Windows Open Source? If so, its Huge for Software Developers

Satya Nadella has proven himself to be forward-thinking and generating return on the investments that Microsoft has worked so hard on since he's taken the position as CEO 16 months ago. His goals are for cloud-first and mobile-first strategies that Ballmer didn’t tread into. Unlike Ballmer, Nadella plans on putting Microsoft’s unique solutions within the reach of as many smartphone users as possible. At ChefConf 2015, Microsoft's CTO of the Azure cloud platform, Mark Russinovich, expressed that an open-source Windows OS is possible-but what does that mean?!

Evidence-based management (EBMgt or EBM) is an emerging movement to explicitly use the current, best evidence in management and decision-making. Its roots are in empiricism and have become widely practiced in the medical field and in policy-making. These are quality movements aimed at applying the scientific method to evaluating practices with the goal of optimization instead of relying on what Gunther Verheyen, a pioneer in Evidence-based management, describes as "guesses, assumptions, hierarchy, gut feel, seniority, and other opaque and subjective factors."

Software application's growing complexity coupled with the need for constant updates make it difficult for companies that were once ahead to keep up without moving beyond the Agile methodology and embracing continuous delivery (CD) to meet the ever-changing needs of clients. CD represents a process or project pipeline that consistently pushes enhancements and bug fixes for the client to review and give feedback.

The growing need for dynamic and scalable software calls for the use of techniques like automated testing and continuous integration to develop easily packaged and testable software to be deployed to testing or staging servers, resulting in the ability to quickly and reliably push enhancements and bug fixes to clients on demand at low risk and with less effort and stress-while retaining the quality. Continuous delivery aims to improve on that software delivery process, and increasing numbers of software development companies are adopting it to meet the ever-changing needs of clients.

Monitoring and reporting solutions allow you to manage IT data centers, virtual environments, or cloud servers with ease. The results of these analyses offer insight into availability, performance, and utilization. Examining existing vulnerabilities in a system will help to properly diagnose core issues and aid in proper creation and implementation of an optimized solution.

Since the new year is just beginning, I wanted to take some time to put together last year's memorable events in tech across multiple industries to reflect on. Programming advances in enterprise, new healthcare technologies that were adopted, industrial revolutions through utilization of robots, finance acquisitions and new accessibility to banking, optimization of clean energy, connected cars, cable wars and the growth of media accessibility, security vulnerabilities and hacks, wearables, and the Internet of Things have all taken place this year and set the stage for what will happen this coming year!

Cyber Security breaches in which both employee and customer data are compromised has made headlines through the year-like those of Home Depot, Target, and Sony-which has led online shoppers to take heed and be aware of the point of sale systems they are using. Today's shoppers aren't only showing us what they're buying, but how.

Marketing isn't always as simple as shooting fish in a barrel, but it doesn't have to be difficult. Taking care to look past marketing myths and finding truth in best practices can transform your company's marketing efforts from unnoticeable and unstable to positive and generating returns.

Moving through the automated systems of manufacturing and logistics and into the lives of individuals in the form of connected cars,electric utility management, healthcare, and connectivity of electronics to your own mobile device are already coming around the corner. Wireless prices have dropped and the size and sturdiness of ever-smaller devices can be seamlessly implemented into an array of things that we use daily while cutting production cost in connnectable things from smartwatches to smoke alarms, as it can withstand overheating, power spikes while providing a reliable signal in hard to reach areas like parking garages, and other tough usage conditions.