How the Internet of Things is Changing the Healthcare Industry

Posted on May 2, 2019January 21, 2021 by Idexcel Technologies

Internet of Things (IoT) has transformed many industries in terms of catering and management of services, especially health care industries which have shown remarkable development in treating people. From scheduling doctors appointments to advice on a diagnosis, the sector has gone a long distance in redefining the way things operate. The increasing advancements in technology are consistently applied at every stage in the development of health care industries. From big devices that monitor the health of admitted patients to microdevices that track movements of the human body, IoT has simplified the whole paradigm of health care services.

The sufficient magnitude of services required from the health care industry is also one of the reasons for inviting IoT to the rescue. Drawing facts, we see that the budget for IoT health care services has increased four times from 2017 to 2018. The large number itself is a direct representation of how largely IoT has become a trusted part of the health care industry. Let’s explore below how IoT is changing the health care industry, in more detail.

Health Data Simplified

Earlier, health care industries used to rely on first-hand data as provided by the visitor. With the help of IoT, the person is no longer constrained to produce raw, immediate data with which their prescriptions can be made. Instead, the person only has to use a device such as a wrist band, or an application which will keep track of your body behavior; this data is quantitative, transferable and first hand. Thus, doctors can look at data without the patient being present and form a better analysis of the patient’s situation due to quantifiable and transferable data. The added ease of interpreting data also reduces the gap between the doctor and the patient by connecting them through technology.

Quick Health Decisions

IoT makes it possible for a person to track his/her body behavior; this is done majorly through a wearable device which records precise data of steps, heart rate, air quality, blood flow and so on. With body behavior data, a person can be ahead of diseases by reporting them to a physician when he/she suspects an adverse change. Doing so, the person will always remain ahead of the condition and can reduce his/her chances of illness drastically. IoT devices can also bring in notice the details that are not precisely captured by other equipment. On the whole, the situations are transformed from cure to prevention.

Custom Health Services

With increased control over body behavior data, people can also control what treatment they want. Sometimes, a few conditions don’t require immediate care; in that case, they can choose what services they need immediately. Such customizability was not available in times when IoT could not provide regular data. With the help of IoT, one can decrease the financial pressure as involved in treatments. He/She can selectively opt for services that require attention and ignore that don’t.

Smart Scheduling

IoT makes things very organized when it comes to data storage. A person has to keep a record of various information if he/she wants a birds-eye view of his body behavior. However, maintaining such a tedious data requires sheer organization. With IoT, such an organization comes pre-programmed. This organization has an added benefit of managing your health schedules. You can program the device in such a way that reminds you of your medication cycle, the quantity of medicine to take, days until the next health appointment, and more.

Higher Satisfaction

Due to transparency rendered by IoT devices regarding the body behavior data, it becomes easy both for the doctor and the patient to tackle a particular disease. On the one hand, the patient knows well about his condition and can take custom treatment plans, and on the other, the doctor is better able to treat the patient due to transferable, first-hand data. As a result, both sides are better satisfied.

The importance of IoT varies from industry to industry due to the tasks that can be sanctioned. In general, IoT is needed in almost all sectors including education, municipal planning, automobiles, or even households. IoT in health care serves an altogether different purpose. In other industries, IoT serves as a tool to reach the results, in health care, IoT helps to achieve the beginning of treatments. In other words, the whole process of medication hinges on IoT devices that render actual data.

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ATLASSIAN SUMMIT 2019

Posted on March 27, 2019January 21, 2021 by Idexcel Technologies

Date: April 9-11, 2019
Location: Las Vegas

Event Details: The world’s next best innovations will be built by teams like yours. This is why our mission is to help unleash the potential in every team and why we hold Summit year after year. Join our team along with other users to be inspired, hear expert advice on the best ways to use Atlassian tools, learn about the latest technology and product updates, and celebrate the teams that make the world a better place.

[Know more about the Conference]

About Idexcel: Idexcel is a Professional Services and Technology Solutions provider specializing in Cloud Services, Application Modernization, and Data Analytics. Idexcel is proud that for more than 20 years it has provided services that implement complex technologies that are innovative, agile and successful and have provided our customers with lasting value.

Anand Allolankandy – (Sr. Director Technical Sales & Delivery at Idexcel) will be attending this event. For further queries, please write to anand@idexcel.com

oktane19

Posted on March 26, 2019January 21, 2021 by Idexcel Technologies

Date: April 1-4, 2019
Location: San Francisco, CA
Venue: Moscone Center

Event Details: Join thousands of IT and security professionals, product leaders, and developers in San Francisco this April for Oktane19. We have a great lineup of speakers, trainings, and events that explore a broad range of topics related to identity, security, and digital transformation.

[Know more about the Conference]

Anand Allolankandy – (Sr. Director Technical Sales & Delivery at Idexcel) will be attending this event. For further queries, please write to anand@idexcel.com

Cloud Security Challenges for Enterprises

Posted on March 20, 2019January 21, 2021 by Idexcel Technologies

To expand business reach owners are moving to cloud-based environments where they have the flexibility of choosing the capacity of the cloud based on their relevant requirements. Additionally, the cloud gives you the option of accessing your system files and making adjustments to them anytime, anywhere. In short, the cloud is cheaper, more efficient, and market ready.

However, security has long been a concern for cloud-based services, and this is the reason why some firms still refuse to move their application to the cloud. Some of the leading such challenges are outlined below to help you understand the matter.

Tackling DDoS Attacks

Any enterprise that collects more data becomes prone to malicious attacks. One of the most prominent of these attacks is the Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks which can cripple a server for hours or even days; these are designed to overload the server with malicious commands that continue running on the server and consume exponential amounts of system ram so that the server doesn’t run smoothly. These attacks may be thwarted if we first take proper measures well in advance, such as deploying DDoS protection that is specifically designed to prevent this attack. Eliminating the possibility of these attacks will help a company restore its compromised wealth, trust, and brand authority.

Avoiding Data Breaches

Another prevalent type of security challenge is data breaches that take within the server; these breaches are mostly external, but sometimes the internal members of the service providers also become a reason for the violation. More than to the customer, a data breach is a threat to the service provider. The service provider has to meet several security compliances and policies. A failure to keep those intact policies results in direct defamation of the brand of the service provider. Therefore, the service providers take proper measures to eliminate those threats and use provider as well as customer lever encryption. Most of the time, the breach happens due to the customer’s improper conduct of sensitive information.

As a necessary security measure, sensitive data on the cloud must be encrypted and given minimal access especially when the cloud is public. Further, choosing the right vendor who gives you added securities such as firewall and software support system would also minimize the probability of a data breach.

Overcoming Data Loss

Another kind of security challenge is tackling data loss from the cloud. Data files can become corrupted in the cloud for several reasons which include improper planning, data mixing, and mishandling. Again, the service provider does not have much space to be responsible for these threats. While maintaining your data, especially the system files, make sure that you close all portals before leaving the session. As a fundamental measure, always keep at least one copy of the data with you, in your drives. The only way you can bring back your data will be that extra copy of the data. It’s very crucial, so make sure you have made the copy.

Strengthening Access Points

One of the actual advantages of the cloud is that it gives you the flexibility of accessing your data from different virtual points. That is, even though your data is primarily stored in one server, you can potentially access it from anywhere else where you have a portal. However, these portals are not always secured sufficiently. To be maintained, security measures require time and funding. Increasing the numbers of access points will invite massive budget imbalance. In such a scenario, the access points not providing sufficient security might fall prey to hackers and cause breaches or loss of data. As a solution, one might want to restrict the numbers of access points so that a proper security model for these access points can be maintained.

Prompt Notifications and Alerts

This challenge sprouts from the multiplicity of access points. As pointed out earlier, we should aim to restrict the numbers of access points. Now, even if a threat arises, it will be easier to locate and eliminate. Additionally, the notification and alerts system will be able to function better, as it won’t seem to spam the notification system. Since the notification system is the cornerstone of your security system, it must be properly maintained—the messages should be prompt, clear, and explanatory. If not kept in such a manner, the notifications won’t make sense to everyone in the company, nor they would be informed in time.

With the right parameters, one can easily tackle these cloud security challenges for an enterprise. Just have the right service provider, technology, and planning by your shoulder to keep the environment running smoothly.

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Why Enterprises Should Adopt a Multi-Cloud Strategy

Posted on March 11, 2019January 13, 2021 by Idexcel Technologies

There is no denying the fact that hybrid clouds have become one of the prominent topics of discussion within the technology industry. Since the hybrid cloud structure is all about mixing public and private cloud platforms to do an organization’s bidding, it has become the backbone of data strategy and operational processes within organizations.

By using a mix of the two cloud platforms, businesses can gain an additional level of flexibility within their day to day operations. While hybrid might seem like it is here to stay, it’s not the only cloud trend which is doing the rounds of tech circles. Multi-Cloud strategies are also trending high on the grapevine, as more than 79% of companies have already started using this concept. As the hybrid cloud concept is setting the pace, the multi-cloud model is racing its close competitor.

As the name suggests, the term ‘multi-cloud’ refers to the use of multiple cloud vendors across the business’s architecture, thereby allowing businesses to spread their workloads into different environments. This way, companies can obtain the best of both worlds, along with agility and flexibility. Keeping the balance between public and private cloud helps achieve the perfect equilibrium between business agility and cost efficiency. Such benefits of adopting a multi-cloud strategy within your enterprise include:

Better Options with Greater Resiliency

There are a series of providers; Amazon’s AWS rides high on its cost-effectiveness, Microsoft Azure offers a robust enterprise presence, while Google’s GCP is best in the field of analytics. With multi-cloud in place, an enterprise can benefit immensely from all of these factors, so that you can choose the cloud platform which best suits your needs. Mix and match the best combination, so that the enterprise is not restricted to one cloud provider for all its data storage needs.

No Vendor Lock-In

Ideally, in a multi-cloud arrangement, you are never spoiled for choices. Simply put, if one vendor increases their prices, or wants to stop their services, you always have an option to use another vendor’s services. This way, there is no dependency on one cloud provider for their services. In other words, one should not place all their service eggs in one cloud basket.

Security Enhancement

A Distributed Denial of Service or DDoS attack can impact several computers at the same time, especially when it causes a denial of services to the owners and users. If all your enterprise’s resources are powered by one single cloud, which falls prey to such DDoS attacks, chances are your firm will take a significant hit and end up with massive financial losses. Security is enhanced within a multi-cloud approach, as each cloud service provider provides its security systems, which can handle the load of the fallen cloud servers.

Expense Reduction

Expense reduction is a rather simple economic concept; as the services are spread over a few cloud service providers, enterprises can gain a competitive advantage while availing services. To make their services available to a higher number of businesses, service providers often try to reduce their prices to make their services user-friendly.

Challenges Within Multi-Cloud Implementation

There is no denying the fact that the application of a multi-cloud structure comes with its own set of challenges and issues. Deploying the services of multiple cloud vendors is not an easy task, as it is not easy to combine the functions of various cloud vendors under one roof.

Each service provider brings its own set of pros and cons, which make it difficult to combine their services. During the implementation stage, it is essential to understand the exact location where the data is stored, how this data source needs to be merged with the new platforms, and what difficulties can be incurred during the implementation stage.

Most of the times, enterprises lack the budgets for this implementation. Private platforms come with their own expensive set of services, which act as inhibitors for the users; however, as the cloud continues to evolve, there are a lot of changes in the technological horizon. With this thought in mind, multi-cloud has emerged as the preferred choice for most businesses, since it provides great agility and cost-effectiveness.

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The Differences Between Cloud and On-Premises Computing

Posted on March 8, 2019October 18, 2019 by Idexcel Technologies

Cloud computing has recently gained popularity due to the grace of flexibility of services and security measures. Before it, on-premise computing was the one reigning the kingdom due to its sheer benefits of data authority and security. The critical difference on the surface between the two is the hosting they provide. In on-premise computing, to host the data, the company uses software installed on company’s server behind its firewall, while with in-cloud computing the data is hosted on a third party server. However, this is only the surface difference—the deeper we dig, the larger the differences become.

Cost

On-Premises: On-premise involves personal authority on both computing and the data—they only are responsible for the maintenance and upgrading costs of the server hardware, power consumption, and space. It’s relatively more expensive than cloud computing.

Cloud: On the other hand, cloud users need not pay the charges of keeping and maintaining their server. Companies that opt for the cloud computing model need to pay only for the resources that they consume. As a result, the costs go down drastically.

Deployment

On-Premises: As the name itself suggests, it’s an on-premises environment, in which resources are deployed in-house on the local server of the company. This company is solely responsible for maintaining, protecting and integrating the data on the server.

Cloud: There are multiple forms of cloud computing, and therefore the deployment also varies from type to type. However, the critical definitive of the cloud is that the deployment of data takes place on a third party server. It has its advantages of responsibility such as the transfer of security and extension space. The company will have all the access to the cloud resources 24×7.

Security

On-Premises: Extra sensitive data is preferred to be kept on-premise due to security compliances. Some data cannot be shared to a third party, for example in banking or governmental websites. In that scenario, the on-premise model serves the purpose better. People have to stick to on-premise because they are either worried or have security compliances to meet.

Cloud: Although cloud data is encrypted and only the provider and the customer have the key to that data, people tend to be skeptical over the security measures of cloud computing. Over the years, the cloud has proved its brilliance and obtained many security certificates, but still, the loss of authority over the data reduces the credibility of their security claims.

Control

On-Premises: As made clear before, in an on-premise model, the company keeps and maintains all their data on their server and enjoys full control of what happens to it; this has direct implications on superior control on their data as compared to cloud computing. But, so might not be entirely accurate because the cloud gives full access to the company’s data.

Cloud: In a cloud computing environment, the ownership of data is not transparent. As opposed to on-premise, cloud computing allows you to store data on a third party server. Such a computing environment is popular among either those whose business is very unpredictable or the ones that do not have privacy concerns.

Compliance

On-Premises: Many companies have to meet compliance policy of the government which tries to protect its citizen; this may involve data protection, data sharing limits, authorship and so on. For companies that are subject to such regulations, the on-premise model serves them better. The locally governed data is stored and processed under the same roof.

Cloud: Cloud solutions also follow specific compliance policies, but due to the inherent nature of cloud computing (i.e., the third party server), some companies are not allowed to choose cloud. For example, although the data is encrypted on the cloud, the government never chooses the cloud because losing authority over their information is direct annihilation of their compliance measures.

Many factors differentiate cloud and on-premise computing. It’s not that one is better or worse than the other, but instead that they have a different set of customers for them. To overcome these hurdles, a new technology, namely Hybrid Cloud, has emerged which takes care of authority issue related to cloud computing through a hybrid deployment of on-premise, public and private cloud.

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Best Practices for Using DevOps in the Cloud

Posted on March 7, 2019January 21, 2021 by Idexcel Technologies

Companies at the frontier of technological evolution recognize how important it is to streamline development processes so that the ever changing requirements of the market can be quickly and efficiently addressed. While the cloud offers automatic scaling to make room for application changes, it is DevOps that makes optimal use of cloud resources. However, even the best practices for DevOps get compromised when the pressure of accelerating the business is heightened.

The fusion of cloud services and DevOps is relatively new; it has posed relevant obstructions in understanding core mechanics and improvising of these mechanics into practical scenarios. What is to follow is a collection of ideas that should be kept in mind while working with DevOps for its best possible implementation in a cloud-based environment.

Training is Essential

The challenges posed by operating evolving technology should be seen as opportunities to formulate generalizations on how to make the best use of the technology. Proper training before implementation works as an investment that will reward your business. Training sessions help employees tackle common obstacles and be prepared for significant events that might occur during execution. If properly mentored, the unit can become independent of future assistance, which will result in minimized errors and maximized precision.

Taking Security Measures

It’s intuitive to acknowledge that the security model in the cloud is not the same as in old data practices; this requires special attention because security is the backbone of your implementation system. When DevOps is introduced into the environment, it should be made sure that each implementation level is complying with the required security measures — automated testing should be deployed and integrated into these levels of the environment.

Choosing DevOps Tools

While choosing DevOps tools, keep in mind that you are selecting a set of tools that are not dedicated to one particular cloud (on demand, on-premise or public). When you restrict your business to a specific cloud, you forfeit the luxury of moving from one cloud to the other depending on your need — this directly interrupts the smooth and optimal deployment of DevOps.

Service and Resource Governance

Ongoing operations in the environment, if not properly governed, might result in clogging of processes. It so happens that lack of governance only comes in notice when you see a multitude of operations becoming impossible to manage. To avoid this scenario, you must build a management system that ensures a smooth and systematic workflow; this is easily achieved through the formulation of a governance infrastructure well in advance. It comprises of features and functions that help in tracking, securing, and managing in-house services.

Automated Testing

In cloud-based environments, application performance issues are often rendered after the application has gone into production. They are not caught before that period because automated performance testing is not implemented within the levels of production. Performance testing helps in preventing poor performing applications from going into production through partial checking at every level of production — this is an essential measure to be taken to ensure better performance and efficient use of resources.

Importance of Containers

Containers give you added flexibility to move the components of an application on an independent basis; you can efficiently manage and orchestrate your applications using these independent containers at intermediate levels. Integrating containers into the DevOps process will make the development processes more manageable. However, containers cannot be implemented into any application, as some applications require a unified application core in development. Know the needs of your application and the standard of this approach.

Cloud computing sees soaring development as soon as DevOps is introduced in the business; however, these soaring developments can be hindered by many unprecedented obstacles. Applying strategies such as maintaining containers, automated testing, and governance, you can cut short those obstacles; this requires expertise; therefore, it is advised that you consider taking the help of field experts whenever necessary. Once you understand the nature of commitment and knowledge needed to implement smooth functioning of DevOps, this component will become an indispensable part of your strategic model.

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The Challenges of Multi-Cloud Environments

Posted on March 6, 2019October 18, 2019 by Idexcel Technologies

As multi-cloud strategies continue to evolve and rule over companies’ technological gamut, there are a lot of issues which are being highlighted and coming to the forefront. A multi-cloud strategy means companies are beginning to make use of multiple cloud service providers, but does this have to indicate that immediate issues need to be speed breakers in the journey towards achieving the goals? Let’s take a more in-depth look into the challenges being faced by organizations which make use of multi-cloud environments.

Data Governance and Compliance

Multiple clouds and data centers situations in different centers of the world can offer great flexibility and compliance; however, this does not happen automatically. The biggest challenge is to understand where the data resides physically — this situation might be graver for small and mid-size companies.

Given the multi-cloud environment functionality, it might be straightforward to make a mistake and end up running an application in an unapproved environment. There are tons of guidelines laid down, especially under GDPR, which when breached, can cause a collection of hefty fines; to curb this issue, IT managers might be required to prepare the right tools to garner visibility to monitor the extent of their regulatory burdens.

Multiple Vendors and Skill Sets

When an organization is utilizing multiple Cloud vendors, there are a lot of factors which need to be considered. When multiple vendors are being used, multiple skill sets will also need to be managed to get the maximum out of the Cloud. The higher the number of Saas, IaaS, and PaaS solutions leveraged, the higher would be the in-house skill sets which will need to be involved.

Even though multiple vendors are a necessity for managing the workload within large IT teams, it’s important to strive for commonality, wherever possible. Such a feature can be exercised by making use of conventional operating systems, system administration tools, and development languages to manage Cloud management platforms.

Security Issues

Security within the Cloud might be the responsibility of the vendor; however, that does not negate the fact that the end users also need to take the necessary security precautions. To maximize multi-cloud environments, it is vital to tackle the challenges represented by unique portals, migration of apps, and other security challenges. Before signing up with vendors for multi-cloud services, there is a necessity to ensure that the details of the security measures are taken into consideration and discussed with each vendor to understand the scope of their security measures.

Compliance Standards

Compliance standards are of utmost importance, irrespective of the type of Cloud services being utilized. When different Cloud providers are being employed, it is important to note if the various compliance standards like HIPAA, PCI DSS, FISMA, and SOX, are being met with each cloud vendor. If these compliance standards are not met, the data would be at risk of being hacked or lost.

Multi-cloud challenges might seem to be a lot; however, the benefits which can be obtained from multi-cloud environments can take an organization places. What is important is the proper implementation of these environments and the migration of applications to the private and public clouds which should be performed with utmost caution — the benefits will eventually supersede the challenges.

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