Current Trends and Practices in NetworkingIT299 – Brian ApplegarthThe field of networking has many current trends and practices that I find interesting. Some of these trends relate to the increase in devices (and therefore a greater need for security and monitoring) on ​​the network due to policies such as BYOD. Another trend I find interesting is the continued migration of small businesses to more cloud infrastructure. A third trend closely related to the previous one is the fact that companies are starting to see the value of using the cloud to create much less regional contingency plans and offer the ability to recover much more quickly from natural disasters. The latest trend that I find very interesting is how small businesses have been given the ability to analyze massive amounts of data to help determine trends that might otherwise go undiscovered. (Clancy, 2012) The first trend I want to talk about is the influx of personal devices that businesses will face in the coming years. Moshe (2013) indicates that several companies may not be ready for such a massive influx of mobile users. Fully implementing BYOD could easily double or triple the size of a company's mobile workforce. One thing every company will allow employees to use personal devices for work needs is mobile device management (MDM) software like Airwatch. From what I understand, this type of software basically allows companies to monitor wireless devices on a network. I'm also very interested in a company like Bitglass. Bitglass has taken an innovative approach to BYOD policies by protecting corporate data in the cloud. This allows any user device to access the activity... middle of paper... unidentifiable patterns. This trend was something that only larger companies could execute simply due to the lack of programs and templates that can be found. As more and more programs are created for this purpose and more models are found that might be relevant, this trend will continue to grow. (Clancy, 2012) References: Bitglass. (2014). BYOD and cloud. Unstoppable. Retrieved from: http://www.bitglass.com/Clancy, H. (December 2012). IT Trends 2013: Five Channel Hot Spots. Retrieved from: http://searchitchannel.techtarget.com/feature/Information-technology-trends-2013-Five-channel-hot-spotsMoshe, O. (November 21, 2013). Gartner's Top IT Predictions for 2014: BYOD and Cloud Computing Will Take Over. Retrieved from http://www.sysaid.com/blog/entry/gartner-s-top-it-predictions-for-2014-byod-and-cloud-computing-to-take-over