Today, businesses are increasingly reliant on their ability to provide uninterrupted service and respond swiftly to any disruptions. Whether it's a website outage, a malfunctioning application, or hardware failure, downtime can significantly affect a company's operations. Customers expect quick resolutions, and delays can result in dissatisfaction, loss of trust, and ultimately, business failure.

What comes to mind when you hear that an IT component has “five 9s availability”? Five 9s availability of >= 99.999% is the peak metric for IT availability. Five 9s predicts that a measured component — whether it is a server, communication line, app, service, or any other item — will be available at least 99.999% of the time during a specific period.

The data field is expanding rapidly, with many areas overlapping other rising fields like cybersecurity and AI. As technology advances, the amount of data we generate and collect will continue to grow exponentially. This explosion will continue in 2024, when new developments in data management and security have emerged.

In many organizations, network teams are experiencing a significant skills shortage. The network operations center (NOC) requires expertise in various emerging technologies, which makes it increasingly challenging to find qualified candidates with the right skills. A recent survey revealed that in 2022, only 26% of companies found it somewhat to very difficult to hire networking professionals. By 2024, this figure had risen to 41%.

In the ever-evolving landscape of IT infrastructure, staying ahead of potential issues and ensuring optimal performance is crucial. Broadcom’s DX Unified Infrastructure Management (DX UIM) has been a trusted solution for comprehensive monitoring and management. With the release of DX UIM 23.4 Cumulative Update 2, users can expect a host of new features and improvements designed to enhance their monitoring capabilities.

Running IT operations in an Australian city council is a complex role that faces a unique set of challenges and opportunities. Typically, a city council in an advanced country like Australia runs its IT on a hybrid model, with a combination of continuing on-premise installations working in tandem with modern cloud platforms, such as Azure.