Does the Obama Administration See Clouds in the Forecast?
The latest reports from the White House indicate that the Obama administration will increase federal IT expenditure in the next five years – placing extra emphasis on cloud computing, public collaboration and cyber attack deterrence.
The White House’s policies currently push for transparency, participation, collaboration and innovation as the new format for business in government. As a result, more and more Government agencies are incorporating collaborative platforms. In fact, over forty agencies, including the Department of Energy, have already started using collaborative platforms to facilitate innovation and public participation. Recently, the Depart of Energy (DOE) launched their website in an effort to follow new guidelines set by President Obama’s Open Government Initiative. According to Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, this platform will allow people from all over the globe to benefit from the DOE’s data and technical resources.
By using collaborative and information platforms, enterprises and communities can interact with the public and share data across multiple applications, taping directly into the relevant knowledge and expertise. Most recently at the Gov 2.0 Conference, Vivek Kundra, the first CIO of the United States, and Aneesh Chopra, the U.S CTO, also announced his support for collaborative platforms and open data. An increasing number of government officials realize the power of cloud-based collaborative platforms and open data. The new technological opportunities and innovation these platforms generate will reshape the way we think of government today.
In addition to creating more transparency and collaboration, the Obama administration also looks to cut IT expenditures while still focusing on deterrence, maintaining security and uninterrupted access to their resources. Earlier this year, Google and thirty other companies were penetrated by cyber attacks on their networks. This comes at a time when the Government has already stated that it has no real deterrence had these cyber attacks been targeted at their power grids or financial networks. Government officials say that they are looking beyond military might as a solution to the deterrence problem and along with the Obama Administration’s emphasis on collaborative and cloud-computing platforms that can soon change.
With the Government looking towards innovative solutions – cloud-based platforms such as Pingsta ICE™ and Pingsta VPI™, can cut operational and capital expenditures while maintaining high security. Deterring cyber attacks can be difficult, so being able to respond quickly is of utmost importance. Pingsta ICE™ and Pingsta VPI™ offer a mobile workforce and direct-to-expert support, providing government agencies and enterprises a way to connect to an array of talent anywhere in the world in real time. These platforms also include on-demand capabilities, increasing responses and resources when needed to combat cyber attacks.
Pingsta’s online collaborative platforms, ICE and VPI, allow for enterprises and government agencies to not only decrease their IT expenses through our industry first collaboration features, but also achieve a higher network security through our industry expert engineers, on-demand service, and secure infrastructure.
Learn more about how Pingsta can help you cut cost while maintaining overall network security and availability.
Pingsta Launches Pingsta Perks™
Thinking about planning your next getaway? Have you got your mind set on that Ballon Bleu de Cartier watch? Are you treating yourself to a Ferrari California or upgrading to a Bugatti Veyron 16.4?
Pingsta is proud to introduce its Pingsta Perks™ Program. Through this program, all Pingsta members (and their immediate family members) will enjoy privileged access to exclusive discounted offers and promotions from leading luxury lifestyle brands across the globe. Industries such as select airlines and private jets, boutique restaurants, hotels and resorts, along with luxury car and lifestyle brands are joining Pingsta in acknowledging and celebrating the world’s internet rock stars – you!
So make sure to first stop by the Perks tab if you’re contemplating on doing some well merited self-indulgence. Pingsta Perks™ can enhance your “treat-yourself” experience that much more.
About Pingsta Perks™
Pingsta Perks™ is a free service that provides Pingsta members (and their immediate family members only) with exclusive offers and promotions from the world’s leading luxury lifestyle brands.
Luxury brands interested in participating in the Pingsta Perks™ program should contact the Perks Administrator via Pingsta feedback.
New Feature – Pingsta ICE Lead (PIL)
Whether you are an independent network consultant with several private customers faced with the headaches of client management e.g. providing customer references, filling out various W-9s (tax paperwork), chasing payments long after projects are completed or you are a network engineer who is tired of dishing out expert advice on various forums for free, Pingsta has the solution you need.
Based on the feedback from the Pingsta community, we’ve developed a new feature called Pingsta ICE Lead (PIL) that simplifies task and payment management for consulting network engineers through Pingsta ICE. PIL allows consultants to migrate existing or potential customers to the Pingsta ICE platform so they can seamlessly deliver their services and simplify all accounts management tasks.
Benefits:
With PIL, independent network consultants enjoy:
- Simplified task and project management – You manage all customer support and consulting tasks via Pingsta’s integrated web 2.0 platform.
- Simplified accounts receivable – You no longer have to chase multiple customers for payments or fill out multiple W-9s and other paperwork. Pingsta pays you directly for all work done.
- Robust backup expertise – You can rest easy from knowing that the rest of the Pingsta ICE experts will back you up on tasks that fall outside your area of expertise.
How does it work?
Pretty simple.
- Have your client subscribe to Pingsta ICE Pro for only $60/company/month. (You receive a 10% commission of their first years’ subscription.)
- Once logged into their Pingsta dashboard, they can go to “Account Settings”–>”PIL” and add you as their PIL using only your Pingsta member number. They should also set the hold-time – the amount of time the task should be sent only to you – ranging from 30 minutes to 24 hours.
You now have the first-right-of refusal for all new tasks your client creates. Tasks you don’t accept within the hold-time period will be intelligently routed as normal to other ICE engineers with the appropriate expertise so one of them can resolve it. You will be able to track all your PIL clients within “My PIL Accounts” under your “My ICE” tab.
Not yet a Pingsta member but looking to participate in the PIL program? No problem, request a Pingsta membership and an invitation will be sent to you once we validate your expertise.
Enjoy,
Erika
Pingsta Hall of Fame Inducts 50 Extraordinary Internet Engineers
Redwood City, California – December 23, 2008 – Pingsta – a collaborative intellectual platform for the world’s Internet experts – today announced the launch of its Hall of Fame and the inaugural 2008 inductees.
The Pingsta Hall of Fame was created to recognize, honor and pay tribute to all the truly outstanding engineers, scientists and individuals that have helped to create and continue to sustain the Internet. “The Hall of Fame program is Pingsta’s humble way of celebrating and appreciating the exceptional individuals that have given the world the gift of the Internet”, said Peter Alfred-Adekeye, CEO and founder of Pingsta.
The inaugural 2008 inductees are:
1. Joseph Carl Robnett Licklider (1915 – 1990)
2. Ivan Edward Sutherland
3. Donald Watts Davies (1924 – 2000)
4. Paul Baran
5. Leonard Kleinrock
6. Robert W. Taylor
7. Lawrence G. Roberts
8. Charley Klein
9. Jon Postel (1943 – 1998)
10. Vinton Gray Cerf
11. Robert Elliot Khan
12. Dave Walden
13. Douglas C. Engelbart
14. Dan Murphy
15. George O. Strawn
16. Doug Gale
17. John Connolly
18. Gordon Gallup
19. Eric M. Aupperle
20. Hans-Werner Braun
21. Stephen Wolff
22. Ira Richer
23. Jane Caviness
24. Karen Sandberg
25. William Yeager
26. Andy Bechtolsheim
27. Tom Rindfleisch
28. Les Earnest
29. Len Bosack
30. Sandra Lerner
31. Kirk Lougheed
32. Jeff Mogul
33. Bill Nowicki
34. Benjy Levy
35. Philip Almquist
36. Greg Satz
37. Noel Chiappa
38. Robert Metcalfe
39. David Reeves Boggs
40. Chuck Thacker
41. Butler Lampson
42. Tim Berners-Lee
43. Robert Cailliau
44. Marc Andreessen
45. Eric Bina
46. Larry Smarr
47. Paul Mockapetris
48. Bill Joy
49. Ken Thompson
50. Dennis Ritchie
The Pingsta Hall of Fame award ceremony will take place in Silicon Valley during the PingstaWorld 2009 Conference.
Pingsta Launches ICE Pro™
Lately, it’s impossible to escape the bombarding news about the growing crisis that is crippling the world’s economy. Today’s headline in New York Times read “Nations Weigh Global Action to Crisis” another read, “Stock Plunge Again, Dow under 8,600.” The bottom line is that now more than ever before, doing more with less is a business imperative.
In the midst of this turmoil, Pingsta is proud to offer some relief to this situation by launching ICE Pro™ – a service that provides small and medium businesses (SMBs) with an on-demand access to Pingsta’s vast IP network engineering expertise as-a-service. This way, SMBs no longer have to carry the additional financial burden of hiring network engineers in-house but instead leverage network expertise on a pay-as-you-go basis and save over 75% of their IT OpEx.
For just $60 per company per month, SMBs can now sign up and subscribe to Pingsta ICE Pro™ and purchase break-fix support tasks and consulting hours as needed.
The Pingsta team invites businesses worldwide to explore and utilize the vast array of beneficial features Pingsta ICE Pro™ has to offer.
Erika
Pingsta From Around the World
Over the past year, Pingsta has attracted members from around the world, and has become a truly global community of technology professionals. Here at Pingsta we firmly believe in bringing the best problem solvers and the highest quality networking solutions to the market, no matter where the talent is located.
Pingsta has members walking on 5 continents around the world, spreading the technology footprint. From New York to Paris, Kenya to San Francisco and everywhere in between, the Pingsta Team has sought out the best and brightest to solve the worlds more complex networking problems. So congratulations, Pingsta members, and welcome to this unique circle of global talent.
Pingsta unveils Pingsta ICE™- Intellectual Commerce Ecosystem.
Wouldn’t it be great if you could work from anywhere in the world, at anytime? From a café in Paris, from a waterfront bungalow overlooking the sea in the Polynesian Islands, or from the comfort of your very own living room. With the launch of Pingsta ICE™, members can do just that. Pingsta members can monetize their knowledge, expand their intellectual legacy and earn a living.
Pingsta ICE™ allows participating members to select tasks to be resolved based on their own expertise. Tasks to be resolved include break-fix, consulting, and R&D challenges. At Pingsta ICE™, participating engineers bring their own know-how and together as a community, Pingsta offers a surge of engineering capacity. So, what are you waiting for? Join Pingsta ICE™. And continue to share and expand your expertise and empower the world.
New Feature – Pingsta User Groups
Do you run after a stressful day at work, just to unwind a little? Do you find playing with a pet makes all your woes disappear? Maybe it’s a movie and a nap that helps you relax. Whatever it is, Pingsta’s technology based social network proudly introduces the group function, where members can join together and discuss their favorite activities and things they love.
Pingsta has always prided itself on a high level of professionalism and the ability to solve problems, but everyone needs a little time to unwind. The group function will allow Internetwork professionals to find a commonality with other members around things like relaxation, common interests or anything else. From pet preference to the best sports teams, get on and connect with people who feel the same way you do about the world around you.
-Will
Weekly Weigh-In #4: iPhone + AT&T = poor service???
The hype surrounding the recently released Apple iPhone has created quite a stir around the office. Of course, some of us (hmm,hmm Dieter) can’t wait to get one, while others (who are undeniably envious of new toys) believe it to be overrated.
But rather than join this perennial debate, we would like to draw your attention to the network outages that AT&T customers experienced shortly after the release of the iPhone.
While some people have speculated that AT&T‘s network issues were due to the pressure of thousands of people activating their new Apple iPhones at the same time, AT&T representatives had this to say about the wireless data outage on their network: “Don’t blame the iPhone”… There was a technical issue in the network, but it had nothing to do with the iPhone.” It turns out that AT&T’s euphemistic phrase “EDGE is down” was in fact “AT&T data routing system is down”!
I’m of the opinion that AT&T should have anticipated the strain that this surge was going to put on its network, and should have dedicated the necessary resources (AT&T is not exactly penny-pinching when it comes to buying other companies) to ensure a stable network. Instead, they played this “Let’s-wait-and-see-what-happens” game and it seems when the network crashed they at least had their PR crisis management in gear.
So I invite you all to:
1. Join me in venting against the poor services we, The Consumers, have to put up with (especially when we pay a premium price for those services)
2. Offer any opposing view that will make iPhones users feel warm & safe
3. (wait… there is NO third option! Sorry “third-option-people”)
/deka
