Chicago School Board Elevates Computer Science to Graduation Requirement

The Chicago Board of Education on Wednesday voted unanimously to make computer science a graduation requirement for all high school students beginning with next year's freshmen.

Chicago Public Schools has become a national leader in computer science education since Mayor Rahm Emanuel launched the Computer Science for All initiative for grades K-12 in 2013, the board said.

The five-year plan aims to make computer science a core subject taught in schools. It includes a partnership with Code.org to provide the curriculum and prepare teachers.

The White House last month launched a national Computer Science for Allprogram.

Exposing students to science, technology, engineering and mathematics, or STEM, education early will provide critical skills and training for success in their careers and in life, CPS said.

Demand for computing skills will be greater than the supply of qualified job takers, according to CPS. That will create a gap of 1 million job openings by 2024.

While there were nearly 600,000 job openings in computing, universities produced fewer than 40,000 computer science graduates last year, the board said.

To help close that gap, Chicago public school students will be required to complete one credit of computer science education as half of the two-credit career education requirement.

"Rahm Emanuel's decision to require computer science in Chicago Public Schools should be lauded. These young men and women will now have the benefit of access to a discipline that would have simply been out of reach before," said Colleen Ganjian, president of DC College Counseling.

Education Sound

The board's decision will produce long-term gains, she told TechNewsWorld. If students choose not to pursue computer science after high school, the exposure will make them stronger candidates in the college admissions process. It also will introduce them to a variety of other career paths.

Schools need to embrace STEM to meet growing demand for better career training. There's an increasing necessity for schools nationwide to better prepare students for the jobs of tomorrow by encouraging STEM, according to Sidharth Oberoi, president of Zaniac.

"Providing exposure to students at a younger age is key to enabling better decision-making for individuals when they reach college or enter the workforce. The more extensive knowledge a student has, the greater the opportunity he or she has for higher salaries as well as the potential to have a larger impact on the betterment of society," he told TechNewsWorld.

Computer science education is an essential ingredient in the STEM formula and in today's education, noted Stephen Nichols, CEO of GameSalad.

"It allows for experimentation and rapid iteration and provides students with a platform to utilize and learn the fundamental concepts of software development and programming. A true computer science education will foster creativity and enrich the lives of students around the world and help set them up for future success," he told TechNewsWorld.

STEM Plus One

Eagle Academy Public Charter School took that concept further by expanding the STEM concept to include the arts in its STEAM curriculum.

STEAM Exploratorium is designed to challenge young students to create, solve problems, experiment, test, adapt, collaborate, explain and develop a sense of curiosity as they learn skills and strategies for the challenges of the 21st century, according to Executive Director Cassandra Pinkney.

The process "fosters engineering and technological literacy among students -- an all-important skill set in tomorrow's world," she told TechNewsWorld.

School officials are adamant about exposing students to STEAM while they are young and curious, Pinkney said. The goal is to inspire students to continue pursuing the sciences throughout their academic and professional careers.

Essential Component

The Chicago school board's action requiring computer science credits is important in furthering the intent of the Computer Science for All initiative. It will go a long way to increase the number of STEM candidates, noted Steven Rothberg, president of College Recruiter.

"The more students who are exposed to science, technology, engineering and math courses in high school, the more students who will choose to major in those fields in college, whether they attend a one-year technical/vocational school, a two-year community college or a four-year university," he told TechNewsWorld.

Exposure to computer science is critical before students enter college. In order for the U.S. to successfully compete in a global market economy, schools must present technological and computer skills early on, according to J. Luke Wood, associate professor in the Community College Leadership program at San Diego State University.

"This move sets Chicago as a national leader in preparing students for readiness in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. Our nation is not prepared to compete in the emerging world economy. Our ability to do so cannot solely rely upon bringing in talent from other nations," he told TechNewsWorld.

"That will require our nation to better prepare students who have been historically underrepresented and underserved in education," Wood said, "particularly students of color."

HP's PCs now come with unlimited free Wi-Fi

HP has announced that it has extended its agreement with iPass, which was first introduced in 2014, refreshing the terms and implementing the deal for free Wi-Fi globally.

It means that wherever you travel, you'll be given a free Wi-Fi pass to access millions of iPass hotspots across the world with certain HP laptops, convertibles, tablets and phablets.

And depending on which device you purchase, you'll now get unlimited free Wi-Fi (unlimited data and usage time) for either one, two or up to three years. That's a lot of free Wi-Fi time, potentially, in the latter case.

Going the extra mile

The only caveat is that you have to activate the offer within a year of buying your qualifying machine, signing up to iPass with a one-time registration process. From then on, you get a single sign-on for hooking up to the iPass network, and Last Mile VPN encryption on the security front.

Having a quick look at the coverage checker, iPass Wi-Fi hotspots seem pretty plentiful across the UK, particularly when it comes to major cities of course.

This is also potentially a major bonus for business travellers who will benefit from the extended global coverage and completely unlimited nature of the deal – and across an entire company, HP devices could save a hell of a lot of cash via this scheme. They might even pay for themselves in the long run…

Windows 10 review

Windows 10 is an entirely new version of Microsoft's veteran Windows operating system (OS) – a version that is make-or-break for Redmond, Wash. commpany.

It was released on July 29, 2015 in seven versions, which I'll tell you much more about below, as well as give you techradar's final verdict on all aspects of the new OS. Note that there is a distinct Windows 10 Mobile review, which we've recently given a full grade.

Even though Windows 8.1 did improve things, there's no escaping that, with Windows 8, Microsoft was hugely complacent, riding on the success of Windows 7. It drastically misunderstood its users with a fundamentally different user interface that didn't make any logical sense and was hard to learn. It failed us. It failed itself.

Thankfully, 2016 Microsoft is pretty different from 2012 Microsoft. The key management of the corporation has shuffled. It has realized that people can choose other OSes. It's keen on creating software for Mac OS X, Linux, iOS and Android. As you'll see, it's allowing apps from other systems to be easily ported to Windows, too.

Latest news

Nearly seven months after release, Microsoft hasn't stopped upgrading the OS, nor has news surrounding the new OS stopped churning in early 2016.

Following the first big update for Windows 10 that landed in November, Microsoft touted over 200 million Windows 10 installs as of early January.

However, short after that milestone, Windows and Devices Group Corporate VP Yusuf Mehdi made a celebratory announcement that implies Microsoft may be gathering more data about its Windows 10 users than it's being upfront about.

Meanwhile, Microsoft's efforts to grow Windows 10's influence have only grown more strong-willed. First, the firm stated that Windows 10 will be the only Microsoft OS supported by the latest run of Intel CPUs and beyond, looking to reduce resources spent coding the OS to support old hardware.

Plus, Windows 10 recently became a "recommended download" for Windows 7 and Windows 8.1, meaning that – for most users – the OS will have already tried to automatically install itself on your PC. That is, if your Windows Update settings allow for automatic installs.

That said, Microsoft is making obvious attempts to pull out some of the thorns in our sides. It's been recently discovered that Windows 10 is going down pretty well with PC gamers, accounting for 34.05% of the Steam (developer Valve's online gaming service) user base in January.

Short after that report, Redmond launched a website demonstrating the superior security of its latest OS for businesses in an effort to entice IT managers to consider upgrading. Then, several days ago, Microsoft issued a patch for the OS and released exhaustively transparent patch notes for the first time.

Plus, if you want to test out Windows 10 additions with minimal risk before everyone else gets them, there's a new Release Preview Ring for you within the Windows Insider Program. And now, Microsoft made it so much clearer which apps on its Windows Store are built for Windows 10.

Something about all of these recent events is telling that there's likely more good news from Microsoft where that came from.

Now, on with the review...

Windows is more than just an OS

Microsoft believes the future of Windows is as a platform for all. Like Android, the strength of Windows is in the thousands of companies that develop for it (see the section about Universal apps for more on the relationship with developers) and use it in their products.

That's why Windows 10 is no longer just an operating system for 32 and 64-bit PCs. It will also run on the ARM platform for smaller tablets and smartphones. Windows 10 is going to run on phones – it's the new version of Windows Phone, but it's not that clear whether Microsoft will brand new Windows Phones as 'Windows 10' or not. If you know what Windows RT was, then don't worry, because it's nothing like that.

Universal apps will run not only on PCs, but on Windows 10 phones, Windows 10 for IoT devices and Xbox as well.

Like Windows XP, Vista, 7 and 8 before it, Windows 10 is part of the Windows NT family.

From the Windows 10 Preview to RTM

We are part of the Windows Insider program, which gives people early access to Windows 10 updates through various phases of its development, even after release. The majority of this critique is based on build 10240, made available on July 15. It is the RTM – or Release to Manufacturing – version. RTM will also be on Windows 10 PCs you buy in-store or online.

RTM doesn't have the usual 'Windows 10 Insider Preview' text on the desktop, and it has also been released to everybody in the Windows Insider program – even those who didn't want the latest updates (the "slow" ring as opposed to the "fast" ring).

Even now Windows 10 is released, the Windows Insider program will continue, and Microsoft will release Windows 10 updates to members of the program first.

While it's natural that Windows 10 is considered as "finished" by reviewers (us) and consumers, Microsoft doesn't subscribe to this point of view, and says it will carry on developing the OS with additional tweaks.

IBM Watson Forks Over $2.6B for Health Data Stash

IBM Watson Health on Thursday announced plans to acquire Truven Health Analytics for US$2.6 billion.

The acquisition will give the company access to about 300 million patient files, according to IBM, making it one of the world's largest holders of diverse health-related information.

One of its chief objectives is to use the data to bring more value to healthcare recipients. By integrating Truven's extensive cloud-based data sets, including cost, claims and lab results, into its own data sets, Watson will be able to create meaningful insights that can be translated into practical solutions for patients across the globe, IBM said.

Big Data's Big Impact in Healthcare

"We're adding more than 8,500 clients, which includes all the different stakeholders in the healthcare ecosystem, from government to employers to health plans to hospitals to providers and life science companies," said Kyu Rhee, chief health officer at IBM Watson Health.

The acquisition of information is really about finding meaningful insights that were previously unknown, he told the E-Commerce Times. By combining Watson's analytic capabilities with Truven's rich trove of data, IBM hopes to crack many of the healthcare industry's biggest codes, namely value and accuracy.

"Now we house one of the world's largest and most diverse repositories of health-related data, and it represents about 300 million lives, if you add it all up," Rhee said.

"This is exciting because what does Truven have in terms of data? They've got a great cloud-based data set, which has hundreds of different types of cost data, claims data, quality data, outcomes data, which is now added to the other data sets we have. With the power of Watson, with cognitive insights, we are going to translate that big data into big insights to those key stakeholders in the health and healthcare ecosystem," he added.

An example of a stakeholder who would benefit from the acquisition is a doctor treating a patient, said Rhee, who is a physician.

"It's ultimately about providing more value. ... It is about improving quality, improving the health of populations at a reasonable cost. I, as a physician, want to know if I've got a patient in front of me -- whether it's taking care of diabetes, pneumonia or cancer -- I want to know that I am recommending the highest-value options to my patients in terms of care," he said. "That demonstrates evidence-based guidelines. That is consistent with the literature. That's consistent with the people like the person in front of me in terms of good outcomes. Watson will deliver those insights through cognitive computing. That's value. Obviously, I want to do it at a reasonable cost," Rhee noted.

The Price of Smart Healthcare

While there are other powerful analytics systems, none are focused on healthcare the way Watson is.

One reason is that it's a costly endeavor, especially when you factor in the countless variables such as the number of medicines, illnesses and procedures, according to Rob Enderle, principal analyst at the Enderle Group.

Building Watson was a daunting endeavor, but "IBM did it anyway," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"The first public use of Watson was for healthcare, so an awful lot of work has gone into educating the system so it can diagnose illnesses relatively quickly and very accurately. To carry this thing to scale, however, it kind of needs to be integrated with some system that already exists, thus the purchase of Truven," Enderle said.

"When you tie these two together, now you have the machine and the go-to-market and existing set of folks that can service and sell the overall solution. But now they need to scale it out and get it broadly used so people can see the benefit. Now people will be able to see the advantage of having an intelligent system, a cognitive system, which is better than anything out there," he said.

Because of IBM's huge investment in the healthcare field and its large amassment of data, Enderle speculated that the company won't have competition at that level in the near future.

"For a while now," he said, "they will be the only ones at scale." 

Neverware Brings Windows Into Its Anti-Aging Fold

Neverware on Thursday announced the addition of dual-boot support, allowing its CloudReady operating system and Microsoft Windows to run on the same computer.

The dual-boot feature preserves existing data on computers. Adding it to CloudReady -- which lets PCs and Apple computers function like Google Chromebooks -- will let users keep their existing computer configuration or boot into Neverware's cloud-based OS to access Google's Web app environment.

The company has gained traction in the last 18 months among schools and some larger organizations strapped with aging computers and lagging budgets. In some school and business settings, Chromebook adoption has stalled because of reliance on legacy Windows applications, Neverware said.

It hopes the dual-boot feature will ease the transition to Google's ecosystem.

CloudReady began as a product specifically for schools already adopting Google Apps and Chromebooks. Some of those customers wanted to convert their legacy hardware to speed up Google adoption faster and for less total cost, said Forrest Smith, director of product and customer experience at Neverware.

"Dual boot primarily opens the door for a market we think of as Chrome-curious. These are folks who are interested in Google Apps and Chromebooks but hesitant to invest heavily in new hardware or to take a major risk on adopting a new ecosystem," he told LinuxInsider.

Other products, both commercial and open source, allow users to run Chromium-based browser OSes on existing computers.

Neverware's dual-booting feature is available on most computers without purchasing special products or licenses.

Dual Marketing Advantage

Schools that adopt Neverware's system pay a license fee to use the CloudReady OS. Students and staff can download the software for free.

The big advantage is not losing access to the existing OS and data while gaining the ability to boot into either OS without having to buy additional hardware, Neverware said.

The dual-boot feature allows CloudReady's users to try the Google ecosystem without getting approval to buy new hardware or risking frustration from their users, Smith said.

In addition, Neverware's existing markets can expand their deployments of CloudReady to cover labs where there are still legacy Windows apps, such as Photoshop, that are necessary but used only occasionally, he noted.

"We think school districts are already seeing the benefits. For more broadly focused EDU centers, this OS can make managing devices simpler -- even on aging hardware -- to let their limited resources stay focused on teaching instead of tech maintenance," Smith said.

"As a USB-bootable OS, it can also provide a simple, unified environment on BYOD devices for things like testing and tech education," he added.

No Linux Impact

Neverware's product will allow users looking for a pure Chrome experience to achieve that without investing in Chromebook hardware, noted Charles King, principal analyst at Pund-IT.

"If a school district or individual institution had numerous legacy Windows desktops and laptops, it could use the Neverware solution to transform that hardware into Chromebooks, saving thousands of dollars in upgrade costs. It could also accomplish that goal while continuing to support broadly used Windows legacy applications," he told LinuxInsider.

Neverware will feed interest in the Chromebook environment rather than the broader Linux desktop. Core Linux desktop markets prefer traditional OS-driven functionalities and user experience rather than the browser/cloud-based model Chrome offers, King said.

"However, the continuing success of Chromebooks in education and other budget-constrained use cases could undermine the progress of Linux in those instances," he added.

How It Works

The heart of the CloudReady OS is the Chromium OS, Google's open source version of the Chrome OS.

CloudReady makes the Web-based OS easy to install, Neverware said. Installation takes less than 20 minutes per computer.

The company has detailed installation instructions on its website. It provides a tool to guide users through the process of setting up dual-booting. Users need only an existing computer, an 8-GB flash drive and the Chrome Web Store to install the Chromebook Recovery Utility.

Neverware customers get CloudReady licenses via an online download. The cost is US$59 per device for a perpetual license.

CloudReady is certified to run on 200 of the most common PC and Mac hardware models.

To run in dual-boot mode with CloudReady, a computer must be able to use Unified Extensible Firmware Interface boot mode. It also needs a pre-existing UEFI-mode installation of Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10 and at least 32 GB of available free space in the main Windows partition.

If the computer is running Microsoft Windows in legacy mode but supports UEFI, users must reinstall Windows in UEFI mode in order to dual-boot with CloudReady. Users also can install CloudReady in standalone rather than dual-boot mode. However, that erases the internal storage, including all other operating systems, user files and software.

Market Share Growth

Neverware hopes the added functionality will help its user base grow. The company is expanding to work with a variety of nonprofits and corporations to run pilots and see how CloudReady meets their needs, said Smith.

"Over time, users who try dual boot will gravitate toward the CloudReady side and ultimately appreciate browser-centric computing the same way Chromebook users typically do," he said.

That scenario is possible but still a long shot, cautioned Pund-IT's King, adding that he has doubts about how large the potential market is.

"Past dual-booting solutions have had limited success, and this new offering will mainly be of interest to businesses that want to leverage Chrome and some Google apps while continuing to use legacy Windows applications. That seems like a fairly specialized market to me," he said.

Selling Proposition

Neverware's marketing strategy is a "best-of-both-worlds-style solution," noted King. "It should mostly deliver the kinds of benefits that the company envisions."

On the downside, he sees Neverware's dual-booting CloudReady solution as a software fix for the inherent problems of aging hardware. Running aging computers may require considerable repair and attention to run effectively.

"Since PC and Chromebook hardware is getting cheaper and better by the year," King concluded, "customers would be wise to shop carefully to understand the differences between the benefits of Neverware's solutions and a traditional hardware upgrade." 

Glitches Mar Makulu's Appeal

Makulu 10 Xfce edition continues developer Jacque Raymer's track record of pushing the limits with useful and innovative features to keep his distro line a step ahead of the crowd.

He released Makulu 10 Xfce this week after more than 12 months in the making. The focus on this build is stability, speed and social integration. After spending several frustrating days chasing away glitches, I found that the Xfce edition can claim success with two of those three goals.

I consistently have had trouble with Makulu, regardless of the desktop flavor. Those issues continued with the latest release.

To be clear, I tested the release on three computers with a range of specs that exceeded the hardware recommendations for the Makulu 10 release. I had major performance issues in every attempt.

The installations proceeded without anomalies. The OS performed with recurring glitches. The system appeared to shut down properly.

Three Strikes, You're Out

The major recurring problem is that on subsequent reboots, Makulu failed to boot. The system issued a diagnostic report that the X server suffered some internal error that disabled the MDM display manager.

I have used Makulu on various machines over the last few years. I constantly test Linux distros and other software. I routinely install most for testing and uninstall them when done. Few distros impress me enough to keep using them.

Not so with the Makulu line. I ran different versions of Makulu on various test computers. I alternated among Cinnamon, Aero, Unity, GNOME and Xfce flavors.

Eventually, each one fell out of favor. Not because I did not like using them. When they worked, the entire line was fun and inviting, but I was constantly addressing lockups and other hiccups.

From Bad to Worse

I had hoped the latest Xfce release would put all of that behind me. Alas, I spent several days gritting my teeth over glitches that made using that edition of Makulu not nice.

After several reinstallations and configuration adjustments, the problems finally seemed to have abated. They included corrupted package installations, browser lockups and video driver mayhem, despite a Makulu application that swapped and updated proprietary drivers.

The final blow came after working in the Makulu OS for uninterrupted hours. On several computers, I shut down the OS and powered off the computer. When I repowered the computer, Makulu failed to boot as explained above.

Makulu Highlights

I presume that the initial release code had an error somewhere that made its way into the ISO. No doubt the Makulu community will resolve the issue and make a replacement version available, so what follows is a review of the Makulu 10 Xfce performance between successful boot and shutdown during my testing days of working with it.

Makulu's name is derived from the word for "big chief" in the Zulu language. In a Linux world of countless distros offering the same old retreads of desktop environments, Makulu has the potential for being just that among other leading Linux lines. Makulu's novel tweaking of desktop designs makes the distro both appealing and innovative.

The Xfce interface defies what you would expect in a lightweight desktop.

The Xfce desktop is one of the most classic lightweight desktops. Makulu pumps in just enough innovation and uniqueness to make Xfce seem more modern and entertaining. What Xfce lacks in animation, Makulu's treatment makes up for with integrated features and appealing desktop functionality.

For example, it wraps into the Xfce desktop social app integration unmatched by other Linux distros. You can use applications such as WhatsApp, WeChat, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram on the fly. Forget about logging in to a website or installing a third-party app -- just click a button and you are in social business.

Plus, the desktop view is simply gorgeous. The background images are eye-popping. The upper-right quadrant of the screen is adorned with a time, date and system info display that actually is useful. In the bottom-right quadrant is a changing readout of quotes by a wide range of historical personalities.

Lucious Layout

The eye-catching visuals on every background image are part of the fun of using the latest Xfce release from Makulu. The other parts come from the desktop design and the unusual collection of software.

Makulu 10 includes an eye-popping collection of background images, two panels and access to all storage partitions.

I added the workspace switcher applet to the traditional bottom panel. The system positions it along the far right end of the panel. The panel constituents and some of the default software are different in this release compared with earlier versions.

The same icon is used to launch the Whisker menu at the far right end of the panel. The red and white M icon on the right side of the panel launches the Synapse search window. Also in the collection, on the right end of the panel among the expected system icons, is the launcher for Variety to navigate the background image display.

The left end shows icons for Show the desktop along with launchers for the Software Manager, Terminal Emulator, default Web browser and the Thunar File Manager.

The panel shows thumbnail labels of open windows in between the two notification areas. It looks like the panel bar is in two parts. The on-by-default 100 percent transparency setting gives the impression that the unfilled center portion of the panel is not there.

The left edge of the screen holds by default launchers for any mounted hard drive partition and attached storage devices. Push the mouse pointer into the top of the screen to pop down a second panel that functions like a launch dock for the integrated social media apps. These include Makulu Linux Live Chat, Facebook, Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, WeChat, Telegram, Skype, Google Hangouts, Twitter, Instagram, Gmail, Google Maps and Google Drive.

Feature or Liability

The integrated functionality is a mixed bag. Each launcher you click either opens another instance of the Google Chrome browser or puts the social media app into another browser tab or overlapping window.

They create a dizzying collection of clutter on the screen. Use alt-tab keys to cycle among the open tabs and overlaying windows.

If you use the Google Chrome browser on multiple computers, this integrated social situation can cause an intrusion on devices that do not run Makulu Xfce. Makulu apparently installs each social media add-on into your Chrome extensions. They appear as enabled add-ons in each Google Chrome browser installation you have.

Software Savvy

MakuluLinux is built around an unusual set of software choices, some of which are not common to other Linux distros.

The Makulu line comes preinstalled with the WPS Office suite. You might know this product as Kingsoft Office from your mobile device apps. The Kingsoft Office suite bundles Kingsoft Writer, Kingsoft Spreadsheet and Kingsoft Presentation.

WPS is outside the normal package management system as it is proprietary, so you have to periodically update it through the Web browser to download the latest patch or version update and install it. WPS has great potential and a lot more functionality than AbiWord, which is the usual Xfce word processor.

This release uses the Google Chrome browser instead of the Chromium open source browser used in earlier versions. Makulu also preinstalls Wine to run Microsoft Windows programs and the two game platforms -- PlayOnLinux and Steam. Makulu Linux also includes a Chrome apps section in the menu to package all of the related Google services.

A killer app that makes using Makulu Linux well worth the setup struggles if you have more than one computer is the Makulu-Constructor. This application lets you make a one-to-one clone of your current Makulu system in an ISO format. You can use the ISO file to create a virtual machine installation or a handy reinstall backup file, or to clone your current installation on other hard drives.

Bottom Line

Makulu Xfce 10 has both Debian and Ubuntu 14.04 features and software, making it a hybrid. It fully supports the Ubuntu PPA feature for adding repositories and uses the Debian software center along with some of Ubuntu software's repositories. It also is based on the Linux kernel 4.2 and the latest Xfce 4.12 desktop environment.

I cannot recommend the current release. A Linux OS that is cantankerous and prone to the issues I experienced gives Linux on the desktop a bad rap.

Want to Suggest a Review?

Is there a Linux software application or distro you'd like to suggest for review? Something you love or would like to get to know?

Please email your ideas to me, and I'll consider them for a future Linux Picks and Pans column.

And use the Talkback feature below to add your comments! 

New IBM Mainframe Promises Advanced Security for Hybrid Clouds

IBM on Tuesday introduced the z13s, a mainframe computer system optimized for hybrid cloud deployment. The z13s is designed to provide advanced cryptography for mid-sized firms that need a high level of data protection.

The advanced cryptography includes built-in hardware security features that effectively double the speed of data encryption and decryption over prior generations of computers without compromising overall performance of the system, the company said.

IBM has integrated the mainframe technology with its IBM Security software solutions, and it has made available to z system customers a new Cyber Security Analytics service that will help identify malicious activity by learning behavior over time.

It has partnered with several security firms under its Ready for IBM Security Intelligence partner program to enhance security for z customers: BlackRidge Technology, which authenticates user or device identity before network connections are made; Forcepoint, which offers a Trusted Thin Client system that secures sensitive data at its endpoint; and RSM Partners, which offers penetration testing and security reviews.

"Fast and secure transaction processing is core to the IBM mainframe, helping clients grow their digital business in a hybrid cloud environment," said Tom Rosamilia, senior vice president of IBM Systems.

Power and Speed

The combination of speed and security in IBM's x13s will provide a level of protection and efficiency for mid-sized companies that normally is not available in one package, said Charles King, principal analyst atPund-IT.

"Since IBM z system products perform encryption apart from the primary system components, that means that z13s customers will be able to encrypt and decrypt twice as many online or mobile transactions as they did before without impacting system performance," he told the E-Commerce Times.

"If you want to fully ensure the privacy and security of business transactions, encryption is the surest approach," King said.

Certain types of businesses have been reluctant to trust their data in a cloud-based environment, but a system like the one that IBM is offering will make that transition much more secure, said Jeff Kaplan, managing director ofThinkStrategies.

"Given IBM's primary focus on satisfying the needs of large-scale enterprises and data-driven mid-sized businesses that are generally hesitant to move to the cloud but are moving cautiously in this direction," he told the E-Commerce Times, "it is essential for IBM to offer cloud solutions that promise the best possible security capabilities."