Dell, Nimble, GreenBytes and NetApp Up the Ante to Support VDI [Portfolio]

Ask network admins, and they’ll tell you a virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) can offer enterprises several benefits over traditional PCs–among them, mobility, security and manageability. Then, they’ll tell you the barriers they’ve faced toward VDI adoption–according to InformationWeek Reports’ “Informed CIO: VDI Snake Oil Check,” they range from the inability to work when disconnected from the network to initial costs and a lack of ROI. And then there’s storage. [Full Story]

Dell Looks to Boost Software Business With Quest Acquisition [Portfolio]

Dell Inc. announced today it’s buying enterprise management software firm Quest Software Inc. The company said the $2.4 billion move will expand its software portfolio and better position it to meet the end-to-end IT infrastructure needs of enterprises of all sizes.

Aliso Viejo, Calif.-based Quest was started in 1987 and serves more than 100,000 customers worldwide, including 87% of the Fortune 500. The company has approximately 3,850 employees and operates 60 offices in 23 countries. [Full Story on Network Computing]

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

Pano System for Cloud Brings VDI to the Browser, via Google’s Chrome [Portfolio]

Who needs an operating system when you have Chrome?

That’s the question Pano Logic hopes to answer with Pano System for Cloud, a desktop computing platform for organizations moving to Web-based applications. The system leverages the Google browser as the interface, bypassing the local operating system and central processing unit to enable deployment of a virtual desktop interface (VDI). [Full Story on Network Computing]

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

Event attempts to find Youth Solutions [Portfolio]

Munir Raza, co-chair of the Neighborhood Action Partnership and co-founder of Rexdale Youth for Change[/caption]

Today in the Etobicoke Guardian, I write about The Rexdale Priority Neighbourhood Youth Solutions Group coming together Saturday, June 23 to discuss the challenges they face in their communities.

Consisting of racialized and under-resourced young people who live in the Rexdale area as well as agencies, including the Jamestown/Rexdale Neighborhood Action Partnership (NAP) and Rexdale Youth for Change, the Youth Solutions Group runs out of Jamestown to engage key members in the Rexdale community on how to foster better relationships with youth.

[Full Story]

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.

In the Media

While my byline often appears on articles that are published online or in print, as a journalist it’s never my goal to be the subject of an article or be a source. However, my prolific writing and tweeting of late has led to the not unwelcome phenomenon of other writers referencing me in the stories.

On May 29, 2012, ITBusinessEdge blogger Carl Weinschenk highlighted a recent article I wrote for Network Computing (“IDC: Software-Defined Networks Worth $2 Billion by 2016“):

On June 4, GigaOm writer Mathew Ingram saw fit to include my tweet when he solicited opinions on age restriction for Facebook users (“Should Facebook allow access by young children?“).

If you’re interested in the business models for digital content delivery or the future of journalism, be sure to follow Mathew @mathewi.

Finally, after writing a series of articles on iPv6 for Network Computing, CIO Journal (a WSJ.com property) referenced my piece on why businesses need to adopt IPv6 (“Why Businesses Need to Adopt New Internet Protocol (Eventually)”):

I have to to say I’m pretty chuffed.

Gary Hilson is a writer, editor and digital media specialist for hire. He lives in Toronto.