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Apr 19, 2012
I remember studying memory caching techniques in my computer architecture course in college, learning about how memory is organized and about overall caching strategies. The Level 1 (L1) or primary cache is the primary form of storage, and considered to be the fastest form of data storage. The L1 cache exists directly on the processor (CPU) and is limited in size to data that is accessed often or that is considered critical for quick access.
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Apr 09, 2012
I was recently at the at Interconnected Health 2012 conference in Chicago, and amongst the various topics being discussed, the most common theme popping up is the need for more standards to allow PHR, EMR and HIE networks to really take hold. I'm in no position to disagree with this, but I do find it interesting that an industry that uses so many acronyms (many of which represent existing data model and messaging standards) still feels like they don't have standards that are sufficient to solve their data integration challenges. Is it too much of a 'pie in the sky' idea to establish just a few data model and messaging standards that cover nearly all use cases, and expect wide adoption of the standard across the industry? Maybe it is.
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Mar 15, 2012
My refrigerator stopped working recently. This was not good. No warning, just kaput! This is drama of course. Food is now on a collision course for spoiling. It’s amazing to think, all we ask of a refrigerator is to keep things cold. When it works as expected, we take it for granted. When it stops, we feel great pain.
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Feb 17, 2012
Recently I was asked to sit down and do an interview for SearchSOA to discuss the concept of a CSB (Cloud Services Brokerage).
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Jan 26, 2012
The Oklahoma state legislature once passed a bill banning "obtuse verbiage" in bills so that citizens could more easily understand the laws. Those of us who speak and write about cloud computing and SOA are as likely to weave impenetrable semantic fogs as are legislators.
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Jan 10, 2012
2012 will see the rise of the Cloud Service Broker (CSB) as organizations increasingly outsource multiple processes to the cloud. The challenge of managing multiple cloud providers and getting a diverse set of solutions such as CRM, B2B, EAI, accounting and more to work together and share data can be daunting to IT departments used to managing these solutions in house.
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Dec 14, 2011
Stop for a second and answer these questions:
- How many devices in your home are now connected to the internet? Your phone? Tablet? DVR? TV? Refrigerator? How about a wireless bathroom scale? (Yes, it exists!)
- How often do you see a post on Facebook that resembles this; “Johnny Bravo is reading ‘The Elf on the Shelf’ on his Nook”?
- When purchasing products online how often do you read peer reviews and pay attention to rankings?
- Do you sometimes make purchases on your mobile device because you are too lazy to walk to the other room where your laptop happens to be? (I’m guilty as charged!)
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Nov 16, 2011
It's a question faced by countless SMB CIOs and IT managers: "Should we implement data integration on-premise or choose a cloud-based Software as a Service solution provider?" It doesn't have to be all or nothing. Here's why the hybrid approach to data integration makes sense for small and medium-sized businesses.
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Oct 27, 2011
Typically for an integration project you start with defining the source and target. A successful project starts off by being able to produce an accurate representation (a model) of your data.
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Oct 25, 2011
I have a cough. I had a cold. That passed. But, as is too often the case, the cough remains. Our child’s pulmonologist once explained that lungs often don’t seem to react quickly to shocks and stress. As I recall the conversation, months after a sickness stress the lungs, the lungs may react, causing symptoms which can last surprisingly long.
In any data integration project, or in the data architecture of an organization, you will find what I will here call eyes, lungs and livers (please forgive the awkwardness of the metaphor). Let me explain what I mean, and then why this line of thought was worth the musing.
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Oct 20, 2011
The cloud migration exodus has begun. For many, the benefits of cloud computing outweigh the risks. Cloud computing directly addresses a multitude of challenges enterprises face today. These are also the key reasons why business executives feel IT is not responsive enough to meet their needs.
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Oct 18, 2011
Not that long ago I listened to Douglas Merrill, Ex-Google CIO, speak about humans and multitasking. Of course in between replying to email and IM messages on my smart phone, as well as checking the stock ticker and sports scores, I missed a lot of what he was saying.
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Oct 11, 2011
As adoption of cloud services among corporate IT continues to grow, so has the need to tie those applications back to on-premise data stores and systems. Despite the growing number of tools available for on-premise and SaaS, or cloud integration, most companies are still using "labor-intensive custom programming," according to a recent Forrester Research report. The report goes on to say that enterprises are seeking a leaner and more holistic approach to integration, doing more real-time integration and planning increased usage of Enterprise Service Busses (ESBs) and data services platforms.
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Sep 27, 2011
These days, it’s hard to open a magazine or watch TV without seeing or hearing something about “cloud computing.” It’s a hot IT topic that’s gone mainstream in the media. And yet, despite cloud-computing endorsements from trusted industry analysts like Gartner and its adoption by numerous forward-thinking organizations, at many companies the jury’s still out. I think that’s about to change, especially with regard to cloud brokerage services.
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Sep 06, 2011
Some people like working late. Some people feel their self worth is validated by working long hours and saving the day. Some people are forced to work long and late because the organization fails to preserve important knowledge.
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Aug 17, 2011
After more than a year of research, Gartner recently published “Case Study: Mohawk Fine Papers Uses a CSB to Ease Adoption of Cloud Computing,” authored by Gartner Research Vice President Benoit J. Lheureux. The research examines how Mohawk leveraged Liaison’s data exchange platform (DXP) and managed services to enable end-to-end business process integration of on-premise applications and a diverse range of cloud services.
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Aug 16, 2011
Mohawk Fine Papers is the largest premium paper manufacturer in North American, and like many well-established companies they needed to simplify their B2B and e-commerce strategies by developing a unified information architecture that would enable interoperability with business partners in the cloud.
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May 24, 2010
At Liaison we’ve been helping pharmaceutical industry clients integrate for a long time, and we’ve done this in the usual way: middleware adapters, document maps, any-to-any translations. For several years we’ve anticipated a major shift for these firms – away from on-premise and proprietary technology to open, collaborative, and yes, cloud-based solutions – and we’re seeing this prediction come true.
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