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Will the pandemic accelerate the move to public cloud? – DatacenterDynamics

The case for an accelerated move to the public cloud may be summed up in one sentiment: Data centers were difficult enough to run even before the pandemic, and the costs, risks and complexity have all now increased. With the threat of new pandemics in future, it will be easier, even if it isn't cheaper, to move to the cloud.

There is some evidence that many enterprise operators are thinking along these lines but it is not strong. In a July 2020 Uptime Institute survey of 260 operators, a fifth (19 percent) said they are likely to accelerate their move to a public cloud or use public cloud services more as a result of the pandemic. Just one in twenty (5 percent) thought the pandemic would slow their move to a public cloud. (Three-quarters said it would make no difference or that they did not know; see the figure).

What lies behind this? There are many reasons why the use of cloud services has increased or will increase as a result of Covid-19.

First, during the pandemic, many enterprises found they do not have the network infrastructure, or necessarily the applications, to support all their remotely situated staff and all their customer interactions on their networks. As a result, they have rapidly adopted or stepped up their use of cloud and other third-party services. Enterprise use of cloud platform providers (Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform) and of software as a service (Salesforce, Zoom, Teams) has significantly increased in the space of a few months.

Second, many operators foresee that the loss of an entire site due to staffing issues is a possibility in the future and they are planning for this with a range of strategies, including more remote working, greater resiliency and more automation.

The pandemic will also likely increase the use of distributed, active-active-active availability zone approaches. Building and managing the IT infrastructure for this is always challenging and expensive. One of the easier ways, for many applications and services, is to make use of existing infrastructure run by cloud providers, their software infrastructure partners, and some colocation companies.

In spite of all this, it would be simplistic to state that the pandemic will trigger a significantly accelerated decline in enterprise data centers or increase in the migration of existing workloads. One of the reasons for cloud adoption, and certainly for the use of software as a service, is to enable relatively easy adoption of new services, such as teleconferencing. Few organizations have, in recent years, contemplated hosting such services in their own data centers.

The role of the pandemic as a catalyst of change, or an accelerator, has to be put in context. There is already a strong disposition among business and organizational leaders to make more use of the cloud. But migration can be a difficult process, involving re-platforming or rewriting applications, changing security and compliance processes, and foregoing corporate control for limited transparency. Uptime Institutes research shows the balance of workloads shifting gradually, over time, in a cautious fashion.

A further issue: Chief Information Officers are facing cost constraints, with a global slowdown (if not recession) already underway. Cloud adoption usually involves a short-term spending increase, even if costs fall over time (which, depending on scale, they may not).

So, what is the takeaway? Public cloud adoption by enterprise is a strong trend with multiple adoption drivers. The pandemic will add to the rationale but will not make a decisive difference.

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Top 5 custom software development companies in the world – KnowTechie

As the internet continues to transform how users interact with various software platforms like websites, web apps, and mobile applications, more business entities and brands are shifting focus to custom software development. As the phrase hints, custom software development entails creating software products that are tailored to the unique needs and preferences of target users and the unique structural frameworks that define a business entity or organization.

World over, there exist countless custom software development companies providing custom software development solutions. However, not all companies can deliver outstanding software products to complement your business and propel you towards your goals. An ideal company is that which has proven competence in providing high-quality products and is conversant with the top and disruptive technologies in the industry.

Here is a list of the top 5 best custom software development companies in the world to consider. These companies have been featured in some of the top tech platforms like Tech Reviewer, have a rich portfolio of clients and positive reviews, and are recipients of various globally recognized tech awards.

https://saigontechnology.com

Saigon Technology has grown to become a top custom software development company, not only in Vietnam but also globally. Established in 2012, this agile software development company is on a mission to deliver the most effective outsourcing solutions for clients in terms of costs and the quality of services they provide.

The company thrives in delivering software solutions for clients across a wide range of industries, including logistics, business, transportation, media, healthcare, e-business, and e-finance, among other industries. The development team comprises over 170 talented software developers who are dedicated to providing custom software solutions for clients across the various sectors.

Custom Software Development Services provided by Saigon Technology

Enterprise solutions development: The company has vast experience and skills in building complex enterprise solutions. Their skill-set and expertise in this niche span Resource Planning, Business Process Management, Collaboration, Customer Relationship Management, and other business domains. Furthermore, Saigon Technologies delivers these enterprise solutions in conformance with the best industry practice and international standards.

Custom web development: The company can deliver feature-rich custom web applications, portals, and sites.

Custom app development: Saigon Technologies can help you expand your reach to your target audience with custom mobile app development services. With users increasingly relying on mobile devices to access internet services, the companys custom app development services allow you to leverage on this trend and spread your reach to more people.

SaaS Solutions Development: Saigon Technologys services include full-cycle development, deployment, and support for SaaS model solutions. Their services also include the development of custom plug-ins and integrating the same for any SaaS solutions for your use.

Award-winning services

Having worked with hundreds of companies and brands from various parts of the world, the company has earned an admirable reputation in the industry. This has earned it multiple awards and recognition in the Vietnam Tech industry, with the most recent being the Sao Khue Award for Top Software Outsourcing Company in 2019, and being on the 2019 list of the Top 50 Best software companies in Vietnam. This further proves the competence and quality assurance they offer, especially given the steep competition in the Vietnam Software Industry one that has gained global recognition and respect over the last decade.

Custom software development team at Saigon Technology.

Home

TechTIQ Solutions is a software development company based in Singapore. The company was founded in 2017 and set on a mission to provide IT solutions to businesses of all scales small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporates to help them realize improved outputs. More specifically, TechTIQ Solutions is focused on helping businesses improve their operational efficiency, streamline their administration, enhance their productivity, combat competition, expand their reach in the market, and facilitate overall growth.

Some of the top industry technologies TechTIQ Solutions offers include mobile apps, web apps, mCommerce, eCommerce, Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, cloud integration, and the Internet of Things. Through its team of up to 50 well-trained and highly skilled and knowledgeable software engineers and IT professionals, the company has served hundreds of clients, including some of the top brands known globally. Some of the clients that TechTIQ has served include Abbott, Panasonic, Pan United to name a few.

Custom Software Development Services provided by TechTIQ Solutions

Web Applications: With a team of more than 30 developers, the company can deliver custom web applications for smooth business operations. Beyond being tailored to your unique needs, the team can develop apps that are compatible and capable of working across the top web browsers, coupled with unique UX and UI.

Mobile Applications: The range of custom software solutions offered includes the development of both native and cross-platform custom mobile applications. Additionally, they can leverage AI to enhance app performance for more advanced enterprise management solutions.

System Integration: This includes integrating all modules within the different entities of your business to communicate effectively with each other.

Database development and management: The company employs technologies such as SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MySQL, and SQL to offer high-end database development and management solutions.

Cloud Hosting: TechTIQ Solutions helps you scale up or down seamlessly to effectively reach and interact with your clients with their cloud hosting solutions. They employ top technologies such as Google Cloud, Azure, and AWS, among others.

A competent and highly skilled team

The rich portfolio of clients served by TechTIQ Solutions and the range of custom software solutions offered speaks to the competence of the software developers and engineers. The team is well-structured and coordinated to ensure your custom software project runs smoothly, is delivered on time and adheres to the highest possible quality standards. All indications point to the company helping you unlock your business potential while solving existing challenges with their custom software solutions.

http://www.intellectsoft.net

IntellectSofts custom software solutions and services have earned it an admirable reputation, making it a top choice for among the list of most reliable software development companies. Their admirable reputation is evident from the rich portfolio of top clients that include big brands like Universal, Nestle, EY, Harley-Davidson, Audi, Jaguar, and Guinness.

Founded in 2007 and headquartered in the United States, UK, and Norway, the company is dedicated to providing top-end technologies including cloud computing, blockchain, and financial technologies, documentation management, payment solutions, and B2B and B2C Web portals among others. A team of highly qualified and knowledgeable software engineers renders these services guaranteeing top quality and efficient service delivery to clients.

Custom Software Development Services provided by IntellectSoft

Extended Reality: This entails custom solutions with Augmented Reality, Virtual Reality, and Mixed Reality that continue to revolutionize user experience.

Internet of Things: The team is knowledgeable of the latest trends in developing smart ecosystems to help the different platforms and modules of your business communicate with each other.

Cognitive Computing: Leverage machine learning and deep learning technologies to develop custom solutions that help businesses process complex and ambiguous operations more efficiently.

Cloud Computing: IntellectSoft allows you to scale your operations and streamline your operations with the custom cloud computing services.

Customer Experience Design: This entails tailoring the design of your business or brands digital customer experience to appeal to their unique needs.

Web and Mobile App Development: Improve your reach, UI, and UX with custom web app and mobile app development. Custom mobile app development entails developing both native and cross-platform apps that are tailored to address the unique needs of your clients.

Trusted Services

IntellectSoft has been in the industry for more than 11 years and is vast with past and future trends. This vast experience and knowledge have earned it trust among the fortune 500 companies, further evident from its portfolio of clients. Also, the company has multiple awards in the industry from Clutch, Inc.500, Goodfirms, The Techies, ITFirms, Appindex, IBM, and IAOP, among others. All these contribute to IntellectSofts ranking among the top custom software development companies in the world.

http://www.oxagile.com

Oxagile has been the recipient of various awards in the IT industry, including Deloitte Technology Fast 500, IAOP The Global Outsourcing 100 in 2017 and 2016 Software Companies 500, among others. Other than these awards, the company has provided its services to some of the big brands and institutions known globally, including Google, Vodafone, Cardiff University, Stockmusic.net, and Discovery, among many others. These point to the expertise and the quality of software and IT solutions the company provides.

Oxagile was established in 2005 and has since expanded to the United States, the UK, and Belarus. It has more than 250 employees across the various locations who put their software engineering skills to use in delivering high-quality custom software solutions to help businesses unlock their potential and adapt to the dynamic markets. The team has worked on close to 500 projects with 97% client satisfaction.

Custom Software Development Services provided by Oxagile

Mobile application development: Oxagile is experienced in the development of custom native mobile and cross-platform applications. They allow you to integrate features such as in-app payments, video conferences, and social media integration using the latest technologies, including the powerful and disruptive Artificial Intelligence.

Web application development: This involves tailoring web applications to suit your unique business model and needs. Oxagile utilizes the latest technologies to develop disruptive web apps with outstanding UX and UI, increased flexibility and scalability, and robust security.

Enterprise automation: Oxagile helps enterprises automate complex operations with services such as enterprise resource planning, population health management, business workflow orchestration, and media asset management.

Cloud application development: Oxagiles cloud solutions help businesses unlock new levels of flexibility and scalability for efficient and optimal operations. The company leverages top cloud computing technologies such as Azure and AWS.

Web portal development: With solid expertise, you can rely on Oxagiles B2B and B2C web portals for sustained business growth. The web portals are equipped with advanced features like video conferencing, search capabilities, and advanced reporting, among others.

With more than 15 years of experience in the software development industry, coupled with hundreds of testimonials from top clients, Oxagile has sufficient capacity to propel you towards your objectives with custom software development options. Moreover, you get to work with a passionate development team capable of delivering custom solutions for complex processes.

http://www.itransition.com

Established in 1998, Itransition boasts of having vast experience in the IT and software development industry. Through its more than two decades of existence, the company has handled more than 1530 projects for more than 810 clients. The clients comprise both small and medium-sized enterprises and large corporations. Some of the top brands Itransition has worked with include Adidas, eBay, Toyota, Pepsico, Expedia, Mclaren, Philips. BundleTech, Anybill, Turkcell, SSI, TradeStops, Themis, and InterCall, among many others.

The company comprises a team of approximately 2000 tech experts in the various offices in the United States, United Kingdom, Poland, and Belarus who specialize in different skills. Further, the company strives to keep up with the latest trends in the industry and conforms to the global standards and continuous upscaling of skills by enrolling in certification programs by industry leaders such as Microsoft, SAP, Gold Solution, and Acumatica among others.

Custom Software Development Services provided by Itransition

Custom web and mobile application development: The company helps build seamless web and mobile applications that are properly integrated with your businesss existing modules. Further, the application development can be advanced for business process automation, thus improving your operational efficiency.

Third-party product customization: This entails tailoring different and independent platforms and components, both proprietary and open-source to address the unique demands and needs of your clients.

Application migration and upgrade: The team of professionals is capable of refactoring, redesigning, and migrating to new legacy system architectures. The team also offers application security services for more secure business processes.

Itransition provides these custom software development services for a wide range of industries, including healthcare, finance, education, automotive, telecommunications, media and entertainment, and retail and wholesale. The rich portfolio and hundreds of positive reviews and testimonials further affirm Itransitions competencies and trustworthiness.

Conclusion

Custom software development allows you to tailor your software products to address the unique needs of your business. It gives businesses and brands to streamline their operations and scale optimally.

However, it can be challenging to identify the most ideal custom software development company to approach to handle your unique needs. The 5 companies highlighted here have a proven track record, experience in the industry, and the expertise to deliver optimal custom software solutions for your unique business needs.

Have any thoughts on this? Let us know down below in the comments or carry the discussion over to ourTwitterorFacebook.

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Cloud Hosting

Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market 2025 In-depth Coverage and Various Important Aspects of COVID 19 Outbreak Impact: Amazon Web Services, AT…

Introduction: Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market

This well-composed research output tends to offer a highly resourceful outlook highlighting various facets that encourage remunerative business decisions in the Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market. The report is a quick reference point to make comply with reader understanding of the volatile market situations that collectively steer enormous growth opportunities in the global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market.

Top Leading Key Players are:

Amazon Web Services, AT & T, Google, GoDaddy, Dreamhost, Earthlink, and Endurance

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The global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market research report is a well synchronized synopsis highlighting some of the most significant, real time research analysis that enable quick and efficient business discretion.The report fetches references of growth-specific business policies, approaches and preferences that help in maintaining the competitive momentum in global business decisions as well as comprises excerpts of dynamic segmentation that collectively ensure steady growth in the global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market.

This report studies the Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market status and outlook of Global and major regions, from angles of players, countries, product types and end industries; this report analyzes the top players in global market, and splits the Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market by product type and applications/end industries. Asia Pacific (APAC) is expected to grow at the highest CAGR during the forecast period, as most of the companies in APAC are encouraging the extensive adoption of mobile applications.

The report offers updated financial information of the key competitors to offer accurate market insights and offers strategic recommendations. The study covers critical market trends along with an extensive analysis of emerging trends. The report covers a detailed examination of the market scenarios and trends on a regional and global level. The study covers the current competitive scenario with a special emphasis on the strategic initiatives taken by the prominent players of the industry.

Report Offerings in Brief

* A rigorous, end-to-end review and analysis of the Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market events and their implications

* A thorough compilation of broad market segments

* A complete demonstration of best in-industry practices, mindful business decisions and manufacturer activities that steer revenue sustainability in the global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market

A complete assessment of competition spectrum, inclusive of relevant details about key and emerging players

* A pin-point review of the major dynamics and dominant alterations that influence growth in the global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market

Browse the complete report Along with TOC @ https://www.adroitmarketresearch.com/industry-reports/southeast-asia-web-hosting-market

Global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market is segmented based by type, application and region.

Based on Type, the Market has been segmented into:

by Product (Web-Site Builders, Shared Hosting, Dedicated Hosting, Collocation Hosting, VPS Hosting, and Cloud Hosting), By Organization Size (Small, Medium and Large enterprises), By Countries (Vietnam, Malaysia, Philippines, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Rest of Southeast Asia)

Based on application, the Market has been segmented into:

By Application (IT & Telecom, BFSI, Aerospace & Defense, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Government & Utilities, Retail, Consumer Electronics and Others)

Key Player Analysis: Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market

1. The report precisely profiles leading players and their intricate marketing choices and best in industry performance that jointly inculcate remunerative business options in the Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market.

2. For better and superlative comprehension of the Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market by leading market players and participants striving to strike a profitable growth trail in the Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market during 2020-27, this meticulous report composition houses critical developments, besides an extensive portfolio of leading players.

Understanding Regional Growth Prognosis: Global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market

Following sections of the report on global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market includes vivid details about region specific developments, also including details about country-specific events that collectively influence optimistic growth.

Furthermore, significant depiction on frontline market players have also been widely discussed in the report to imitate growth-oriented business discretion.

Gauging through Scope: Global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market, 2020-27

1. Intensive research suggests that the global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market in the forthcoming years will see through a decent growth curve, registering a steady rise if xx million USD in 2020 and is further likely to ensure a spike of xx million USD by the end of 2027, clocking at a CAGR of xx% through 2020-27.

2. Primary and secondary research also suggest that the steady growth trail in the global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services market will significantly emerge from the massive remunerative dip owing to the sudden pandemic, COVID-19 early this year that has proved highly detrimental for diverse businesses and industries, affecting growth.

3. Further discussions in the report primarily adhere to the various events and developments dominant in the manufacturing space. The report is poised to undertake immersive study pertaining to dynamics identification and further analysis and evaluation to arrive at logical conclusions and touchpoint analysis.

Executive Summary

1. Assumptions and Acronyms Used2. Research Methodology3. Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Overview4. Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Supply Chain Analysis5. Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Pricing Analysis6. Global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast by Type7. Global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast by Application8. Global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast by Sales Channel9. Global Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast by Region10. North America Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast11. Latin America Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast12. Europe Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast13. Asia Pacific Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast14. Middle East & Africa Southeast Asia Web Hosting Services Market Analysis and Forecast15. Competition Landscape

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Adroit Market Research is an India-based business analytics and consulting company incorporated in 2018. Our target audience is a wide range of corporations, manufacturing companies, product/technology development institutions and industry associations that require understanding of a Markets size, key trends, participants and future outlook of an industry. We intend to become our clients knowledge partner and provide them with valuable Market insights to help create opportunities that increase their revenues. We follow a code- Explore, Learn and Transform. At our core, we are curious people who love to identify and understand industry patterns, create an insightful study around our findings and churn out money-making roadmaps.

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Professional Services Automation Market Snapshot Analysis and Increasing Global Growth Demand by Forecast To 2025 – StartupNG

Global Professional Services Automation Market: Snapshot

The global market for professional services automation is expected to expand alongside the adoption of automation technologies across commercial units. Professional Services automation refers to the creation of automated systems for bill generation, expense monitoring, time tracking, and resource allocation in companies or businesses. Professional services automation offers a wide range of benefits to organizations in the form of reduced processing time, improved efficiency, satisfied customers, and reduced costs. International companies are on the lookout for options that can help them function with agility and nimbleness. In order to do this, it is extremely important for these companies to shorten their chain of operation by effectuating smarter systems.

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Hence, the demand for professional services automation is expected to be driven by the efforts of organizations to bring about standardization on the operational front. Furthermore, the quest to achieve customer satisfaction has also driven demand within the global market for professional service automation. Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged as the backbone of automation technologies and has revolutionized the way companies look at their operations. This penetration of AI into the framework of organizations has also led to the growth of the global market for professional services automation.

The swift adoption of automation technologies across North America has been the key reason behind the growth of the market for professional services automation in the region. Furthermore, the markets in Europe and Asia Pacific are also expected to expand on account of the emergence of new companies with advanced operational benchmarks and better recourse.

Global Professional Services Automation Market: Overview

Professional service automation systems are a type of software products that are designed to aid professional services and companies to streamline numerous operations, enhance their efficiency, and gain a higher profitability and productivity. These systems can be seen as a complete business solutions and have a variety of capacities which include billing, project management, time tracking, expense management, invoice management, and resource allocation.

The global market for Professional Services Automation could be segmented in terms of the different solution types and services provided. The global market could also be segmented in terms of the type of deployment, size of organization, and by geography. Such in depth and precise segmentation of the global Professional Services Automation market offered by the report helps in grasping the all-round growth prospects and the future outlook of the different segments of the market and thus, helping the potential buyers to make informed decisions while investing in the market.

The report on Professional Services Automation market provides the analysis and forecast on regional as well as global level. It offers historical data of the year 2016 along with the anticipated data of 2017, and a forecast data up to year 2022 in terms of revenue as well as volume. The report also provide vital driving and impeding factors for the development of the global Professional Services Automation market and their impact on each region over the duration of the given forecast period. The report also offeres the value chain analysis of the market with a list of manufacturers. The research report on the global market for Professional Services Automation provides vital growth prospects and key trends and opportunities that may come up in the market over the course of the given forecast period. The research report is the result of in-depth and extensive primary as well as secondary research methodologies backed by crucial market insights offered by the industry professionals.

Global Professional Services Automation Market: Trends and Opportunities

Of the two vital methods of deployment of the Professional Services Automation (PSA) systems are on premise-PSA and cloud PSA products and services. These services are hosted on cloud platforms and are gaining increasing popularity, specifically among the medium and small sized companies. The several advantages of cloud hosting with respect to disaster recovery, flexibility, diminished infrastructure development, and increased collaboration cost are some of the key factors expected to drive the overall growth of the global Professional Services Automation market over the coming years. In addition to this, the growing inclusion of tablets, smartphones and other gadgets to the internal networks of the companies are also expected to help in driving market growth.

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Global Professional Services Automation Market: Market Potential

A recent observation found by the industry experts that AI (artificial intelligence) can considerably add benefits to the global Professional Services industry. It is expected to create a huge wave both in terms of adoption and uptake with automation industry likely to be heading towards the heavy use of AI. AI is expected to be the future of computer technology and with automation of the professional services, it is only time the market is can experience the impact of AI in the professional services industry

Global Professional Services Automation Market: Geographical Segmentation

The global Professional Services Automation can be segmented into key regions such as North America, Middle East and Africa, Europe, Asia Pacific, and Latin America.

Global Professional Services Automation Market: Key Players

Some of the key players in the global market include names such as FinancialForce PSA, Deltek, Projector PSA, and Autotask Corporation among others

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Professional Services Automation Market Snapshot Analysis and Increasing Global Growth Demand by Forecast To 2025 - StartupNG

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Dedicated Server

Linux servers and workstations are hackers’ next target, security researchers warn – TechRepublic

Sophisticated hackers and crooks are developing more tools to target Linux-based systems used by government and big business.

At a time when use of open-source platforms are on the rise, researchers at Kaspersky have warned that sophisticated hackers and crooks are increasingly targeting Linux-based devices - using tools specifically designed to exploit vulnerabilities in the platform.

While Windows tends to be more frequently targeted in mass malware attacks, this is not always the case when it comes to advanced persistent threats (APTs), in which an intruder often a nation-state or state-sponsored group - establishes a long-term presence on a network.

SEE:Identity theft protection policy(TechRepublic Premium)

According to Kaspersky, these attackers are increasingly diversifying their arsenals to contain Linux tools, giving them a broader reach over the systems they can target. Many organisations choose Linux for strategically important servers and systems, and with a "significant trend" towards using Linux as a desktop environment by big business as well as government bodies, attackers are in turn developing more malware for the platform.

"The trend of enhancing APT toolsets was identified by our experts many times in the past, and Linux-focused tools are no exception," said Yury Namestnikov, head of Kaspersky's global research and analysis team in Russia.

"Aiming to secure their systems, IT and security departments are using Linux more often than before. Threat actors are responding to this with the creation of sophisticated tools that are able to penetrate such systems."

According to Kaspersky, over a dozen APT actors have been observed to use Linux malware or some Linux-based modules.

Most recently, this has included the LightSpy and WellMess malware campaigns, both of which targeted both Windows and Linux devices. The LightSpy malware was also found to be capable of targeting iOS and Mac devices.

While targeted attacks on Linux-based systems are still uncommon, a suite of webshells, backdoors, rootkits and custom-made exploits are readily available to those that seek to use them.

Kaspersky also suggested that the small number of recorded attacks was not representative of the danger they posed, pointing out that the compromise of a single Linux server "often leads to significant consequences", as the malware travelled through the network to endpoints running Windows or macOS, "thus providing wider access for attackers which might go unnoticed".

Prolific Russian-speaking group Turla, for example, has significantly changed its toolset over the years, including the use of Linux backdoors. According to Kaspersky, a new modification of the Penguin x64 Linux backdoor, reported earlier in 2020, has now affected dozens of servers in Europe and the US.

SEE: Social engineering: A cheat sheet for business professionals (free PDF) (TechRepublic)

Another example is Lazarus, a Korean-speaking APT group, which continues to diversify its toolset and develop non-Windows malware. Kaspersky recently reported on the multi-platform framework called MATA and in June 2020, researchers analysed new samples linked to the AppleJeus and TangoDaiwbo campaigns, used in financial and espionage attacks. The samples studied included Linux malware.

A number of measures can be taken to mitigate the risks of Linux systems falling victim to attacks, including straightforward steps like ensuring firewalls are set up properly and unused ports are blocked, automating security updates and using a dedicated security solution with Linux protection.

Organisations should additionally maintain a list of trusted software sources and avoid using unencrypted update channels; use key-based SSH authentication and protect keys with passwords; use two-factor authentication and store sensitive keys on external token devices; and avoid running binaries and scripts from untrusted sources.

"We advise cybersecurity experts to take this trend into account and implement additional measures to protect their servers and workstations," Namestnikov said.

Strengthen your organization's IT security defenses by keeping abreast of the latest cybersecurity news, solutions, and best practices. Delivered Tuesdays and Thursdays

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Linux servers and workstations are hackers' next target, security researchers warn - TechRepublic

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Dedicated Server

More than 3500 electronic wristband devices issued to travellers serving stay-home notices: ICA – CNA

SINGAPORE: More than 3,500 electronic wristband devices have been issued to travellers serving stay-home notices since Aug 10, said the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on Saturday (Sep 12).

Under current rules, travellers enteringSingapore and servingstay-home notices outside of dedicated facilities are required to wear the devices. This initiative has been in place for slightly more thana month.

It applies to all travellers including Singaporeans, permanent residents, long-term pass holders, work pass holders and their dependents, said ICA, Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Ministry of Education (MOE) previously.

Only those aged 12 and below areexempt.

At Singapores checkpoints, eligible travellers are issued both the electronic wristband device and a gateway device after immigration clearance.

They are required to wear the wristband for the entirety of their stay-home notice periodand install the gateway device at their place of residence.

Speaking to reporters, Deputy Assistant Commissioner (DAC) Tan Hoe Koon, who is deputy director of ICA's intelligence division, said that as Singapores borders reopen, ICA expects the number of travellers served with stay-home notices to rise.

A total of 162,668 stay-home notices have been issued by ICA as of 8am on Sep 12, of which 14,053 are active, said ICA.

"As our borders re-open, we will expect more people returning and being served with stay-home notices. As this number increases, we need to manage our resources and the electronic monitoring deviceallows us to monitor the stay-home notice enforcement regime more effectively,"he said.

Previously, enforcement efforts centredaround sending daily SMS texts, and making audio and video calls, said DAC Tan. Home visits were also conducted at least every alternate day.

But with the electronic monitoring regime, the checks are only done shortly after these travellers return to Singapore to ensure that they have registered the devices successfully and have put on their wristbands properly and securely, said DAC Tan.

Officers conduct subsequent visits onlyas and when necessary, or if theysuspect that stay-home notice requirements are violated,he added.

"It is less reliant on manpower ... when the number of persons we serve with stay-home notices increases with the reopening of our borders, the same number of resources can be used to manage a bigger group of persons served with stay-home notices,"said DAC Tan.

The wristband and gateway device communicate with each other via Bluetooth, and the gateway device sends signals to the back-end server of ICA.

The users phone also sends GPS signals to the server. Should the individual leave the home, the GPS signals on the users phone will indicate to ICA officers roughly where the person is.

"We look at the data coming into the system, particularly any alerts triggered ... Any attempts to leave theplace of residence or tamper with their electronic devices will trigger an alert to our ICA system, after which we'll conduct our follow up investigations,"explained assistant superintendent (ASP) Zhang Chengyao, who is an analyst.

These follow-ups can be in the form of calls, but officers can also conduct house visits to make sure nothing is amiss.

Since the implementation of the scheme, DAC Tan said a few "technical issues"have been flagged. Most of the time, the issues relate to the reception at the individual's place of residence, he said.

Roughly5 per cent to 10 per cent of those issued the wristbandshave experienced such technical or connectivity problems, noted DAC Tan.

"We do experience a few PSHNs (persons placed on stay-home notices) who may be at locations that have poorer reception. Sotheir devices may have intermittent connectivity issues,"he said.

"So when there are connectivity issues and we are not able to receive the data, there will be alerts (sent) ... But when we call them,they actually are at home, and we do realise that they are facing some connectivity issues with the devices. And we will actually advise them on how to place their (gateway) devices in a more ideal situation in the residence, so that the signal (and the) reception can be improved."

After serving their stay-home notice, travellers have to deactivate the device and dispose of it or return it.

Those who are caught flouting the stay-home notice requirements or tampering with the device may be fined up to S$10,000 and jailed up to six months.

For foreigners, authorities may take "further administrative actions", such as revoking or shortening the validity of permits and passes to remain or work in Singapore.

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More than 3500 electronic wristband devices issued to travellers serving stay-home notices: ICA - CNA

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Dedicated Server

Applebee’s to open Monday in Jasper – Daily Mountain Eagle

Applebee's Grill + Bar will open in Jasper next Monday, Sept. 14.

The long-anticipated restaurant will open its doors at 11 a.m. on Monday, offering dine-in, takeout, and third-party delivery.

It was announced that Applebee's would be opening a restaurant in Jasper in June 2019, and construction occurred over the past few months.

"Were excited to bring Applebees to the Jasper neighborhood, and to offer the community the chance to enjoy our great quality and fresh food with the speed and convenience of a casual dining restaurant, Rick Houser, Quality Restaurant Concepts/Applebees Vice President of Operations, said in a press release to the Daily Mountain Eagle.

Quality Restaurant Concepts, based in Birmingham, is the franchise operator for Jasper's Applebee's and operates 60 Applebee's locations in Alabama, Mississippi, Tennessee, Georgia, and Kentucky.

Restaurant managers are still hiring for multiple positions at the Jasper location, including bartender, carside specialist, cook, dishwasher, host, server, and sanitation specialist. To apply, visit https://www.applebees.com/en/you-belong-here.

The Daily Mountain Eagleoriginally reported in September 2019, that the restaurant could accommodate the hiring of 130 employees.

A ribbon-cutting for the restaurant will be held on Saturday, but Applebee's will not open to the public until Monday, Sept. 14.

Jasper's Applebee's is one of few new restaurants across the country that has opened among the global COVID-19 pandemic; however, Applebee's is staying committed to keeping customers and employees as safe as possible.

The restaurant will be following state guidelines by opening at 50 percent capacity. In addition, 6-foot social distancing will be observed, and the Applebee's bar will be operating at reduced capacity.

"Applebee's is an industry leader in casual dining, and our cleaning and disinfecting procedures are the best. I think people will notice that almost immediately when they walk in," Wade Crawford, director of marketing for Quality Restaurant Concepts, told the Daily Mountain Eagle. "We have a person that is dedicated to sanitation now. It's a new position in the company. Every restaurant has a person, and their only job for the day is to sanitize."

The Applebee's menu offers something for everyone, from steaks, ribs, and burgers to chicken, seafood, and pasta. Salads, sandwiches, and desserts are also offered.

Applebee's offers affordable menu options, such as a standard special where two can dine for $22. That includes two entrees and an appetizer.

A kid's menu is also available.

Jasper Mayor David O'Mary said he is delighted to welcome Applebee's to the city of Jasper.

"It should be a nice boost for the retail side of our economy," he said.

According to data from March 31, 2020, over 1,700 Applebee's locations were in all 50 states, with restaurants also in Puerto Rico, Guam, and 13 other countries. Crawford said the Jasper Applebee's will be the 61st Applebee's restaurant operated by Quality Restaurant Concepts.

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Applebee's to open Monday in Jasper - Daily Mountain Eagle

Categories
Dedicated Server

Cloud Database and Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market Analysis On Trends and Need 2025 – StartupNG

Global Cloud Database and Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market: Overview

Users have a lot to gain from database as a service models, and the cloud computing variants of these are the ones that can provide users with easy access to large databases at nearly any given time and location. Accessing this database does not require the used to physically carry the database, or have to set up any additional hardware or software. The service model ensures that all tasks within the administrative and maintenance sections can be carried out by the service providers, thereby allowing a user to free up resources, physical space, as well as time. Clients may or may not be able to control administrative duties of a database, depending on the service model being used.

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DBaaS is a form of secondary service provided by cloud computing services providers and is strongly associated with XaaS. It may therefore be offered by companies under a number of options from the SaaS platforms they hold. DBaaS also provides a highly structured approach towards the collection, categorization, and maintenance of data for a user or a group of users. Most DBaaS providers offer solutions that are far cheaper than in-house database management solutions. They commonly offer their services and payment models based on either capacity of storage required, the use of features, or both.

Global Cloud Database and Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market: General Outline

The relational form of database ruled the information technology or IT sector in the last few decades. The last few years have witnessed a paradigm shift in the database management systems where dedicated servers were eventually replaced with dedicated storage server networks. With the ubiquitous usage of internet, cloud databases such as SimpleDB and Sherpa have gained popularity in the last couple of years. Storage plays an important role in data centers. In a traditional networked data storage, the data is stored in a single dedicated server whereas in cloud databases the respective data is stored within multiple dynamic servers.

Cloud database allows accessing of information at any point of time and from any place. Database as a service (DBaaS) allows the user to store data at a remote disk which is available through the internet. Cloud computing, the need for improved and efficient broadband facility, the advent of digital data, and shifting data storage requirements have led to the emergence of cloud database and DBaaS. Cloud databases aid in storing the colossally generated data by web based application. The cloud database and DBaaS market caters to many sectors such as government, healthcare, banking, hospitality, media and entertainment, e-commerce and insurance sector among others.

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Global Cloud Database and Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market: Drivers and Inhibitors

The chief driver of the growth of the global cloud database and DBaaS market is the burgeoning use of cloud service for critical data storage. Driven by numerous factors such as availability, cost saving, seamless integration, upgradation, and flexibility, increasing number of companies are transferring data on cloud. Cloud database and DBaaS provide monetary advantages over conventional storage methods. Companies from heathcare, banking and insurance sector among others are located far off and are largely dependent on their websites. Hence, such companies choose cloud storage to decrease the cost of operations and thus increase productivity. Cloud databases are progressively used in non-traditional sectors such as social networking, online music stores, and online gaming among others. Moreover, due to the growing flexibility needs and increasing data traffic, numerous government departments such as finance, insurance, and defense are adopting cloud service.

In spite of the strong growth drivers and surging trends, the major restraint for cloud database and DBaaS market is the growing criticality of data in cloud. Awareness about cloud security is comparatively low. The rising use of cloud databases have led to a rise in cloud attacks where users data is compromised, thus leading to identity theft. Moreover, the dearth of proper security standards for cloud database is also likely to act as a hindrance. At present, cloud platforms offer very little support for the purpose of database design related to virtual enhancement. With technological advances on boards, it is expected to provide opportunity for designing databases specific private clouds for large enterprises.

Global Cloud Database and Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market: Regional Overview

Geographically, North America is the chief revenue generator for this market closely followed by Western European countries such as Germany, France and the U.K. The dominance of North America can be attributed to the presence of large enterprises. Asia Pacific is anticipated to aggressively adopt cloud database and DBaaS solutions in the near future. This is basically due to the increasing focus by small, medium, and large scale enterprises for the purpose of improving efficiency and productivity via investment in technology.

Global Cloud Database and Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market: Companies Covered in the Report

The key players in the cloud database and DBaaS market are Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation, IBM, Amazon, Google Inc, Century Link Inc, Rackspace, SAP AG and Salesforce.com among others.

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Cloud Database and Database as a Service (DBaaS) Market Analysis On Trends and Need 2025 - StartupNG

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Dedicated Server

Free Tour de France live stream of Stage 14 and 15: watch the cycling online from anywhere – GamesRadar+

Tired of missing the action? We've got everything you need to catch a free Tour de France live stream to watch stages 14 and 15 this weekend before the event's final rest day on Monday. There are still plenty of races left and you could be all set up to watch Tour de France online within minutes.

Adam Yates from the UK is currently hanging in still at seventh, but it's Primo Rogli currently holding the yellow jersey going into this weekend's stages. With France currently facing a large number of new coronavirus cases, the whole Tour de France seems balanced on a knife-edge. Hopefully, things will improve across the country soon, but the Tour is currently on track to finish September 20 in Paris. But there's no guarantee that the peloton will reach the capital on schedule.

Cycling's biggest event will be teetering on the edge of cancellation throughout, and that makes proceedings very exciting indeed. The uncertainty could wreak havoc on team tactics, and tempt the riders to make a dash to the top of the general classification standings as quickly as possible.

Tour de France at a glance

The 2020 Tour de France started August 29 and will finish nearly a month later, on September 20. Remarkably, the riders will be competing on all but two of those days, and cycling fans based in the UK can tune in to all stages for free via ITV4 and ITV Hub.

If you're not from the UK, there are plenty of other Tour de France broadcasters around the world. And if you're outside of the UK, you can try this VPN deal, which will let you tap into ITV's coverage.

Making matters even more unpredictable is the fact that the riders' preparations have been far from perfect, due to the disruption that the pandemic has wreaked on the racing calendar.

This may have played a part in Team Ineos' decision to not use former Tour de France winners Chris Froome and Geraint Thomas. The 23-year-old Colombian Egan Bernal is the undisputed main man instead and is indeed in the chasing pack.

Road cycling is unlike most other sports, in that it goes out into the public, and there will indeed be fans lining the roads for this Tour de France. It all adds to the sense of peril surrounding the entire event.

No matter where you are, here's how to live stream the 2020 Tour de France for free online.

ITVITV is showing the 2020 Tour de France for free in the UK, and you can watch all of the action on TV on ITV4 or live stream it through ITV Hub without paying a penny.

ITV4's Stage 14 coverage starts around 12:00pm BST today and 11:15am tomorrow for Stage 15. The action usually starts around these times for the different stages of the race on different days - so keep your eyes on the TV guide.

If you're out of the UK right now, fear not. Grab a VPN to get your Tour de France hit no matter where you are.

FloBikesYou need to pedal over to FloBikesif you're in Canada and looking for a Tour de France live stream.

The dedicated cycling live streaming platform costs $30 per month, or $150 for the year, and coverage of the Tour today begins around 7am ET/4am PT and 6am ET/3am PT tomorrow.

Once again, if you happen to be outside of Canada right now, you can use a VPN to access the FloBikes coverage just like you would if you were at home.

NBC Sports GoldThose of you in the US can tune into the Tour de France through the streaming service NBC Sports Gold, which begins its coverage around 7am ET/4am PT on Saturday and 6am ET/3am PT on Sunday.

NBC is also offering a dedicated Cycling Pass, which costs $54.99 and includes the Tour de France and numerous other major cycling events between now and May 31.

Remember, if you're outside of the States right now and want to live stream the Tour de France through NBC Sports Gold, check out the VPN route we've described above. Or use a VPN to take advantage of the free British streaming options.

Sky SportSky Sport is your destination for live Tour de France coverage in New Zealand, and the action gets underway around 11pm NZST today and 10pm on Monday.

If you're out of the country right now, you can use a VPN to access the coverage you'd get if you were at home.

SBSThe great news for cycling fans in Australia is that the Tour de France is available to watch for free on SBS Viceland and SBS on Demand.

SBS' coverage starts at 9pm AEST on Sunday and 8pm on Monday, and if you're out of the country right now, you can use a VPN to access the coverage you'd get if you were at home.

ExpressVPN |From $6.67 / 5.24 per monthIf you're away from home for the Tour de France, a VPN is your best option for tuning in.

These handy systems are 'Virtual Private Networks', and enable you to appear online as if you are somewhere else entirely. This method gives you a way to get around any geographical restrictions, so you can access all of your favourite streaming services just as if you were at home. We'd argue that ExpressVPN is the best VPN to go with, and is perfect for a Tour de France live stream.

There are three simple steps to follow:

1: Get a VPN installed. There are plenty of options, but we'd point you in the direction of ExpressVPN. There's even an offer on right now where you can get an additional three months FREE on a 12-month package and save 49%. Happily, ExpressVPN is also compatible with pretty much every device you can think of too.

2: Connect to an appropriate server. Select a server located back in your home country and you'll be in and away. And if there's any sniff of an issue, Express's handy 24/7 live chat customer support can come to your rescue.

3: Head over to the service you want. Here you can shop as normal and once you set your location, visit the service you're interested in and sign up as normal or log in, and start watching!

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Free Tour de France live stream of Stage 14 and 15: watch the cycling online from anywhere - GamesRadar+

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Co-location

Remote Work Doesn’t Have to Mean All-Day Video Calls – Harvard Business Review

The Covid-19 crisis has distanced people from the workplace, and employers have generally, if sometimes reluctantly, accepted that people can work effectively from home. As if to compensate for this distancing and keep the workplace alive in a virtual sense, employers have also encouraged people to stick closely to the conventional workday. The message is that working from home is fine and can even be very efficient as long as people join video calls along with everyone else all through the day.

But employees often struggle with the workday when working from home, because many have to deal with the competing requests coming from their family, also housebound. So how effective really is working from home if everyone is still working to the clock? Is it possible to ditch the clock?

The answer seems to be that it is. Since before the pandemic weve been studying the remote work practices of the tech companyGitLab to explore what it might look like if companies to break their employees chronological chains as well as their ties to the physical workplace.

From its foundation in 2014, GitLab has maintained an all-remote staff that now comprises more than 1,300 employees spread across over 65 countries. The git way of working uses tools that let employees work on ongoing projects wherever they are in the world and at their preferred time. The idea is that because its always 9 to 5 somewhere on the planet, work can continue around the clock, increasing aggregate productivity. That sounds good, but a workforce staggered in both time and space presents unique coordination challenges with wide-ranging organizational implications.

The most natural way to distribute work across locations is to make it modular and independent, so that there is little need for direct coordination workers can be effectively without knowing how their colleagues are progressing. This is why distributed work can be so effective for call centers and in patents evaluation. But this approach has its limits in development and innovation related activities, where the interdependencies between components of work are not always easy to see ahead of time.

For this kind of complex work, co-location with ongoing communication is often a better approach because it offers two virtues: synchronicity and media richness. The time lag in the interaction between two or more individuals is almost zero when they are co-located, and, although the content of the conversation may be the same in both face-to-face and in virtual environments, the technology may not be fully able to convey soft social and background contextual cues how easy is it to sense other peoples reactions in a group zoom meeting?

All this implies that simply attempting to replicate online (through video or voice chat) what happened naturally in co-located settings is unlikely to be a winning or complete strategy. Yet this approach of seeing the face is the one that people seem to default to when forced to work remotely, as our survey of remote working practices in the immediate aftermath of lockdowns around the world has revealed.

There is a way through this dilemma. Our earlierresearchon offshoring of software development showed that drawing on tacit coordination mechanisms, such as a shared understanding of work norms and context, allows for coordination without direct communication.

Coordination in this case happens through the observation of the action of other employees and being able to predict what they will do and need based on shared norms. It can occur either synchronously (where, for instance, two people might work on the same Google doc during the same time period), or asynchronously (when people make clear hand-offs of the document, and do not work on it when the other is).

Software development organizations often opt for this solution and tend to rely extensively on shared repositories and document authoring tools, with systems for coordinating contributions (e.g., continuous integration and version control tools). But GitLab is quite unique in the for-profit sector in how extensively it relies on this third path not only for its coding but for how the organization itself functions. It leans particularly on asynchronous working because its employees are distributed across multiple time zones. As a result, although the company does use videoconferencing, almost no employee ever faces a day full of video meetings.

At the heart of the engineering work that drives GitLabs product development is the git workflow process invented by Linux founder Linus Torvalds. In this process, a programmer making a contribution to a code forks (copies) the code, so that it is not blocked to other users, works on it, and then makes a merge request to have the edited version replace the original, and this new version becomes available for other contributions.

The process combines the possibility of distributed asynchronous work with a structure that checks for potential coordination failures and ensures clarity on decision rights. Completely electronic (which makes remote work feasible) and fully documented, it has become an important framework for distributed software development in both for-profit and open source contexts.

GitLab has taken the git a step further, applying it also to managerial work that involves ambiguity and uncertainty. For instance, GitLabs chief marketer recently outlined a vision for integrating video into the companys year-ahead strategy. He requested asynchronous feedback from across the company within a fixed time window, and then scheduled a single synchronous meeting to agree on a final version of the vision. This vision triggered asynchronously input changes from multiple contributors to the companys handbook pages relating to marketing objectives and key results that were merged on completion.

GitLabs high degree of reliance on asynchronous working is made possible by respecting the following three rules right down to the task level:

1. Separate responsibility for doing the task from the responsibility for declaring it done.

In co-located settings, where employees are in the same office, easy communication and social cues allow them to efficiently resolve ambiguities and manage conflict around work responsibilities and remits. In remote settings, however, this can be difficult. In GitLab, therefore, every task is expected to have a Directly Responsible Individual (DRI), who is responsible for the completion of the task and has freedom in how it should be performed.

The DRI, however, does not get to decide whether the task has been completed. That function is the responsibility of a Maintainer, who has the authority to accept or reject the DRIs merge requests. Clarity on these roles for every task helps reduce confusions and delays and enables multiple DRIs to work in parallel in any way they want on different parts of a code by making local copies (forking). It is the Maintainers role to avoid unnecessary changes and maintain consistency in the working version of the document or code.

In a non-software context, say in developing the GitLab handbook page on expenses policies, individual DRIs, who could be anyone in the company, would write specific policies in any way they choose, and their contributions would be accepted or rejected by the CFO acting in the capacity of Maintainer, who could also offer feedback (but not direction) to the DRIs. Once live, the merged page serves as the single source of truth on expenses policies unless or until someone else makes a new proposal. Once more, the Maintainer would approve, reject, or offer feedback on the new proposal. In contexts like this, we would expect people in traditional management positions to serve as Maintainers.

2. Respect the minimum viable change principle.

When coordination is asynchronous, there is a risk that coordination failures may go undetected for too long for instance, two individuals may be working in parallel on the same problem, making one of their efforts redundant, or one person may be making changes that that are incompatible with the efforts of another. To minimize this risk, employees are urged to submit the minimum viable change an early stage, imperfect version of their suggested changes to code or documents. This makes it more likely that people will pick up on whether work is incompatible or being duplicated. Obviously, a policy of minimum viable changes should come with a no shame policy on delivering a temporarily imperfect output. In remote settings, the value of knowing what the other is doing as soon as possible is greater than getting the perfect product.

3. Always communicate publicly.

As GitLab team members are prone to say, we do not send internal email here. Instead, employees post all questions and share all information on the Slack channels of their teams, and later the team leaders decide what information needs to be permanently visible to others. If so, it gets stored in a place available to everyone in the company, in an issue document or on a page in the companys online handbook, which is accessible to anyone, in or outside the company. This rule means that people dont run the risk of duplicating, or even inadvertently destroying the work of their colleagues. Managers devote a lot of time to curating the information generated through the work of employees they supervise and are expected to know better than others what information may be either broadly needed by a future team or that would be useful for people outside the company.

However well implemented, asynchronous remote working of this kind cannot supply much in the way of social interaction. Thats a major failing, because social interaction is not only a source of pleasure and motivation for most, it is also where the random encounters, the serendipitous exchanges by the coffee machines and lift lobbies, create opportunities for ideas and information to flow and recombine.

To minimize this limitation, GitLab provides occasions for non-task related interaction. Each day, team members may attend one of three optional social calls staggered to be inclusive of time zones. The calls consist of groups of 8-10 people in a video chatroom, where they are free to discuss whatever they want (GitLab provides a daily starting question as icebreaker in case needed, such as: What did you do over the weekend? or Where is the coolest place you ever traveled and why?).

In addition, GitLab has social slack groups: thematic chat rooms that employees with similar interests can participate in (such as: #cat, #dogs, #cooking, #mental_health_aware, #daily_gratitude, #gaming) and a #donut_be_strangers channel that allows strangers that have a mutual interest to have a coffee chat to get together.

Of course, GitLab managers are under no illusion that these groups substitute perfectly for the kinds of rich social interactions outside work that people find rewarding. But they do help to keep employees connected, and, at a time when many employees have been working under confinement rules, this has proved very helpful in sustaining morale.

***

Working from home in an effective way goes beyond just giving employees a laptop and a Zoom account. It encompasses practices intended to compensate or avoid the core limitations of working remotely, as well as fully leverage the flexibility that remote can offer working not only from anywhere but at any desired time. We have focused on GitLab because it not only has extensive experience in remote working but also because it pursues an unusual mode of solving the intrinsic challenges of remote work. While some of GitLabs core processes (like its long, remote onboarding process for new hires) and advantages (like the possibility of hiring across the world) cannot be fully reproduced in the short run in companies that will be just temporarily remote, there are others that any company can easily implement.

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Remote Work Doesn't Have to Mean All-Day Video Calls - Harvard Business Review