Virtual Desktop Strategies, Virtual Server Management
businesswire | August 18, 2023
LogicMonitor, a leading SaaS-based unified observability platform for hybrid IT infrastructure, today announced expanded integrations, insights and workflows to the LM Envision Platform. LogicMonitor is also introducing Dexda, an event management solution that filters through the noise of thousands of daily alerts by using advanced machine learning (ML) techniques, contextual enrichment capabilities and deduplication efforts. Together, these additions allow customers to reach a significantly lower mean time to resolution and lower risks to the business.
“Every business is under tremendous pressure to seamlessly deliver exceptional digital performance,” states Christina Kosmowski, CEO, LogicMonitor. “To efficiently do that, our customers look to us to contextualize the overwhelming amount of data within their complex IT environments.“
The core of LogicMonitor’s platform has been built with advanced machine learning, intelligence and automation, combined to abstract complexity and deliver business impact through IT data collaboration. The company has focused its product roadmap in the areas of intelligence, experience and extensibility.
Intelligence and Automation
Dexda is the next evolution of AI Ops. It is built on top of LogicMonitor’s extensive data set and integrated into its platform, so users can effortlessly move from alerting to automating actions. Key attributes of Dexda include:
Adaptive Correlation- Alerts are automatically re-clustered when a more optimal option is detected.
ServiceNow Ready- Automatically enriches Dexda alerts with ServiceNow CMDB data to drive additional context for ML correlations.
User-defined Correlation- Dexda admins can now fine-tune the ML models to meet their unique needs or build new ML models.
In addition to Dexda, LogicMonitor has also delivered:
Event-Driven Ansible Integration- This jointly developed solution with Red Hat assists with auto-remediation and auto-troubleshooting. This integration lets customers trigger remediation workflows in Ansible and act in accordance with predefined rules.
Datapoint Analysis- Leverages machine learning techniques to find related metrics and patterns across different resources, which in turn reduces MTTR and increases productivity.
Unified Platform Experience
A unified platform experience is critical for consistency, adaptability and scalability while reducing tool sprawl and data complexity. Troubleshooting in hybrid modern environments requires a contextual and intuitive UX across devices, services and networks. This modernization and unification effort is the key to continually delivering new capabilities to users and keeping time to value short for new customers.
UI Modernization- Optimized to present information in complex hybrid environments. Components for all parts of the LM Envision platform now include bulk actions, better search and filtering and new editors for LogicModules.
Expanded Cloud Support- 20 new out-of-the-box dashboards for AWS and Azure, accelerating time to value while providing service-specific views for more insight into health, performance and availability.
Log Ingest and Filter Simplification- Introduced declarative UI to simplify log collection and configuration. Users can also add custom LM Properties to the logs which allows for more flexible searching and potentially faster MTTR.
Digital Experience Monitoring- Synthetic tests now support multi-factor authentication (MFA) and automated alerts for latency and error conditions.
Extensibility
As a trusted partner in the advancement of monitoring across on-prem, hybrid and cloud environments, LogicMonitor continues to invest in new ways to manage and monitor network equipment through integrations woven tightly into its overall platform experience.
Improved VMware vSphere Support- Support for vSphere 8 and automation for the discovery and monitoring of new ESXi Hosts and mission-critical Virtual Machines, eliminating manual processes – reducing the time, resources and risk involved in repeatable remediation processes.
Cisco Meraki and Catalyst SD-WAN- These new integrations make it easier than ever to monitor Cisco environments in the broader context of one's heterogenous hybrid infrastructure. Customers can now get alerted about anomalous events, visualize network traffic usage and see how Cisco vEdge/cEdge (formerly Viptela), SD-WAN Controllers, Meraki Security Appliances, Switches, Wireless Access Points and Smart Cameras connect to their network and where alert conditions exist.
Improved Kubernetes Monitoring- Greater coverage and deeper visibility into frequently changing cloud environments with new support and coverage for Amazon Elastic Kubernetes Service (Amazon EKS) Anywhere and enhanced Kubernetes helm and scheduler monitoring.
SaaS Monitoring-M365 and Okta logs allow users to clearly understand why problems happen, pinpoint the root cause and quickly troubleshoot alongside alerts.
By advancing many key features of its platform, LogicMonitor customers can harness the full potential of their data to make informed decisions with confidence and efficiency. This approach not only streamlines operations, but also provides clarity and precision to the complexities of their IT landscape.
About LogicMonitor
LogicMonitor’s SaaS-based observability intelligence platform, LM Envision, helps ITOps, CloudOps, DevOps, CIOs, and business leaders gain operational visibility into and predictability across the technologies that modern organizations depend on to deliver extraordinary employee and customer experiences. LogicMonitor seamlessly enables unified observability across infrastructure, networks, clouds, containers and applications, empowering companies to focus less on troubleshooting and more on innovation.
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Virtual Desktop Strategies, Virtual Server Management
Business Wire | August 28, 2023
VMware Explore 2023 — Data and intelligence play a key role in enabling automation and implementing a successful hybrid work strategy, but a holistic approach is required to maximize its advantages. Today, VMware announces modern AI integrations to the Anywhere Workspace platform, part of the VMware Cross-Cloud services portfolio, that automatically optimize employee experience, drive new vulnerability management use cases, and simplify application lifecycle management. VMware Anywhere Workspace is the only hybrid work platform that integrates digital employee experience (DEX), virtual desktop infrastructure and apps (VDI and DaaS), unified endpoint management (UEM) and security to enable a seamless and secure workspace on any device or location.
“Last year, we announced our Autonomous Workspace vision as a path forward for organizations to navigate the challenges brought on by hybrid work,” said Shankar Iyer, senior vice president and general manager, End-User Computing, VMware. “We are thrilled to unveil new advancements for our customers that expand data sources and insights, integrate with technology partners for improved security, and unify app delivery strategy across all virtual desktops and apps. These innovations continue to progress our vision of providing the next evolution of digital workspaces.”
Integrated AI-Driven Platform Scales Experience Management
VMware continues to leverage data, intelligence, and automation to improve the employee and IT experience by introducing new Insights and Playbooks based on greatly expanded data and machine learning algorithms that enhance DEX remediation capabilities. These updates broaden access to data, help strengthen VMware Insights, and allow for remediation of more issues.
VMware will now enable delivery of new app performance scores, in addition to existing mobile device, desktop, and virtual environment experience scores. If a SaaS app service goes down, IT is proactively alerted and employees are automatically notified. This allows IT to quickly resolve the outage without dealing with inbound support tickets and employees don't waste time trying to access unavailable services.
But simply providing IT with more data is not enough to empower them to work smarter. VMware’s AI-driven Insights feature now provides anomaly detection that informs IT of potential experience issues for frontline devices and VDI environments, in addition to mobile and desktop environments. Today’s announcement of new Playbooks enables IT to create step-by-step remediation workflows to resolve incidents more efficiently and use success rate analytics to automate the resolution process and streamline execution over time.
“Workspace ONE Intelligence has been a game changer for us when it comes to automating life cycle management inside UEM. We have been utilizing it for automatically tagging devices and assigning them into smart groups. We have also used several dashboard templates for monitoring our security stance and helping remediate high-risk security threats,” said George March, manager of digital workspace and development, Information Technology, USA Health. “Next on our roadmap is implementing the ITSM connector, and with the addition of remediation playbooks, we are so excited about the way it will streamline our help desk support teams workflows.”
Unique Partner Integration Powers New Security and Manageability Use Cases
Ensuring end-to-end manageability and security for today’s distributed workforce is critical and requires a holistic approach to vulnerability assessment, prioritization, remediation, out-of-band support, and reporting. Collaboration with a best-of-breed partner ecosystem that offers speed, breadth, and depth in vulnerability management is necessary to protect against sophisticated attack vectors. VMware is committed to innovating together with our technology partners to provide customers with more secure and seamless hybrid experiences.
Today, VMware continues this mission by announcing an expanded partnership with Intel through a one-of-a-kind, cloud-native integration of Workspace ONE with Intel vPro®. This chip-to-cloud integration makes it easier to secure and remotely manage work devices entirely from the cloud, with no additional on-premises infrastructure and management software needed. Through line of sight and out-of-band management of vPro powered devices, IT teams can have below-the-OS vulnerability insights, and visibility to reduce the impact of potential exploits quickly and efficiently. Using Workspace ONE, customers can have centralized visibility into Intel vPro-powered PCs and accelerate patch remediation cycles for devices located outside of office perimeters, even if the devices are sleeping or powered off. This improves security and compliance by accomplishing higher patch saturation with fewer remediation steps and reduces potential disruption to employee productivity.
Modern App Management Simplifies Virtual Environments
Managing and delivering apps across VDI, DaaS, and published app environments has become increasingly complex and inefficient due to silos of legacy tools used. VMware recently introduced Apps on Demand, powered by VMware App Volumes, to unify app management and intelligently deploy apps to published app hosts or non-persistent desktop environments, all based on real-time app usage.
Today, VMware announces additional expansion of App Volumes support to deliver apps on demand to persistent virtual desktops. Now in beta availability, customers with persistent VMware Horizon environments will be able to use App Volumes to capture their apps once and deliver to many persistent virtual desktops. This automates the app delivery process with up to 99% compatibility and reduces management time and costs for any desktop or published app environment. VMware App Volumes is the only solution to help organizations deliver and manage apps across VMware Horizon, Citrix, Microsoft, and Amazon virtual desktop and app deployments as part of VMware’s Apps Everywhere vision.
Boeing: A ‘Hybrid Workforce Innovator’
The Boeing Company (Boeing) has used VMware Workspace ONE across the United States and in more than 65 countries to support its global workforce of 140,000 employees who develop, manufacture and service commercial airplanes, defense products and space systems for its customers. At VMware Explore 2023 Las Vegas, they were named ‘Hybrid Workforce Innovator’ as part of the 2023 VMware Customer Achievement Awards for the Americas for enabling its workforce to work from anywhere in the world, improving the user experience while reinforcing and advancing security for devices and applications.
“VMware Anywhere Workspace helps us manage and protect end points, provide a common platform to access apps and tools, as well as helping facilitate a digital experience for our employees,” said Kristina Ross, Boeing Workplace Solutions director for Research & Technology. “Workspace ONE helped streamline our transition from traditional PC lifecycle management to Windows 10 modern management which was enabled by our shift to a SaaS-based solution for the company. Today, we have a unified view to oversee all endpoint requirements, and the adoption of SaaS enhanced our scalability and ability to shift focus from infrastructure to business facing solutions.”
About VMware
VMware is a leading provider of multi-cloud services for all apps, enabling digital innovation with enterprise control. As a trusted foundation to accelerate innovation, VMware software gives businesses the flexibility and choice they need to build the future. Headquartered in Palo Alto, California, VMware is committed to building a better future through the company’s 2030 Agenda.
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Virtual Desktop Tools, Virtual Server Infrastructure
businesswire | July 13, 2023
MacStadium, the industry-leading Mac private cloud and software-as-a-service provider enabling macOS workloads, today announced it has secured two patents: one for injection molded “helmets” providing keyboard, video and mouse (KVM) and precise power button control remotely, and one for a new rack shelving design with optimizing server density along with the KVM system.
MacStadium’s helmets, which sit atop a Mac mini or Mac Studio, are specifically designed to retrofit the company’s current shelving offering. Leveraging 3D printing technology to rapidly prototype and refine the design, this innovation dramatically reduces time-to-market and yields very low cost per unit.
While the helmets remain compatible with former shelving solutions, the new shelf design offers six times the server density of older Mac Pro racks and 50% more server density than existing Mac mini racks. Additionally, each Mac server is provisioned with an Apple-focused KVM device providing significant capabilities and advantages while slashing rack shelving costs by 50% or more.
“These patents offer an exciting glimpse into how much we have grown and evolved our technology to better service our customers with scalability on-demand and faster deployment made possible via our enterprise hardware program,” said Paul Benati, MacStadium’s senior vice president and COO. “MacStadium has been and remains at the forefront of Apple enterprise innovation. As the first to market with new Apple servers, we continue to innovate, prioritizing reduced system friction, increased customer ease and satisfaction and decreased costs.”
MacStadium’s proprietary helmet - which is currently in production - houses a temperature probe, LED light, OLED display and a servo, which allows for granular remote control of Apple devices’ power button. These KVM devices can remotely control the Apple devices to which they are connected, eliminating the need for customers to request server control and for IT teams to physically go to data centers to correct issues. With these remote control and self-service features, customers unlock new capabilities, including the ability to dynamically define the purpose of the Apple device, access to network storage and the long-awaited ability to run FileVault. The KVM system is securely accessed via SSL, SSO integration and authentication and authorization via lightweight directory access protocol (LDAP).
The shelving system, which will soon begin production, is designed to hold 24 Mac minis and 24 Apple-focused KVM devices, increasing the capacity of a standard rack to 144 Mac minis. In addition to increased operational efficiencies and secure server access from anywhere in the world, the shelving design offers tremendous cost savings due to its injection molded manufacturing. Not only is this manufacturing offered globally by a multitude of vendors, but it also allows for reduced shipping costs and more server density per square foot due to the product’s reduced bulk and weight.
These innovations provide a clear competitive advantage for customers and are just some of the foundational elements of MacStadium's offering, aimed at driving Mac compute to customers via self-service.
The patents come after MacStadium announced Orka Workspace with Pulse, designed to enable high-definition audio and visual streaming on virtual Mac desktops via any HTML5-supported browser. In addition, the company recently made public its Orka Small Teams edition, a self-service purchase option, giving MacDevOps 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.
About MacStadium
Founded in 2011 and headquartered in Atlanta, MacStadium is a private Mac cloud provider 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 MacDevOps 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.
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VPN
Businesswire | July 18, 2023
The world’s efforts to secure digital communications from the threat posed by quantum computers took a significant leap forward today as a new standard for quantum-safe Virtual Private Networks (VPN) was ratified by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF).
The new protocol has already been used by Banque de France and Deutsche Bundesbank to secure payments messages, paving the way for full adoption by the Bank for International Settlements to secure communications between the world’s central banks.
‘Harvest Now Decrypt Later’ (HNDL) attacks currently represent the greatest quantum cybersecurity threat. These attacks see hostile actors steal encrypted data now which can be decrypted once a sufficiently mature quantum computer comes online. The new US Quantum Computing Cybersecurity Preparedness Act states that the HNDL risk presents the highest threat to humankind and stipulates that quantum migration must start now. Deploying a VPN based on new post quantum cryptography is the easiest way to protect data-in-transit from such attacks.
The new IETF standard specifies how VPNs can exchange communications securely in the quantum age. The novel approach prioritises interoperability by making it possible for multiple post-quantum and classical encryption algorithms to be incorporated into VPNs. Combining both old and new encryption is essential to ensure no disruption to the functioning of existing IT systems, and to protect data from attack by both classical and quantum computers.
This is a particularly important milestone for internet connectivity and security as we are transitioning from an era where the world relied upon just one or two algorithms (RSA and Elliptic Curve), to a situation where different nation states are deploying a wide variety of different post-quantum algorithms. This new IETF standard is the glue that allows parties using different public key encryption algorithms to talk with one another.
The new IETF standard was proposed and designed by Post-Quantum, a British cyber security company that’s built a portfolio of market-ready quantum-safe cyber security products. Post-Quantum’s own Hybrid PQ VPN uses the new IETF standard and is already in use by NATO to secure its communications from quantum attack, supporting interoperable communications between NATO members.
CJ Tjhai, CTO, Post-Quantum and original author of the new IETF standard said: “I’d like to thank all the technologists that collaborated with us on this IETF standard. Much of the focus has been on NIST’s new post quantum encryption algorithms themselves, but this is insufficient unless you have a protocol that defines how the connectivity is done. The easiest way to prevent Harvest Now Decrypt Later attacks is to deploy a PQ VPN based on the new IETF standard. NIST’s new algorithms are only useful if we have agreed standards for their use and mature products that can accommodate them.”
Andersen Cheng, Executive Chairman, Post-Quantum added: “CJ and his collaborators have completed important work that makes it possible for tech companies to build quantum-safe VPNs that communicate to one another. We are entering a period where different countries are now recommending different encryption algorithms, so engineering our communications infrastructure to be interoperable and backward compatible is absolutely crucial. That’s the value our own VPN is bringing to organisations like NATO, a diverse member organisation with a variety of post-quantum algorithms in use.
“In the commercial sector, we are pleased that Banque de France and Deutsche Bundesbank have also recently completed their project in transmitting payment messages using our protocol, which will pave the way for the Bank for International Settlements to build a complete chain of trust for central bank applications to counter any HNDL risks they already face today.”
José María Lucía Moreno, Lead Partner, EY Wavespace and a Post-Quantum partner added: “Our agreement with Post-Quantum is an important step in helping EY and its clients to become quantum-safe. We’re increasingly consulting with our clients to identify where they use traditional encryption that will need to be upgraded, and to help them prepare for the quantum era. Post-Quantum’s approach is particularly interesting because they have modular software-based products like the VPN, which can be implemented together, or as standalones within existing environments, to offer protection today.”
The IETF is the non-profit organisation with responsibility for developing the standards that define how the internet is built and used. Now that the IETF has ratified this work, VPN providers will adapt their protocols to match it, making this a defining standard for the future of cybersecurity as the world transitions from classical to new post-quantum encryption. Ratification represents the culmination of work dating back to 2017 when Post-Quantum took the lead in creating the original proposal for this standard.
About Post-Quantum
Post-Quantum is upgrading the world to next-generation encryption. Our quantum-safe platform includes modular software for Identity, Transmission and Encryption that protect organisations across their entire digital footprint. Products are interoperable, backward compatible and crypto-agile - ensuring a smooth transition to the next generation of encryption.
Post-Quantum works with organisations in defence, critical national infrastructure and financial services, including a multi-year relationship with NATO to ensure its communications are secure against quantum attack.
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