Latest from Don

Harmonizing Real-Time on Edge Platforms
Edge computing platforms sit at the boundary between the real-time world and the digital enterprise. Uninterrupted, uncorrupted data from the edge is a must if analytics in the cloud drive reliable business decisions. What’s the best approach: using Linux, an RTOS (real-time operating system), a hypervisor or something else for edge platforms? Let’s talk about […]
Sep 18, 2020 · 3 minAll articles by Don Dingee
Showing 1–14When Gateways Go Away with Cellular IoT
Gateways have been an essential piece of three-tier IoT architecture for years. Their traditional spot between the edge and the cloud is in flux as cellular IoT technology rolls out. When are gateways still the right approach? How will gateways go away with cellular IoT? Here’s the trade-off between traditional three-tier and cellular IoT architecture […]
Before We Burn the Martech Silo
There’s an ongoing debate about where marketing technology (martech) should sit in an organization. Does it live with the CMO, the CIO, the CXO–a hybrid strategist with both IT and marketing background–or some collaboration? As technology use grows, it’s tempting to move martech under another role. Before we burn the martech silo, like how McDonald’s, […]
Keeping NoOps From Going Rogue
“We’re NoOps—everything is in the cloud and we have no infrastructure to manage.” Before running that victory lap and shifting everyone to the dev side, consider several NoOps risks carefully. I’m really thinking about teams using all-SaaS stacks, especially in martech, edtech and other areas. However, the rise in microservices and serverless means more teams […]
The New AI Overseer Role in DevOps
Robot overlords are the stuff of science fiction fantasy. Today, with more teams implementing artificial intelligence (AI), DevOps teams need a hard, continuous look at reality. An AI overseer watching apps at work could make the difference between sadness and euphoria in your efforts. We’re seeing AI misses more and more often. Facebook recently admitted […]
IoT Future-Proofing for the Long Haul
Think about this: The IoT application your DevOps team is developing right now, if successful at scale, will likely be the longest-living application in your shop. It may even outlive the tenure of many of your team members with your company. Is IoT future-proofing possible over a life cycle of 10 years or more? Yes, […]
In AI Initiatives and Hybrid Clouds We Trust
The 2019 State of the Union Address, delivered Feb. 5, was light on anything tech-related. But just a week later, Feb. 11, technology was the focus of an executive order that launched The American Artificial Intelligence (AI) Initiative. Why do we need a national AI initiative, and what does it have to do with DevOps? […]
Edge Computing: Saving the Cloud from Ephemeral Data
Edge computing is rapidly gaining momentum. Last week’s Linux Foundation news on the launch of LF Edge is one more sign of accelerating growth at the edge. What’s driving this sudden intense interest? It’s more than just the sheer number of edge devices or mounting concerns around interoperability and security. Pushing compute resources closer to […]
IoT, Not People, Now the Weakest Link in Security
Do a quick search on “people weakest link” and you’ll see a raft of articles in which cybersecurity experts and computer scientists point to employees or end users as the biggest vulnerability. No doubt, people do silly (or outright abusive) stuff and open the door for a variety of enterprise security problems. Spoiler alert: There’s […]
Using Trade Studies in Vetting Tool Stacks
Adding to your tool stack should entail more thought than, “Start your free trial today!” It’s great when there is an application need and cloud-based tools are easily grabbed with a few clicks. However, surveying alternatives before making a tool stack change can prevent costly mistakes. Trade studies can help vet best-fit tools for evaluation. […]
5 Ways KPI Analysis Helps DevOps
Four Vs drive big data solutions: volume, velocity, variety and veracity. Volume and velocity are technical considerations usually receiving a healthy dose of attention among architects and coders. However, variety and veracity often determine success or failure, and they tend to sneak up on teams who haven’t fully considered them. Key performance indicator, or KPI, […]
Too Many Projects: Breaking Initiative Overload
Initiative overload. Those words send a chill down the spine of IT leaders everywhere. Not only are overloaded teams juggling too many projects, morale is usually low, with long hours every week and no end in sight. Yet, leaders can’t arbitrarily kill or stall projects without suffering blowback from somewhere. If you’ve been tapped to […]
How DevOps Can Nurture the IoT Brownfield For Results
Your latest IoT project sailed through proof-of-concept but started running into problems during rollout. Fortunately, your DevOps superhumans got things running. Now, perhaps a year or more later, you’re seeing more and more issues crop up as the project grows. If this scenario sounds vaguely familiar, or you’re worried you may be headed there, you’re […]
Security Through ‘Legisurity’: Impacts of SB-327
With more devices connecting to the internet every day, security through obscurity should have died a long time ago. Still, high-profile cases of devices with mass-produced default login credentials and easily cracked crypto keys persist. As a result, say hello to security through “legisurity”: California SB-327—“Information privacy: connected devices”—became law Sept. 28. How will this […]