none is as tion to essentially half the population significant as the period that we are in of the planet in two years. Imagine if right now: Consumer-driven technolo- you had written that business plan 20 gies, the shift from on premise to off years earlier. It would likely cost half a premise, the disruptive effects of mobile trillion dollars because you would have and mobile cloud. All of these are com- to build the network, build the data cening together. Business models changing tres and populate all the devices. “Now, it took 50 people less than two from perpetual and capitalized to subscription, are creating such violent shifts years. That is the kind of enormous scale that everybody including us needs to and reach that we are going to enable.” Gelsinger, said the proposed Dellnavigate to the other side of that.” Every traditional IT vendor who has EMC merger of which VMware is a part been in this business for more than of, creates one of the three mega IT infour or five years and wasn’t born in the frastructure companies on the planet mobile cloud era needs to navigate to with the other being HPE and Cisco. “There will be continued industry conthe other side and deliver value to their solidation,” he predicted. “There are customers, Gelsinger added. “This whole space of enabling the se- too many storage companies, too many

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September/October 2016

switch companies, too many PC companies, too many server companies.” Such consolidation, said Gelsinger, will come about at the same time a myriad of technological advances will revolutionize how people work and live. ‘Let’s pretend this scenario: Tomorrow morning your phone goes off at 5:30. It says, ‘I have scheduled you an appointment because last night you had a heart abnormality. I am getting you up early today. I have uploaded all of your biometrics, DNA etc. We’ve run the database against all relevant DNA on the planet, you have an appointment with your doctor at 8 a.m. and your self-driving car is picking you up, I have pre-ordered Starbucks and because there is traffic I had to get you up early as well “Everything that I have just said will be realized within the next decade. Everything is being tied together – machine learning, business intelligence, analytics, connected devices, the ability to have an infrastructure that is literally infinitely scalable. This is changing the lives of the planet.” Meanwhile at VMworld 2016 held in late August, Gelsinger highlighted the massive adoption of cloud, but also pointed out there is a minimal connection across these clouds and businesses are grappling with this constraint. He also cited an August 2016 Economist Intelligence Unit global survey, commissioned by VMware, which found that the majority of its 600 respondents noted IT complexity is harming the operations of the enterprise. It also found that 36% of senior IT executives said that IT could not move fast enough to support business users. Cloud is contributing to this complexity and if not done right, can contribute to the inefficiencies as well, the report said. C+ www.connectionsplus.ca

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Microsoft outlines its digital vision at MWPC Worldwide partner conference draws record crowd to Toronto By Paul Barker

Delegates stream into the 2016 edition of the MWPC held at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre.

record 16,000+ delegates converged in and around the Metro Toronto Convention Centre in July for the 2016 edition of the Microsoft Worldwide Partners Conference, otherwise known as MWPC. The annual event, the Redmond, Wash.-based software firm stated is designed to inspire new thinking and drive new business opportunities across the partner ecosystem, which collectively account for 90% of its revenues. Enterprises, said Gavriella Schuster, corporate vice president of Microsoft’s worldwide partner group, are dealing with major disruptions in the way they work with the proliferation of mobile devices, the explosion of data, a growing number of millennials in the workforce and the ever-evolving landscape of threats to data security. Much of the discussion during the three-day event revolved around a key question every organization, regardless of size, must now answer, namely how best to implement their digital transformation.

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It was also a central theme of Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella’s opening day keynote speech held at the nearby Air Canada Centre. “As a percentage of GDP, IT is a healthy 5%, which is fantastic and it’s growing at around 8% CAGR so by itself we are lucky to be in information technology as the world is digitizing,” he said. “But when you look ahead, you see that every place where today there is operating expense, there are increasing levels of automation, increasing drives for productivity, increasing drives for efficiency, which mean opportunities for digital services and products from all of you. “Every city, every traffic light, every retail operation is going to be connected and digital. That is truly the opportunity in front of us. The entire GDP is being shaped by digital technology as we go forward. This represents a huge opportunity for everyone in this room.” The big news on Day One of the MWPC revolved around the www.connectionsplus.ca

M o b i le M o vemen ts

”

Every city, every traffic light, every retail operation is going to be connected and digital. That is truly the opportunity in front of us.

”

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella (l.) and Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, discussed digital transformation during Nadella’s keynote.

announcement of a major partnership between Microsoft and GE. Under terms of the deal, Predix, GE’s software platform which according to the company, ingests machine-grade data at scale and analyzes it to deliver outcomes, is now available on the Microsoft Azure cloud for industrial businesses. “Every industry and every company around the world is being transformed by digital technology,” said Nadella. “Working with companies like GE, we can reach a new set of customers to help them accelerate their transformation across every line of business – from the factory floor to smart buildings.” Nadella was joined on stage by Jeff Immelt, CEO of GE, who discussed how the multi-national has evolved. “Like most industrial companies, we have always had software engineers and things like that, but increasingly we saw that the nature of our technology was changing. That a jet engine was no longer a jet engine. A jet engine had 30 sensors and was taking a terabyte of data for each flight. “(Around) 2009-2010, we decided that industrial companies would become software companies. The nature of our products was changing and the nature of our customers was changing. We didn’t go to bed one night and dream, and say tomorrow we have to be Microsoft. We said to be a better industrial company we cannot allow our digital future to be created by others. “We invested massively in a digital transformation. Five years ago, the biggest goal was to outsource everything. Today, if you outsource all of your technology, all of your software, all of your notions on digital, you are going to lose and lose badly. The nature of the CIO is also going to change dramatically from a staff function to an operational productivity function. “If we can do it, you can do it. Not only must you change, but you can change, but it is going to take investments in culture, investments in technology and you are going to have to change the business model with which you interface with your customers. “We are in a line of demarcation for industrial companies. www.connectionsplus.ca

There is a past and there is going to be a future. The future will be derived on who digitizes the fastest.” Plans call for a developer preview to be released toward the end of the year with Predix on Azure being commercially available by the second quarter of 2017. During his keynote, Nadella also discussed a key Microsoft initiative moving forward – Conversations as a Platform (CaaP), which he said when it was released at the Build 2016 conference for Microsoft developers in San Francisco, pairs the power of natural human language with advanced machine intelligence. The key to the vision is the creation of intelligent bots. In early August, Gurdeep Pall, corporate vice president of Skype, wrote that “we envision a world where digital experiences mirror the way people interact with one another today. A world where language will become the new user interface, bots are the new apps, digital assistants are like meta apps or browsers and intelligence will be infused throughout all interactions. “We believe Conversations as a Platform will fundamentally change the computing experience.” While Microsoft hit a massive pothole with the release of a chatbot called Tay in March, which ended up tweeting what company officials called “wildly inappropriate and reprehensible words and images,” Nadella and other senior executives plan to press ahead. Nadella told his Toronto MWPC audience that “conversational interface is a new way on how computing is accessed. “Just like the browser of the past was born on the desktop PC, the Web was born on the desktop, these conversational interfaces will be born on the devices you use today as an additional entry point, an additional experience, but over time will fundamentally revolutionize how computing is experienced by everybody. It is time to start thinking about these bot interfaces.” Peter Lee, corporate vice president at Microsoft Research, wrote following the Tay fiasco that “looking ahead, we face September/October 2016

Connections+

Mo b i l e Mo v em e n t s

Gavriella Schuster, part of the Microsoft executive team, told MWPC delegates enterprises are dealing with major disruptions.

some difficult – and yet exciting – research challenges in AI design. AI systems feed off of both positive and negative interactions with people. In that sense, the human challenges are just as much social as they are technical. “We will do everything possible to limit technical exploits, but

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also know we cannot fully predict all possible human interactive misuses without learning from mistakes. To do AI right, one needs to iterate with many people and often in public forums. We must enter each one with great caution and ultimately learn and improve, step by step, and to do this without offending people in the process.” Meanwhile, Jason Brommet, director of partner business and development with Microsoft Canada, said during a roundtable with Canadian media that the importance of the partner channel is immense. “We sell solutions powered by Azure and our ability to get to that point is purely predicated on our partners’ ability and the willingness of our partners to adopt it as a technology set. “What we are trying to do is commoditize or democratize the core essence of the cloud and make it accessible to everyone. “We have to put it into context and the people who are best to do that are our partners. From mobile device to back-end, front office, back office, those are the things we care about. As consumers, that’s what we download is apps because they mean something to us or they solve a business problem.” As for how best to survive the digital revolution, Brommet had this piece of advice for all organizations, large and small: “If things change faster on the outside than they do on the inside, the end is near. It is the reality.” C+

www.connectionsplus.ca 2016-09-08 9:26 AM

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health advances Sensors, mobile devices, and advanced machine learning capabilities are enabling new ways to track and measure a host of valuable patient data.

By Nathalie Le Prohon

n July 2015, when StatsCan released its latest population estimates, it was revealed Canada had crossed a threshold and become, for the first time, a nation where people aged 65 years and older outnumbered children under 14. In fact, nearly one in six Canadians – or 16% of the population – was at least 65. By 2024, that number is expected to balloon to more than 20%. This likely comes as no surprise to our front-line health workers, who witness daily the ‘greying’ of the population and the impact

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shifting demographics has on an already taxed system. We’re facing fundamental challenges that impact the overall sustainability of healthcare services, driven not just by this aging population, but also increasing costs and an upsurge in chronic disease. In response, healthcare organizations are working to improve operational efficiency. Increasingly, these efficiencies are developed against a backdrop of rising expectations: seeking the same conveniences they encounter in other industries, today’s patients want personalized, transparent,

quality, integrated and convenient care. To provide the experience empowered consumers demand, healthcare organizations need to gain deeper consumer insights and explore new service models. Case in point – Pfizer, one of the world’s largest biopharmaceutical companies, recently announced plans for a first-of-its-kind research collaboration with IBM to develop a remote monitoring solution that could transform care for Parkinson’s patients. Parkinson’s Disease is a chronic degenerative neurological disease which affects – conwww.connectionsplus.ca

COVER STORY

servatively – 100,000 Canadians and is expected to dramatically increase its prevalence, as baby boomers age. Through a system of mobile devices and sensors, analyzed and augmented by advanced machine learning, Pfizer’s researchers and clinicians will receive objective, real-time, around-the-clock disease status information to help inform treatment decisions and speed the development of new and better therapies. Parkinson’s symptoms are debilitating, and worsen over time. This calls for repeatedly adjusting medication dosing and timing, or even rewriting the treatment plan completely. Typically, those treatment decisions are based on test results or symptoms witnessed during doctors’ visits, or gleaned from reading a patient’s own diary. Clearly, this provides an inconsistent and limited perspective of that patient’s actual experience and disease progression. But today’s highly instrumented world and advances in cognitive technology now make it possible to measure things like the tremors Parkinson’s causes, with a wearable sensor on the elbow or wrist. Motion sensors can measure a patient’s motor function by tracking their walking pace or the time it takes to button a shirt. Wearables can also accurately track sleep and level of activity. Speech analysis can help flag changes in cognition. Pfizer’s research is just one demonstration of how the Internet of Things has opened up a world of new possibilities for clinical research and disease treatment through remote monitoring. Sensors, mobile devices, and advanced machine learning capabilities are enabling new ways to track and measure a host of valuable patient data, all in real-time. In the U.S., Medtronic is creating a cognitive app designed to analyze real-time data from devices to help detect important patterns and trends for people with diabetes, and Emory University Hospital is creating an instrumented ICU using streaming analytics software to advance predictive medicine for critical patients in the ICU. Here in Canada, neonatal intensive care specialists at The University of Ontario Institute of Technology are relying on the same software to analyze more than 1,000 pieces of unique information per second flowing from sensors and equipment moniwww.connectionsplus.ca

toring premature babies, helping caregivers spot the onset of sepsis infections up to 24 hours earlier. But the application of mobile and remote monitoring technologies goes well beyond just research. Recently, there have been a number of iOS applications developed for patients and clinicians designed to reduce the strain on the healthcare system.

Two examples include: A suite of iPad apps for elderly patients aging at home. These use a specially designed, simple interface to connect elders with support staff, loved ones, community services and other providers. Some include built-in features such as Notifications, Alerts, Shared Family Photo Album and FaceTime to enhance interactions and keep family aware of a senior’s daily activities. Others go a step further, and incorporate remote communication, real-time alerts, and document management tools, so elder service providers can proactively interact with their clients. A suite of Apple Watch apps for hospital staff. Doctors can access Hospital MD, which provides access to more comprehensive patient data as well as task management tools and the ability to share and communicate with the care team. For nurses, there is Hospital RN, which also provides access to key information from integrated hospital records, and helps them prioritize tasks and stay connected to colleagues. Even nursing technicians have a custom app for their use, enabling access to updated patient data, and facilitating the coordination of tasks. In today’s healthcare environment, there is a compelling need to enable mobile and wireless communication. Lack of collaboration can result in poor decision making, inefficient clinician workflow and delayed responses to patients. Managing multiple, costly and increasingly disparate communications systems, such as paging, cellular, radio, nurse call and telephony, can impact the efficiency of clinicians and caregivers. Last year, Island Health in British Columbia, which provides health care to more than 765,000 people, ran a mobile communication pilot, aimed at improving clinician

communication efficiency, eliminating an obsolete technology and ultimately, improving patient care. “Practically every other industry has long since abandoned the pager in favour of smartphones,” says Dr. Sean Spina, clinical coordinator for Pharmacy with Island Health. “It was inconceivable to me that in healthcare, we are still reliant on them as the main communication device.” To test the hypothesis smartphones would improve the efficiency of communications among physicians, hospital pharmacists, switchboard operators, ICU nurses and unit clerks, IBM installed a new Vocera smartphone app that combines voice calls, texts, and alerts into one secure, legislatively compliant application. The system offered secure text messaging on a BYOD (bring-your-own device) iPhone, enabling clinicians to use their personal devices or corporate devices to text and share secure, encrypted digital information, store it securely in a data base, and automatically provide an audit trail to meet legislative requirements. Pilot results showed conclusively physicians responded significantly faster to pages when using the technology, and they felt communications were more efficient and contributed to better patient care. Most recently, the conversation has shifted away from mobile technologies that simply enable communication toward smart middleware capable of optimizing work flows in real time, and even automating both simple and complex processes, based on machine intelligence. We’re working with a third party to deploy “digital butlers” in one Ontario hospital that can apply logic to feeds of data from machines or systems and take action when a certain set of conditions are met. Those actions can include alerting a clinician, ordering tests or implementing a new process. Whether it’s a Vocera system, a digital butler, an app on an Apple Watch, or a sensor remotely monitoring and relaying physiological data, healthcare’s future efficiency lies in adopting technologies that enable clinicians to access, acquire, analyze and share medical data at a volume and velocity that has to this point been impossible. C+ Nathalie Le Prohon is vice-president, healthcare industry with IBM Canada Ltd. September/October 2016

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EMM: Delivering Security, Anywhere, Anytime By Michael Murphy

orkplace trends are shifting towards mobility. With the evolution of smartphones and tablets employees can manage their time differently and work from almost anywhere. Not surprisingly, a recent survey by Citrix Canada found that 64% of Canadian employees believe the traditional 9-5 office setting is becoming something of the past.

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What’s more, almost half would trade perks, hours or pay at their current job to work in a more flexible environment. What is surprising is that nearly a third of Canadian IT decision makers feel that enterprise mobility is a passing trend. However, the shift towards and desire to work outside of traditional hours and locations are happening, regardless of whether or not IT embraces or encourages the concept.

Often and without malicious intent, employees will choose the path of most convenience. This leads to using unapproved file sharing services or accessing corporate information from their personal devices – those same devices they use to download the latest apps of the moment. Take for example the phenomenon that is Pokémon Go, which quickly became the viral app of the summer. Even before it was officially www.connectionsplus.ca

F E ATURE

available, Canadians used a simple workaround to bypass the download restrictions, so that they too could catch Pokémon. But as quickly as Pokémon ‘lured’ in its Canadian audience, numerous risk factors also came to light. Not only did the app’s creator, Niantic, inadvertently gain permission to a player’s entire Google account, but players also had to deal with numerous fake Trojan-filled apps. Pokémon Go is yet another reminder of the threat apps on employee devices introduce to the workplace, if not properly vetted. With over 100 million downloads and counting, we can assume that at least some of the devices Pokémon Go runs on are the same mobile devices accessing corporate networks and e-mail across the globe. With this in mind, how does an organization ensure that while their employees are on the move, their company information will stay safe and secure? Given the recent influx of viral apps and the increased desire for employee flexibility, having that peace of mind and a guarantee that company data is not at risk is even more critical than ever. For companies looking to capitalize on the benefits of a mobile workspace, the strategy should be twofold; strong mobility policies coupled with Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) technology. EMM is a technology suite that securely manages mobile devices and corporate networks and systems, so that employees can use any device, anywhere, at any time. There are a number of control functions that can be found under the umbrella of EMM, including: • Mobile Device Management (MDM) which allows organizations to remotely manage a device – be it a smartphone, laptop or tablet • Mobile Application Management (MAM) which manages individual applications • Mobile Information Management (MIM) or Mobile Content Management (MCM) which is the management of the data and information being shared Through these tools, control of company apps and data is put back into the hands of IT as EMM gives IT departments control over the Five Ws of Access: Who is trying to obtain the corporation’s data? What data are they accessing? When is this happening? Where is the user? Why do they need the access? Through MDM, IT can strictly www.connectionsplus.ca

control exactly what a corporate device is being used for and have the ability to remote wipe, should any information become vulnerable (i.e. a device gets lost or stolen) no matter where it is located. With MAM, control is extended to any device used by an employee and keeps company data private by segregating corporate apps and data from any personal (think Pokémon and social media) apps an employee has downloaded. Through the tools provided by EMM, IT can keep strict control over data from both endpoints.

Ensuring successful adoption: Choosing a software suite is more than simply finding the best price. Without proper planning a company could find themselves purchasing software that provides unnecessary services and skimps on the essentials. An organization can determine its needs by establishing business goals and targets. Is the plan to mobilize only executives or certain roles? Or will the mobile policy extend to all staff? Will the company utilize corporate devices? If corporate devices will be used, a focus on MDM may be a better match for the company. However, if the company plans to embrace a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) environment, emphasis would be better placed on MAM. When selecting technology it’s important to make sure the software can support the goals of the mobile policy. In addition to sourcing the software that best suits the needs of the business, for optimal success and security in a mobile environment, it’s important to acknowledge the human element. As a best practice, organizations should educate employees on the mobile policy, including proper use of the technology and best practices for enhancing security. This includes but is not limited to clearly defining what is and isn’t considered sensitive, proprietary information, which positions or employees have permission to access the sensitive data as well as backing up the policy by defining an information life cycle and enforcing role-based access control.

Looking forward: While mapping out policies and selecting software, a particularly critical consideration must always be kept in mind – the future. Like all technology, EMM is rapidly

”

The shift towards and desire to work outside of traditional hours and locations are happening, regardless of whether or not IT embraces or encourages the concept.

”

evolving. Pairing the future capabilities of EMM with the future needs of the company can protect the company over the next five or 10 years. Passwords are a great example of how technology is evolving to better benefit businesses – passwords have long since been proven ineffective, and in response EMM is shifting towards the use of digital certificates which act as a ‘passport’ proving a user’s identity. Developers are also beginning to offer secure intranet apps, alleviating the stress for IT personnel who may be anxious about employees messaging each other sensitive information on unsecure consumer apps like WhatsApp. If the IT infrastructure isn’t scalable and developed in a way that allows for new, expanded use, the company risks having to rip and replace the infrastructure or pay for costly additions that could have been avoided with careful planning. Organizations should also consider future security needs as the company grows or expands to new markets. Ultimately, solely thinking of current needs will handcuff future growth capabilities. C+ Michael Murphy is the vice president and country manager of Citrix Canada. September/October 2016

Connections+

FEATU R E

Your desktops may be virtual; their back-end needs are real By Rob Lunney irtual end-user computing environments are becoming a standard component of the corporate IT landscape for a number of reasons. First, there’s the ever increasing volume of data. IDC predicts that by 2018, approximately 40 billion devices, including those carried by 3.8 billion mobile users, will produce about 6.75 TB of data per person a day. In other words, every two weeks, a single individual will generate as much data as the Hubble telescope has collected during its entire 25-year lifespan. Business users will increasingly want access to this data from anywhere, at any time, on any device. That’s an awful lot of data trying to make its way through the IT infrastructure. Then there’s the widespread introduction of untrusted devices, multiple operating systems, and consumer-oriented applications into what used to be a controlled IT environment. All of this creates a raft of potential security holes and data governance nightmares for hardpressed IT professionals and their CIOs. As a result, many are turning to virtual client computing, and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) in particular, to address these concerns.

The promise of VDI: The introduction of VDI programmes allow IT teams to securely and efficiently extend the corporate network to remote and mobile workers, delivering the desktop to whichever device they are using, with all components and information stored back in the data centre. As data is not stored locally it is therefore not at risk if hardware is lost, stolen or damaged, and business recovery processes are dramatically improved. In order for a VDI deployment to be successful, a proper scoping of the project and a strong supporting IT infrastructure are key ingredients. Put simply, the most successful VDI deployments are the ones that have a robust back-end infrastructure that can scale seamlessly to accommodate the data processing, storage and consistency demands of a highly available virtualized client environment. Very often, companies start by building their own VDI solution and then running a pilot with a limited number of users. When everything appears to be working well, they begin to roll it out across the business. That’s generally when the trouble starts. At around 1,000 users, many programs encounter the ‘VDI stall’, when the infrastructure is simply unable to scale further or accommodate growing needs for processing power and storage demands. This can be a critical point for VDI projects, with the possibility of failure made worse because, by this time, a lot of resources and budget could 18

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have been channelled into the initiative. Organizations attempting to centralize and run virtualized systems in the data centre can find themselves wrestling with the complexity of designing, implementing, and managing the infrastructure required to operate a highly available virtualized desktop environment. If they are unable to address these challenges, the end-user experience will suffer. This will impact employee adoption and ultimately the success of the implementation. This is the point when many organizations realize they need to take a long, hard look at the back-end infrastructure. Convergence has it covered: There are a number of reasons why a converged infrastructure is increasingly becoming a preferred platform for VDI. A converged infrastructure seamlessly integrates an organization’s computing, network and storage into a single system that is efficient, scalable, agile, simple to manage and resilient. These systems allow the supporting infrastructure to be easily tuned to the size appropriate for a given organization, which helps IT avoid VDI stall. It is therefore ideally placed to support and enable VDI projects, removing complexity, avoiding stall and delivering the same reliable, secure and consistent service to thousands of users, across multiple device types and geographies. The rapid scalability means that sudden peaks and storms in activity, for example at certain times of day, can be effortlessly accommodated without impacting the performance and response times for end users. In short, a converged infrastructure ensures that VDI offers users a high-quality secure experience, no matter where they are, what device they are using, or what else is going on at the time. Many organizations embarking on a VDI project quickly discover that they lack the skills and capability to design, implement and manage the system. An underpinning converged infrastructure means they don’t have to worry about any of that. A recent IDC Analyst Connection article identified the key benefits of solutions, including VDI deployments that are based on a converged infrastructure. It’s time to seize those benefits for your business, too. C+ Rob Lunney is sales director, Converged Platforms Division at Dell EMC Canada. www.connectionsplus.ca

New & Noteworthy

2 1

4 1. EXPLAIN EVERYTHING

2. MOBILE ACCESSORIES

3. HP INC.

4. LG ELECTRONICS

Explain Everything, Inc. has relaunched the iPhone and Android phone version of its interactive screencasting whiteboard, bringing an updated interface as well as real-time collaboration across all iOS devices. “This latest update brings back the iPhone and Android Phone interface of Explain Everything,” says co-founder and chief technical officer Piotr Sliwinski. “This means that you can always have the app with you and create quick ‘explainer’ videos and notes on the go. “ The firm adds that everyone from content creators to instructional designers can create rich multimedia content anytime, anywhere, and from any mobile device. For example, sales and communication experts can create and share brainstorm ideas, document and photo annotations and rapid product prototypes. It is available for iPad, iPhone, Android devices, Chromebooks, and Windows mobile devices. www.explaineverything.com

Mobile accessories company VRS Design has released their iPhone 7 case lineup, which it said provides everything avid iPhone consumers need to personalize and protect their new device. Models include: • The Feature Collection, which offers specialty case models that enhance user experience and includes a semi-automatic card case and even a selfie stick integrated case. • The Lightweight Collection, which complements the original look of the device without adding extra bulk. • The Protective Collection, which includes Military Grade Drop Certified case models with reinforced materials. • The Leather Wallet Collection, which provides users with money and card slots that come in a variety of genuine leather and synthetic leather material. www.vrsdesign.com

HP Inc. has unveiled what it describes as the world’s only PC with integrated privacy screens. HP Sure View, a new option helps protect against visual hacking with the press of a single button. “Today’s millennial workforce is increasingly mobile, creating new data security challenges for businesses as confidential information can be more easily hacked from a user’s screen – a process called visual hacking,” said Alex Cho, vice president and general manager, commercial PCs, HP. Developed with 3M privacy technology, users press the F2 key to immediately transition the PC to privacy mode, which reduces up to 95% of visible light when viewed at an angle, making it difficult for others to view information on the screen. Scheduled for release in September, HP Sure View, is available as an option on the HP EliteBook 1040 Full HD touch and non-touch versions and the HP EliteBook 840. www.hp.com.

LG Electronics (LG) recently unveiled the V20, the latest in its V series of smartphones. The device contains new multimedia features including Steady Record 2.0, and front and rear wide-angle lens cameras. According to the company, it is also the world’s first smartphone to come preloaded with Android 7.0 Nougat OS and the new Google In Apps phone search function. The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor with X12 LTE. Steady Record 2.0 leverages Qualcomm Technologies’ electronic image stabilization (EIS) 3.0 to record smooth video footage and reduce shaky images. EIS shifts the image frame by frame to counter unintentional movement and determine a smooth path for the footage. Meanwhile, the top and bottom of the phone are protected from damage by Silicone Polycarbonate (Si-PC), material found in helmets that can reduce shocks by more than 20% compared to conventional materials, LG says. www.lg.com

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September/October 2016

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Connections+ 2016 MEDIA KIT Connections+ The magazine ICT professionals, 2016 MEDIAforKIT Connections+ targets The magazinereadership for ICT professionals, individuals whoreadership purchase, design, Connections+ targets specify, install, and test individuals whomaintain purchase, design, structured cabling, networking and specify, install, maintain and test telecom products as networking well as facilities structured cabling, and management specialists senior telecom products as welland as facilities IT executives who are responsible for management specialists and senior overseeing thewho implementation andfor IT executives are responsible installation initiatives. and overseeing of thethese implementation For more information contact installation of these initiatives. Maureen Levy – 416-510-5111 or For more information contact mlevy@connectionsplus.ca Maureen Levy – 416-510-5111 or mlevy@connectionsplus.ca www.connectionsplus.ca

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T HE B ACK PAG E

When planning for 5G,

LEARN FROM 4G By Peter Linder

very 10 years or so, the mobile networks go through an innovation cycle, where a new technology generation is introduced. So, when planning for the coming introduction of 5G, you can improve your ability to predict the future by learning from the 4G introduction. The lessons apply both from the perspective of what will remain the same and where we can expect major differences between the 4G and the 5G introductions. This is the first in a series of blogs to allow you to brush up on the important contexts around 5G, which will appear in print in Connections+ and online. The basic idea for the whole series is to help you predict what the 5G future will look like, by leveraging observations made in the previous technology generation. For network insiders in the operator and vendor community, these ideas might be basics. But if your career has been tied to a specific network domain, or if you take networks for granted as an enabler for your business, you can leverage this series to expand your understanding. 5G will not leave anyone unaffected. 5G networking capabilities will take society, industries, users, devices, video, and business models to a new level and the journey is just about to start.

Predicting an uncertain future: Previous mobile technology generations have been relatively easy to predict. The 2G and 3G introductions were safe bets relying on subscriber growth. 3G was introduced with promises about mobile internet before all parts of the broadband puzzle were in place. 4G relied on the potential to move broadband from your lap to your palm, and to expand reach to households and users outside the fixed broadband market. The 5G future is more multi-facetted and complex. It is very simple to predict high-level basics. Network performance metrics will improve by an order of magnitude. Devices will grow exponentially. Business models will change fundamentally. Last but not least all industries and all parts of society will be increasingly digital. But these high-level insights are not a sufficient foundation for creating business strategies. We need to break them down to predictions that make sense for the business we are in charge of driving. Business decisions around 5G will rely on new 22

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September/October 2016

predictions about the future. Business cases for investments around 5G will be less about exact numbers in excel sheets and more about predictions of where the future is going: what we think will grow, and how fast and how high it will grow; what we think has to change, and why and when it will change; and what numbers we can put on any given 5G phenomena to start gauging its impact. What will remain and what will change: A possible starting point for predicting a complex future is too look into history and predicting what will remain as is and what will have to change. The experiences from the 4G introduction and evolution are fresh and perhaps the best base to leverage when predicting the future. 4G grew up in a data-centric world and many of the experiences are still valid. Everything will not and should not be distributed – the challenge is to sort out and understand which parts of the 4G experiences will remain in play. 5G is born into a market where digital disruptions are very common. As a consequence, we can expect a large number of areas to change. Anyone can pull off a disruption, and the emphasis here is on the ones with potential to stick. Predictions for the immediate future • Industry stakeholders with a solid understanding of the 4G learnings will make better strategic choices for 5G strategy. • Parts of the 4G learnings are still relevant, others will change, and understanding ten of each will add depth to your strategic planning. • It is easy to miss the essential business contexts with a too strong focus on high level trends, industry buzzwords, and $Billion market estimates. • Your future business cases will be more and more driven by predictions of the future and less on stable and proven facts. • Five years is very long planning horizon for anything in the 5G age. C+ Peter Linder is a Networked Society evangelist at Ericsson. He describes himself as a versatile visualizer, alliteration aficionado, movie maker and kinetic keynoter. He can be reached via Twitter @OneLinders. www.connectionsplus.ca

WE TURN NETWORK EVOLUTION INTO BUSINESS REVOLUTION The Networked Society is in a state of constant change, opening up exciting possibilities for businesses that can evolve to stay ahead. Our networks empower operators to be innovative frontrunners in a game where no one knows tomorrowâ€™s rules. Welcome to the Networked Society.

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