RESOURCES

5G Network

Fifth-generation wireless (5G) is the latest iteration of cellular technology, engineered to greatly increase the speed and responsiveness of wireless networks. ... 5G will enable a sharp increase in the amount of data transmitted over wireless systems due to more available bandwidth and advanced antenna technology.

5G wireless technology is meant to deliver higher multi-Gbps peak data speeds, ultra-low latency, more reliability, massive network capacity, increased availability, and a more uniform user experience to more users. Higher performance and improved efficiency empower new user experiences and connect new industries.

APIs

An API (Application Programming Interface) is a set of functions that allows applications to access data and interact with external software components, operating systems, or microservices. To simplify, an API delivers a user response to a system and sends the system's response back to a user.

API is the acronym for Application Programming Interface, which is a software intermediary that allows two applications to talk to each other. Each time you use an app like Facebook, send an instant message or check the weather on your phone, you're using an API.

How Does An API Work? APIs communicate through a set of rules that define how computers, applications, or machines can talk to each other. The API acts as a middleman between any two machines that want to connect with each other for a specified task.

Automation

Automation is the application of machines to tasks once performed by human beings or, increasingly, to tasks that would otherwise be impossible.

Although the term mechanization is often used to refer to the simple replacement of human labour by machines, automation generally implies the integration of machines into a self-governing system.

Automation has revolutionized those areas in which it has been introduced, and there is scarcely an aspect of modern life that has been unaffected by it.

In general usage, automation can be defined as a technology concerned with performing a process by means of programmed commands combined with automatic feedback control to ensure proper execution of the instructions. The resulting system is capable of operating without human intervention.

The development of this technology has become increasingly dependent on the use of computers and computer-related technologies. Consequently, automated systems have become increasingly sophisticated and complex. Advanced systems represent a level of capability and performance that surpass in many ways the abilities of humans to accomplish the same activities.

Big Data

The definition of big data is data that contains greater variety and is presented in increasing volumes and at greater velocity. This is also known as "the three Vs."

VOLUME

The amount of data is important. With big data, you will need to process large volumes of unstructured, low-density data. This may be data of unknown value, such as Twitter data feeds, click streams on a website or mobile app, or equipment with sensors. For some organizations, this can amount to tens of terabytes of data. For others, even hundreds of petabytes.

VELOCITY

The rate at which data is received and (possibly) at which some action is applied. The highest speed of data is usually transmitted directly to memory, rather than written to disk. Some intelligent Internet-enabled products operate in real-time or near real-time and require real-time evaluation and action.

VARIETY

Refers to the various types of data available. Conventional data types were structured and could be perfectly organized in a relational database. With the rise of big data, data is presented in new unstructured data types. Unstructured and semi-structured data types, such as text, audio or video, require additional preprocessing in order to understand their meaning and support metadata.

In other words, big data is made up of larger and more complex data sets, especially from new data sources. These data sets are so voluminous that conventional data processing software simply cannot handle them. However, these massive volumes of data can be used to address business problems that previously would not have been possible to solve.

Cybersecurity Services

Cyber security is the practice of defending computers, servers, mobile devices, electronic systems, networks, and data from malicious attacks. It's also known as information technology security or electronic information security. ... A compromised application could provide access to the data it's designed to protect.

Why is cybersecurity important?

With an increasing number of users, devices and programs in the modern enterprise, combined with the increased deluge of data -- much of which is sensitive or confidential -- the importance of cybersecurity continues to grow. The growing volume and sophistication of cyber attackers and attack techniques compound the problem even further.

Cloud Services

The term "cloud services" refers to a wide range of services provided on demand to businesses and customers over the Internet. These services are designed to provide easy and affordable access to applications and resources, without the need for in-house infrastructure or hardware. From checking email to collaborating on documents, most employees use cloud services in their workday, whether they are aware of it or not.

The main advantages of using cloud services are:

SCALABILITY

Because the cloud service provider provides all the necessary infrastructure and software, there is no need for a company to invest in its own resources or assign additional IT staff to manage the service. This in turn makes it possible for the company to scale the solution as user needs change, whether that means increasing the number of licenses to cope with a growing workforce or expanding and enhancing the applications themselves.

LOWER COSTS

Many cloud services are provided on a monthly or annual subscription basis, eliminating the need to pay for on-premise software licenses. This allows organizations to access software, storage and other services without having to invest in the underlying infrastructure or deal with maintenance and upgrades.

INCREASED FLEXIBILITY

With cloud services, companies can purchase services on demand as needed. When a particular application or platform is no longer needed, the company can simply cancel the subscription or shut down the service.

What types of cloud services are there?

Software as a Service (SaaS)

The most well-known type of cloud service is known as software as a service, or SaaS. This broad category includes a range of services, such as file storage and backup, web-based email, and project management tools.

Examples of SaaS cloud service providers include Dropbox, G Suite, Microsoft Office 365, Slack and Citrix Content Collaboration. In each of these applications, users can access, share, store and protect information in "the cloud."

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS)

Infrastructure as a Service, or IaaS, provides the infrastructure that many cloud service providers need to manage SaaS tools, but do not want to maintain. It serves as the complete data center framework, eliminating the need for resource-intensive on-premises facilities.

Examples of IaaS include Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure and Google Compute Engine. These providers maintain all storage servers and networking hardware, and many also offer load balancing, application firewalls and more. Many well-known SaaS providers run on IaaS platforms.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

The cloud service model known as platform as a service, or PaaS, serves as a web-based environment in which developers can create applications in the cloud. PaaS provides a database, operating system and programming language that organizations can use to develop cloud-based software, without having to maintain the underlying elements.

Cloud Computing

Simply put, cloud computing is a technology that allows remote access to software, file storage and data processing over the Internet, thus being an alternative to running on a personal computer or local server.

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Digital Transformation

Digital transformation is the strategic adoption of digital technologies. It is used to improve processes and productivity, deliver better customer and employee experiences, manage business risk and control costs. Digital transformation represents myriad tools, solutions and processes. An effective strategy is one customized for each unique organization.

To stay competitive in the modern business landscape, digital transformation is a necessity. Few organizations can stand the test of time without a plan to strategically adopt beneficial technologies, such as a digital workspace.

Micro Services

Microservices are both an architecture and an approach to writing software. With microservices, applications are broken down into their smallest components, independent from each other. Instead of a traditional, monolithic, approach to apps, where everything is built into a single piece, microservices are all separated and work together to accomplish the same tasks. Each of these components, or processes, is a microservice. This approach to software development values granularity, being lightweight, and the ability to share similar processes across multiple apps. It is a major component of optimizing application development towards a cloud-native model.

Machine Learning

Machine Learning is a general name given to an extensive collection of algorithms that are used to allow a computer to identify patterns in past data and use those patterns to predict future results. Computer Vision and Natural Language Processing both make heavy use of Machine Learning.

The field of Machine Learning is considered to be a subset of a field called Artificial Intelligence. Often, the terms concatenated together as AI/ML, but it is important to understand the difference. Artificial Intelligence describes a computer making decisions just as an educated human might. In Artificial Intelligence, the computer is given instructions on how to make a decision rather than finding the rules from data. Business Rules and Process Automation are great examples of Artificial Intelligence that are not considered to be Machine Learning.

Network Infrastructure

Network infrastructure refers to the hardware and software that enable network connectivity and communication between users, devices, apps, the internet, and more.

Organizational Transformation

Organizational transformation is the process of transforming and changing the existing corporate culture to achieve a competitive advantage or address a significant challenge. It can be an exciting time for any organization. It is visible action taken by organizational leaders to move from the present to the future in order to achieve a specific outcome or benefit. It typically involves many, if not all, of the people in the organization and has the potential to refocus and re-energize the entire workforce.

Reinforcement Learning

Reinforcement learning is the training of machine learning models to make a sequence of decisions. The agent learns to achieve a goal in an uncertain, potentially complex environment. In reinforcement learning, an artificial intelligence faces a game-like situation. The computer employs trial and error to come up with a solution to the problem. To get the machine to do what the programmer wants, the artificial intelligence gets either rewards or penalties for the actions it performs.

As stated above employs a system of rewards and penalties to compel the computer to solve a problem by itself. Human involvement is limited to changing the environment and tweaking the system of rewards and penalties. As the computer maximizes the reward, it is prone to seeking unexpected ways of doing it. Human involvement is focused on preventing it from exploiting the system and motivating the machine to perform the task in the way expected. Reinforcement learning is useful when there is no “proper way” to perform a task, yet there are rules the model has to follow to perform its duties correctly.

Virtualization

Virtualization is technology that allows you to create multiple simulated environments or dedicated resources from a single, physical hardware system. Software called a hypervisor connects directly to that hardware and allows you to split 1 system into separate, distinct, and secure environments known as virtual machines (VMs). These VMs rely on the hypervisor’s ability to separate the machine’s resources from the hardware and distribute them appropriately. Virtualization helps you get the most value from previous investments.

The physical hardware, equipped with a hypervisor, is called the host, while the many VMs that use its resources are guests. These guests treat computing resources—like CPU, memory, and storage—as a pool of resources that can easily be relocated. Operators can control virtual instances of CPU, memory, storage, and other resources, so guests receive the resources they need when they need them.

Virtualization uses software to mimic the characteristics of hardware to create a virtual computer system. This allows IT organizations to run more than one virtual system, and multiple operating systems and applications, on a single server.