Many organizations have embraced software-defined innovations such as the software-defined data center and the software-defined WAN, taking advantage of programmability and automation to simplify the management of their networks and other data center resources. What’s been missing, until recently, was a way to achieve the same benefits at the access layer of the network.

Recently, someone asked me how organizations can take advantage of untapped cloud consumption capabilities.

At first, the question stumped me. After all, public cloud computing is a well-established model at this point, and virtually every organization is taking advantage of cloud software, infrastructure or platforms on some level. Even organizations that are keeping a sizable chunk of their resources in-house typically have a reason to do so — whether that has to do with cost, security or the need to run legacy applications on certain infrastructure. (It’s not as though these IT administrators simply haven’t considered the cloud.)

As long as Microsoft has been releasing new versions of its Windows operating system and ending support for old ones, there have been companies that put off migrations to the newer OSes for as long as possible. This time around is no different. With extended support for Windows 7 set to end in January, many…

Organizations face many challenges when it comes to keeping their operations secure and driving the most value from their next-generation firewalls (NGFWs). How to overcome these challenges is one of the most common discussions I have with customers. They often don’t have the personnel resources to tackle these important but mundane tasks. One fix is…

The seemingly endless headlines about security and data breaches can lead us to believe that attackers have become more advanced than ever before. While perhaps their goals and approach are more organized, analysis of recent breaches suggests that their techniques, in fact, have not significantly evolved. As CDW looks back on the last three years…