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Data privacy and protection, bias and discrimination, intellectual property rights, and climate change are among the concerns that must be addressed if we are to benefit from AI’s advantages while minimizing its potential harm.
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On Friday, July 19th, millions of Windows users were locked out of their devices after a faulty CrowdStrike update caused a massive worldwide outage. This is a stark reminder of the potential consequences of software updates and the importance of thorough testing and quality assurance.
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Predictive maintenance uses advanced data analytics and proactive strategies to predict and address equipment issues before they cause breakdowns. This allows businesses to increase machine reliability, reduce costs, optimize resource allocation, and improve operational efficiency.
The advancement of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) has revolutionised predictive maintenance due to their scalability, adaptability, and continuous learning capabilities. This enables businesses to harness the power of data to make informed decisions about the maintenance cycle of their machines and devices.
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Recent data shows an estimated 85% of organizations will have faced at least one cloud security incident by the end of 2024.
Therefore, the effectiveness of an enterprise’s cloud security is paramount to ensuring that any security incident, whether a data breach, unauthorized access, or other cyber threat, does not lead to significant operational disruptions, data loss, financial setbacks, or reputational damage.
To protect your company’s data from theft, leakage, and loss, here are eight best practices to follow for cloud security:
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DORA aims to strengthen the digital operational resilience of the financial sector in the face of digital transformation and heightened cybersecurity threats. It is the first piece of legislation that provides a comprehensive digital operation framework for financial entities on an EU level.
Once DORA applies in January 2025, all financial entities operating within the EU must fully comply with its measures. This includes traditional financial entities such as banks, investment firms, and credit institutions and non-traditional entities such as crypto asset service providers and crowdfunding platforms. It will also apply to ICT providers who service the finance sector.
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Ransomware is a significant cybersecurity threat that can have devastating effects on businesses of all sizes. Understanding the nature of ransomware, its evolution, and the types of attacks is crucial for developing effective prevention and mitigation strategies. This whitepaper provides a comprehensive overview of ransomware, its impact on businesses, and practical steps to protect against and respond to attacks.
Ransomware is malicious software that encrypts a victim’s data or blocks access to a computer system and demands a ransom to release it. Typically, hackers gain access through phishing, malicious websites, or exploiting software vulnerabilities. Once inside, it can quickly spread across networks, locking files and rendering them unusable.
Although the number of ransomware attacks has declined over the last number of years, total ransomware payments exceeded $1 billion for the first time in 2023.
Ransomware continues to be one of the most prevalent type of cybersecurity threat, with 59% of organizations being hit with an attack in the last year[1] according to Sophos’ “State of Ransomware” report.
Large companies or government departments are often high-profile victims of ransomware attacks. Examples of such attacks include the 2021 attack on the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE), which shut down its systems nationwide, affecting over 100,000 people whose data was stolen during the attack.
Italian luxury fashion brand Moncler was also targeted in 2021. The demand of $3 million was not paid, leading to a massive data leak on the dark web by the hackers.
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As the complexity and intensity of cyberattacks continue to surge, the zero-trust security model is becoming increasingly vital in today’s business world. However, while almost 90% of organizations worldwide have started implementing zero-trust security in some form, only 2% have mature deployments in place. This is about to fundamentally change, however, as the adoption of zero trust continues to accelerate. Estimates show that the current Zero-Trust Security Market size of $32.61 billion in 2024 is expected to reach $73.57 billion by 2029.
Zero-trust is identity-based security that operates on the “never-trust, always verify” philosophy. It reaches beyond an organisation’s network perimeter with required user and entity identity verification, even from within the network.
Zero trust security has been around for more than a decade, but its importance took a significant turn for enterprises with the COVID-19 pandemic. With employees suddenly working remotely connected to unsecured home networks, the extensive adoption of cloud services, BYOD (bring your own device) policies, and the use of numerous new remote work IT tools, the cyber-attack surface of companies increased exponentially.
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IoT refers to the network of physical devices that are connected via the internet, allowing them to share and collect data in real-time. It can be found in many objects, from household devices to industrial machines. The smartwatch you’re wearing on your wrist, the tracking of your latest Amazon purchase, that’s IoT.
According to recent estimates, the number of IoT devices is expected to reach around 30 billion by 2025. This number is a direct result of its powerful combination with other recent technological advancements.
5G-powered IoT allows for un-interrupted connectivity and greater data usage, which increases the stability and performance of IoT devices. The improvements to IoT include lower data latency, more extensive coverage, and real-time data processing, which in effect, makes IoT’s reach limitless.
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The modern workplace has changed and as a result of hybrid work becoming the norm, your IT team needs better ways to troubleshoot, repair and maintain business PCs that might be in the office, employee homes, or anywhere else.
Remote management has become a critical need for businesses of all sizes as it allows for enhanced flexibility, accessibility, efficiency, and security. Remote management software enables IT teams to support systems from anywhere, reducing downtime and cutting costs associated with on-site visits.
Remote manageability gives IT administrators the ability to do software upgrades or security patches all via the cloud. This means having a hardware-level management solution that can establish a communication channel for IT, giving them the ability to manage issues at a moment’s notice, inside or outside the firewall environment.
Intel vPro® is an integrated, validated platform that is rigorously tested for the demands of the modern workplace. Its “built for business” features meet the needs of both IT teams and end users. Intel vPro®’s platform integrates a suite of technologies designed to enhance security, performance, and manageability. Core features and benefits of vPro include:
Maximise your vPro® fleet with Managed Activation Platform (MAP):
MAP is your all-in-one solution, brand new cloud-based SaaS designed to simplify the vPro activation process, so you can harness its full potential for remote management.
Leroy Merlin, a DIY hypermarket turned to Intel vPro® technology with Intel® Active Management Technology (Intel® AMT) and Intel® Endpoint Management Assistant (Intel® EMA) to manage their devices which includes desktop PCs, laptops, point-of-sale (POS) systems, kiosks, and digital signage systems deployed across 120 stores in Spain and Portugal. This decision significantly reduced operational costs and minimized disruptions for end users. Previously onsite issues now can be resolved remotely, offering support at any time of day. Read the full case study here.
Source: Protech Insights
In today’s digital age, businesses of all sizes are recognizing the numerous benefits of migrating their operations to the cloud. From increased flexibility and scalability to enhanced collaboration and cost savings, cloud computing offers a myriad of advantages for organizations looking to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving marketplace. However, transitioning to the cloud requires careful planning, execution, and management to ensure a smooth and successful migration process. In this blog post, we’ll explore key steps and best practices for transitioning your business to the cloud effectively.
Before diving into the migration process, it’s essential to understand the benefits that cloud computing can offer your business. By migrating to the cloud, you can:
The first step in transitioning your business to the cloud is to assess your current infrastructure and identify your specific requirements and objectives. Conduct a comprehensive inventory of your existing IT systems, applications, and data to determine what needs to be migrated to the cloud and what can remain on-premises. Consider factors such as performance requirements, regulatory compliance, data sovereignty, and budget constraints when evaluating cloud migration options.
Once you’ve assessed your requirements, it’s time to choose the right cloud service provider and deployment model for your business. Consider factors such as reliability, security, performance, scalability, and cost when evaluating potential providers. Decide whether a public, private, or hybrid cloud deployment model best suits your needs and objectives. Public clouds offer affordability and scalability, while private clouds provide greater control and customization. Hybrid clouds offer the best of both worlds, allowing you to leverage the benefits of both public and private clouds.
With your requirements defined and a cloud service provider selected, it’s time to develop a comprehensive migration plan. Start by prioritizing your migration objectives and identifying the critical applications and data that need to be migrated first. Create a detailed timeline and roadmap for the migration process, including milestones, tasks, responsibilities, and deadlines. Consider conducting a pilot migration to test your plan and identify any potential issues or challenges before proceeding with a full-scale migration.
Data security and compliance are paramount considerations when transitioning your business to the cloud. Work closely with your cloud service provider to implement robust security measures and protocols to protect your data and applications from unauthorized access, data breaches, and cyber threats. Ensure that your cloud provider complies with relevant industry regulations and standards, such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI DSS, to avoid potential compliance issues and penalties.
Transitioning to the cloud requires buy-in and support from your entire organization. Provide comprehensive training and education to your team members to ensure they understand the benefits of cloud computing and how to leverage cloud-based tools and applications effectively. Offer hands-on training sessions, workshops, and resources to help employees adapt to the new technology and workflows and maximize productivity.
Once your business is successfully transitioned to the cloud, it’s essential to continuously monitor and optimize performance to ensure optimal efficiency and cost-effectiveness. Leverage cloud monitoring tools and analytics to track key performance metrics, identify potential bottlenecks or issues, and make data-driven decisions to optimize your cloud infrastructure and resources. Regularly review your cloud usage and spending to identify opportunities for cost savings and efficiency improvements.
Transitioning your business to the cloud is a transformative journey that offers numerous benefits for organizations seeking to modernize their IT infrastructure and drive innovation. By following the steps and best practices outlined in this blog post, you can successfully navigate the cloud migration process and unlock the full potential of cloud computing for your business. With careful planning, execution, and management, you can achieve a smooth and successful transition to the cloud and position your business for long-term success in the digital age.
For fast growing companies, security compliance is key, but choosing which compliance to pursue can be a difficult choice to make, especially considering that the framework for both ISO 27001 and SOC 2 is so similar.
Both demonstrate that a business has implemented robust security measures and takes information security seriously, however there are some key differences.
This blog will discuss both compliance frameworks and the elements you should take into consideration when choosing which to complete.
ISO 27001 is one of the leading international standards that provides a framework for establishing, implementing, maintaining, and continually improving an Information Security Management System (ISMS).
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Multi Academy Trusts (MATs) which refers to a group of learning academies that have formed an association, have become increasingly common in the United Kingdom. This is due in part to the Government’s plan to encourage most schools to join a MAT by 2030 as outlined in the 2022 Schools White Paper, “Opportunity for all: strong schools with great teachers for your child”.
With this, the government is pushing the education landscape to become more competitive as academy trusts optimize their processes and technology.
However, as MATs onboard new academies this can bring some IT challenges that stem from the need to merge IT infrastructure, reduce costs, centralize services, migrate data, and manage technical changes across multiple schools within a trust.
The challenges:
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IT Sustainability has gained significant traction lately due not only to environmental concerns, but also as a way to boost operational resilience and financial performance. This has also been driven by The Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive (CSRD) which came into effect on January 5th, 2023. The directive will require almost 50,000 EU companies to report their environmental impact starting in the 2024 financial year. They must also ensure all their suppliers comply within certain parameters of real data, reporting and due diligence to develop a sustainable supply chain.
It is imperative for companies to invest in sustainable IT to comply with regulations, cut costs and reduce environmental damage. And according to a recent study where 78% of customers say environmental practices influence their decision to buy from a company, investing in sustainability also makes excellent business sense. That’s why sustainability has been identified as a top-three driver of innovation and a primary consideration in IT procurement. In fact, a recent study of 3,250 IT decision-makers showed that 79% indicated at least half of future IT investments would be directed towards achieving their sustainability initiatives.
There are four key areas that enterprises can invest in to reach their sustainable IT goals; artificial intelligence, green computing, automation, and supply chain. This blog will detail how your business can also benefit from adapting more sustainable technologies.
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EU places Cybersecurity as top directive for 40K business in its member states by mandating companies to comply with its new legislation to protect businesses from attacks and breaches.
The Network and Information Systems (NIS2) Directive is an extension of the original NIS Directive published in 2016, which has been adopted by EU member states. It imposes stricter cybersecurity requirements and ensures uniform sanctions across the EU. It came into effect in January 2023, and must be established as law by all member states and submitted to the European parliament for review by its council by October 2024 which means should your company fall within the criteria set by the directive, compliance with the new requirements will be mandatory.
The legislation expands on the number of sectors covered in the original legislation to encompass all companies that play a critical role in society. The distinction is made between “essential” and “important” entities within these sectors, with both categories required to comply with stringent security measures. Essential entities are subject to proactive supervision, while important entities are monitored after incidents of non-compliance are reported. The NIS2 Directive significantly expands its scope to cover a wide range of sectors and organizations, impacting approximately 40,000 additional companies across the EU, which will be overseen at a national level by each member state’s respective governing body for cybersecurity.
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At the beginning of the year, Google sent out a message to users about changes to its policy in relation to a forthcoming “sensitive event;” the World Health Organisation (WHO) sent out warnings of a new Disease “X”, and the academics, billionaires, politicians, and corporate elites of the world gathered at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland to under girder such warnings and throw in a few predictions of their own.
It must be an election year!
“Rebuilding Trust” was the theme of the annual WEF gathering which covered areas such as security, economic growth, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and long-term strategies for climate, nature, and energy. Knowledge Exchange previously reported, the explosion of Artificial Intelligence (AI) upon society presents both potential benefits and threats, including increased mis-information and disinformation that looks set to increase this year.
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A common misconception about artificial intelligence is that it is expensive, complex, or requires technical expertise to put into practice. In reality, SMEs can integrate low risk, affordable, easy-to-customise AI tools and platforms that gives them the opportunity to level the playing field with larger enterprises.
While there are a vast number of AI tools that can help SMEs maximize their efficiency and productivity, here are three areas of your business where you can integrate AI and see benefits to your business right away.
Employing AI chatbots and customer service automation allows SMEs to enhance their CX by delivering more efficient and satisfying customer service, which in turn generates customer loyalty and drives business growth. AI also allows SMEs to scale their customer engagement and free up resources needed for more critical customer interactions with tools such as:
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Knowledge Exchange examines best practices for small and medium enterprises to strengthen their defences against cyber threats.
With cyberattacks surging since the pandemic, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) face extraordinary challenges when it comes to cybersecurity. According to a recent survey by cybersecurity company Guardz, 57% of SMEs have experienced a cybersecurity breach, among whom 31% reported their business had been targeted by a breach in the past 12 months alone.
So, why are hackers targeting the smaller fish in the pond?
For cybercriminals, it’s about choosing the path of least resistance to an organisation’s data, infrastructure, and finances. Due to lack of budget and resources, many SMEs have weaker security measures, limited security training and a lack of dedicated IT staff in place to combat cybercrime. Also, SMEs can offer a gateway for hackers to gain access to larger businesses through supply chains, which makes them even more attractive to hack.
The hard consequences of these attacks include data loss, financial costs, reputational damage, or a complete system shutdown that can last hours, days, even weeks, bringing your business to a standstill. In many cases, SMEs have gone out of business over one successful cyberattack.
It is paramount for companies to put the nbackuecessary precautions in place to thwart any potential attacks. Knowledge Exchange shares five key steps to take today to protect your SME:
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The EU’s landmark AI Act gained momentum last week as negotiators from the EU parliament, EU commission and national governments agreed rules about systems using artificial intelligence. The proposal will be passed in the new year by the European Parliament, but what does it mean for the AI technological revolution?
The draft regulation aims to ensure that AI systems placed on the European market and used in the EU are safe and respect fundamental rights and EU values. This landmark proposal also aims to stimulate investment and innovation on AI in Europe.
“This is a historical achievement, and a huge milestone towards the future! Today’s agreement effectively addresses a global challenge in a fast-evolving technological environment on a key area for the future of our societies and economies. And in this endeavour, we managed to keep an extremely delicate balance: boosting innovation and uptake of artificial intelligence across Europe whilst fully respecting the fundamental rights of our citizens.” – Carme Artigas, Spanish secretary of state for digitalisation and artificial intelligence.
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Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) is a holistic framework for businesses to achieve sustainability beyond just environmental factors, but diversity and societal priorities too. It requires businesses to behave ethically to achieve a sustainable and responsible future.
In recent years, ESG goals have gone from being “nice to have”, to a non-negotiable for companies looking to attract new customers, partners, and employees. While many may have primarily focused on “E”, “S” and “G” have increased in priority for companies looking to adapt a 360 approach to sustainability.
ESG is important for several reasons. It not only addresses environmental and social challenges, but it also contributes to the overall resilience, sustainability, and success of companies as it focuses on the following areas:
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In this month’s Knowledge Exchange we examine why users are closing the once mighty Windows platform in favour of macOS and Chrome OS devices which continue to grow in popularity and market share!
Despite remaining the most dominant Operating System (OS) with 68% of market share worldwide, Microsoft’s Windows continues to face growing competition within the OS market.
Over the past decade Windows has lost more than 22% of its desktop OS market share worldwide, and more than 27% of market share in the USA alone. In the same time frame macOS has gained 13.5% and Chrome OS has grown by more than 4%.
Window’s popularity is due in part to its widespread availability on PCs from manufacturing partners such as Dell, HP, and Lenovo, but why has it lost such a significant proportion of the market in recent years?
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As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, organizations must adapt to stay ahead in a highly competitive landscape. With the release of Windows 11, Microsoft has introduced what it calls: ‘a new era of computing.’ In this blog post, Anteriad will explore the key reasons why organizations should consider migrating to Windows 11 and the benefits it offers as well as the challenges faced by organisations-such as incompatible legacy hardware.
Let us start with some facts & figures:
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There is no question that the working world is constantly evolving and adapting to modern life. Since the first industrial revolution in the 18th century, which saw the advent of machines for mass production, the way we work has been continually advancing. The age of the internet and computers began in the late 20th century, bringing a further shift towards automation and digitalization.
Now with what has been deemed the “Fourth Industrial Revolution”, cloud computing, machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and Internet of Things (IoT), further blur the lines between physical, digital, and biological domains.
We have started to see the impact of these technologies in the workplace, but looking ahead to the future, how could they be further integrated into our day-to-day working environment?
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This month’s Knowledge Exchange will examine why more firms are not only adopting a work from home strategy (WFH) but also a WFA strategy, and what effects this is having on technology purchasing decisions, productivity, staff collaboration, corporate culture, and staff wellness including mental health. It will also examine what potential pitfalls to avoid, when looking to adopt a WFH policy.
According to the United States Bureau of Labour and Statistics, remote work has risen by 31% in the US in the last couple of years. While many associate this trend as a by-product Covid, allowing staff to work from home has been experimented with since another energy emergency gripped the world back in the 1970s, the Oil Crisis1.
During this time, which scarily mirrors the current energy crisis, rising inflation, the pressure on cost of living and energy, as well as the soaring costs for commuting forced the hand of some companies to allow its knowledge workers, to work from home.
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This month’s Knowledge Exchange will examine both the benefits and the potential dangers of unregulated Artificial Intelligence on Enterprise resourcing, business IT platforms, sales and marketing strategies and also on customer experience. It will also ask if it is possible to pause AI development to roll out ethical and regulated AI that protects and enhances jobs rather than potentially replace them; protects personal data, privacy, and preferences rather than manipulate it for nefarious reasons and that doesn’t spiral us into a “Terminator” or “Matrix” like future where the machines are in control!
As we discussed in last month’s Knowledge Exchange on Hybrid Cloud, Artificial Intelligence (AI) has some compelling usages for ITDMs especially when it can help tame IT complexity by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks. It can also be used to learn and write code from past data and be used to autogenerate content and images from multiple sources by mimicking human intelligence and human labour. As the technology develops, there seems to be a whole raft of plug-ins and algorithms that people such as Microsoft’s chief executive, Satya Nadella believes will: “Create a new era of computing.”
Copilot (sic) works alongside you, embedded in the apps millions of people use every day: Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Teams, and more…it (sic) is a whole new way of working.
Microsoft 365 head I Jared Spataro
And as corporations and investors are constantly looking at growth, efficiencies and ultimately profit, the lure of AI to support this new paradigm must be insatiable proposition right now, especially as we are seeing a lot of economic pressure from various financial, energy and geopolitical crises.
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In today’s hyperconnected world, AI has revolutionized the way we work. But as more and more information and data flows seamlessly, cyberthreats are becoming ever-more sophisticated and traditional cybersecurity measures are no longer sufficient.
Cyberattacks are on the rise, and although on one hand, threats have become more sophisticated due to advancements in AI and Machine Learning (ML), AI has also become an indispensable tool in cybersecurity. This is due to its ability to analyse vast amounts of data, detect anomalies, and adapt to evolving threats in real-time.
Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning (ML), and Deep Learning (DL) have multiple applications in cybersecurity to make threat detection and prevention strategies more robust and effective. Some benefits of their use include:
■ Phishing detection and prevention
AI powered algorithms can detect email phishing by analysing vast amount of data to thwart phishing attacks. ML models can be trained to flag suspicious details of the mail such as the sender’s address, links and attachments and the language used in the message to determine if it is from a trustworthy source or not.
■ Password protection
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Disinformation is defined as “false information deliberately and often covertly spread (as by the planting of rumors) in order to influence public opinion or obscure the truth”.
While most commonly used in politics and public health discourse, disinformation campaigns can be used to target businesses of all sizes and can have damaging effects on reputation and revenue. And in an age where disinformation can be easily spread via the internet, it is feared that tools such as ChatGPT will make it easier to create and circulate false narratives on a larger scale than ever before. But what threat does AI engineered disinformation pose to businesses’ integrity, reputation and most importantly security?
AI has revolutionized many aspects of human life, both in personal and professional aspects, and as of late, Large Language Models (LLMs) have been one of the main focal points of AI development. With the popularity of OpenAI’s ChatGPT, there has been an arms race between tech companies to develop and launch similar tools. OpenAI, Microsoft and Google are leading the way, but IBM, Amazon and other key players are close on their tails.
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Part 2: The future is hybrid
Not all cloud storage solutions are created equal. In an ever-evolving digital landscape, it is crucial for SMBs to asses which cloud infrastructure is properly suited to their needs and digital transformation objectives. Small businesses should plan ahead and implement modern digital strategies from the beginning to set up an agile environment for growth.
Cloud storage is key as businesses store more data online, and there are different types of cloud solutions available. Public cloud solutions are more affordable and easier to manage for small companies, while private cloud is more secure but limited in scalability and more expensive to maintain.
Hybrid cloud is a computing environment that combines both public and private cloud infrastructures. Public cloud refers to services provided by third-party cloud service providers, while private cloud is a cloud computing infrastructure dedicated solely to a single organization. Hybrid cloud allows organizations to run their critical workloads on a private cloud, while still benefiting from the cost savings and scalability of public cloud services.
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In order to facilitate quick and agile growth, companies need to build flexible, scalable digital solutions. In this two part blog series, we will discuss the challenges of choosing the right cloud and the advantages of adopting a hybrid cloud infrastructure.
One of the key decisions a business faces when adopting a cloud strategy is choosing between public and private cloud. When choosing the right cloud infrastructure for your business needs there is often a trade-off between public and private cloud. While a public cloud may be initially easy and more affordable to set up, it is not as secure as a private cloud, which is hosted internally or by a trusted third party.
The main challenges that need to be taken into consideration when choosing a cloud structure are security, costs, scalability, and control.
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In this month’s Knowledge Exchange, we evaluate the growing trend of enterprise and mid-market companies to migrate to cloud computing and examine the advantages and potential disadvantages of adopting a hybrid cloud strategy and what is needed to manage the process.
Data visibility and management across multiple environments is one of the biggest headaches for enterprises that have or are in the process of migrating to hybrid, multicloud computing environments, according to recent research from cloud specialist, Nutanix. It found in its global Enterprise Cloud Index, survey of 1,450 IT Decision makers (ITDMs) that
the ‘majority’ of IT teams surveyed were: “Leveraging more than one IT infrastructure…but struggle with visibility of data across environments with only 40% reporting complete visibility into where their data resides.” Although there is no right way or wrong way for businesses to adopt a cloud strategy, Hybridcloud appears to be the more popular way for businesses to drive digital transformation, especially during the last few years following the pandemic.
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This month’s Knowledge Exchange white paper on emerging and existing Cyber Security threats will examine why ITDMs and Business Leaders are extremely worried about a ‘catastrophic cyber event’ that could have more of a societal impact than Covid-19 in next few years, and what ITDMs can do today and longer term to mitigate those risks.
It may be pure co-incidence, but it was certainly chilling to see that in a matter of weeks after the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) 2023 annual summit in Davos, Switzerland that warned of a total “grid down” scenario caused by a ‘catastrophic cyber event;’ a mysterious high-altitude balloon was seen floating across America.
And while many in the mainstream media have quickly judged this and subsequent other balloons to be a surveillance or spy balloons, other commentators claim that most state sponsored espionage is done via satellites1 and that this vehicle has potentially a more sinister capability: The ability to activate an electromagnetic pulse or EMP at high altitude (HEMP) using a smaller lighter nuclear payload.
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Hope for the best by preparing for the worst: Knowledge Exchange examines the five key trends for ITDMs for 2023 and beyond.
As we enter the last few days of 2022 it is a customary tradition to do a bit of navel gazing about what the next year will hold for the IT Market and what hot topics will keep ITDMs awake at night next year.
As we end what has been for many, a rollercoaster of a year, there seems to be plenty of things that will cause a few sleepless nights in the months ahead!
Therefore, it is important to identify and adapt to these trends in a world that has had a perpetual round of shocks in the last decade that in more recent times has seen: a global pandemic, inflation, global supply chain issues, energy and food crises and latterly geopolitical instability through war. There are also many concerns over increasingly sophisticated criminal and state sponsored cyber-attacks.
With another global recession on the horizon, it is more essential than ever to have the best and most actionable data, combined with continued investment in employee and customer value propositions, in order to ride the wave of these uncertain times.
In the first of this two-part piece, BNZSA will identify the key trends and challenges in the market for 2023 and beyond.
Many commentators have been tracking the long-lasting implications of Covid on the workplace and what knock-on effects it has had on the provision of IT services and employee working practices. While the race to look for more collaborative technologies during lockdowns and social distancing measures was a necessary first response to a natural disaster, most industry watchers believe that hybrid and remote working will continue after the pandemic.
In November 2022, a YouGov study on behalf of IT service and consultants NSC noted “… organisations should expect this to be a permanent and persistent pattern in their workplace and to prepare for this long-term shift.”
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THIS MONTH’S LATEST CYBER SECURITY RESEARCH From security vendors, bloggers, and analysts
Author: Maya Horowitz, VP Research at Check Point Software Technologies
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The first three blogs of our cybersecurity and digital transformation series focused on the threats and security challenges faced by businesses when implementing a digital transformation strategy. In this concluding installment we will lay out the steps you can take to protect your company from potential attacks.
SMBs face a significant risk of cyber-attacks and security breaches. Businesses can take this steps to improve cybersecurity practices. A single attack can cause irreparable damage to the business. Therefore, it’s essential for businesses to establish robust security practices to mitigate security threats to their infrastructure and organization. In this fourth and final installment of our cybersecurity series, we will lay out the best ways to tackle these challenges and threats.
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In part one of our cybersecurity and digital transformation blog series, we set out the importance of keeping security needs at the forefront of any digital strategy. This installment will present the most common cybersecurity threats that businesses are faced with.
Cybersecurity threats come in various forms from different sources, and can be defined as either passive or active, attacking both operating systems and hardware.
Passive cybersecurity threats are attacks which does not harm a company’s system directly, but information is obtained which may be sensitive data. A hacker will attempt to remain unnoticed while gathering information about the victim’s machine, network, or other systems.
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In part two of our cybersecurity and digital transformation series we detailed the most common forms of cyberattacks. In this blog, we will discuss the biggest cybersecurity challenges facing businesses.
As digital transformation introduces new, and ever evolving technology to small business IT infrastructure, it is inevitable that an organization’s potential attack surface grows, introducing more cybersecurity challenges.
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In this four-part blog series, we will discuss the importance of cyber security in digital transformation, types of cyber security threats, security challenges, and how you can improve your cyber security practices to overcome them.
Digital transformation has undoubtedly been accelerated in recent years due to the pandemic. The rise of hybrid, digital-forward working environments has forced companies to re-evaluate their digital strategies and invest in new technology. However, as companies transition to more digital systems, cyber security must remain a top priority.
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