The Premise: Hadoop is Dead. Big data is on everyone’s mind across IT, and the storage industry is no exception. For a while, Hadoop seemed ready to conquer the world with its promise of reliable, scalable, distributed computing. However the tide has seemingly turned away from the once ubiquitous yellow pachyderm. Big data is very much alive, but the roundtable discusses if the complexities inherent in the Hadoop stack mean it’s fated for an untimely demise. Or will the still increasing investme...
Feb 05, 2020•19 min
The Premise: Working with toxic individuals in unavoidable in IT. In this roundtable, Tom Hollingsworth discusses whether it’s fundamentally unavoidable to work with toxic people in IT. First the panelists define what we mean by toxic in an IT context. Then they dig into why IT seems to have its fair share of people with toxic characteristics, and why the focus should be on the relationship between individuals, rather than singling out one party as being the problem. From there, they dig into ho...
Jan 28, 2020•22 min
The Premise: Wi-Fi monetization is bad, it should be free, frictionless, and fast. In this roundtable, Tom Hollingsworth leads a discussion about the premise that Wi-Fi monetization is bad. Some would argue that it’s evil. If venues and businesses want to offer Wi-Fi, it should be treated the same way other utilities are. These all require a degree of expense to the business, but aren’t added on as charges to customers. Keith Parsons uses the free, frictionless, and fast standard. Does that mean...
Jan 14, 2020•23 min
The Premise: IT Certifications are more valuable than a college degree. Odds are that if you’ve been in IT for a while, you’ve been asked how many certifications you have. There’s no doubt that these are valuable. Yet many IT pros still feel that they need a college degree to hang on the wall. The roundtable discusses if this is a legacy of times gone by, or if a college degree still holds a more important place than certifications. The panel includes a wide range of experiences, with IT careers...
Dec 24, 2019•22 min
The Premise: The Promise of the Cloud Cannot Be Achieved. We know that The Cloud is a real thing. But of the many things called The Cloud, each of them is remarkably different. Features, capabilities, functions vary wildly between them. Every organization is scrambling to figure out how to use the cloud, but is the promise of the cloud simply unachievable? Does the pursuit of multi-cloud mean that organizations must ignore whatever makes a cloud special, and turn it into simply someone else’s in...
Dec 17, 2019•25 min
The Premise: Digital transformation is a myth. There’s a lot of talk about digital transformation, but are organizations actually achieving that, or are they simply changing IT practices to keep up with changing infrastructure. Should we even view digital transformation into a means in and of itself. And can non-digital companies actually transform, or are industries just going to replace obsolete players over time? In this episode, the roundtable discusses a lot of the nuance often lost in gran...
Dec 04, 2019•16 min
In this bonus episode, we’re joining Stephen Foskett as he talks with some of the original delegates and inspirations for the Tech Field Day event series. They discuss the event that gave Stephen the initial idea, a fortuitous plane ride, how the first Tech Field Day event went, where the idea for the live stream started and more. It’s a great conversation and we couldn’t think of a better way to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the event. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitte...
Nov 22, 2019•20 min
The Premise: Simplification inherently adds risk to an IT system. Simplification may sound great and improve efficiency, but it always with it an increase in risk. This is because by abstracting away the complexity, you’re also hiding potential faults in the system. The roundtable discusses if this is true, and if there’s a way to lose some of the geek knobs without creating a risky environment. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great...
Nov 19, 2019•16 min
The Premise: The biggest hurdle to IPv6 adoption is administrative. IPv6 is the next big thing in networking, it’s going to solve all of our network addressing issues. At least, that’s what it’s been promising for the last two decades. So why hasn’t it lived up to the hype? The roundtable discusses the idea that administration is the biggest holdup to overall IPv6 adoption. Be sure to listen to figure out how we can get the the bright, shiny, happy place that is IPv6. On-Premises for today’s rou...
Nov 05, 2019•19 min
The Premise: You should never put primary and secondary storage on the same system. It’s almost canonical wisdom is storage that you shouldn’t put primary and secondary storage on the same storage system. Doing otherwise is just asking or trouble. But given the rapidly changing IT landscape and the emergence of the cloud, is that really true anymore? The roundtable breaks it down in this spirited discussion. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter f...
Oct 22, 2019•20 min
The Premise: With the advent of managed services, learning Kubernetes is a waste of time. On this episode, our roundtable discusses the premise that learning Kubernetes is a waste of time. With so many managed Kubernetes service available, actually learning the ins and outs of the obtuse orchestrator isn’t necessary for the vast majority of organizations. They discuss the actual business value of managing Kubernetes, compare it to learning vSphere, and discuss what organizations should be invest...
Oct 08, 2019•19 min
The Premise: In recent years, the velocity and sophistication of malicious hacks have accelerated beyond the capability for modern IT security to keep up. You don’t have to follow the news very closely to find evidence of large scale security breaches. The sophistication, breadth, and sheer velocity of malicious hacks have reached a point that IT security simply can’t keep up like it used to. The roundtable debates this subject, if the situation is truly hopeless, and how organizations can take ...
Sep 24, 2019•17 min
The Premise: Public cloud providers should adapt to the needs of the enterprise, not the other way around. It would be great if all our applications were cloud native to get the best cost, resilency, and architecture overall. But enterprises don’t move that quickly. The cloud should offer services that work for existing applications that organizations want to get out of the data center but aren’t going to refactor any time soon. The roundtable discusses the merits and why this isn’t happening ri...
Sep 10, 2019•12 min
The Premise: When it comes to wireless, redesigns are useless. Redesigns in wireless are done more for compulsive than technical need. When a new access point comes out, the entire wireless network doesn’t need a redesign, other than to satisfy the need to tinker for those managing them. We discuss if and when a redesign is actually needed, why you need to consider what’s driving your wireless refresh in the decision, and how to put a monetary value on defining a “pointless” redesign. On-Premise...
Aug 27, 2019•18 min
The Premise: Backing up SaaS apps isn’t my problem, the cloud provider should handle it. We all know how traditional backup work, but SaaS is different. Since the software comes as a service, backup is just one of those services, right? The roundtable discusses this idea. Do current SaaS offering really provide backup? If they don’t, should that even be their responsibility? And should you always want to be doing your own backup anyway? This was a really great discussion to get you thinking on t...
Aug 13, 2019•18 min
The Premise: The traditional office will be dead in the next 5-10 years. The traditional office is dying. Since the rise of telecommuting in the 90s, less and less people need to be in the office. With open offices killing productivity, in the near term, we’re going to see the traditional office become extinct. The roundtable debates how true this is, and what makes it worth it for a lot of organizations to still keep the office lights on. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter...
Jul 09, 2019•20 min
The Premise: VARs are useless. Value-added resellers (VARs) are often characterized as useless, adding a needless cost for something that should be sold direct to customers. In this On-Premise IT Roundtable, the panel discusses where the value actually gets added and what benefits VARs can still provide. It was an interesting discussion with a lot of different perspectives. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in you...
Jun 25, 2019•17 min
The Premise: By proliferating the number of devices on our networks, IoT is making our society less secure. On this episode, the roundtable discusses if IoT is making us less secure overall. They get into a discussion of what kind of attack surfaces IoT presents, whether these device impact privacy more than security, and why current IoT is based on a “no support” model. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your i...
Jun 11, 2019•23 min
The Premise: The push for multi-cloud is driven by vendors and analysts, not by an actual IT need. On this episode, the roundtable discusses if the framing of multi-cloud as an inevitable IT outcome is really accurate. Is multi-cloud just something being pushed by analysts and vendors with solutions to sell? If so, will it ultimately be a fad? They further discuss what they mean when they say multi-cloud, which further clarifies the premise. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitt...
May 28, 2019•17 min
The Premise: Data protection policy isn’t defined by business need or IT capability, rather than an inherited set of traditions and superstitions. On this episode, the roundtable discusses data protection policy. The premise is that most organizations are doing this wrong. There’s a fundamental misalignment between what IT thinks it needs to be doing and what the business needs for operations and compliance. They discuss who needs to be taking ownership of these policies, how storage vendors are...
May 14, 2019•20 min
The Premise: There’s value to the business in bringing your personal interests to work in IT. Today’s show discusses when you can bring your personal life into IT. We discuss if doing so is just a way to reduce burnout, or if there is legitimate business value to be found. We touch on how to approach supposed “third rail” topics and more. Be sure to checkout Leon Adato’s book discussed in the episode, The Four Questions Every Monitoring Engineer is Asked . On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Fol...
Apr 30, 2019•35 min
The Premise: People don’t want cloud, they want what it does. Today’s episode considers if people want cloud, or what the cloud actually does. In this case, we’re looking at if a focus on providing services will eventually make the cloud irrelevant, since people don’t really care about it. Or have the cloud providers created sufficient value-add services to solve business problems that make the cloud itself relevant, not just API-driven functions. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on...
Apr 16, 2019•21 min
The Premise: Network analytics is too expensive for the modern enterprise. Thanks to the growth of software-defined networking, a lot of network information that used to be unknown, is now known. But in order to get that information out of the network, you have to spend a lot of money on specialized hardware, software, and talent to program it all. Is it beyond the reach of most enterprises? Or is the cost of not knowing always greater? The roundtable discusses. On-Premises for today’s roundtabl...
Apr 02, 2019•23 min
The Premise: With the current corporate vision, Microsoft is done with Windows. Declaring the Death of Windows is always a great way to drum up some clicks. But today, the roundtable discusses whether Windows is just kind of beside the point for a modern Microsoft. The debate whether this means the end of Windows, the end of the beginning of the end of Windows, or just that Windows’ role in Microsoft will fundamentally change. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE ...
Mar 19, 2019•12 min
The Premise: The best way to keep passwords secure is to change them all the time. Changing your passwords frequently is the best way to keep accounts secure, right? Or does frequently changing passwords cause users to lean on easily predictable patterns that ultimately make things less secure? The roundtable discusses what the best approach is, whether two-factor authentication changes your approach, and what changes when considering personal vs organizational passwords. On-Premises for today’s...
Mar 05, 2019•20 min
The Premise: The storage array is dead, dead as a doornail. The monolithic storage array used to be the standard of storage, but it’s time has come and gone… or has it? The roundtable discusses what specifically we mean when we talk about storage arrays, why they are increasingly irrelevant, and if their decline is permanent, or a temporary reaction to recent IT trends. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your in...
Feb 19, 2019•19 min
The Premise: In order to be an effective analytics company, you need a sensor. Tom Hollingsworth leads a discussion around how important sensors are for analytics and data. Is network monitoring enough? What about something in software? Or is the added expense of a dedicated out-of-band physical sensor the price you have to pay? The roundtable is pretty evenly split on the subject, and discusses where each approach works best. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE ...
Feb 05, 2019•18 min
The Premise: 5G is set to replace traditional networking. In this episode, the roundtable discusses what impact 5G will have on traditional networking. They dig into why wireless is a more finite resource than wired networking, the difficulty of service degradation, and how to justify rolling out 5G for fixed end points. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox....
Jan 22, 2019•22 min
Premise: Composable Infrastructure is just another iteration on blade servers. Stephen Foskett leads a discussion about how big of a change composable infrastructure is from the tried and true blade server. CI sounds like a great idea. It offers infrastructure that’s dynamic, reconfigurable by software, and has full API integration. The roundtable discusses a little history of the ideas behind composable infrastructure, and how CI can develop into something truly unique. On-Premises for today’s ...
Jan 08, 2019•24 min
Stephen Foskett and the Roundtable discuss whether or not you should be running your own website. They weigh the pros and cons of each path and delve into the specifics. On-Premises for today’s roundtable: Follow us on Twitter . SUBSCRIBE to our newsletter for more great coverage right in your inbox.
Dec 04, 2018•27 min
