Q&A with Emil Brunner, CEO of Takeoff1 GmbH

MEDIA 7 | June 13, 2019

Q&A with Emil Brunner, CEO of Takeoff1 GmbH
Emil Brunner, CEO of Takeoff1 GmbH is an experienced businessman who has worked in many countries. He has dedicated more than 10 years to the intuitive method of language acquisition called the “Birkenbihl Approach” formulated by Vera F. Birkenbihl.  Emil and Vera have worked together on the digitalization of this language acquisition method which has been incorporated into Emil's language-learning platform, Brain-Friendly. 

In this interesting Q&A, Emil takes us through the Birkinbihl approach which is helping users worldwide to learn languages with ease.

MEDIA 7: Could you please tell us about your background?
EMIL BRUNNER:
 I started as a technician; then I changed to sales. In my heart, I’ve always been a salesman. I started my business as the first Xerox Partner in Austria, and then I managed a company selling office machines and equipment. It was my first time going into other countries, like Germany and Switzerland. In that business, I worked with many phone agents, so the company grew to an outbound sales call center. In the USA, I had my first technology experience and built an automated call machine. We then got the franchise partner of RTL Teleshop - it was after QVC the second largest in DACH, for Austria.  I gained knowledge in TV-Power plus Sales power and found it fascinating. The next step was to automate the call center.

In 2004, we ran a call center in a pizza box (computer) for teleshop companies. In the States, we closed orders for up to 60% of callers fully automated, the rest were connected to the classical human call center. It had a great future, but I did it with the wrong people. So the company went bankrupt, and we went back to Austria.
After that experience, back "home" - felt so small, and we went on to start a software development business.
I began working and studying TV & Film making at the same time. My master's degree was a documentary film about "Teleshop and new technologies.”

I met Vera F. Birkenbihl, and she was one of the most successful scientists for learning methods and strategies and held a lot of live seminars - long before TEDx came up. I produced about 10 of those seminars, gaining many skills in the process, and that's when I found out about the language learning method. Me and language? I had trouble all the time while I went to school. I was sure languages were not for me. However, my son was a successful young developer and was interested and started to develop an app for language learning - using the brain-friendly Birkenbihl method. Which means, you never waste time cramming vocabulary and you don't need to learn any grammar rules.

I don't know anyone who’s happy learning vocabulary. About 90+% of all people using a language (mother tongue and foreign language) are not able to describe a grammar rule — only the teachers can do it. So there must be another way without the pain. And here it was!
I tried to learn English. The goal was to speak well without thinking about what to say. I just wanted to talk.

That's it. It took me more than a year, but I had an experience I’ll never forget. I was working on my phone with many customers and collecting orders. After a while, I put the orders from my notes into the computer. Wow! I had made a request for English courses - an order from a bookstore in Birmingham. How did I do it? Yes, I did it in English, and I didn't even realize it. It was automatic. The gap, switching from German to English, was gone - forever.

In the meantime, both my sons, Herwig and Gerwin, were now professionals in software development on the international stage. I had a Swiss partner and last year, I sold my shares to set up a new company with a new app - the Birkenbihl language learning movies. The digitalization of language learning - watch a movie and get the language. Based on subscription models, we sell it now in DACH, US, and European Single markets.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning, that I am the only one, who got the okay from Vera F.Birkenbihl (she died 2011), to follow the method of the new science of language learning and take it to the next level. I got the seal of approval for the "Birkenbihl Approach" to honor products they follow with the principle of "brain-friendly" learning method.

I have put all of this experience into a new book, the follow up of Birkenbihl's bestseller "Einfach Sprachen Lernen". I completed it with Katharina Rucker, she has been on board since 2008 and is still the best blogger for language learning knowledge. The book will be published in English in Q1-2020.

"Using the brain-friendly Birkenbihl method, you never waste time cramming vocabulary and you don't need to learn any grammar rules."



M7: How far is the Birkenbihl method’s idea of ‘learning a language need not be difficult’ serving its purpose of making language acquisition effortless?
EB:
 Let me say 100%. Because the "classical" way to learn a language is totally different from the way our brain works. Our brain is trying to find new things to discover, to get new experiences and so on. What is there to discover when you use a vocabulary list? For example, table - Tisch / table - la mesa, etc. it could also be shown as table - Katze (cat). There is no sense, no meaning, no context.

If you learn it the brain-friendly way as a full sentence, and you "de-code" it, your brain has enough context, and there are new words to learn. 

So it works, and it takes a minimum amount of time because our brain is memorizing everything in connections, like synapses, and that works very well, making it fun and available to use for the rest of your life.
The newest thing we have developed is the Movie(c) courses. Birkenbihl told us all the time, "a movie is the closest experience to real life". Watching a movie is like experiencing an actual event. 

When the "de-code line" is integrated into the movie,  entertainment and learning become cohesive. The "de-code line" in the movie, works as a karaoke player. The spoken word-pair is synchronized and highlighted. So you can close your eyes or your brain will automatically follow the decode line, and you will absorb the language. Repeat it, and you become perfect. It’s the digital way to learn a foreign language.

M7: How do you develop the movies and what is the approach for making users learn new languages easily with these movies?
EB: 
The classical way to learn a language is to cram grammar rules. Understanding and speaking are two processes in our brain that we have to learn separately. The idea developed by Birkenbihl was to find out how to use the mother tongue to understand a foreign language. She had done a lot of research and observed neuroscientists and decided to call the it the decode line which means you have two decoding lines – the upper line is the foreign language that you want to learn, the lower line is the word-by-word translation where you get the information about the meaning of the words.
It’s easy to follow them if you like to follow, but it’s enough if you just watch the movie. Your brain is automatically looking at the decode line and getting the information so if you repeat that you become more familiar with the sentence and you’ll understand it.

M7: How has your working with Vera F. Birkenbihl for more than 10 years helped you to come out with an intuitive method of language acquisition called the “Birkenbihl Approach”? What was the idea behind this?
EB: 
Birkenbihl told me that she’d had an experience with teachers and children. The problem was that the children didn’t enjoy learning vocabulary. It was, and still is, a pain. After a couple of days, all of the learned words go. So she thought, if most people have this problem then the problem couldn't be the people, it must be the method. There must be a better way.

After that, she started researching, and she found old documents, detailing how the aristocrats (the European marriage expansion) learned languages. There were many connections between the European Aristocrats, and this old document described how they learned. There was a transcript, a direct translation underneath and a live speaker. So the learners followed the speaker and read the word pairs.

All of the experiments she did, worked very well. I remember, it was approximately 2008, there was a teacher in Odelzhause who gave the children private English lessons Coached by Birkenbihl, in 3 months, the whole class were able to speak English very well and had no problem with vocabulary tests. That was the point we realized we were onto something. Based on our findings, my son built the first application for Windows. However, if you think that’s it, no. It took a lot of time to optimize it and to do all the beta tests. But after a while, we saw that it worked, and my experience was. WOW! - I got it.


"Watching a movie is like experiencing an actual event.   When the "de-code line" is integrated into the movie,  entertainment and learning become cohesive."


M7: How is the “Birkenbihl Approach” assisting people around the world to learn more languages efficiently?
EB:
Thanks, that’s an excellent question. You can do it, totally without any app, with paper or music. Take the lyrics of the song you love and start to “de-code” (translate it word-by-word). Yes, with the app, it’s much easier, and if you have a device ready, you can fit, learning a language, into every spare moment you have. So you waste no time, get entertained and learn simultaneously. After a while, you begin to speak automatically like a baby, who is listening for a long time.
When it becomes a year old, it starts with some words, after the second year it begins, from one day to the next to speak full sentences, only by listening. So while you improve upon your spelling skills, in your mother tongue or foreign language, always listen (day and night) in the background. Your sub-conscience will do the rest.
It is a kind of democratization of language learning; everybody can do it, independent of age or origin.

M7: You have played a vital role in digitalization of this language acquisition method. What inspired you to take up this challenge and what was your vision behind this?
EB:
Yes, first, it was a curiosity about the possibility and a challenge for myself to learn a language up to a level to be able to sell anything. Remember, I was a weak student.
Additionally, it was the feedback from the first beta tester, later from customers that they had the same experience I had, and they are now happy and successful.  So it was sensible. Yes, a little bit also to make it easier for people. So now, I see that the end of the traditional way to learn a language is coming.

Think about it... you can watch a movie, it doesn't matter which one, and you get automatically delivered the “de-code” line. I think we'll be able to get it in the near future, we are still working on it. So you don't need any teacher, because every child is learning it like their mother tongue, additionally. For example, a Hollywood movie uses about 1000 to 1500 unique words, a daily newspaper uses about 500 to 700 unique words. So let's watch Spanish movies this weekend, and that's it. My idea is that no child should have to suffer the cramming of vocabulary.


"While you grow up your spelling skills, in your mother tongue or foreign language, always listen in the background. Your sub-conscience will do the rest. It is a kind of democratization of language learning."



M7: As a language instructor, how important is resolving the problem of language acquisition as a barrier to businesses and marketing when globalization is the trend?
EB: It is vital. In two cases, one of them is, that companies spend a lot of money, year by year and nothing is changing. The costs go up, and success is equal to or less. Especially the production industries who have many difficulties, i.e. when the company is based in Germany, and the production is in Mexico. In this case, we can help. We can produce a learning movie for the technical process and add the “de-code line”, so the employees get both, the knowledge and the language. I think this is an excellent opportunity for all instructors and trainers of language. They can supply companies to work with the Birkenbihl method, and it gives more success with less time to spend. 

M7: Do you think that the Birkenbihl method will encourage more people around the world to learn languages swiftly?
EB:
Yes, that's what I hope, and it is essential to tell everybody that with this method it is possible, yes it works. Also, my hope is that it could connect people and bring more happiness. It's okay, if you start now and only spend 10 minutes every day. After approximately 6 weeks, you will get about 400 to 600 unique words. However, you can also do it in 2 weeks if you spend 10 minutes, 10 times a day (less than 2 hours). Alternatively, if you spend only 10 minutes every 3rd day, it takes a little longer. Do it when you want with the time that suits you. Overall, you get it.

M7: Knowing what you know now, what advice would you give your younger self?
EB:
Not much, except one thing: Whatever you do, if it doesn't work, find out how it could work, there is surely another way. But, just do it.

ABOUT BRAIN FRIENDLY

The Birkenbihl Approach (BBA) means, learning as the brain loves to learn. Our brain - look to the minds of children - how they like to discover and to understand how things work. It uses neuro mechanisms like abstracting rules (grammar) and background listening (to build synapses for spelling). To know more, visit Brain-Friendly.

More C-Suite on deck

Q&A with Tara Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer at Incorta

Media 7 | April 15, 2020

Tara Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer at Incorta has over 25 years experience and success in global marketing for technology businesses in ERP, mid-market, SMB, security, industry offerings and has driven fast growth for multiple SaaS , IPO and public companies.  Ryan works with executives and board on planning, creation and execution of global branding, communications, sites, field programs, public relations, investor relations and demand generation. MEDIA 7: When did you first start working and what was it? TARA RYAN: My first job for a real paycheck was at 15 when I worked at a deli in Fresno, CA where I grew up. M7: With over 25 years of experience in global marketing for technology companies, how has the demand generation for tech firms evolved, and how do you see it changing in future? TR: Marketing used to be a stand alone, unautomated function and in all honesty, a bit of a mystery. Now marketing is threaded through every single thing we do in business and with technology innovations, there is a real understanding of it, the programs we run, the expected outcomes and even the real time analysis of successes and failures. We used to plan a campaign, process out the creative, media and execution and wait to see effectiveness – now we do all at once. I see the future going back to simplification and less is more. We have added so many tools and ways to analyze.

Read More

Q&A with Sangram Vajre, Co-founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus

MEDIA 7 | January 9, 2020

Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus is also an author and host of the podcast FlipmyFunnel. He is one of the leading minds in B2B marketing. MEDIA 7: What are you passionate about? SANGRAM VAJRE: Three things: Lead professionally. Grow personally. Love family. M7: Terminus has been recognized as one of Georgia’s 40 fastest-growing companies by ACG Atlanta. What factors contribute to this pace? SV: One of our core values is #OneTeam – which means we think and act as one team and know that if we treat our team right, they will treat our customers amazing. There are no great companies, only great people that make those companies.

Read More

Q&A with Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD

MEDIA 7 | December 5, 2019

Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD is an experienced Marketing and Sales Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Business Process, Marketo, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and IT Service Management, Andrea is also a strong business development professional and a storyteller. MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing? ANDREA LECHNER: Frankly, not having better options. I originally attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse thinking I’d major in Archaeology. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! But, after visiting the archaeology building – i.e. the cold, dark basement of the science building – where a girl sat to piece together pieces of an old Native American vase, I knew archaeology was not going to be the right path for me. And so, without being good at science and a major in art or art history was unlikely to pay my bills, I decided to go into “business”. I originally registered as a management major, but took my first marketing class and thought it was more interesting and switched my sophomore year. That was pretty much it. I’d never been involved in business classes or DECA in high school – I didn’t really know what to do or what jobs in marketing were even possible. I dumb lucked myself into it really. M7: As a storyteller, do you relate the brand to a story or story to the brand? AL: Both? Neither? I think there are stories in every brand, because there are people working on the brand and people engaging with the brand and people using what the brand creates. People, most often a single person, are at the heart of great stories. You can start with the “point” of the story you’re trying to tell. Say you have a software that help accountants better create reports for board meetings. It’s likely you’ll want to tell a success story about an accountant getting promoted to CFO in part because your software helped better communicate their work product to the board. You could have the idea for that and go looking for that story in your customers. OR, you could hear that story, and say, “That’s amazing!” and share it with customers, partners and internal people. Stories are all around us – the most important thing is to keep your ears and eyes open for finding them.

Read More

Q&A with Tara Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer at Incorta

Media 7 | April 15, 2020

Tara Ryan, Chief Marketing Officer at Incorta has over 25 years experience and success in global marketing for technology businesses in ERP, mid-market, SMB, security, industry offerings and has driven fast growth for multiple SaaS , IPO and public companies.  Ryan works with executives and board on planning, creation and execution of global branding, communications, sites, field programs, public relations, investor relations and demand generation. MEDIA 7: When did you first start working and what was it? TARA RYAN: My first job for a real paycheck was at 15 when I worked at a deli in Fresno, CA where I grew up. M7: With over 25 years of experience in global marketing for technology companies, how has the demand generation for tech firms evolved, and how do you see it changing in future? TR: Marketing used to be a stand alone, unautomated function and in all honesty, a bit of a mystery. Now marketing is threaded through every single thing we do in business and with technology innovations, there is a real understanding of it, the programs we run, the expected outcomes and even the real time analysis of successes and failures. We used to plan a campaign, process out the creative, media and execution and wait to see effectiveness – now we do all at once. I see the future going back to simplification and less is more. We have added so many tools and ways to analyze.

Read More

Q&A with Sangram Vajre, Co-founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus

MEDIA 7 | January 9, 2020

Sangram Vajre, Co-Founder & Chief Evangelist at Terminus is also an author and host of the podcast FlipmyFunnel. He is one of the leading minds in B2B marketing. MEDIA 7: What are you passionate about? SANGRAM VAJRE: Three things: Lead professionally. Grow personally. Love family. M7: Terminus has been recognized as one of Georgia’s 40 fastest-growing companies by ACG Atlanta. What factors contribute to this pace? SV: One of our core values is #OneTeam – which means we think and act as one team and know that if we treat our team right, they will treat our customers amazing. There are no great companies, only great people that make those companies.

Read More

Q&A with Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD

MEDIA 7 | December 5, 2019

Andrea Lechner-Becker, Chief Marketing Officer at LeadMD is an experienced Marketing and Sales Executive with a demonstrated history of working in the marketing and advertising industry. Skilled in Business Process, Marketo, Sales, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), and IT Service Management, Andrea is also a strong business development professional and a storyteller. MEDIA 7: What inspired you to get into marketing? ANDREA LECHNER: Frankly, not having better options. I originally attended the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse thinking I’d major in Archaeology. I wanted to be Indiana Jones! But, after visiting the archaeology building – i.e. the cold, dark basement of the science building – where a girl sat to piece together pieces of an old Native American vase, I knew archaeology was not going to be the right path for me. And so, without being good at science and a major in art or art history was unlikely to pay my bills, I decided to go into “business”. I originally registered as a management major, but took my first marketing class and thought it was more interesting and switched my sophomore year. That was pretty much it. I’d never been involved in business classes or DECA in high school – I didn’t really know what to do or what jobs in marketing were even possible. I dumb lucked myself into it really. M7: As a storyteller, do you relate the brand to a story or story to the brand? AL: Both? Neither? I think there are stories in every brand, because there are people working on the brand and people engaging with the brand and people using what the brand creates. People, most often a single person, are at the heart of great stories. You can start with the “point” of the story you’re trying to tell. Say you have a software that help accountants better create reports for board meetings. It’s likely you’ll want to tell a success story about an accountant getting promoted to CFO in part because your software helped better communicate their work product to the board. You could have the idea for that and go looking for that story in your customers. OR, you could hear that story, and say, “That’s amazing!” and share it with customers, partners and internal people. Stories are all around us – the most important thing is to keep your ears and eyes open for finding them.

Read More

Related News

CLOUD, VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENTS

ThinkData Works Supports Hybrid Cloud Environments With New Connections, Unlocks Virtualization From 40+ Data Sources

Businesswire | May 17, 2023

ThinkData Works Inc., a leading data catalog provider, is introducing new platform improvements that support data virtualization from more than 40 data sources. This enhancement increases the number of data source integrations available on the ThinkData Works Catalog Platform, including native support for Snowflake, BigQuery, and other cloud warehouses, as well as Oracle, SQL Servers, mongoDB and streaming data sources like Kafka and Kinesis. By supporting integration with these data sources, ThinkData Works enables out-of-the-box data fabric capabilities for organizations with hybrid cloud environments. According to recent research by Google, the majority of organizations deploy applications on multiple on-premises and cloud solutions, clearly indicating that hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud is a reality for modern business. ThinkData Works' new capabilities harmonize these environments through virtualization technology, allowing customers to deploy a data catalog that enables governance across an entire decentralized data ecosystem without requiring data asset migration. This approach ensures compliance and governance are maintained while creating visibility and streamlined data access across organizations without the need for custom connections to data sources. With an increasing number of companies repatriating data from cloud to on-premises, this feature addresses concerns around ballooning cloud costs and complex migrations. Teams can easily connect to data in a standard way no matter where it resides, even facilitating data migration to or from the cloud. "The idea that companies are migrating their data to a single cloud warehouse is a myth," said Bryan Smith, Co-founder and CEO of ThinkData Works. "These days it's much more likely that an average organization will have data stored in a number of different places, both cloud and on-premises, and they need a good way to manage, access, and report on this data quickly. We're excited to launch these new capabilities to our users, who know first hand how diverse a data environment can be." “Non-Invasive Data Governance is based on the idea that organizations can achieve appropriate levels of governance without a major lift-and-shift of their data," says Robert S. Seiner, President and Principal of KIK Consulting & Educational Services and the author of two books on Non-Invasive Data Governance. "By supporting data virtualization from essential data sources, ThinkData Works is helping companies with hybrid cloud environments put non-invasive data governance rules into practice." Prospective customers can experience the power of the ThinkData Works data catalog platform first-hand through a new Free Trial offering, now available for a limited time. About ThinkData Works ThinkData Works unlocks the value of data to grow your business. Connect seamlessly to any source, drive critical insights, and deliver data while retaining visibility and control. Founded in 2014, ThinkData Works offers flexible data connections, an intuitive catalog interface, and secure tools to deliver data where it needs to be — inside or outside your organization. Purpose-built to handle the complexities of data variety, their unified cloud platform cuts overhead, fuels innovation, and drives revenue growth.

Read More

VIRTUAL DESKTOP TOOLS, DESKTOP

MacStadium Enables Seamless High-Definition Streaming Via New Orka Workspace™ with Pulse

Businesswire | May 24, 2023

MacStadium, the industry-leading Mac private cloud and software-as-a-service provider enabling macOS workloads, today announced Orka Workspace™ with Pulse, a new system for virtual macOS desktop delivery that enables high-definition audio and visual streaming on Orka Workspace™ virtual Mac desktops via any HTML5 supported browser. Orka’s new Pulse feature is the first application of WebRTC on macOS VDI and is now available in Preview within the Orka Workspace™ solution. The new system for virtual Mac desktop delivery leverages a reimagined transmission protocol to create low-latency, high-performance macOS workspaces required by developers worldwide. It also leverages the industry-leading WebRTC technology, which is backed by Apple, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla and is used by many leading B2B web applications. Customers can toggle Orka Pulse™ on or off, as needed to experience the new protocol. “We are excited to deliver all Orka Workspace customers with access to the new Pulse protocol,” said Chris Chapman, MacStadium senior vice president and CTO. “With the new Orka Pulse technology, Orka Workspace joins the ranks of other B2B web-based applications such as Zoom, Salesforce and Slack that are using WebRTC technology to drive modern business communications. In 2021, Gartner predicted that demand for desktops as a service would increase by 150 percent from 2020 to 2023. This reinforces the increased demand for remote work and technology like DaaS, which is required to enable secure and scalable distributed workforce. As more companies continue to adopt DaaS applications, MacStadium’s Orka Workspace works as an all-encompassing solution for virtual desktop capabilities. Many B2B applications use the foundations of WebRTC to deliver audio and video communications over the web, but prior to Orka Pulse, packaging and transferring an entire desktop presents challenges particularly for a macOS desktop. “Pulse provides a foundation for the transmission of real-time audio and video necessary for macOS virtual desktops to work as they should. But using WebRTC for macOS presented unique challenges that required our team to redesign some of the components with integration to macOS APIs to deliver that uniquely Mac video experience users know and love,” Chapman added. “We even published some of our work on the updated Swift RTP as open-source code to enable more macOS, WebRTC tools and development.” Orka Pulse enables faster releases by providing remote developers with access to more powerful Mac virtual workspaces, allowing them to work at a faster pace with more flexible resources. Users can interact with a remote Mac device with the ability to stream 1080p video and no need for local installs or plugins as Orka Pulse requires only a HTML5 browser. Additionally, the solution provides end-to-end encrypted user sessions that are managed by organizations’ IT teams and can be terminated on-demand if risks are identified. The announcement comes after MacStadium recently made public its Orka Small Teams edition, a self-service purchase option, giving DevOps teams immediate access to the industry’s leading enterprise-grade macOS virtualization and orchestration tool. As tech companies look to streamline operations and maximize their resources, this automation is critical to remain competitive. MacStadium’s unveiling of the new Pulse feature coincides with the team’s attendance of MacAD.UK in Brighton, U.K. from May 22 - 24. At the conference, MacStadium’s Chapman will present on the topic of unlocking Mac virtualization for organizations everywhere. Additionally, attendees can visit MacStadium’s booth to learn more about this exciting product update and sign up for a complimentary trial of Orka Workspace with Pulse. About MacStadium Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Atlanta, MacStadium is a private cloud and software-as-a-service leader delivering scalable and secure enterprise cloud solutions exclusively for macOS. The company’s suite of advanced software-enabled infrastructure, combined with its innovative technology, delivers the security, performance, reliability and flexibility its DevOps customers require for successful app development on Apple devices. Powered by MacStadium, Orka® (Orchestration with Kubernetes on Apple) platform is the only virtualization layer available for Mac build infrastructure based on popular Docker and Kubernetes technology. MacStadium is a Summit Partners portfolio company with multi-site operations in the U.S. and EU. Please follow the company on social @macstadium or visit macstadium.com.

Read More

CONTAINERS, VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENTS

Corent Announces Support for Azure Linux Container Host for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Businesswire | May 26, 2023

Corent Technology today announced the company has added full support for Azure Linux container host for AKS in the company’s Corent MaaS™ platform. Corent previously supported automated containerization of workloads on Microsoft Azure and is now offering customers full supports for those same workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) when using Azure Linux container host for AKS. The Azure Linux container host for AKS uses a native AKS image that is optimized for security and performance by minimizing the packages. Every package is built from the source and validated, ensuring your services run on proven components. Azure Linux container host is lightweight, comprising only the necessary packages needed to run container workloads. It provides a reduced attack surface and eliminates patching and maintenance of unnecessary packages. At Azure Linux’s base layer lies a Microsoft-hardened kernel tuned for Azure. SIs and customers can use Corent MaaS™ to scan and discover workloads suitable for containerization. MaaS also automates the containerization of workloads to save time, reduce costs, and real-time risk mitigation. This way, SIs and customers enjoy the best of a comprehensive, well-rounded tool without the associated risks and pitfalls. “We pride ourselves in providing tools for automating the entire Cloud journey,” said Sean Jazayeri, SVP of Strategic Alliances, Corent. “Through this collaboration with Microsoft, we are pleased to add another feature to our solution that supports the use of Microsoft products and Azure services.” “With Azure Linux container host, customers see benefit from the value of having a secure, performant, and fully native AKS container host,” said Jim Perrin, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Azure Linux. “Microsoft controls the supply chain for Azure Linux end to end, resulting in a more streamlined image tailored and optimized for AKS. Azure Linux container host provides a consistent k8s experience throughout the developer and production lifecycle coupled with the level of support you expect from Microsoft.” About Corent Technology Corent Technology, Inc. is a leading innovator in the cloud migration and SaaS-enablement technology space. Corent’s SurPaaS® Platform is used by key enterprises, system Integrators and cloud providers to enable rapid discovery, analysis, planning, optimisation, and migration to the cloud; and optionally, automated transformation of software applications to efficient, scalable SaaS. Corent is managed by a team of industry veterans from Microsoft, IBM, HP, EMC, Oracle, and VMware among others.

Read More

CLOUD, VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENTS

ThinkData Works Supports Hybrid Cloud Environments With New Connections, Unlocks Virtualization From 40+ Data Sources

Businesswire | May 17, 2023

ThinkData Works Inc., a leading data catalog provider, is introducing new platform improvements that support data virtualization from more than 40 data sources. This enhancement increases the number of data source integrations available on the ThinkData Works Catalog Platform, including native support for Snowflake, BigQuery, and other cloud warehouses, as well as Oracle, SQL Servers, mongoDB and streaming data sources like Kafka and Kinesis. By supporting integration with these data sources, ThinkData Works enables out-of-the-box data fabric capabilities for organizations with hybrid cloud environments. According to recent research by Google, the majority of organizations deploy applications on multiple on-premises and cloud solutions, clearly indicating that hybrid-cloud and multi-cloud is a reality for modern business. ThinkData Works' new capabilities harmonize these environments through virtualization technology, allowing customers to deploy a data catalog that enables governance across an entire decentralized data ecosystem without requiring data asset migration. This approach ensures compliance and governance are maintained while creating visibility and streamlined data access across organizations without the need for custom connections to data sources. With an increasing number of companies repatriating data from cloud to on-premises, this feature addresses concerns around ballooning cloud costs and complex migrations. Teams can easily connect to data in a standard way no matter where it resides, even facilitating data migration to or from the cloud. "The idea that companies are migrating their data to a single cloud warehouse is a myth," said Bryan Smith, Co-founder and CEO of ThinkData Works. "These days it's much more likely that an average organization will have data stored in a number of different places, both cloud and on-premises, and they need a good way to manage, access, and report on this data quickly. We're excited to launch these new capabilities to our users, who know first hand how diverse a data environment can be." “Non-Invasive Data Governance is based on the idea that organizations can achieve appropriate levels of governance without a major lift-and-shift of their data," says Robert S. Seiner, President and Principal of KIK Consulting & Educational Services and the author of two books on Non-Invasive Data Governance. "By supporting data virtualization from essential data sources, ThinkData Works is helping companies with hybrid cloud environments put non-invasive data governance rules into practice." Prospective customers can experience the power of the ThinkData Works data catalog platform first-hand through a new Free Trial offering, now available for a limited time. About ThinkData Works ThinkData Works unlocks the value of data to grow your business. Connect seamlessly to any source, drive critical insights, and deliver data while retaining visibility and control. Founded in 2014, ThinkData Works offers flexible data connections, an intuitive catalog interface, and secure tools to deliver data where it needs to be — inside or outside your organization. Purpose-built to handle the complexities of data variety, their unified cloud platform cuts overhead, fuels innovation, and drives revenue growth.

Read More

VIRTUAL DESKTOP TOOLS, DESKTOP

MacStadium Enables Seamless High-Definition Streaming Via New Orka Workspace™ with Pulse

Businesswire | May 24, 2023

MacStadium, the industry-leading Mac private cloud and software-as-a-service provider enabling macOS workloads, today announced Orka Workspace™ with Pulse, a new system for virtual macOS desktop delivery that enables high-definition audio and visual streaming on Orka Workspace™ virtual Mac desktops via any HTML5 supported browser. Orka’s new Pulse feature is the first application of WebRTC on macOS VDI and is now available in Preview within the Orka Workspace™ solution. The new system for virtual Mac desktop delivery leverages a reimagined transmission protocol to create low-latency, high-performance macOS workspaces required by developers worldwide. It also leverages the industry-leading WebRTC technology, which is backed by Apple, Google, Microsoft and Mozilla and is used by many leading B2B web applications. Customers can toggle Orka Pulse™ on or off, as needed to experience the new protocol. “We are excited to deliver all Orka Workspace customers with access to the new Pulse protocol,” said Chris Chapman, MacStadium senior vice president and CTO. “With the new Orka Pulse technology, Orka Workspace joins the ranks of other B2B web-based applications such as Zoom, Salesforce and Slack that are using WebRTC technology to drive modern business communications. In 2021, Gartner predicted that demand for desktops as a service would increase by 150 percent from 2020 to 2023. This reinforces the increased demand for remote work and technology like DaaS, which is required to enable secure and scalable distributed workforce. As more companies continue to adopt DaaS applications, MacStadium’s Orka Workspace works as an all-encompassing solution for virtual desktop capabilities. Many B2B applications use the foundations of WebRTC to deliver audio and video communications over the web, but prior to Orka Pulse, packaging and transferring an entire desktop presents challenges particularly for a macOS desktop. “Pulse provides a foundation for the transmission of real-time audio and video necessary for macOS virtual desktops to work as they should. But using WebRTC for macOS presented unique challenges that required our team to redesign some of the components with integration to macOS APIs to deliver that uniquely Mac video experience users know and love,” Chapman added. “We even published some of our work on the updated Swift RTP as open-source code to enable more macOS, WebRTC tools and development.” Orka Pulse enables faster releases by providing remote developers with access to more powerful Mac virtual workspaces, allowing them to work at a faster pace with more flexible resources. Users can interact with a remote Mac device with the ability to stream 1080p video and no need for local installs or plugins as Orka Pulse requires only a HTML5 browser. Additionally, the solution provides end-to-end encrypted user sessions that are managed by organizations’ IT teams and can be terminated on-demand if risks are identified. The announcement comes after MacStadium recently made public its Orka Small Teams edition, a self-service purchase option, giving DevOps teams immediate access to the industry’s leading enterprise-grade macOS virtualization and orchestration tool. As tech companies look to streamline operations and maximize their resources, this automation is critical to remain competitive. MacStadium’s unveiling of the new Pulse feature coincides with the team’s attendance of MacAD.UK in Brighton, U.K. from May 22 - 24. At the conference, MacStadium’s Chapman will present on the topic of unlocking Mac virtualization for organizations everywhere. Additionally, attendees can visit MacStadium’s booth to learn more about this exciting product update and sign up for a complimentary trial of Orka Workspace with Pulse. About MacStadium Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Atlanta, MacStadium is a private cloud and software-as-a-service leader delivering scalable and secure enterprise cloud solutions exclusively for macOS. The company’s suite of advanced software-enabled infrastructure, combined with its innovative technology, delivers the security, performance, reliability and flexibility its DevOps customers require for successful app development on Apple devices. Powered by MacStadium, Orka® (Orchestration with Kubernetes on Apple) platform is the only virtualization layer available for Mac build infrastructure based on popular Docker and Kubernetes technology. MacStadium is a Summit Partners portfolio company with multi-site operations in the U.S. and EU. Please follow the company on social @macstadium or visit macstadium.com.

Read More

CONTAINERS, VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENTS

Corent Announces Support for Azure Linux Container Host for Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS)

Businesswire | May 26, 2023

Corent Technology today announced the company has added full support for Azure Linux container host for AKS in the company’s Corent MaaS™ platform. Corent previously supported automated containerization of workloads on Microsoft Azure and is now offering customers full supports for those same workloads on Azure Kubernetes Service (AKS) when using Azure Linux container host for AKS. The Azure Linux container host for AKS uses a native AKS image that is optimized for security and performance by minimizing the packages. Every package is built from the source and validated, ensuring your services run on proven components. Azure Linux container host is lightweight, comprising only the necessary packages needed to run container workloads. It provides a reduced attack surface and eliminates patching and maintenance of unnecessary packages. At Azure Linux’s base layer lies a Microsoft-hardened kernel tuned for Azure. SIs and customers can use Corent MaaS™ to scan and discover workloads suitable for containerization. MaaS also automates the containerization of workloads to save time, reduce costs, and real-time risk mitigation. This way, SIs and customers enjoy the best of a comprehensive, well-rounded tool without the associated risks and pitfalls. “We pride ourselves in providing tools for automating the entire Cloud journey,” said Sean Jazayeri, SVP of Strategic Alliances, Corent. “Through this collaboration with Microsoft, we are pleased to add another feature to our solution that supports the use of Microsoft products and Azure services.” “With Azure Linux container host, customers see benefit from the value of having a secure, performant, and fully native AKS container host,” said Jim Perrin, Principal Program Manager, Microsoft Azure Linux. “Microsoft controls the supply chain for Azure Linux end to end, resulting in a more streamlined image tailored and optimized for AKS. Azure Linux container host provides a consistent k8s experience throughout the developer and production lifecycle coupled with the level of support you expect from Microsoft.” About Corent Technology Corent Technology, Inc. is a leading innovator in the cloud migration and SaaS-enablement technology space. Corent’s SurPaaS® Platform is used by key enterprises, system Integrators and cloud providers to enable rapid discovery, analysis, planning, optimisation, and migration to the cloud; and optionally, automated transformation of software applications to efficient, scalable SaaS. Corent is managed by a team of industry veterans from Microsoft, IBM, HP, EMC, Oracle, and VMware among others.

Read More