Dave Young

Jun. 24,2021 | Cyber Security

Call them what you will, but hackers, cybercriminals, and identity thieves, as well as some notable nation states, are an increasing threat to enterprises of all industries and sizes across the globe. The recent Colonial Pipeline ransomware incident is only the most recent and noteworthy because it impacted an important supply chain: gasoline. However, hundreds of similar breaches are playing out every day and it really goes without saying that Cybersecurity continues to be a top concern among businesses across industries, particularly as work environments have shifted from the office to the home. While Cybercriminals are attempting to ...

Steven Zolman

Jun. 11,2021 | Financial Services, Bloomberg

Preface As a follow-up to our previous blog, “Can the White Walker Ghouls at Bloomberg Be Stopped”? We outline NET(net)’s Top 5 reasons why we believe the Bloomberg empire are ‘the walking dead’ and will soon fall. Intro Since 1982, Bloomberg has enjoyed a virtual monopoly on Wall Street, with a stranglehold on the information and technology needed to be a viable securities buyer. That virtual monopoly is coming to an end, but the folks at Bloomberg have not realized it yet. This is why we are reaching out to you folks who spend the massive amounts of money to pay for those Bloomberg devices and services, which are now outrageously ...

Philippe Anav

May. 25,2021 | SaaS, Cloud, Azure, Amazon, AWS, google

Cloud spend is anticipated to continue its massive growth trajectory for the foreseeable future. However, the spend does not have to match that same growth curve! To help our Clients maintain sound Cloud Optimization programs, we've assembled a series of articles and tips called: 12 for '21 Cloud Optimization Series (note: request a download of all 12 here). Our fifth chapter in the series: Size it Right! Once you have deployed resources for a while, you have to check that your instances are optimal. For most clients, instances are set with the right configuration at time of the launch. As your consumption and business environment evolve, ...

Scott Braden

May. 25,2021 | Security, Microsoft, Cloud

The news has constant reminders of the risks of an unsecure infrastructure. The Colonial Pipeline ransomware event recently caused blood pressure spikes in boardrooms and C-Suites all over the world. Microsoft continues to expand their security and compliance offerings, with a dizzying and confusing array of services, bundles, and add-ons to your 365 subscriptions. As we come into June, the end of the Microsoft fiscal year, clients are getting heavy pressure from management to “do something” about the very high-risk security and compliance requirements in today’s enterprise – and Microsoft is happy to sell “solutions”. But are they really ...

Philippe Anav

May. 12,2021 | SaaS, Cloud, Azure, Amazon, AWS, google

Cloud spend is anticipated to continue its massive growth trajectory for the foreseeable future. However, the spend does not have to match that same growth curve! To help our Clients maintain sound Cloud Optimization programs, we've assembled a series of articles and tips called: 12 for '21 Cloud Optimization Series (note: request a download of all 21 here). Today we review the fourth installment in the series: Power-Cycle It. A large portion of the cloud waste originates from idle and low utilization instances. This is particularly relevant for non-production (e.g. development, testing, QA, etc.) instances and applications with consumption ...

Andrea Alterman

Apr. 29,2021 | Security, Operations, Cloud, HCM, Workday, HRMS

Introduction: The WFA (Work from Anywhere) dynamic has challenged the traditional mission of HCM professionals. With these changes come new and unique ways that HCM and HRMS providers should be engaged and negotiated with. As you read through our top 10 providers, some strategic imperatives to keep in mind: Innovation: Shifts to WFA models require rapid, nimble, innovation focused providers. Keep this in mind when researching your renewal and or new agreements. Ensure the agreement’s terms and conditions meet YOUR expectations and projected business requirements – not the providers sales and margin goals. Return of the niche providers: HCM ...

Steven Zolman

Apr. 29,2021 | Insider, Software, SSM - Strategic Supplier Management, Market Alerts, Operations

Clients often ask how we can stay on top of the market due to its constantly changing nature, and our answer is simple. We are constantly researching and analyzing the market in real-time, availing ourselves of a variety of resources. First among those is our own FMI (Federated Market Intelligence) gathered from thousands of executed deals since 2002. It’s a luxury to have that kind of data to inform Client strategy and optimization. However, we do also frequently vet our own understanding of the market by using a variety of resources, including the major Technology Review Platforms. If you can imagine, there are literally hundreds of ...

Fred Teekens

Apr. 29,2021

Veeva Systems by their own declaration is experiencing spectacular growth. In their latest earning call for Q3 2021 (from December 2020), they confirmed total revenue was up 34% year over year! The global pandemic certainly contributed to this growth by their own admission, but they have taken steps to ensure this streak continues. In our experience and analysis with Veeva, we see three main points to consider when starting or renewing agreements, because understanding their place in the market and the way they sell are just as important as their functionality. Below we outline these three areas and offer approaches to help ensure you get ...

Matt Ryan

Apr. 29,2021 | Oracle, Cloud, Amazon, AWS, CCO

While recent articles proclaim Oracle is ‘Turning into a Cloud Giant’ and why their stock is should be considered a ‘buy’ (Barron’s, Feb 19th, 2021) – we say, “really?” While NET(net) does not pretend to be in the stock price benchmarking business, we can say based on experience that if Oracle is indeed becoming a ‘Cloud Giant’, then it’s probably bad for their customers. Historically, Oracle has grown new lines of business by pressuring customers into purchases they really don’t want or quite yet need but are left with few choices lest they become another audit victim. Consistent with that strategy, Oracle has thrown up some daunting ...

Philippe Anav

Apr. 16,2021 | SaaS, Cloud, Azure, Amazon, AWS, google

Cloud spend is anticipated to continue its massive growth trajectory for the foreseeable future. However, the spend does not have to match that same growth curve! To help our Clients maintain sound Cloud Optimization programs, we've assembled a series of articles and tips called: 12 for '21 Cloud Optimization Series (note: request a download of all 21 here). Today we review the third installment in the series: Demand Management. It is critical that workloads and their consumption profile match with the appropriate cloud infrastructure. Most of the cloud waste originates from a lack of consistent, dynamic governance. With few clicks, any ...