Eliminates obstacles to monitoring application performance

Network-based application performance management (APM) technology provider ExtraHop Networks has introduced its virtual appliance for APM, the EH1000v.

The company said the new offering offers real-time transaction analysis at up to 1Gbps speeds for applications running in virtual and cloud environments, about 10 times faster than the existing products.

The EH1000v is a virtualised version of the company’s passive, network-based ExtraHop Application Delivery Assurance system, and gives companies a small-footprint tool for branch-office deployments and offers efficient end-to-end application visibility for virtualised environments.

The EH1000v allows companies to get around the present obstacles to monitoring application performance and realise efficient virtual and cloud technologies without compromising application performance.

The new offering also enables lower IT infrastructure costs required for monitoring network and application performance across geographically distributed environments.

The EH1000v eliminates the necessity for separate hardware for different geographic locations in case of remote-office applications, and allows companies deploy and remotely administer and monitor branch-office deployments as well as traffic within virtualised environments.

The company notes that EH1000v can monitor traffic that passes only through virtual switches and ensures deep visibility into applications running in such environments, including the massive transactions passing between virtual machines on the same physical host.

Networking giant Cisco is just weeks away from layoffs that will see it cut 5,000 jobs – seven percent of its total workforce – according to an analyst from San Francisco based investment bank, Gleacher & Co.

The move could reduce the company’s operating expenses by $1 billion per year, analyst Brian Marshall wrote in a researh note.

In further discussion with the Wall Street Journal, Marshall said that that his analysis was based on what he thought Cisco needed to do.

“I think at the end of the day, we need to come to the fact that there is a pretty big disconnect between Cisco’s revenue performance and their headcount,” he told the paper. “Look at the past eight quarters. They’

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There are many ways in which small businesses may find themselves losing money that they can ill afford.  They may not be tracking waste within the office, employees could be using work hours to check Facebook or Twitter, or they might not be using the right services (paying too much for hardware, software, and online services that they don’t really need, for example).  But one thing that can really impact a small business negatively is the failure of clients to keep appointments.  This is especially detrimental to businesses that offer booked services at their location.  Clients that miss their appointments not only result in lost revenue, they could also mean the loss of other potential clients (that may have been unable to book due to a full schedule).  But what can a small business do to ensure that clients show up (without alienating them completely)?  Here are a few options.

1. Cancellation policy.  This is pretty standard fare.  Most service-oriented businesses, whether large or small, have policies in place that allow their clients to cancel should something come up.  Many give clients anywhere from 24-48 hours to cancel without penalty.  Although this won’t account for last-minute emergencies, it will certainly let clients reschedule should they realize a conflict a day or two in advance.
2. Cancellation fee.  Again, it is well within the rights of a business to demand that irresponsibility on the part of the client not result in total financial loss for the company.  You may not want to charge the full amount for a missed appointment, but there are other ways to recoup at least some amount of lost revenue for the no-show.  You could charge a percentage of the cost of the appointment (or a flat fee) or you could charge the full amount but apply a portion of it to the client’s bill should they reschedule for a later date.  And most offices are pretty flexible with refunding fees should clients be detained by a bonafide emergency.
3. Appointment reminder.  Sometimes people simply forget that they have appointments.  Many small businesses have taken to sending out reminders via phone message, email, or text (depending upon office capabilities and client preferences).  These can be automated or in person, but they should be sent prior to the cancellation cutoff so that clients have a chance to avoid fees should they remember that they need to reschedule.
4. Offer bonuses.  If there is a real problem with no shows, businesses can think about offering incentives for clients to arrive in a timely manner for their appointments.  For example, if a client makes appointments several times in a row, the business might give a discount or a freebie for the next time.  Sometimes rewards are a better motivation than punishments (like fees).
5. Deny service.  This should be a last resort for any business, but if a client repeatedly fails to show up or refuses to acknowledge fees for no-shows or late cancellations, then a business cannot afford to keep losing revenue on a client that is clearly not worth the effort.

Leverages shared everything MPP technology

Sybase, an SAP company and provider of enterprise and mobile software, has announced the availability of Sybase IQ 15.3, powered by a new generation of shared everything Massively Parallel Processing (MPP) technology.

Sybase said that the release will allow enterprise IT departments to overcome scalability limitations of today’s data warehouses in various industries including financial services, telecommunications, information providers, healthcare and insurance.

By implementing a business analytics information tool that allows sharing of computing and data resources with the Sybase IQ PlexQ technology, enterprises can break down user and information silos to drive analytics adoption throughout the entire organisation, the company said.

With Sybase IQ PlexQ, IT departments can implement virtual data marts in order to optimise the experience for different applications and user communities, said the company.

The company said, Sybase IQ PlexQ dynamically balances query workloads across nodes on the grid for massively parallel processing of complex analytics at speeds 10 to 100 times faster than traditional data warehouses.

Sybase product management vice-president Brian Vink said enterprise IT departments are demanding new ways to enhance their enterprise data warehouse systems to increase intelligence, productivity and analytics capability across the enterprise.

Vink said, “Sybase IQ, with its PlexQ technology, brings customers a powerful, yet simplified, approach that overcomes traditional data warehouse limitations.

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Reasons Its Hard to Make Predictions, Especially About the Futurereviews the not so positive book on forecasting Future Babble. The articles tagline: “Why dart-throwing chimps are better than the experts.”

This is a reference is to a classicstudy of expert forecastscoveredin the book. Conducted 50 years ago by UC Berkeley psychologist Philip Tetlock, the study concluded that most expert forecasts would have been beaten by “a dart-throwing chimpanzee.”

It seems to be open season on futurists and forecasts. Just a few weeks ago we posted on the book The Worlds Worst Predictions, which claims modern day forecastersare no more accurate than the goat entrail readingOracles of ancient times.

In our defense, the job is less messy today andno goats are injured during the process.

Despite the negative press – and the reality that no one can predict future – theres a clear trend towards a growing interest in trends and forecasts. The

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It’s a jungle out there. Working in the business world is cutthroat, harsh, and quick to abandon. With success or failure in any business venture being under such volatile conditions sometimes the smallest things can go a long way. Being prepared to make every social interaction into possible career advancement will go a long way, and nothing will help you during an impromptu run in with a client or investor like a properly designed business card.

In business, more so than anything else, networking is a huge factor in determining success. The ability to get your name out there and build a recognizable corporate brand or personal reputation is paramount to securing and maintain healthy business relationships, and your business card can be a corner stone in how that builds to fruition. On

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