Insight

  • Vaccines: Data’s Fight Against COVID-19

    vaccine-research-dataI’ve talked through a couple ways that data is helping fight COVID-19, from detecting and tracking an outbreak, to detecting within people. In this blog, I’ll be focused on research and elimination. While the world sets its sights on a hopeful slowdown similar to what is experienced with a seasonal flu, a true vaccination or cure is the ultimate goal. With more and more researchers throwing their collective hats in the ring, data sharing and collaboration is becoming key. What new information is available on the virus makeup? How is it evolving/mutating? Where are we making progress on vaccination development? What approaches have a higher likelihood of success? How can progress be shared across the globe to spur new ideas or rapid insight? All of these questions tie back to data, and using data science and AI to help answer them is rapidly becoming a go-to approach.

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  • Robotic Process Automation Adoption Trends

    As organizations look for ways to streamline operations, improve efficiency, and reduce costs, they are increasingly embracing automation technology like robotic process automation (RPA). While some view RPA as an ultimate destination to achieve peak business and process efficiency, those organizations that view themselves as digitally transformed have already embraced it and have their eyes set on the next phase: intelligent automation, where RPA is paired with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to not only interact with systems but also to predict future insights/outcomes based on trending data.


    For more information or to discuss these findings with an analyst, please contact us.
  • GettyImages-763156853I heard some alarming new statistics from IBM security this week. With COVID-19 as a backdrop, cyber-attacks are up 14,000% led by a spike in ransomware. IBM also revealed a 6000% increase in spam, as hackers social-engineer nervous users with fictitious coronavirus news and miracle cures. Other firms like DomainTools, FireEye, and Palo Alto Networks have reported similar data. Yikes!

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  • Detection: Data’s Fight Against COVID-19

    computer-imagingMy first blog in this series focused on using data, AI, and visualization to help detect and track the continued outbreak of COVID-19. The next topic in this blog series is focused on a different form of detection: detecting the virus in people. And it starts with understanding symptoms and ends with techniques to identify infected individuals at scale, which eventually helps shape individual treatment plans and resource allocation based on established virus hotspots.

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  • Data Protection Conversation with Veritas (Video)

    In this latest edition of Data Protection Conversations, I talk with Doug Matthews from Veritas.

  • GettyImages-1216153695Last week, I was able to attend IBM’s virtual Think 2020 event. And though I still prefer the in-person versions of these events, I can say the announcements did not disappoint.

    Whether it was by design or due to the pandemic, IBM focused its new technology introductions down to a few larger, broader-reaching technology solutions. A couple of which have the potential to be game-changing.

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  • GettyImages-1171421825In my recent article at SearchStorage, I took a look the hybrid cloud solutions offered by several of the major public cloud providers, Google Anthos, AWS Outposts, and Azure Stack, and their potential to help solve the modern challenges of hybrid cloud environments.

    IT has a complexity problem, as nearly two thirds (64%) of IT decision makers recently surveyed by ESG indicated IT is more complex now compared with just two years ago. And for those that identify IT as more complex, more than a quarter (26%) of them identify the need to leverage both on-premises data centers and off-premises cloud providers as a driver of that increased complexity.

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  • Outbreak: Data’s Fight Against COVID-19

    covid-19-dataWhile the world continues its fight against COVID-19, data is becoming one of the most prominent weapons for humans. Whether tracking an outbreak, detecting the virus on a case by case basis, preventing further spread, or eventually eliminating the virus altogether, data is fueling decision making from governing bodies to personal households. As we evolve to deal with the difficult norms of what today brings, the technology community is rising to answer a desperate call to arms. The value of trusted data has never been higher as actions are being taken based purely on statistical models and predictions. The need for collaboration on a global scale is paramount. Being able to rapidly respond to new information is now a matter of life or death. Over the next few weeks I’ll be revisiting and highlighting some of the ways data is being used in the ongoing fight against this historical and scary virus.

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  • XDRIf you haven’t heard about it yet, there has been a ground swell of activity over the past 12-18 months with security vendors rallying around a new theme: XDR. There have been different interpretations of what the “X” in XDR stands for, but the general concept is built on the success of the endpoint detection and response (EDR) model, now extending that model to aggregate and correlate telemetry from additional security controls, adding network, cloud, email, and more. The promise is that with a broader view of activity across security controls, more automation can be applied to deliver better coverage, insights, and ultimately more automated response actions for today’s sophisticated attacks.

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  • Dell EMC PowerStore: A New Beginning

    GettyImages-160000854The much-anticipated Dell EMC PowerStore was announced yesterday, the heir apparent to both the Dell EMC Unity and the SC technology portfolios.

    At first glance, PowerStore delivers on all the expectations nearly anyone might have for a next generation mid-range storage array. You name it, it has it, including end-to-end NVMe, support for block and file storage, ability to scale up and/or out, a host of enterprise storage features, and a 4:1 data reduction ratio guarantee.

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  • Matt and I have been sharing stories and formulating IT strategies for years. We recently had a chance to catch up and share our perspectives on how businesses have adjusted and some potential plans for the future. I always appreciate being able to grab time with Matt and capture his insight into what matters most to businesses.

  • Red Hat Goes Virtual and Opens the Cloud

    virtual-eventWith the face-to-face interaction still on hold, Red Hat held its virtual experience event. All in all, I was impressed with the execution. There was a technical hiccup here and there, but even live events don’t always go 100% as planned.

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