The Consumer Electronics Show (CES) — the biggest, annual consumer technology exhibition in the world — wrapped up in Las Vegas a couple weeks ago.
CES is a massive, consumer-technology festival, where companies highlight their prototypes and products for the world’s media and approximately 100,000 consumers over several days. And, while catching up on the news from CES, I started realizing that instead of wearable technologies and display technologies dominating the conversation, CES 2017 focused heavily on connected devices and the Internet of Things (IoT).
This year saw a significant focus on smart-home technology, with voice-controlled devices featured heavily in the plans for major appliance retailers including Samsung, LG and Whirlpool in partnership with Amazon Alexa, Google Home and Apple HomeKit.
That said, CES is about more than just home electronics, with many car manufacturers choosing to introduce developments at the show as well. Modern cars can access traffic information, weather and news — all delivered electronically to help drivers and passengers get where they’re going as smoothly and efficiently as possible.
All of this consumer innovation places a significant load on the data centers that underpin the capabilities of such innovative services. Data is only as convenient as it is available and all the applications — from voice-controlled appliances to in-car navigation to ultra-thin TVs that can be used to display art as well as 4K content — rely on a network connection and data center to provide near-continuous functionality.
Just as data rises in value and importance for service delivery and convenience, any downtime has a fundamental impact. From looking up a mojito recipe on your refrigerator’s screen to having your home automatically send out an alert to your smart phone if a postal delivery arrives at your door, Availability sits at the core of modern lives — our lives.
In that vein, what we at Veeam are focused on — ensuring Availability for the Always-On way of life — is a commitment to helping modern, innovative businesses, that deliver services to support the modern life, as embodied by the exhibitors at CES.