Furthering its shopping spree and its bid to strengthen its presence in technology security, global software player Oracle has acquired Secerno.
Secerno, with offices in Oxford, UK and New York, is a leader in data security. The company offers database activity monitoring, real-time data protection, data auditing and compliance solutions. Secerno’s key offering to customers is the ability to nip security threats in the bud; stopping database threats before data is lost or compromised. This pre-emptive approach has won the company plaudits in the past.
Andrew Mendelsohn, senior vice president of Oracle Database Server Technologies, said that "the Secerno acquisition is in direct response to increasing customer challenges around mitigating database security risk.”
He added: "Secerno's database firewall product acts as a first line of defence against external threats and unauthorised internal access, with a protective perimeter around Oracle and non-Oracle databases."
In a separate statement, an Oracle spokesperson said that Secerno’s products will augment Oracle’s portfolio of database security solutions such as Oracle Advanced Security, Oracle Database Vault and Oracle Audit Vault to further ensure data privacy, protect against threats, and enable regulatory compliance.
As of yet, no financial terms of the deal have emerged, but the deal is expected to be done and dusted by the end of June this year.
It is widely anticipated that this new acquisition will mean that Oracle is better placed to compete in the security sector, and in fact, many commentators see the new acquisition as Oracle rising to the challenge IBM made when it bought Guardium in December 2009.
IBM’s acquisition of Guardium, the Massachusetts-based database security firm, indicated IBM’s plans to use Guardium’s software tools for managing database access within its Information Management Software and its Business Analytics and Optimisation Consulting platform.
Showing posts with label database. Show all posts
Showing posts with label database. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Businesses must face Web 2.0 risks
Internet applications used by employees pose a serious security threat to businesses, and they are not being dealt with, a new survey says.
FaceTime Communications’ global survey of 1,600 corporate IT users found that 99% of employees use an internet application at work, which represents at 21% increase from five years ago. Those applications are not risk assessed, cleared or deployed with security measures by the IT department.
What makes matters worse is that only 62% of IT managers were aware of social networking applications being used on their systems, but social networking was in fact present in 100% of cases. This means that 38% of IT managers were completely in the dark about the risks present on their networks.
In other areas, IT managers’ estimates were shown to be optimistic. Whilst 62% of managers estimated that file sharing tools were present on their networks, the real figure was 74%. In a massive 95% of locations web-based chat was being accessed, but only 31% of IT professionals were aware of this.
The result of all this, of course, is security breach after security breach. On average, IT managers reported 57 security incidents related to internet application use every month, which is more that double the levels of 2008. Naturally, this comes with costs too; organisations spent $200,000 every month on rectifying data breaches.
Again, as said before on the Calsoft Blog, the answer is education and policy. Carter herself said "Policy and education are key to mitigating risk, with conditions of use written into employment contracts." When legislation coming into force on April 6th that could land businesses with hefty fines for security breaches, businesses will be forced to recognise these risks.
FaceTime Communications’ global survey of 1,600 corporate IT users found that 99% of employees use an internet application at work, which represents at 21% increase from five years ago. Those applications are not risk assessed, cleared or deployed with security measures by the IT department.
What makes matters worse is that only 62% of IT managers were aware of social networking applications being used on their systems, but social networking was in fact present in 100% of cases. This means that 38% of IT managers were completely in the dark about the risks present on their networks.
In other areas, IT managers’ estimates were shown to be optimistic. Whilst 62% of managers estimated that file sharing tools were present on their networks, the real figure was 74%. In a massive 95% of locations web-based chat was being accessed, but only 31% of IT professionals were aware of this.
The result of all this, of course, is security breach after security breach. On average, IT managers reported 57 security incidents related to internet application use every month, which is more that double the levels of 2008. Naturally, this comes with costs too; organisations spent $200,000 every month on rectifying data breaches.
Again, as said before on the Calsoft Blog, the answer is education and policy. Carter herself said "Policy and education are key to mitigating risk, with conditions of use written into employment contracts." When legislation coming into force on April 6th that could land businesses with hefty fines for security breaches, businesses will be forced to recognise these risks.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Gartner urges firms to use cloud computing with caution in 2010
Analyst group Gartner has identified cloud computing as the top issue for CIOs this year.
The research group said that businesses will relinquish control over some parts of their IT estate in 2010 as the new technology takes hold, and that using analytics to look forward instead of back will be a major trend.
Steve Prentice, vice president of Gartner, said that technology is “not the silver bullet” that will pull the UK out of the recession, but by keeping customer needs in mind, the IT industry will thrive this year. He also advised caution and careful planning when using cloud computing rather than “throwing technology at things.”
Prentice predicts that 20% of businesses will get rid of their IT infrastructure, saying that “small and medium companies and start-ups” would not bother building a datacentre but instead “have access to someone else's." The change-over to cloud computing is not expected to be sudden, but 2010 is seen by many analysts as they year that attitudes towards the technology will shift significantly.
Houston Spencer, vice-president at Alcatel Lucent, said, "Enterprises always have to evolve their legacy applications. They cannot just decide to 'go cloud this year'. It will take a while, but the next couple of years will see a tipping point."
The research group said that businesses will relinquish control over some parts of their IT estate in 2010 as the new technology takes hold, and that using analytics to look forward instead of back will be a major trend.
Steve Prentice, vice president of Gartner, said that technology is “not the silver bullet” that will pull the UK out of the recession, but by keeping customer needs in mind, the IT industry will thrive this year. He also advised caution and careful planning when using cloud computing rather than “throwing technology at things.”
Prentice predicts that 20% of businesses will get rid of their IT infrastructure, saying that “small and medium companies and start-ups” would not bother building a datacentre but instead “have access to someone else's." The change-over to cloud computing is not expected to be sudden, but 2010 is seen by many analysts as they year that attitudes towards the technology will shift significantly.
Houston Spencer, vice-president at Alcatel Lucent, said, "Enterprises always have to evolve their legacy applications. They cannot just decide to 'go cloud this year'. It will take a while, but the next couple of years will see a tipping point."
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
Oracle Database Vault Increases Security of SAP Application Data
As security still rides high on the list of CIO priorities, Oracle has announced that its Database Vault has been certified for use with SAP applications.
Oracle Database Vault allows organizations to strengthen security and comply more closely with regulations by controlling when, where, how and by whom SAP application data is accessed. This control extends to all users with the Database Vault, including privileged users such as administrators.
Organisations can ensure, using Oracle Database Vault, that users cannot override SAP application security features, thus protecting SAP application data from access using ad-hoc database query tools. This is achieved by establishing protective realms around SAP application database objects to prevent any user accessing sensitive data.
Oracle Database Vault allows organizations to strengthen security and comply more closely with regulations by controlling when, where, how and by whom SAP application data is accessed. This control extends to all users with the Database Vault, including privileged users such as administrators.
Organisations can ensure, using Oracle Database Vault, that users cannot override SAP application security features, thus protecting SAP application data from access using ad-hoc database query tools. This is achieved by establishing protective realms around SAP application database objects to prevent any user accessing sensitive data.
Thursday, September 3, 2009
MAA with NetApp Filer & Oracle 11g
This article gives an overview on how to implement maximum availability architecture for an Oracle environment comprising E-Business Suite (R12), Service Oriented Architecture (SOA 10g), Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) and Discoverer 10g. This architecture has been successfully implemented for an automotive leasing company in UK.
In the below architecture, the primary site has 3 nodes Real Application Cluster (RAC) for databases while the middle tier is clustered with Oracle technologies. The SOA, OBIEE and Discoverer have the middle tier configured with two nodes cluster while the E-Business Suite middle tier is configured with 3 nodes cluster. The RAC databases are configured on the NetApp volumes where the NFS file systems are used for shared and non-shared files. The Oracle Homes and binaries are deployed on the NetApp non-shared volumes while the database files are configured on the NetApp shared volumes. With 3 nodes on database tier and application tier this architecture provides redundancy, stability, high availability, load balancing and better performance on the primary site. NetApp snapshots are used for backup. This completes the backup process in a few seconds.
The IT team started planning an alternate disaster recovery (DR) site. Several technologies like Oracle Data Guard, Oracle Application Server Guard, SnapMirror, physical copy etc were discussed before the team narrowed down a DR solution that was a combination of SnapMirror and Data Guard.
For the database tier, Data Guard was implemented to replicate the database on the DR site for E-Business Suite, SOA and OID databases. For the middle tier E-Business Suite, SOA, OBIEE and Discoverer - NetApp SnapMirror was implemented. The following section describes the process that was followed to setup the Data Guard and the SnapMirror.
Once the Data Guard is configured for a database, the Data Guard broker has to be configured and interfaced with OEM grid control. The Data Guard broker will simplify the DBA effort in daily monitoring and maintenance.
The Data Guard broker has to be configures in both the primary and in the DR environment. Please note that the metadata for the broker should be available in a shared disk that is accessible by all the instances in the RAC environmentSnapMirror Configuration
For the middle tier application binaries we use SnapMirror technology to replicate the binaries from the primary environment to the DR environment. SnapMirror will mirror the volumes of the primary storage array to the DR storage array. For SnapMirror the complete volume will be mirrored. It is not possible to mirror selected files or folders to snap mirror. Hence all the application binaries should be deployed on NFS volumes. In the present architecture all the application binaries were deployed on the NFS volumes. The very first time, SnapMirror takes a bit of time but the subsequent mirroring will be faster since only the changed blocks are copied from the primary volumes to DR volumes. For a typical SnapMirror operation, the mirroring is scheduled every 15 minutes. This will minimize the loss of data during disaster to 15 minutes.
Mirror volumes are read only volumes. To enable it as read-write volume you need to break the mirror. For a failover/switchover scenario, the Administrator will break the mirror. As the volume becomes read-write mode, we can configure application tier. As the primary site is ready, we can re-enable SnapMirror. For a volume that is subject to SnapMirror will have state as ‘snap mirrored’. For any volume with SnapMirror option will have following ‘Status’ and ‘State’.
Status:
Pending – Subject to SnapMirror
Transferring – SnapMirror in progress
Idle – SnapMirror is completed
State:
Snap mirrored –SnapMirror operation is pending, transferring or idle
Broken-Off – SnapMirror operation is manually stopped
Performing Switchover/Failover
As mentioned in above section, during the switchover/failover you can break snap mirror for the application tier. While for the database you need to perform the Data Guard switchover/failover operation.
The switchover operation with Data Guard broker is as given below.
- Stop Application Services in Primary Environment
- Connect to DG Broker command line on Primary Environment
- Show Configuration/Database/Instance. The value to return for all the command should be ‘SUCCESS’. If any error, solve it then only proceed for SwitchOver.
- To modify any DG Broker parameter. For e.g.
- The above given to be executed from both the primary and DR sites
- Create a restore point in primary and standby databases
- Execute Switchover command from DG Broker
- If the switchover to perform for E-business Suite database, perform the following
- Clean FND Concurrent Nodes
- Execute autoconfig in new primary environment (On all cluster nodes)
- Changing the Custom Concurrent Managers
If the switchover to perform for E-business Suite database, perform the following If the switchover to perform for E-business Suite database, perform the following
- Clean FND Concurrent Nodes
- Execute autoconfig in new primary environment (On all cluster nodes)
- Changing the Custom Concurrent Managers
- Reconfigure workflow mailer, ICSM, fulfilment, printers
This article hopes to provide a better understanding on how to implement maximum availability architecture with NetApp and Oracle technologies.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
Why businesses are failing to maximise on ERP
New research published this week by Accenture claims that at least a third of UK and US businesses are only using 62% capacity of enterprise resource planning systems.
This means, Accenture said, that companies are missing out on data-sharing benefits that could boost them to the next level of business. Jeremy Oates, UK head of systems integration and technology consultation at Accenture, said that the problem was partially due to outdated views of ERP.
"Part of the challenge is that organisations can take a traditional view of ERP and sometimes see such systems as monolithic and inflexible, rather than understanding that the more mature and agile software that exists today can enable companies not only to manage core business processes, but actively distinguish themselves from competitors," he said.
Other reasons for the lack of utilization of ERP arising from the survey were a lack of time to learn to use the technology, and a belief within businesses that they did not need to use it.
Inatech’s Simon Ellis highlighted costs and the ever-present specter of the recession as another reason for business’ failure to cash in on the technology. “In tough times organisations may reduce their spending on new systems, but ideally they should be sweating their existing assets,” Ellis explained.
“Some organisations have missed an opportunity in the past few months of gaining competitive advantage by leveraging their ERP systems to the fullest potential, either to improve the bottom line or gain greater agility for when we come out of the recession. Gaining greater insight into supply chains, costs etc can all reap real benefits. Is it a case of spending a little to save a lot?”
Some organisations, Ellis continued, simply do not take their investment of funds, time and attention far enough to truly gain from it: “Many organisations are just glad to see an ERP implementation over and in. The real benefits come by sweating their investment and gaining additional insight, which was almost always part of the original business case but can be often forgotten.”
This means, Accenture said, that companies are missing out on data-sharing benefits that could boost them to the next level of business. Jeremy Oates, UK head of systems integration and technology consultation at Accenture, said that the problem was partially due to outdated views of ERP.
"Part of the challenge is that organisations can take a traditional view of ERP and sometimes see such systems as monolithic and inflexible, rather than understanding that the more mature and agile software that exists today can enable companies not only to manage core business processes, but actively distinguish themselves from competitors," he said.
Other reasons for the lack of utilization of ERP arising from the survey were a lack of time to learn to use the technology, and a belief within businesses that they did not need to use it.
Inatech’s Simon Ellis highlighted costs and the ever-present specter of the recession as another reason for business’ failure to cash in on the technology. “In tough times organisations may reduce their spending on new systems, but ideally they should be sweating their existing assets,” Ellis explained.
“Some organisations have missed an opportunity in the past few months of gaining competitive advantage by leveraging their ERP systems to the fullest potential, either to improve the bottom line or gain greater agility for when we come out of the recession. Gaining greater insight into supply chains, costs etc can all reap real benefits. Is it a case of spending a little to save a lot?”
Some organisations, Ellis continued, simply do not take their investment of funds, time and attention far enough to truly gain from it: “Many organisations are just glad to see an ERP implementation over and in. The real benefits come by sweating their investment and gaining additional insight, which was almost always part of the original business case but can be often forgotten.”
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Company confidence in the crunch
The recession has drawn one thing to the minds of business people more than anything else; risk.
It was the careless disregard and disproportionate view of risk, after all, that unleashed the recession in the first place, and now with budgets ever-tightening, it is risk that everyone is trying to avoid.
Over-managing risks, however, can be just as destructive as paying no attention to them at all. Srihari Vedante, CEO of Inatech Solutions Ltd., explained in CEO Today that too much caution can be a killer during a crunch.
“It is becoming apparent,” Vedante writes, “as some businesses turn sensible caution into nervous inertia, that board directors have a responsibility to look beyond the immediate fear that surrounds the global economy and look to energise their organisations.”
This seems simple in principle, but balancing risk is just one of the tasks facing organisations today. Vedante goes on to highlight the melee of responsibilities businesses must meet:
“Businesses today are under greater pressure than ever to perform and innovate. On a daily basis, executives are faced with challenges such as competing for entry into a new, more buoyant market, coping with red tape, responding to shareholder pressure to speed up the supply chain, and trying to find the most cost-effective way to be sustainable.”
It is challenging enough to keep the day-to-day running of a business going, without worrying about risks, and so how can companies ensure that the risk is taken care of whilst their staff concentrate on meeting targets? Vedante considers wisely-chosen partnerships as key to eliminating some risk:
“It is vital that you learn from your partners’ experience – this is not the time to let your suppliers cut their teeth on your project,” he writes.
The emphasis is on efficiency and experience when it comes to partners. This way, businesses can work safe in the knowledge that the services they are paying for are foolproof and cost-effective.
“It is key to select partners who have first-hand knowledge of the type of programme you are undertaking. Anyone you hire to deliver a project must contribute more than you could do yourself, forewarn you of the pitfalls, help you through the hurdles, and suggest shortcuts.”
Further, whilst Vedante emphasises that cutting-edge technology alone is not always the answer to all of an organisation’s problems, business intelligence is an effective method in eliminating risks, spotting problems and improving the decision-making process:
“Business intelligence tools are taking centre stage in decision-making and directors are pouring through a sea of data gathered in order to inform their strategic choices.”
In summary, Vedante’s recession survival tactics are simply to make use of good partners and good data; something Inatech is renowned for providing. Check out the full article here.
It was the careless disregard and disproportionate view of risk, after all, that unleashed the recession in the first place, and now with budgets ever-tightening, it is risk that everyone is trying to avoid.
Over-managing risks, however, can be just as destructive as paying no attention to them at all. Srihari Vedante, CEO of Inatech Solutions Ltd., explained in CEO Today that too much caution can be a killer during a crunch.
“It is becoming apparent,” Vedante writes, “as some businesses turn sensible caution into nervous inertia, that board directors have a responsibility to look beyond the immediate fear that surrounds the global economy and look to energise their organisations.”
This seems simple in principle, but balancing risk is just one of the tasks facing organisations today. Vedante goes on to highlight the melee of responsibilities businesses must meet:
“Businesses today are under greater pressure than ever to perform and innovate. On a daily basis, executives are faced with challenges such as competing for entry into a new, more buoyant market, coping with red tape, responding to shareholder pressure to speed up the supply chain, and trying to find the most cost-effective way to be sustainable.”
It is challenging enough to keep the day-to-day running of a business going, without worrying about risks, and so how can companies ensure that the risk is taken care of whilst their staff concentrate on meeting targets? Vedante considers wisely-chosen partnerships as key to eliminating some risk:
“It is vital that you learn from your partners’ experience – this is not the time to let your suppliers cut their teeth on your project,” he writes.
The emphasis is on efficiency and experience when it comes to partners. This way, businesses can work safe in the knowledge that the services they are paying for are foolproof and cost-effective.
“It is key to select partners who have first-hand knowledge of the type of programme you are undertaking. Anyone you hire to deliver a project must contribute more than you could do yourself, forewarn you of the pitfalls, help you through the hurdles, and suggest shortcuts.”
Further, whilst Vedante emphasises that cutting-edge technology alone is not always the answer to all of an organisation’s problems, business intelligence is an effective method in eliminating risks, spotting problems and improving the decision-making process:
“Business intelligence tools are taking centre stage in decision-making and directors are pouring through a sea of data gathered in order to inform their strategic choices.”
In summary, Vedante’s recession survival tactics are simply to make use of good partners and good data; something Inatech is renowned for providing. Check out the full article here.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
IT will be the agent of change for businesses, says EMC report
A new report from the Economist Intelligence Unit, commissioned by the EMC, says that IT will improve business responsiveness during the economic downturn.
The survey of 300 CEOs and CIOs found that 45% wanted real time access to important data in order to drive up business responsiveness. A further 40% wanted better integration of IT systems to improve search functionality.
Despite the recession, Customer Relationship Management is still a high priority for businesses. CRM helps to improve operations, productivity and responsiveness to customers, and having systems that are based in real-time improves the quality of a company. Even during a recession, customers expect more. If a business is forced to cut its headcount do to reduced income and increased overheads, they still need to ensure that there is other service support to maintain the service level. The only way to achieve that in a sustainable and stable way is through technology.
Further, companies have to eliminate waste from their systems in order to provide fast and efficient services to customers. More often than not, there is unidentified waste in businesses’ systems; most of the time, databases are simply not communicating, which loses valuable time. Time is money, especially in during an economic slump, making it all the more important to drive out wasteful practices.
Inatech’s services have a great emphasis on efficiency, both in terms of time and business responsiveness.
The survey of 300 CEOs and CIOs found that 45% wanted real time access to important data in order to drive up business responsiveness. A further 40% wanted better integration of IT systems to improve search functionality.
Despite the recession, Customer Relationship Management is still a high priority for businesses. CRM helps to improve operations, productivity and responsiveness to customers, and having systems that are based in real-time improves the quality of a company. Even during a recession, customers expect more. If a business is forced to cut its headcount do to reduced income and increased overheads, they still need to ensure that there is other service support to maintain the service level. The only way to achieve that in a sustainable and stable way is through technology.
Further, companies have to eliminate waste from their systems in order to provide fast and efficient services to customers. More often than not, there is unidentified waste in businesses’ systems; most of the time, databases are simply not communicating, which loses valuable time. Time is money, especially in during an economic slump, making it all the more important to drive out wasteful practices.
Inatech’s services have a great emphasis on efficiency, both in terms of time and business responsiveness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
