Blockchain is no longer just a buzzword or simply a “technology to watch.” This database technology is being explored by agencies across government, from the General Services Administration (GSA) to Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), from the Federal Maritime Commission to military supply chain professionals across the Department of Defense (DoD).

The promise of blockchain is dramatic. It can help enhance agencies’ business processes and provide far greater transparency and efficiency.

Ah, the good old days, when things were simple. When there were a known number of devices on any government network, and the federal IT pro had a complete understanding of how to secure those devices.

When it comes to network modernization and security, federal IT may be experiencing a case of dueling personalities. On one side, network modernization is essential to a better security posture. This is because outdated legacy IT systems are more prone to vulnerabilities and were never designed to handle today’s threat landscape. However, the very act of modernizing networks may actually be making those networks less secure, at least in the short term.

It’s ironic, but true: software-defined networking (SDN) is tough to define. SDN solutions are not things you can touch, like a hardware gateway. They are not made of plastic or metal. They do not physically plug into anything.

Cybersecurity is the number one priority for state and county CIOs, according to GovTech. Yet supporting that priority is a perpetual challenge. Another survey finds that top of the list of workforce needs for state CIOs is cybersecurity talent.

Your database is truly critical to the successful operation of your data center, yet databases pose extraordinarily complex management challenges. Try as you might to resolve issues as they arise, you may find yourself coming up short.

Part of the problem is that many people consider database health and performance to be one and the same, but that’s not necessarily the case. These concepts aren’t strictly interchangeable, and if you treat them as such, you may be impeding your own ability to troubleshoot.

Federal IT pros are facing “Herculean tasks” when it comes to security challenges, a new survey conducted by DLT partner, SolarWinds, reveals.

When it comes to enhancing their cybersecurity postures, federal agencies have to wade through an entire alphabet soup of regulatory compliance guidelines. From the RMF (Risk Management Framework) to FISMA (Federal Information Security Management Act) and DISA STIGs (Defense Information Systems Agency Security Technical Implantation Guides), there are a number of requirements that agencies must implement to satisfy the government’s definition of a secure environment.

Digital Experience Monitoring (DEM) is a relatively new concept. It was not that long ago when agencies measured digital service performance simply by how fast a web page loaded. Today, things are far more complex.

Want a good idea of “what’s coming next” in federal IT? Look no further than the financial services industry.

Consider the similarities between financial firms and government agencies. Both are highly regulated and striving for greater agility and efficiency and better control of their networks and data—not to mention both are highly regulated. Meanwhile, cybersecurity remains a core necessity for organizations in both industries.