Top 5 DevOps Trends to Watch Out for in 2019

Posted on February 8, 2019January 13, 2021 by Idexcel Technologies

DevOps is a well-trodden path, which has been gaining momentum over the past few years. Considering ever-evolving routines, the year 2019 is becoming the year of interest for organizations looking out for DevOps improvements. DevOps has ushered in a wave of new collaboration between different teams, which has led to the creation of an end to end connection across organizational structures.

Given this style of DevOps, there is a seamless connection between the development and operational teams, which has enabled both sets of groups to work as a single unit. Let’s take a look at current DevOps trends that you may wish to look out for in the year 2019.

Automation Through Artificial Intelligence and Data Science: The continuous rise of artificial intelligence and data science has become a game changer to reckon. A majority of applications these days are fueled by AI, which is pushing DevOps teams to look for opportunities within their workflow streams for automation possibilities. Zero-touch automation is the aim for 2019; the idea is to see how much of it can be implemented eventually. As the amount of data being generated by DevOps increases by the day, there are a lot of insights which can be driven through the use of artificial intelligence and big data. Add a layer of machine learning to this mix, and you will have a lot of tools to play around with your data and generate useful insights.

Go Serverless: Serverless computing is not an abstract invention anymore; it has changed the way applications are being developed, tested and operated in today’s scenario. By going serverless, IT companies can scale their workloads in the Cloud, thereby making use of cost-effective solutions. Companies can channel their primary focus on app development, while server provisions are taken care of by Cloud providers and managers — the serverless feature can allow companies to pay for what they use. Going serverless can help organizations achieve business agility, which can add an extra layer of efficiency in the long run. Functions as a service or FaaS will emerge as the next hot commodity in 2019, which will further enable a faster startup time, along with better utilization of resources and advantageous process management. All of these will emerge as benefits, with the use of DevOps software.

Everything as Code: There is no denying the fact that coding has become the backbone of the IT industry now. The future of this industry relies on the technical capabilities of the developers, the testers, and the operation’s people. Since DevOps is all about automation, fewer failure fixes, to facilitate faster delivery cycles, there is an imminent need to bring in code which can be easily versioned and reused to enhance the efficiency of software production cycles. The concept of “Everything as Code,” including Infrastructure as Code, is the underlying practice of DevOps and it can be introduced into the SDLC within 2019 to create ripples in the DevOps world.

Embedded Security is of Utmost Precedence: Security breaches have made organizations take notice of cybersecurity and turning it into a business imperative. Through the implementation of embedded security, greater collaboration can be enabled within the software development processes, making the process efficient, effective, and remarkably seamless. Mainstream DevOps will begin using security as a code, which makes the entire team accountable right from the initiation stage within the development cycle.

Continuous Delivery is the Buzzword: Continuous Delivery is the buzzword garnering a lot of stress as 2019 begins to take control of the DevOps world. The trend has shifted from continuous integration, and slowly heading to consistent delivery. DevOps is taking a more inclusive approach to the world of software development, and it will continue to be ramped up as the days’ progress. To support and maintain this shift more and more companies will adopt tools to handle multiple segments of the continuous delivery process, including those processes which are focused on building, deploying, and releasing the different stages within the software development process.

DevOps is improving with each year, and there is a lot of emphasis being laid on the improvements of processes, which can make the operation of the DevOps even more effective and useful. The concept is no longer new; initiation and carrying forward is what needs to be taken into consideration, to ensure everything is working smoothly as a well-oiled machine.

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Data Security Challenges in Cloud Computing

Posted on February 7, 2019October 18, 2019 by Idexcel Technologies

With the increase in data volumes, data handling has become the talk of the town. As companies begin to move to the cloud, there is a higher emphasis ensuring everything is safe and secure, and that there is no risk of data hacking or breaches. Since the cloud allows people to work without hardware and software investments, users can gain flexibility and data agility. However, since the Cloud is often shared between a lot of users, security becomes an immediate concern for Cloud owners.

Security Issues Within The Cloud
Cloud vendors provide a layer of security to user’s data. However, it is still not enough since the confidentiality of data can often be at risk. There are various types of attacks, which range from password guessing attacks and man-in-the-middle attacks to insider attacks, shoulder surfing attacks, and phishing attacks. Here is a list of the security challenges which are present within the cloud:

Data Protection and Misuse: When different organizations use the cloud to store their data, there is often a risk of data misuse. To avoid this risk, there is an imminent need to secure the data repositories. To achieve this task, one can use authentication and restrict access control for the cloud’s data.

Locality: Within the cloud world, data is often distributed over a series of regions; it is quite challenging to find the exact location of the data storage. However, as data is moved from one country to another, the rules governing the data storage also change; this brings compliance issues and data privacy laws into the picture, which pertain to the storage of data within the cloud. As a cloud service provider, the service provider has to inform the users of their data storage laws, and the exact location of the data storage server.

Integrity: The system needs to be rigged in such a manner so to provide security and access restrictions. In other words, data access should lie with authorized personnel only. In a cloud environment, data integrity should be maintained at all times to avoid any inherent data loss. Apart from restricting access, the permissions to make changes to the data should be limited to specific people, so that there is no widespread access problem at a later stage.

Access: Data security policies concerning the access and control of data are essential in the long run. Authorized data owners are required to give part access to individuals so that everyone gets only the required access for parts of the data stored within the data mart. By controlling and restricting access, there is a lot of control and data security which can be levied to ensure maximums security for the stored data.

Confidentiality: There is a lot of sensitive data which might be stored in the cloud. This data has to have extra layers of security on it to reduce the chances of breaches and phishing attacks; this can be done by the service provider, as well as the organization. However, as a precaution, data confidentiality should be of utmost priority for sensitive material.

Breaches: Breaches within the cloud are not unheard. Hackers can breach security parameters within the cloud, and steal the data which might otherwise be considered confidential for organizations. On the contrary, a breach can be an internal attack, so organizations need to lay particular emphasis in tracking employee actions to avoid any unwanted attacks on stored data.

Storage: For organizations, the data is being stored and made available virtually. However, for service providers, it is necessary to store the data in physical infrastructures, which makes the data vulnerable and conducive to physical attacks.

These are some of the security issues which come as a part of the cloud environment. However, these are not exactly difficult to overcome, especially with the available levels of technological resources these days. There is a lot of emphasis on ensuring maximum security for the stored data so that it complies with the rules and regulations, as well as the organization’s internal compliance policies.

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How to Avoid Cloud Migration Mistakes

Posted on February 6, 2019February 6, 2019 by Idexcel Technologies

The data world is very dynamic, and it is critical to update services according to the demands of business. When you are operating cloud storage, it may occur that you are not satisfied with your service provider and want to migrate to another cloud provider. That sure is a right step, but what many miss upon is the fact that cloud migration is a very critical task and should be executed wisely. Even when you are moving your resources to the cloud for the first time, you should keep in mind the following basic ideas that will keep you away from any significant mishaps.

Not Every App is a Candidate For The Cloud
Some applications’ data need not be migrated to the cloud for several reasons. Some apps have very complex structuring and codes which might not embrace migration smoothly. Migration for these apps may directly result in local data unavailability. Maintenance and repair of such apps are relatively easier when the files are located near the execution team. As a precaution, you should keep an intact copy of the data of that app and migrate one copy to the cloud. However, the locality issue will still hold—the shared responsibility with your cloud provider will be hard to maintain. Therefore, avoid the migration of such products.

Migration Requires Absolute Care
Often, people are unaware that cloud migration is not merely a process of zipping up their files and uploading to a server (similar to uploading files on Drive). The key to a successful migration depends on the quality of work and experience of your service provider. Your provider should be well aware of cloud migration operations and their repercussions. Cloud migration changes the entire paradigm of your activities—from security to file exchange everything has to work differently. Such an operational model requires a set of expertise on the service provider’s end for the smooth functioning of the business, so make sure that you have the right partner matching shoulder with you.

Choosing Your Service Provider
Thinking that every cloud service provider is going to offer you the same services is a disturbing thought. Let’s take the example of billing. Each cloud provider will have its own set of features and functions to offer; their sizes, add-ons, and prices may vary significantly. Your task is to choose the one that’s best suited for your business’ needs. Additionally, each service has a particular set of APIs and consoles which are, in most cases, incompatible with each other. Therefore, it is advised that you do not indulge in experiments and instead should go with the expert’s suggestions on business-specific cloud services.

Rushing The Migration is Out of The Question
Migration requires time to be exclusively dedicated to the process. During migration, a business might not function entirely for a bit of time, but that’s only temporary. Faster migrations result in compromising with the quality of your data being transfer, while slower migrations might consume your valuable time unnecessarily. What you should do is to find the perfect balance between the two. Having migration at a moderate speed is what you must strive to achieve — this is where the expertise of your cloud provider will matter at large.

Security Aspects Must Bot be Neglected
Although you might be moving to the cloud for better security, you are still vulnerable to risks. Having a weak front in the migration process, especially the sensitive data, can cost your company a lot. It is advised that you take proper measures before migrating through the help of an in-house expert; they must ensure the security before, during and after the migration.

Keeping these precautions in mind before moving ahead with migration will undoubtedly save you from common mistakes that many business owners commit. The critical factor in avoiding many of these mistakes will be your service provider, therefore, choose them wisely.

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Best Practices for Cloud Security

Posted on February 6, 2019January 21, 2021 by Idexcel Technologies

There was once a time when cloud security systems were very much able to tackle imminent threats through their inbuilt support systems. But, hackers have pushed forward, and it would appear that no data is secure from threats if additional security is not put in place. However, there are some handy precautions that you can take to safeguard your data from slipping into wrong hands. Read this article to learn more about best practices for maintaining and improving cloud security.

Transfer Encryption
First and foremost, you must ensure that the encryption of data in transition is end-to-end. Third parties being able to look into data has turned out to be one of the primary sources of data breaches. Companies should conduct all interactions on servers over SSL transmission (TLS 1.2) to ensure optimum security. Also, the SSL should be programmed in such a way that it terminates only within the cloud service provider network.

Storage Encryption
Although it is necessary to encrypt data in transition, encrypting stored data is no less critical. Most of the data collected will happen to be sensitive in most companies. If you have that data, it becomes your responsibility — keeping stored data encrypted keeps it intact from the threats that come from within; this also helps you comply with privacy policies, regulatory principles, and obligations of your company vis-à-vis particular client or company as a whole. Generally, a cloud service provider provides field-level encryption where the customers get to specify the fields they want to be encrypted. However, AES-256 is an excellent tool for encrypting data on cloud disks as it also generates regularly rotated master key that helps keep the encryption keys safe.

User-Level Data Security
You must opt for role-based access control (RBAC) features through which you will be able to enable your customers to set user-specific access and grant specific permissions to their data. You must ensure that you are not defying any law; therefore, you cannot take non-granted looks into the user’s data. Thus, add protective layers to the data to meet compliance with data security standards.

Vulnerability Testing
You should rigorously use the vulnerability and incident response tools as provided by your service provider. Solutions from these incident response tools render automated security assessments which can test security threats and decrease the levels, and threat severity, in critical security audits. For better security, these tools should be used rigorously, almost on a daily basis. But, depending on the nature of your data, the assessment cycle can be readjusted, and auto cycles can be scheduled.

Deletion Policy
You must never leave data unattended. Data has its cycles of use, and if the cycle of one data set is complete and no further processing is required, that data should be deleted from the server. Review the deletion policy from your provider and make sure that your information is programmed to be removed at a pre-specified time as mentioned in your contract.

Certifications
Another overarching measure for security enhancement is having proper compliance certifications — check what certifications your provider has. The two most essential certifications are PCI DSS, which signifies that the SaaS provider has undergone detailed audits that ensure secure storage and transmission of sensitive data, and SOC Type II, which tells that the internal risk management processes, regulatory compliance oversight, as well as vendor management programs are being carried out by the provider successfully.

Virtual Private Cloud
Having a private virtual cloud and network has its security advantages. In this scenario, you have entire control and access to your data and no other client. You don’t need to share the cloud with others, which inevitably results in increased security. The customer can securely connect to the corporate data, and all traffic in their VPC can be routed directly to their corporate data center.

These are some of the practices that must be incorporated for cloud security. The essential enhancer of cloud security is ultimately your service provider. So, make sure that you have one that’s trustable and experienced.

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Top 7 Benefits of Managed Cloud Services

Posted on February 5, 2019October 18, 2019 by Idexcel Technologies

Cloud computing has emerged as a fundamental requirement for successful business execution. Over the years, companies have struggled to control and adapt to the market with no significant success. With the introduction of cloud technology, they were, for the first time, able to revisit and reanalyze the data in real-time to get instant strategic inputs.

These benefits get multiplied when the cloud service is of a managed type. It displays a better edge over the mainstream cloud services by introducing a greater balance between scalability and facility with a grip on increased reliability — it is more cost-effective and well-managed. A business that aims to focus on simplifying business processes should consider the benefits of managed cloud services.

Better System Availability
Managed cloud services are highly agile and fluid; this makes it better in availability that too at an increased transfer speed. Processing large data at a lightning fast speed helps to save both crucial time and money. You can indulge in maximum bandwidth that takes care of customizable data storage and uptime and be free from the responsibility of checking the connection breakage even at the peak of processing load. Due to this, you can shift your valuable attention into areas where it actually should be applied such as making strategies, planning, and expanding.

Customization of the solution
Every business has different requirements according to which it requires from a storage service. Managed cloud solutions allow the owner to engage in these customizations — they are meant to serve to the needs of a specific business. Therefore, the necessity of cloud buffer, the add-ons, the storage quality, and the security essentials, are all formulated while keeping in mind the requirement of the particular business. Thus, such a cloud source is beneficial to both the manager and the owner of the cloud; it allows them to organize data more accurately.

Improved Deployment of Solutions
Another crucial factor that puts the managed cloud above conventional technology is its ability to track the technical statistics of its usage and programming interface; this becomes very useful when constant monitoring of the data is required. Through continuous monitoring, the service provider can also backtrack lags and issues in the data channel and improve the design and deployment of service time to time — this helps in rectifying existing data flow and in turn enhances market readiness.

Increased Reliability
Cloud providers build a lot of redundant infrastructures to make the foundation and service provided by them reliably consistent. Cloud providers also adhere to many security regulation and process regulations. Cloud solutions can be designed to recover automatically from failure. Usually, very high service availability is provided by cloud providers. Load balancing and DNS service are also offered by most cloud provider which would also be used for building reliable solutions. The whole cloud infrastructure is carefully administered by the provider which results in increased reliability.

Scalability and Flexibility
Taking into consideration the ever growing technological advancements and constant need to rescale the resources continuously scalability turns out to be a vital component of business strategy. Scalability makes it possible to accommodate sudden demands without any hassle which keeps the pace of the organization intact and eliminates possible downtime. With managed cloud services, the scalability of cloud resources is further optimized with a targeted flow. Since the client is individual, necessary tools can be opted or shunned in that cloud resource without hampering any work.

Affordability
Managed cloud services render great flexibility regarding operating on a variety of clouds such as public, private or hybrid cloud; this flexibility results in reduced operational and hardware costs. We know that the data flow is very agile in a managed cloud service and that makes the infrastructure very nimble and culminates in adjusted spending that matches budget and computing needs; this naturally develops a habit of optimized spending that consequently increases profits.

Disaster Recovery as a Service (DRaaS)
With managed cloud services you can opt for disaster recovery which makes sure that your data remains intact if a disaster strikes; this becomes crucial for those firms whose data is susceptible. Breach or loss of such data might well result in the downfall of the entire business. DRaaS solution help by backing-up operating systems, applications, file systems, and existing configurations entirely to a safe location. At the need of the hour, the full copy is recalled without much stress.

To exploit the full potential of managed cloud solutions, an experienced provider is of utmost importance. Be sure to research before making a final choice.

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HIMSS19 Global Conference & Exhibition

Posted on February 1, 2019October 18, 2019 by Idexcel Technologies

Date: February 11-15, 2019
Location: Orlando, FL
Venue: Orange County Convention Center

Event Details: The 2019 HIMSS Global Conference & Exhibition, February 11–15, 2019 in Orlando, is the leading health information and technology conference, bringing together 45,000+ professionals from 90+ countries for the education, innovation and collaboration they need to transform health through information and technology – all at one time, all in one place. Choose from 300+ education sessions, 1,300+ vendors, hundreds of special programs and endless networking events.

[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

Why You Should Consider DevOps for Your Organization

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

Adopting DevOps offers a cultural change in the workforce by enabling engineers to cross the barrier between the development teams and operations teams. Instead of having two disjointed groups, DevOps brings together the operational and developmental paradigms under the same Agile experience. DevOps introduces many benefits to organizations both regarding efficiency and error reduction; it infuses cohesion amongst the departments that otherwise remain disjunctive of each other. This, in turn, helps production acceleration and better quality reassurance.

Further reasons why you should consider adopting a DevOps culture:

Progressive Collaboration
For years, developers have faced the dilemma of repeating work and manufacturing pitfalls in a setup where development and operation did not go hand-in-hand. DevOps promises to bridge the gap between the two where both employ bottom-up and top-down feedback from each other. With DevOps, when development seeks operational help or when operations require immediate development, both remain ready for each other at any given time.

In such a scenario, the software development culture brings in to focus combined development instead of individual goals; this fosters healthy experiments, improved research, and innovation in the organization. The development environment becomes more progressive as all the team members work in cohesion towards a common goal.

Processing Acceleration
With conjoined operational and developmental paradigms, the communication lag between the two is reduced to null — these integrated teams help in rapid development and deployment of applications; this has multiple implications in the current market setup where rapidity is vital for maintaining supply and adaptation, and to improve efficiency.

Organizations continuously strive for a better edge over their competing rivals, and if such acceleration is not achieved, the organization will have to succumb to competing forces— innovation will be slower, and the product market will decay. DevOps, in such a scenario, makes use of real-time performance data to comprehend and predict code configuration, in addition to how they impact the applications. As a result, the product rectifications are faster and more prompt causing overall development processes to become quicker.

Shorter Recovery Time
DevOps deployment functions on a more focused and exclusive approach which makes issues more accessible to spot; this helps error rectification faster and easier to implement. In a situation of failure, the development team need not recheck the entire source code for detecting that error. The most the team will need to check is the latest code changes to resolve an issue.

Therefore, the resolution to problems is inherently quicker, as troubleshooting happens to take place at the current development level only, within a single team. Thus, the overall time for recovery and rectification is drastically reduced.

Lower Failure Rate
In DevOps, the abridged departments yield shorter development cycles which result in rapid production. The entire process becomes modular wherein issues related to configuration, application code, and infrastructure become more apparent and pre-accessible — this lowers the error count drastically since no significant error will be made reiteratively.

A decrease in error count also positively affects the success rates of development. The team members become increasingly engaged in the lifecycle of particular application development where every member is aware of the shortcomings of the current code. Therefore, very few fixes will be required to attain a fully functional code for the desired output.

Higher Job Satisfaction
DevOps fosters equality by bringing different officials at the same level of interaction. The power mechanism is decoded and attains linearity of importance in this communicative environment. The environment exhibits more of a performance-based cohesion than a power-based hierarchy. The obstacles are faced cumulatively by all instead of shifting the load to a single pair of shoulders; this helps in reducing the stress and workload of the developers and motivating them to think more openly about the possibilities of eradicating those obstacles. The process also boosts confidence in individual employees and fosters greater job satisfaction.

Fast and error-free outputs are naturally desired in today’s digital organizations as demands are becoming higher day by day. DevOps serves as a handy tool for achieving that feat; it enables the workforce to work in cohesion where chances for failure are minimal, and production is rapid. As a result, the processing becomes efficient and workspace more promising. If implemented wisely, DevOps can influence the workflow by increasing its speed, security, stability, and dependability.

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The Top 5 Advantages of the Hybrid Cloud

Posted on January 1, 2019October 18, 2019 by Idexcel Technologies

Cloud computing has become one of the prime opportunities worth exploring. Some businesses are rapidly progressing within the Cloud, while others continue to remain skeptical of the Cloud’s true capabilities. The Cloud is marketed as a tool to enhance efficiency, flexibility, and even provide the opportunity for expansion. However, these benefits are devoid of tangibility, which makes the transition to the cloud challenging to validate. Organizations are on the lookout for a change which can incorporate a mix of a public and private cloud, which is often referred to as a cloud hybrid.

Advantages a company can gain by investing in a hybrid cloud model for their business:

1) Business Continuity
Business continuity is one of the integral elements of an organization’s operations. A business’ continuity plan is not limited to backing up data into the cloud only; nor is it a disaster management plan. Business continuity is all about continuing to do business during a failure or even a disaster. In situations wherein an emergency does occur, data management procedures won’t be affected, and everything will continue to remain the way it was before the disaster occurred. A business continuity plan needs to be planned carefully, by taking into consideration elements related to resilience, recovery, and contingency. For this very purpose, a hybrid cloud can prove to be extremely beneficial. All the necessary data can be backed up and stored within a hybrid cloud, so that there is no data loss, even in the case of a disaster or emergency; this minimalizes downtime and the costs related with the recovery of essential data.

2) Innovation Opportunities
Innovation can be implemented in a straightforward, subtle manner within a cloud environment, only because it does not require a lot of expenditure for modeling a new service. Before the entry of the cloud, the costs associated with such tasks included massive capital investments in setting up the infrastructure, labor, and research time incurred in maintenance. These procedures place a lot of pressure on the available resources, especially on capacity management practices, which in turn make uncertain forecasting factors. In a hybrid cloud, various concepts can be tested within the cloud, and a prototype can be tested and devised without incurring any extra expenditure. The cloud provides all the necessary resources which include data, network, and the infrastructure.

3) Scalability
A hybrid cloud environment can go a long way in helping improve scalability as it provides an excellent opportunity to businesses to migrate specific operations to the cloud. By implementing automation rules within the cloud, a company can scale its resources up and down as business needs change. This way, a business can use the hybrid cloud and take advantage of its unlimited resources, while optimizing performance and efficiency.

4) Risk management
A hybrid cloud environment is an excellent opportunity for companies to test their capabilities concerning workloads and in turn plan their cloud strategy selectively. The cloud structure can be relatively complex at times, which needs elaborate planning, data security, and other risk management policies to ensure everything is taken care of, before making a move to the cloud.

5) Secure Systems
There is a common saying that security takes a hit within the public clouds; this is relatively true, as data is not kept in a private space across private systems. In the public cloud, everything is accessed via the Internet. In a secluded, hybrid cloud, there is much more flexibility within the design and the architecture along with a higher level of security than the public cloud systems.

The hybrid cloud has emerged as one of the preferred systems in the technological gamut; it has a series of benefits to businesses; however, what matters are the demand and the supply along with the circumstances in which a company seeks to use the hybrid cloud. Since the hybrid cloud is a complex structure, there is hardly one situation which will fit all requirements. For this very reason, the multiple benefits offered by a hybrid cloud help fit into all the possibilities, making it an excellent resource for businesses and large organizations alike.

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