Spyware, viruses and worms continue to plague most organizations, but security challenges tied to the use of hand-held devices and mobile and remote computing are growing at a rapid pace, new research commissioned by the Computing Technology Industry Association (CompTIA) reveals.

Meanwhile, managing employees' mobile devices is becoming even more challenging and is overextending already strained IT departments, according to a nationwide survey conducted by Visage Mobile of almost 600 mobile users. Managing mobility has expanded from an IT issue to one that affects the many stakeholders throughout the entire enterprise, from finance and human resources to every manager and employee.

Based on data returned from the latter survey, the majority of employees are uninformed and disengaged when it comes to monitoring and managing their corporate-issued mobile assets. More than 60 percent of respondents said their company does not have a formal policy for mobile devices.

Seventy-four percent of respondents said they do not have access to their corporate wireless bill, while more than 60 percent waited three weeks or longer to be issued their mobile devices after being hired.

Not surprisingly, 80 percent of respondents are using their corporate issued mobile device for personal use, while eight percent of respondents have had a corporate-issued device with potentially sensitive enterprise data either lost or stolen.

The CompTIA survey of more than 2,000 individuals found that viruses and worms, cited by 54 percent of respondents, and spyware, selected by 51 percent, continue to be the top two information security threats faced today.

Security issues related to hand-held devices, and to mobile and remote workers, are clearly emerging concerns, according to the CompTIA study. More than 50 percent of respondents said security threats related to use of hand-held devices have increased significantly compared to one year ago.

Threats related to mobile/remote computing and hand-held devices can include simple user operating error; using a mobile device for unauthorized purposes; worms, viruses and phishing attacks; or loss or theft of the mobile device.

Nearly three-quarters of respondents surveyed (71 percent) said their organizations allow mobile and remote employees to access data and networks, yet relatively few have implemented security awareness training tailored specifically for the mobile and remote workforce. Just 39 percent of respondents said their organizations have implemented security awareness training and education, while 19 percent said they intend to do so in 2008.

Yet among organizations that have implemented such training for remote and mobile employees, 92 percent of respondents said the number of major security breaches has been reduced.

Enterprises 'vague' on Web 2.0

Although Enterprise Web 2.0 is generally considered strategically important, most organizations (74 percent) claim to have, at best, only a vague familiarity with it, according to AIIM, a nonprofit content-management research firm. In recent AIIM research of more than 400 businesses, 44 percent of respondents said that Enterprise Web 2.0 or Enterprise 2.0 technologies are "imperative" or of "significant importance" for their organization. Another 27 percent positioned Enterprise 2.0 technologies such as RSS, blogs and wikis to have an impact on business goals and success.

AIIM's research shows that most organizations look at Enterprise 2.0 as the application of Web 2.0 to the enterprise, the next generation of enterprise content-management technology or as technology that enables people to collaborate and/or form online communities. The use of Web 2.0 technologies on the commercial Web is, according to the AIIM research, a driving factor for the Enterprise 2.0 market. Exposure to technology and tools such as Facebook, iTunes, YouTube, Google and Wikipedia are raising the bar on user expectations concerning interfaces, collaboration and content access not only on the Web but on intranets, as well.

When asked to identify the primary accomplishment targeted by Enterprise 2.0 implementations, 69 percent of survey respondents pointed to "increased collaboration."

Wikis, social networking, blogs, search and RSS feeds are, according to AIIM, considered important components of Enterprise 2.0, with a combined 46 percent to 51 percent likelihood of being implemented or acquired. Even given the perceived value of consumer-oriented "social media services," among the least-expensive and easiest methods and functions to graft on as social interaction in existing enterprise content systems, these were predominately ranked as "No plans to acquire/use."

IBM data center goes 'green'

IBM recently opened its "greenest" data center in North America at its Boulder, Colo., site. The 115,000 square-foot, energy-efficient facility includes 70,000 square feet of raised floor space and is part of a $350-million investment by the corporation in Boulder to help meet customer demand worldwide for green data centers, while helping IBM and its clients reduce energy costs.

The new data center features numerous leading-edge technologies and services, including high-density computing systems utilizing virtualization technology, along with energy-efficient power and cooling technologies. These, in conjunction with the center's energy-efficient design and construction, will allow IBM to reduce its overall carbon footprint compared to standard data centers.

This latest initiative comes one year after IBM launched Project Big Green, committing $1 billion per year to deliver technologies that help customers increase the level of energy efficiency in their data centers.

To build the new data center, IBM retrofitted an existing office building on the Boulder campus. It reused 98 percent of the original building's shell, recycled 65 percent of the materials from the original building, and 25 percent of newly purchased material came from recycled products.

The facility will be partially powered by alternative energy sources, including more than one million kilowatt hours per year of wind-powered electricity purchased by IBM.

Given Boulder's geographic location and existing infrastructure reliability, the site is an optimal location to leverage energy efficiency. When exterior temperature and humidity levels are favorable, the data center switches to free-cooling mode-utilizing a water economizer to reduce energy use.

The facility's mechanical system design is 40 percent more efficient than one without heat exchangers for free cooling, equating to a reduction of approximately 6,550 tons of carbon dioxide emissions annually. Its capacity is expandable to meet future technology requirements.

Videoconferencing gaining ground

As leading companies look for ways to cut travel costs, many are turning to videoconferencing and telepresence, and deploying these solutions on existing corporate networks. A recent survey of nearly 400 enterprise network managers conducted in conjunction with Ashton, Metzler & Associates by NetScout Systems, revealed that 85 percent of respondents' organizations either use or plan to use videoconferencing, and 41 percent either use or plan to use telepresence.

Despite the penetration of these solutions in the enterprise, the survey also found that a surprising number of respondents, nearly 15 percent, indicated that IT had no involvement in the evaluation, selection or installation process for video services (both videoconferencing and telepresence). Additional findings of the survey include:

Telepresence and videoconferencing traffic are competing on the converged corporate network. Seventy-one percent of respondents indicated video services were running or would run across the converged network. Only 13 percent said video services would get a dedicated network.

The top three uses of telepresence/videoconferencing are corporate-level functions (23 percent), staff meetings (16 percent) and collaboration in the design function (15 percent).

Videoconferencing is nearly omnipresent in corporate enterprise networks. Only 12 percent of respondents said they had no plans whatsoever as far as videoconferencing is concerned.

Desktop phones: on the way out?

While desktop telephones are a mainstay for business, their future may change as employees increasingly use alternative communication devices as their basic communication tool.

"Workers today often manage multiple devices, including a desktop telephone, mobile phone, smart phone, pager and softphone," says Elizabeth Herrell of Forrester Research.

"As e-mail and text messages outpace voice calls for internal business communications, the need for a desktop telephone becomes less important for mobile employees," Herrell offers.

Trends that will affect desktop phones, Herrell says, include:

Smart phone and mobile devices. Mobile employees may prefer to use their smart phones with a docking station at their desktop for voice communications. Smart phones allow employees to rely on one device that fully supports business phone features, offers flexibility and convenience, and makes them reachable from any location.

UC desktop features. Integrating voice into the UC desktop provides call-control features directly from the PC or laptop computer. Users can see the availability of teammates, launch conference calls from their desktop, and view voice, e-mail and fax messages in a consistent manner without toggling between appliances.

Short takes

Secure lending

Davis+Henderson (D+H), which provides checking and lending support services to Canada's retail banking institutions, is using NEC Unified Solutions and managed security services partner SecureWorks to provide security monitoring, management and reporting to quickly react to external threats and to meet the demands of regulatory compliance and frequent audits. "Whereas I previously spent a significant portion of my time managing security vendors," says Al Beveridge, chief information security officer for D+H, "with NEC and SecureWorks I get proactive monitoring and management, thorough reporting and peace of mind that our network is in compliance with our many auditing and regulatory concerns."

Luxury phones

LXR Luxury Resorts & Hotels, a collection of luxury properties including The London NYC in midtown Manhattan, called on Mitel when it was time to replace its aging TDM telephone system in exchange for an all-IP solution. The London NYC selected Mitel 5300-series IP phones for all of its 561 suites and back-office operations for a total of 1,200 endpoints. "Our goal in purchasing the solution was to make certain we could provide our guests with the very latest, most sophisticated technology available," says Shannon Knox, senior vice president, information technology, LXR Luxury Resorts.

WLAN ambiance

The InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Hotel has deployed the Bandspeed AirMaestro WLAN solution throughout the hotel, including all 189 guest rooms and suites, six conference rooms, as well as the bar and lobby areas. The hotel now provides wireless coverage to every guest room and to every inch of its conferencing facilities. Because of the enterprise-class RF performance of the APs, fewer were required for coverage, resulting in an affordable solution that stayed within the hotel's budget. "Built in 1923, we always strive to keep the ambiance of the 1920s throughout the building," says Ralph Carnal, IT supervisor for the hotel.

Better protection

Sharp Healthcare, a San Diego-based not-for-profit integrated regional health care delivery system, has slashed backup time in half, increased disaster-recovery capabilities and reduced the risk associated with non-compliance with HIPAA regulations since deploying CommVault Data Protection, one of the five core modules in the Simpana 7.0 software suite. According to Gil Tuquero, manager of distributed systems support for Sharp HealthCare, the biggest productivity boost comes from the centralized management console, which has enabled consolidated data protection for all locations. "Our team used to spend more than four hours a night watching backups, and now other staffers monitor backups in minutes," he says.