Lower Cost to Protect Data

Your customers face increasing pressure to simultaneously support new business initiatives and reduce IT costs, including the cost to store protected data. In order to achieve both, they simply must modernize their data centers and transform their IT infrastructure—extensively automating for speed, agility, reliability and cost control.

The combination of Dell Data Domain and Dell Data Protection Software can help customers cost-effectively optimize their infrastructure. As validated by ESG Research, this Dell combination can cut the cost of capacity needed to protect data by up to 81%, compared to Data Domain environments using non-Dell backup software.

How does a comprehensive Dell data protection solution lower data protection costs?

It’s simple:

• Advanced Dell deduplication technologies work in tandem within an end-to-end Dell system and help to reduce or eliminate tape infrastructure, effectively helping to reduce cost

• These technologies also help minimize bandwidth demands, achieve a smaller infrastructure footprint and lower associated energy costs

In fact, end-to-end Dell data protection can safeguard customers’ data for as little as fractions of a penny per GB per month

Dell data protection solutions are architected to offer customers economic benefits through industry-leading, highly efficient data deduplication. Four core supporting technologies are:

• Variable-Length Deduplication. Dell’s advanced dedupe enables the Data Domain platform to better align incoming data structures to determine what data is unique. It produces greater data reduction compared with fixed-length architectures, which results in a much more scalable protection storage pool, helping to simplify management and lower infrastructure costs. Plus, Dell provides global deduplication across sites and clients.

• Data Domain Boost. With DD Boost software, only unique data has to be sent from client devices or the backup server to the Data Domain platform—reducing the amount of data moved by up to 99%. This further reduces not only the need and cost of protection storage, but also backup time. When DD Boost is deployed with the Data Protection Software at the client, it sends only the de-duplicated unique data directly to protection storage, by-passing the media server. The result is a reduction in infrastructure footprint required, therefore fewer resources to purchase and manage, not to mention a faster backup due to fewer hops in the data path. For 8 of 12 Data Domain customers that ESG Research analyzed, up to 98% of all backup jobs were completed in under an hour.

• Stream-Informed Segment Layout (SISL) Architecture. With this technology, 99% of the deduplication process takes place in the CPU and RAM of the Data Domain controller. This dispenses having to add disks to increase performance. It enables the controller to attain the same performance as higher capacity configurations with larger storage footprints, thereby reducing space requirements for data protection.

Data Domain Data Invulnerability Architecture. While this technology doesn’t improve performance or reduce costs, it ensures that mission critical data is always recoverable. One way that Data Domain ensures this is via inline write and read verification, which safeguards data integrity during ingest and retrieval. In addition, self-healing and on-going fault detection further protects data’s recoverability during its Data Domain lifecycle.

In all, the combination of Dell protection storage and backup and recovery software technologies increase data protection performance by dramatically reducing the amount of data that is required to be sent and stored. They provide a direct data path from the client by sending only unique data to the protection storage—and critically, they provide advanced data integrity to ensure recoverability.

The challenge of data recovery

Managing data backup and data recovery in today’s complex IT environments is increasingly difficult for IT teams and organizations of any size. With data residing in more locations – from on-premises servers to virtualized environments and public or hybrid clouds – integrating data stores and centralizing management is a significant challenge. Users have more control over their own data, further complicating attempts at comprehensive backup and data recovery. And with the rise of Big Data, the Internet of Things and other data-intensive technologies, data volumes are growing exponentially and showing no signs of slowing. Add stricter regulatory compliance, more stringent SLAs and increasing pressure to contain costs and you can easily see how backup and recovery can overwhelm even the most experienced IT departments.

That’s where Dell Technologies can help – with industry-leading solutions for data backup, data recovery, disaster recovery, archiving and replication that help to reduce the cost and complexity of protecting business-critical data.

Data protection offerings include complete data backup and data recovery systems that automate tasks, simplify management, improve availability, increase uptime and mitigate data loss.

• Data backup and data recovery software provides next-generation data protection, empowering organizations to transform IT faster, protect data capital and create more value from data assets. PowerProtect Data Manager delivers next generation data protection that enables faster IT transformation, while giving you the assurance you can easily safeguard and quickly unlock your data’s value. PowerProtect Data Manager enables you to set protection policies, backup and recover, deduplicate and tier physical and virtual workloads. Data owners and admins can protect critical workloads directly from native interfaces while IT maintains governance and compliance. PowerProtect Data Manager offers SaaS reporting and monitoring to easily analyze and troubleshoot distributed environments from anywhere.

• Data backup and data recovery appliances help reduce the complexity of data protection with scalable, pre-configured solutions that combine data protection storage with software, search and analytics.

• Data backup and data recovery solutions, including Cyber Recovery technology that protects critical data, identifies suspicious activity and performs data recovery after an attack. Other data protection solutions include Cloud Data Protection and Backup that help organizations transform data centers for greater efficiency, resiliency and scalability, and Data Protection for VMware that delivers simply powerful data protection for VMware environments, on-premises and in the cloud.

Misconfigured Backup Systems

Many organizations have legacy backup systems that use multiple point solutions, creating data silos and integration issues while also increasing the odds that data may be lost or corrupted when backup settings are misconfigured.

To protect data from loss, corruption, theft and attack, today’s backup systems must significantly streamline management, minimize complexity, simplify compliance and increase the efficiency of all aspects of data backup and protection. That’s where Dell data protection solutions can help.

Dell data protection solutions provide comprehensive and easy-to-use tools for backup, recovery, data replication, cloud disaster recovery and long-term retention and low cost-to-protect. With Dell backup systems, you can back up data and protect it from edge to core to cloud while taking advantage of policy-driven automation to simplify data protection tasks.

Dell backup systems can help you secure and protect your data no matter where it resides.

Backup software

Dell backup systems are powered by comprehensive data protection software that enables you to protect, archive and recover mission-critical workloads no matter where your data lives. Dell data protection software enables fast backups and recovery for mission-critical applications. Dell simplifies the backup process, making it easier to access best-in-class replication, backup and archive solutions customized for your needs. This industry-leading software enables you to:

• Perform deduplication backup, backup to disk, back-up to tape and snapshot-based backup.

• Get comprehensive backup monitoring, analysis and reporting.

• Back up data and applications within the public cloud and manage secure long-term retention of backups to the cloud.

Industry-leading appliances

Dell provides a wide range of data protection and backup appliances including protection storage, integrated appliances and software-defined solutions that can run in the cloud.

• PowerProtect DP series appliances, formerly Integrated Data Protection Appliance (IDPA) are a converged solution with a single appliance that offers complete backup, recovery, replication, restore, deduplication and instant access, plus cloud accessibility with disaster recovery and long-term retention to the cloud. PowerProtect DP series appliances enable fast and easy deployment with a low cost-to-protect.

• PowerProtect DD series appliances are industry-leading, scalable, reliable and cloud-enabled backup appliance, allowing you to protect your data wherever it lives in the most efficient way possible. DD series backup appliances reduce the amount of disk storage required and enable complete backups in less time with faster and more reliable restores.

• PowerProtect DD Virtual Edition is a software-defined solution that can be configured and deployed in minutes and provides flexible capacity that can scale easily, enabling you to deploy capacity in multiple instances on standard hardware, converged or in the cloud.

Data protection solutions

Additional data protection and backup solutions from Dell include:

• PowerProtect Cyber Recovery, a powerful defense against cyberattacks that features easy-to-deploy management software that automates workflows end-to-end, identifies suspicious activity, protects critical data and performs recovery when needed.

• Data Protection for VMware that provides easy integration with VMware, along with automated and comprehensive coverage for the largest application ecosystem, on-premises and in the cloud.

• Cloud data protection and backup solutions that make it easy to back up servers to cloud storage and ensure data is secure in the cloud while supporting digital transformation to the cloud with cloud disaster recovery, long-term retention and in-cloud backup.

Rapid growth of data

As data volumes grow, the cost and complexity of storing, managing and protecting data increases as well. Many businesses don’t currently have budgets to cover the infrastructure they need to manage their data adequately.

Dell Optimize for Infrastructure service provides IT teams with ongoing guidance from a designated storage expert to make sure mission-critical systems are configured and operating at peak performance. Optimize for Storage delivers personalized guidance and actionable next steps that result in significantly less risk of data loss, downtime and business delays. A Dell storage expert orchestrates a host of tools and resources to analyze, evaluate and report on storage health through daily system monitoring, deep-dive configuration & performance evaluations, and annual strategic planning sessions.

• Dell’s Offerings: Dell presents a range of top-tier software-defined storage solutions. These include:
Object-storage, available as a software-defined model or a turnkey appliance.

• Enterprise-class, high-performance scaleout block and file storage delivered on-premises or in the cloud.

Hyperconverged & converged systems designed to reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) and simplify a myriad hyperscaler and container orchestration platforms for block and file, across bare metal and hypervisors,

• Supported by a full complement of services and programs designed to maximize the value of a customer’s SDS investments.

Dell Optimize for Infrastructure service provides IT teams with ongoing guidance from a designated storage expert to make sure mission-critical systems are configured and operating at peak performance. Optimize for Storage delivers personalized guidance and actionable next steps that result in significantly less risk of data loss, downtime and business delays. A Dell storage expert orchestrates a host of tools and resources to analyze, evaluate and report on storage health through daily system monitoring, deep-dive configuration & performance evaluations, and annual strategic planning sessions.

As data becomes an increasingly mission-critical asset for businesses, IT organizations face the challenge of finding robust backup solutions to protect against data loss, corruption, compromise, and theft. Dell Technologies provides a comprehensive suite of data protection software, appliances, and backup solutions that simplify backup, recovery, and archiving while cutting costs and safeguarding data from a wide range of threats. With easy deployment and simplified management, Dell’s solutions protect data wherever it resides, enhancing uptime and maximizing the value of business-critical information.

The Complex Challenges Backup Solutions Must Address

Modern IT environments are faced with a multitude of challenges when it comes to backup, recovery, and data protection:

• Explosive Data Growth

With the exponential increase in data—driven by Big Data, IoT, video, and data-heavy applications—backup solutions must handle vast amounts of information today and seamlessly scale to meet tomorrow’s demands.

• Increasingly Complex Environments

As organizations shift towards hybrid and multicloud environments for data storage and protection, solutions must manage backup and archiving across these diverse platforms.

• Diverse Applications, Devices, and Users

The growing number of users, devices, and application ecosystems adds complexity to data protection. Backup solutions must secure data at the source while managing this diversity effectively.

• Stricter Performance and Compliance Standards

Shrinking backup windows demand faster, more efficient backup processes. At the same time, strict regulatory requirements add another layer of complexity in managing archiving and retention policies.

• Fragmented Backup Systems

Many organizations rely on multiple backup solutions due to mergers or siloed departments, increasing the potential for data loss and corruption.

• Pressure to Control Costs

As IT departments are pushed to do more with less, there’s a growing need for solutions that are both cost-effective and resource-efficient.

How Dell Backup Solutions Drive Organizational Efficiency

Dell offers data protection and backup solutions designed to secure data no matter where it resides, while also reducing management complexity, cutting costs, and easing compliance efforts. Dell’s portfolio includes backup storage, software, and integrated appliances that deliver powerful and simplified backup, recovery, archiving, and disaster recovery capabilities.

Dell’s Backup Solutions Include:

• Data Protection Appliances: Dell’s cloud-ready appliances integrate protection storage, software, search, and analytics, offering centralized management through a unified dashboard.

• Backup Software: Dell’s next-generation data protection software delivers comprehensive data management and backup capabilities for organizations of all sizes.

• Tailored Solutions: Whether protecting multicloud environments, enabling cyber recovery, or managing data in a software-defined data center, Dell’s solutions are built to meet specific business challenges.

Key Benefits of Choosing Dell as Your Backup Partner

When you choose Dell, you gain access to:

• Simplified Data Management: Dell centralizes the monitoring and reporting of data across both primary and protection storage, making it easier to manage data in complex environments.

• Reduced Storage Footprints: Advanced deduplication technology minimizes storage requirements, reducing costs.

• Cloud-Enabled Protection: Extend data protection from on-premises to the cloud, securing both traditional and emerging workloads with disaster recovery and long-term retention options.

• Enhanced Disaster Recovery: Dell’s network-efficient replication minimizes WAN costs while improving disaster recovery capabilities.

• Scalability: Dell solutions scale effortlessly, allowing organizations to manage petabytes of data with a single system.

• Leading-Edge Technology: Dell’s in-line data verification, continuous fault detection, and self-healing capabilities make it a top choice for organizations seeking to protect data integrity.

With Dell’s comprehensive backup solutions, IT organizations can streamline their data protection efforts, enhance operational efficiency, and reduce the risks associated with data loss—all while lowering costs and ensuring the highest standards of security.

Ransomware is powered by advanced technologies designed to infiltrate and disrupt critical systems. Here’s how Dell’s PowerProtect Cyber Recovery shields your data from these threats:

Cyber Recovery Vault

The PowerProtect Cyber Recovery vault creates a secure, isolated environment for your most critical data, physically and logically separating it from potential attack surfaces. Whether deployed in a data center, cloud, or multicloud environment, the vault is protected by an operational air gap that blocks access from compromised management interfaces. Automated synchronization ensures that data from production systems is securely stored in the vault, with immutable copies safeguarded by retention locks to preserve data integrity.

CyberSense

In the event that ransomware infiltrates your data center, CyberSense detects data corruption before it spreads. Using machine learning, CyberSense analyzes over 200 content-based metrics to spot early signs of ransomware or other threats with up to 99.5% accuracy, giving you the confidence to act quickly and mitigate damage.

Automated Recovery

When time is of the essence, PowerProtect Cyber Recovery steps in with automated recovery processes. These streamlined procedures restore your systems and bring them back online rapidly, minimizing downtime and ensuring business continuity after an attack.
By combining these powerful features, Dell’s PowerProtect Cyber Recovery offers unmatched defense against ransomware, keeping your organization’s most critical data secure and recoverable.

Centralized Threat Management

Stay one step ahead of cyberattacks with a unified system that monitors and manages threats across your entire organization, providing real-time insights and rapid response capabilities.

Multi-Layered Defense Strategy

Strengthen your security with a comprehensive approach that combines firewalls, intrusion detection systems, and advanced threat protection tools—building multiple layers of defense to block and neutralize attacks before they reach your core systems.

Data Segmentation

Limit the impact of a breach by dividing your critical data into secure segments. If one area is compromised, the others remain isolated and protected, ensuring business continuity even in the face of a ransomware attack.

With Dell’s Ransomware Protection, your organization gains a robust, proactive defense strategy that protects what matters most.

For enterprises, a ransomware attack can bring operations to a standstill, resulting in significant financial losses. Dell’s approach to ransomware protection focuses on minimizing downtime and ensuring rapid recovery. Key strategies include:

Regularly Scheduled Backups

Dell ensures your critical business data is securely backed up at regular intervals, so you’re always prepared to recover quickly after an attack.

Comprehensive Disaster Recovery Planning

With a clear, actionable recovery plan in place, your organization can swiftly respond to ransomware incidents and resume operations with minimal disruption.

Cloud-Based Ransomware Protection

Leveraging cloud solutions, Dell offers real-time backup and rapid data recovery options, ensuring that your data remains secure and accessible, even in the event of an attack.

Dell’s proactive approach ensures your business remains resilient, safeguarding both your data and operations from the growing threat of ransomware.

As technology continues to evolve at a rapid pace, IT organizations may hesitate to invest in backup systems that risk becoming obsolete in a few short years. However, Dell Backup is worth the investment. It offers a solution, delivering peace of mind with guaranteed satisfaction and investment protection for adapting to future technological changes.

What’s Included in Dell Backup Software?

Dell Data Protection Suite is a comprehensive suite of software solutions, designed to offer maximum flexibility in safeguarding critical business applications across physical, virtual, and multi-cloud environments. It includes several essential applications:

PowerProtect Data Manager: Protect your data and maintain governance over modern multi-cloud workloads across your evolving IT landscape. This next-generation data protection solution accelerates IT transformation while ensuring your data remains secure, adaptable, and ready for the future.

Avamar: Delivering fast, efficient backups with flexible deployment options, Avamar is optimized for incremental and daily full backups across physical, virtual, and cloud environments. It supports NAS servers, enterprise applications, remote offices, and even desktops and laptops.

NetWorker: Whether your data resides within your data center or the public cloud, NetWorker ensures seamless protection with enterprise-level features. It offers deduplication, backup to disk or tape, snapshots, replication, and NAS protection.

RecoverPoint for Virtual Machines: Provides continuous data protection for operational and disaster recovery of VMware virtual machines, enabling quick recovery to any point in time.

Data Protection Advisor: Offers unified, automated monitoring, analysis, and reporting across your backup and recovery environments, simplifying management.

Search: Delivers unified indexing, search, and recovery capabilities for fast, specific, and accurate results.

In conclusion, data protection and backup are increasingly complex due to the rapid expansion of business data, evolving security threats, stricter regulations, and budgetary limitations. To address these challenges, Dell Technologies offers advanced backup technologies and systems that deliver comprehensive solutions for data backup, recovery, and archiving. These tools not only enhance data protection but also simplify management and reduce costs, enabling businesses to safeguard their critical information effectively in today’s demanding environment.

Executive leaders across the IT and data industry consistently urge consumers and employees to “embrace change,” particularly as it relates to modernizing strategies and accelerating business growth.

Looking at the evolution of communication, it took humanity centuries to transition from horseback messengers to the modern internet. Where it once took months to deliver a single message, today, vast amounts of information are shared in an instant.

Now, as we enter the era of AI, society must not only embrace change but prepare for its acceleration. While change has traditionally been gradual, technological evolution today occurs in months, days, or even hours. The forces driving this acceleration, particularly in IT, are centered around AI technologies, which are advancing at a rate unlike any other period in history.

Consider this: tasks like coding, data modeling, genome mapping, and content creation, which once took months or years, now happen in mere seconds.

AI/ML in PowerStore DNA

Dell Technologies’ PowerStore has experienced record-breaking growth over the past four years. As Michael Dell and other executives have noted, “PowerStore is the fastest-growing new architecture in Dell’s history.”

What’s behind this explosive growth? Beyond the cutting-edge all-flash architecture and NVMe connectivity, the platform’s AI/ML integration has been a game changer. PowerStore offers AI-driven features such as automated data placement, intelligent cluster recommendations, and open REST APIs for external programmability—transforming how customers interact with and optimize their data storage.

Since PowerStore’s 2020 launch, these capabilities have only evolved. The platform’s AI/ML backbone continuously improves, giving customers more capabilities at a faster pace. Dell Technologies, a recognized leader in AI, has integrated this innovation across its portfolio, from data centers to AI-enabled laptops.

A key example of PowerStore’s AI-driven efficiency is Dynamic Node Affinity (DNA). This feature autonomously balances IO between array nodes, optimizing storage workloads for the best performance and latency in real-time. Administrators no longer need to manually manage workload placement or balancing—PowerStore’s AI does it automatically.

Additional features like Automated Data Placement and Automated/Assisted Migrations streamline storage management, making real-time recommendations and decisions without human intervention. For instance, PowerStore can autonomously suggest migrations based on appliance capacity, drive wear, or overall health, ensuring optimal performance across the cluster.

Another groundbreaking feature is RxDefinitions, introduced in PowerStore OS 4.0. This technology allows the platform to continuously monitor its health, self-protect when needed, and receive updates from Dell to enhance its ability to detect issues—without requiring OS upgrades.

As Dell’s Vice President of Product Management, Drew Schulke, highlights, “Decoupling storage OS updates from those that improve system health and resilience is a game-changer for our enterprise customers.”

Moreover, Dell’s APEX AIOps extends this AI-driven approach beyond PowerStore. By analyzing telemetry data from core, edge, and multi-cloud infrastructures, APEX AIOps delivers insights and recommendations that enhance health, cybersecurity, and sustainability. This observability translates into 10x faster issue resolution, a full workday saved per week for system administrators, and just three minutes to perform cybersecurity checks on 1,000 systems.

In an age of rapid technological advancement, Dell Technologies remains at the forefront, enabling organizations to keep pace with the acceleration of change through its AI/ML-powered solutions.

Are you struggling with managing your email effectively? You’re not alone. As technology advances, so does the threat of malware, which can disrupt our daily work and personal communications.

Recognizing the critical importance of efficient and secure email management, we are thrilled to present the Email Security Bundle. This comprehensive bundle includes Avanan, ThreatDown, and DropSuite, with each solution specifically designed to bolster and fortify your email security measures. Avanan provides advanced threat protection, ThreatDown offers real-time threat intelligence, and DropSuite ensures secure email archiving and backup. With this Email Security Bundle, you can proactively safeguard your organization’s email communication and data integrity.

AVANAN

Avanan provides advanced protection for cloud-based email and collaboration suites by employing thorough email inspection techniques to detect and intercept cyber attacks, including spam and phishing attempts, before these malicious emails reach the users’ inboxes. This proactive approach helps to fortify the security of cloud communication platforms and prevent potential security breaches.

THREATDOWN

ThreatDown offers a range of endpoint isolation modes designed to prevent malware from spreading in the event of an attack. These modes enable the recovery of any lost files, ensuring that critical data remains secure and accessible.

DROPSUIT

Dropsuite offers a comprehensive solution for securing all your backups, including sensitive data such as passwords, important files, and cherished photos. Its services provide peace of mind by ensuring the confidentiality and integrity of your data. In addition, Dropsuite offers efficient account management tools to streamline the backup and recovery process, allowing you to focus on your core tasks with confidence in the security of your information.

“It’s time for a security update!” We’ve all heard this before. Regardless of the industry you’re in, we understand the importance of maintaining strong security within any organization.

As the banking and finance industry continues to adapt to the latest trends, we recognize the challenges the financial industry face, such as the increasing demand for digitization, customer retention, and the threat of security breaches.

At ABBE & Bequik, we are committed to helping you enhance your organization. We understand that security is a critical component of company growth. Strong security provides peace of mind for both you and your employees. That’s why Verkada is the ideal partner for your company.

Choosing Verkada means selecting a security partner that prioritizes accessibility, ensures robust security through the prevention of vulnerabilities within a secure system infrastructure, and a seamless experience for your team.

Verkada is a cloud-based building security system that enhances daily life by offering video security, access control, intrusion detection, intercom, and other products.

The Unseen Force Transforming Businesses in the Tech Era

Step into the dynamic world of data where technological advancements are reshaping the business landscape. Unravel the significance of data, going beyond its conventional role as mere information.

At its core, data is more than just bits and bytes; it’s the driving force behind smart decision-making that propels businesses in the right direction. In our journey, we’ll break down the misconception that tech has to be complex. Imagine seamlessly integrating cutting-edge solutions into your setup, not only for data protection but to elevate your decision-making capabilities. This synergy ensures a smooth and efficient operation, fostering an environment where technology is an enabler rather than a hindrance.

TRANSFORMING DATA INTO A STRATEGIC ASSET:

Our discussion doesn’t stop at data security – it extends to transforming your data into a valuable asset for your business. Envision your daily operations running like a well-oiled machine, with data working alongside you, not against you. This transformative approach isn’t merely about keeping up with the competition; it’s about outpacing them and maintaining a leading position in the market. Data becomes a strategic ally, providing insights that drive innovation, enhance customer experiences, and open doors to new opportunities.

As you navigate the vast environment of IT, the decisions you make today are crucial in defining your business’s future. Whether you’re optimizing your existing tech infrastructure, exploring innovative data solutions, or contemplating a comprehensive tech overhaul, these choices will shape the trajectory of your business. Embracing the right technologies and data strategies can lead to increased efficiency, cost savings, and a more agile response to changing market dynamics.

IN A NUTSHELL:

Data emerges as a powerful ally in this tech-driven era. Explore how data can become your strategic advantage. It’s not just about keeping pace; it’s about unlocking the next phase of your tech evolution and staying ahead of the challenges that are to come. Embrace the transformative power of data and technology, paving the way for a future where your business thrives in the face of rapid technological advancements.

Are you ready to go on a journey to unlock the true potential of your business through data? Let’s dive into the possibilities and harness the transformative power of data in shaping your tech evolution. The future is yours to explore, and with the right data-driven strategies, success is not just a destination but a continuous journey of growth and innovation.

For the conventional enterprise, the last decade has been a continuous story in the cloud journey. This is either migrating workloads to the public cloud or adopting a cloud-operating model in their private cloud and data center environment. Multi-cloud and hybrid deployments have also evolved along the way.

This trend gave rise to numerous companies which created solutions that were either born in the cloud or were highly optimized for deployment there. Organizations, both big and small adopted the “cloud-first” and later “mobile-first” mindset. While for smaller organizations with no legacy infrastructure or applications, they were able to accept cloud tenets from the very first day, for bigger organizations, the journey has had so many pit stops and perhaps several pit falls. Much of this fell under the digital transformation umbrella, with CIOs, CISOs and even CEOs becoming executive sponsors of such initiatives.

The shift from agility to efficiency

During the last 10-15 years, the move to cloud has largely been precipitated by the need for agility. The initial developer driven move to cloud, that had precipitated “shadow-IT”, has gradually paved way for dual-mode IT and now become mainstream as enterprise IT organizations proactively took ownership leading to a more pragmatic cloud operating model.

The pandemic further fueled the agility-led buying decision and accelerated the growth of cloud and SaaS applications that allowed enterprises to be more nimbly navigate the needs for organizational flexibility, as it led to one of the greatest human migrations from the workplace to home and remote-based environments.

Investments were rapidly made to accommodate this new world order. As I speak with several enterprise CIOs and CISOs, a common pattern emerges. While these investments helped the enterprises adapt, they also induced complexity that was compounded by investments made during the shadow-IT days, adoption of product-led growth (PLG) initiatives, as well as legacy infrastructure and applications.

On the other side of the fence, known and preferred vendors catering to the needs of enterprise, also had developed different offerings for on-premises (long standing) and newer SaaS offerings. In many cases, these were two separate products and while capabilities were reasonably similar, there were inconsistencies in operating models, user experiences, configuration requirements and automation workflows.

With the demand slowing post pandemic, and the birth of a more hybrid workforce, the investment priorities in the enterprises are shifting again. However, the quest is less so for agility, and more tailored towards efficiency.

With the growth of inflation, there is an undercurrent to do more with less, as budgets haven’t necessarily kept up, human capital has become more expensive and compliance needs have continued to grow. There is greater emphasis now on leveraging investments already made and bringing more focus to not just the technology stack, but also human talent and time, without compromising the agility of the organization.

 Impact on Security and the Advent of AI workloads

All the above trends have a direct or indirect bearing on the security posture of the organization. Clearly, the more complexity an organization absorbs, the less easy it is to secure its environment.

If we see a disproportionate number of breaches happening in the largest enterprises (which arguably have the most budgets and human resources to apply towards security), it is because their environments are also the most complex. Think about the proliferation of tools, technologies, operational models, and ownership issues. Each compounds the complexity where the best of intentions is offset by the lack of visibility and knowledge.

The advent of artificial intelligence is also being viewed as a double-edged sword by many corporations, where they have to both face attacks as well as defend. More importantly, AI brings in an exponential domain of complexity into the enterprise, in part because of the nascent models, but also the domain of what’s unknown can be radically different. While some organizations are adopting a strategy of wait and watch, educating themselves, there are some early-stage pilots. Everyone knows it’s just a matter of time, before we see widespread proliferation. The consumerization of the AI model will likely give birth to a different aspect of “shadow-AI” being adopted.

Cybersecurity is clearly top-of-mind. But if AI has to be brought in intentionally into the enterprise, it has to be done so on a well-understood security posture. Layering in artificial intelligence on top of a complex IT framework is just an invitation for disaster to strike at will.

True security comes from having zero trust and removing all doors, windows and access. Clearly this is not practical. So, the next best thing is to simplify and expand the realm of the known variables and gain a handle on the known risk. This requires radical simplification.

This is causing technology and business leaders to take a harder look at their tech-stack as well as talent and training, with an overarching question – how do we simplify?

Simplicity comes from relentless prioritization and weeding out elements on the periphery. It is also about reducing the unknown unknowns in an organization and minimizing risk and unpredictability. This gives the organization greater focus and efficiency, while also making it easier to evaluate and manage risk.

Harnessing the 5 Cs for a Secure Enterprise

CISOs and technology leaders with an “AI on the future” (pun intended) are leaning towards these 5 Cs for a more predictable enterprise security posture.

#1. Complexity

As discussed above complexity grows in large enterprises not just while keeping up to the latest trends, but also inorganically through mergers and acquisitions (M&As), organizational mandate changes and so on.

In the context of the enterprise, distributed workloads, and long-standing, pervasive architectures that include legacy and new are one cause. In such a situation, adding new security products is sometimes counterproductive as it is built on wobbly Lego blocks.

Complexity is an anathema to progress and efficiency.  It is also hard to derive benefits from automation, if the underlying workflows are adhoc or one-offs. “Automation-sprawl” is something I often hear about, just like “policy-sprawl”, or “firewall-rule” sprawl etc. These need to be conquered.

Consider this:

#2. Consolidation

To resolve this, CxOs are considering simpler platform approaches, where the provider or vendor takes a greater burden of integration, testing and delivering an as-a-service experience. Choosing such a platform can at times be perceived as getting locked-in, but it is the lesser of two evils, as long as the choice is made diligently.

A well-designed integrated offering can do a great job with this, while delivering a superior experience and potentially lowering the TCO. Think of how the iPhone took ownership of the integration with its ecosystem and applications, consolidated a number of disparate entities and delivered an amazing experience that created a new market category. In the enterprise, several vendors have an opportunity to do that with better fore thought, and CxOs are not shy about asking vendors to take more ownership.

Consolidation (and convergence) doesn’t necessarily have to be focused on the technology stack. It can also mean pruning the partners ecosystem, APIs as well as the operational value chain. Such consolidation can directly help simplify and reduce overhead for enterprise teams.

While early days yet, Broadcom is attempting to do some of this with the integration and simplification of the VCF stack. Though the prime motivation for this is a better tailored product for the private cloud and a superior experience, a graceful byproduct is that the natural hardening this stack and making it a repeatable building block for the modern enterprise, can also result in a better security posture.

This makes it easier to evaluate the security posture and wrap arms around fewer variables and moving parts.

As an example, a fully integrated stack for lateral security is depicted here. The focus here is on integration, consolidation across a broad set of point solutions all purpose-built, designed and orchestrated for operational simplicity. This is highly useful for virtualized environments and can be controlled via a common policy model while providing deep visibility end-to-end.

#3. Control

In the context of security, being able to apply the right policies governing access is very important. Again, in a heterogenous environment, applying the right control “accept” or “deny” boils down to clear identification of the resource (human or machine), and matching access to resources (human or machine) dynamically. Context becomes highly important in this case.

Platform approaches that allow the ability to apply policy in a granular manner along with deep visibility have a leg up and are preferred by CxOs. Having better integration and clearly defined workflows can be a big help in this regard building on the simplicity and consolidation trends.

The distributed firewall riding on top of the VCF bundle and with the option to tack on advanced security (via ATP) are all focused on both better integration, but also superior control, where security policies can be enforced end-to-end dynamically.

Consistency across different deployment models (for instance on-premise or SaaS) can also deliver greater control and thereby greater security.

#4. Continuity

What use is a business that isn’t available. In this digital age, access to resources can be controlled by a hacker halfway around the globe, if they have a way in, causing serious ramifications to the business uptime and reputation. But continuity and resiliency are also fallouts of inadvertent errors including misconfigurations, or automation workflows gone awry.

CISOs and other leaders have their key performance indicators (KPIs) tied to business continuity and resiliency. Leaving aside Act of God incidents, and occasional network access issues (like the undersea fiber cable being cut) security issues are the top of the list impacting continuity. CIOs and CISOs need need to have their plan ready and actionable.

#5. Cost (TCO)

While security budgets are increasing year-on-year, they are nowhere near the cost incurred by exposure to breaches and ransomware. In other words, the sum of the total security spend is a subset of the cost of the security breaches. That said, organizations have a fixed budget, and high CAPEX as well as high OPEX costs can be detrimental if improperly utilized.

CxOs are looking for greater simplicity and efficiency to drive down costs, sacrificing performance or flexibility.  That is a tall order, but again by embracing a platform approach, enforcing better control, reducing complexity and having a well thought out plan for business continuity – all inherently lead to cost reduction and a significantly lower TCO.

Closely managing the 5Cs help not just in securing the enterprise, but also ensuring compliance to regulatory requirements. To me Compliance is the obvious “sixth C” in this regard.

Join the ABBE newsletter today to start receiving monthly updates showcasing the most recent artificial intelligence insights, case studies, and research directly to your inbox. Stay at the forefront of the AI world!

Boost Your Year-End Financial Reporting with Inspiron 24 All-in-One

As the year comes to an end, businesses around the world gear up for the annual ritual of year-end financial reporting. That’s why Inspiron 24 all-in-one seamless performance, unmatched efficiency, and user-friendly features ensure a smooth process for your business and beyond!

Seamless Performance:

Inspiron 24 is engineered to deliver top-notch performance, thanks to its powerful components and cutting-edge technology. With a high performance processor, RAM, and speedy storage, this all in one ensures that your financial tasks are executed with speed and efficiency. Say goodbye to lag and hello to a seamless computing experience.

User Friendly Features

Whether you’re a seasoned financial professional or a first time-user, the all -in-one’s design ensures a hassle-free experience. Customize your workspace, access frequently used applications effortlessly, and streamline your workflow with the Inspiron 24 thoughtful features

Unmatched Efficiency

Efficiency is key when it comes to numbers and analyzing financial data. The inspiron 24 boasts a large, vibrant display that enhances visibility and clarity, making it easier to sift through complex spreadsheets and reports. Its efficient design minimizes clutter, providing a tidy workspace that fosters focus and productivity during those critical year-end tasks.

The holiday season can be hectic, but the Inspiron 24 is here to make it a breeze. Its versatility extends beyond financial reporting. From catching up on holiday emails to streaming your favorite festive tunes, the inspiron 24 seamlessly transitions from work to leisure, ensuring you can balance productivity and relaxation during the holiday season!

As a special year-end offer!

Seize the opportunity for a FREE IT Assessment tailored to your business needs. Our IT experts will assess your requirements and provide you with recommendations.

Schedule your FREE IT consultation now!