scuff

Agree with you both. With the recent ransomware attack on the UK Health system, there was much finger pointing re "why didn't they update their systems???". For the reasons you've both just described. Third-party vendors of software & hardware are hopeless at updating their systems for compatibility with new OSes etc. And…

Faxes still work, but people have moved to email. Oh, wait. How many micro businesses still fax?

That's a perfect example of the complexity of legacy Enterprise environments. On the flip side, organisations with less history are liking how easy it is to connect different Cloud SaaS environments, via APIs and connectors. While all of that seems easy now, it does hint at being the first step in complexity to move to…

Yes! I started with mainframe controllers with 8"floppy disks that held all the software, 286 & 386 PCs. Then, years later, my first USB stick was 4Mb. Now I'm feeling old!

That's the challenge, isn't it, finding the time? And not being drowned in all the new things. It's little wonder that most people stick to what they know and what is already working for them.

Love it!

Sounds like a happy medium. And agree, policy 'exemptions' are so frustrating, or 50 different policies all with a slight variation! Now that would really be magic!! Sadly the greed gene is strong in some.

I think Azure Stack will be massive. It's great to see partners keeping up to speed with the latest tech and showing the way with Cloud best practices.

Absolutely agree that it's more about how well you are using a platform than which one you are actually using. For those who haven't decided, it's still interesting to hear what someone has chose and why. That sounds like a perfect example of Dev & Ops working together. We often think of DevOps in relation to the…

I know us oldies can wave around our years of experience like a medal (22 years here), but compared to others I'm seeing in the industry, 7 years is not a short time. I have a post in my head that our industry respects experience less these days, because someone with 20 years of knowledge may know less about what's current…

VDI feels like a hammer looking for a nail, when sometimes you actually need a screwdriver.

I used the term because in the SMB circles it's really common to hear it being used to describe a fully-Cloud office. Smaller orgs that have bought a server box and stuck Windows Small Business Server on it are now being told they don't need a server, because they can do everything in the Cloud. It's another interesting…

Let's hope it's the 'better futures'!

I'm disappointed that you've taken one small line, which was an attempt at humour, so seriously. There are plenty of people who will write about programming, scripting or debugging. My article highlighted some new product announcements which many people aren't aware of because they are (quite rightly) very busy focussing…

Before ghost there was xcopy But then, we had no registry. Win.ini anyone?

I'm glad you mentioned the people aspect. I've had interesting discussions about "what will become of the data center engineer if we move all our stuff to the public cloud?" You've hit the nail on the head in that they may not be racking physical servers anymore, but there are a ton of infrastructure-related parts that…

Let's hope so. Humans are good at filling in the blanks (guessing with context) when we miss a word. That kind of contextual understanding is a whole new level of AI.

Yes, I agree re that breakthrough. It is heartening to hear they are working on it. I saw someone do a great talk on accessibility that said improvements for disability or impairment improved the experience for everyone. Her case in point was TV captioning meant you could see what was being talked about on a news item in…

I feel your pain! It's totally frustrating and yet nearly impossible to get some people to see it, when their decision making is already skewed heavily to one solution or another.

I think I'm just going to hand over my blog next time to you. Couldn't agree more. In the business world, the cry right now is if you're not innovating, you are dying. For IT Pros, if you're not learning, you're dying. In a planning session for my own business a while ago I wrote "we're not failing fast enough". I have a…

I think those kind of considerations are going to drive solutions like Azure Stack, but the software vendors (eg AV) need to realise there's still a middle ground for those who want to/need to control all the things on internal networks still. Doesn't mean we don't want a consolidated web dashboard, we just want it to be…

Ouch!

Great tips. I especially like the point about measuring the outputs.

Servers as disposable calculators? Harsh but true! Some server admins loathe the concepts of serverless or containers or PaaS, but that's the brave new world we live in now. Server admins must adapt or perish! Thanks for adding your thoughts.

This is a great formula, thanks for sharing. Are you a writer? Where did you learn this?

I keep telling people that if they are striking off Microsoft as an option because of past experiences of the old Microsoft, man are they missing out.

RDP is so endemic in a lot of large organisations. It was the first real attempt at 'virtualization' so we didn't have to install apps on every desktop or so people could work remotely. I think once it's in there, the RDP architecture is rarely looked at again, let alone considering alternatives. It might be a case of 'if…

We'll talk about that soon - if Cloud is so great, why is Hybrid a thing?

Lol there’s actually a scientific explanation for your memory loss. Apart from all of us getting older. Memories are chemical neuro pathways. The more you use one (like a habit) the stronger it gets, like wearing a dirt path into a grassy field. It’s also easier to create new pathways when you are younger (literally, your…

That's great - begin with the end in mind! Don't red ones go faster?