Tech Takeaways

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In this episode, we welcome back NetApp Field CTO Grant Caley to explore how the way we use data is impacting how we need to design and manage our data infrastructure. 

Most businesses today want to use the data they hold to better work with their customers and suppliers, make better decisions, market more effectively, and bring products to market more quickly, all while maintaining essential data security.

We discuss what this means for the way we manage our data, whether that's on-premises or in the public cloud. We talk about how detailed data management can impact things from cost to your company's sustainability goals.  We also ask Grant to dust off his crystal ball and share his thoughts on the data management challenges we are going to be dealing with in the future.

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Chapters: 

00:00:00 - Introduction
00:02:01 - The Changing Landscape of Data Management and Security
00:03:59 - Protecting Data from Malware Attacks
00:05:58 - The Importance of Data Storage and Security
00:07:52 - Optimizing Data for Cloud Migration
00:09:47 - The Role of Data and Sustainability
00:11:46 - Challenges in Data Processing and Security
00:13:46 - The Relevance of Storage Technology
00:15:55 - The Advantage of a Unified Data Platform

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Today's technology debates are usually focused on cloud, security and of course the ever-growing presence of AI. But does that mean that traditional IT topics aren't worth talking about, topics like storage for example?

On this week's episode, we respectfully disagree as we talk about why storage is and needs to remain a core part of any IT strategy discussion. To help us with that debate is Grant Caley. Grant is a Field CTO at NetApp. With 20 years at the storage giant he has seen a lot of change from a company focused on selling storage to start-up tech companies, to today's data and cost management business. A business that provides data management platforms on-premises and across all of the major clouds, supporting companies with a few TBs of data to those with many PBs

We discuss why effective storage and data management is more important than ever. And why picking the right storage technologies can make a massive difference to those wanting to explore AI, optimise their costs when they move to the cloud and, essentially, the critical part it plays in an organization's ability to recover from a cyber security incident.

We cover a lot in a short time! 

Settle in and find out why storage conversations are far from boring!

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Chapters:

00:00:00 - Introduction to Grant Caley
00:03:46 - Data Classification and Optimization
00:05:36 - Serving Customers of All Sizes
00:07:21 - Data Optimization and Hydration in the Cloud
00:09:13 - The Importance of Storage Efficiency in the Cloud
00:10:53 - Building an AI Pipeline with NetApp
00:12:45 - Recovering from Ransomware Attacks with NetApp

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After the popular Beyond the Firewall episode, we go "Beyond" again this week. This time it's beyond the endpoint. 

What do we mean when we talk about beyond the endpoint?  How our people work has changed a lot in the last few years. This also means how our IT teams work with those users has also changed, especially how we deliver, manage, support and secure our users and their devices. The team delve into some recent endpoint projects and how businesses have been able to adopt technology to help improve the management and security of their devices as well as the end-user experience.

Settle back and join us as we take a journey beyond the endpoint.

If you want to make sure you capture all future episodes then subscribe on YouTube, all good homes of podcasts or via our website https://www.gardnersystems.co.uk/podcasts/

Chapters: 

00:00:00 - Tech Takeaways: Beyond Endpoint
00:01:54 - Efficient and Secure Onboarding
00:03:27 - Guaranteeing a Secure Configuration
00:05:25 - Utilising RMM Tools for Endpoint Monitoring
00:07:12 - Endpoint Management Solutions and Security
00:08:44 - Monitoring and Improving User Experience
00:10:22 - The Business Benefits of IT Experience
00:12:03 - Streamlining Device Repairs with Endpoint Management Software
00:13:49 - The Future of Endpoint Management

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As companies move more infrastructure and platforms into the public cloud the management, security and costs of those cloud-based services are often difficult to understand and predict. How can companies better use the cloud to make sure it's secure and cost-efficient?

This week the team share some of their experiences with recent cloud optimisation projects. They discuss the issues that come with running cloud environments, and how cloud can often bring unexpected costs in areas such as storage, backup and data movements.

But it's not all doom and gloom, they also chat about how to gain insights into a cloud environment and how that insight can have a significant effect on improving security and reducing costs by 20-30%.

If you are looking to optimise the way you are using the cloud, then this is the show for you.

To make sure you don't miss an episode, then subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and via our website https://www.gardnersystems.co.uk/podcasts/

Chapters: 

00:00:00 - Introduction to Cloud Optimisation
00:02:01 - Common Mistakes in Cloud Deployment
00:03:54 - Predicting and forecasting costs
00:05:55 - The Mistake of Moving On-Prem Services as They Are
00:07:37 - Scalability of Cloud Native Services
00:09:31 - Scaling SQL Databases in Busy Times
00:11:12 - Challenges of Forecasting Cloud Costs
00:12:49 - Importance of Analyzing Cloud Costs
00:14:32 - Highlighting Data Breach Risks in Cloud Environments

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Continuing from last week's episode on the changing world of work and its impact on our infrastructure. We discuss how those changes must also make us rethink how we secure our increasingly disparate infrastructures and user environments. 

We discuss why traditional models no longer work, what the modern alternatives are and why we need to think about ensuring our security resides alongside our users and applications and not at a physical location. 

So, settle back and enjoy as we go "Beyond the Firewall".

To catch all episodes of Tech Takeaways subscribe. You can Subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify and all good homes of podcasts. Or via our website at https://www.gardnersystems.co.uk/podcasts/

Chapters:

00:00:00 - Beyond the Firewall
00:03:02 - The Changing Landscape of the Internet
00:05:48 - The Changing Perimeter and Secure Edge
00:08:45 - Zero Trust and ZTNA Network Architecture
00:11:40 - Securing Key Assets with Zero Trust Network Architecture
00:14:36 - The Complexity of Firewalls in a Hybrid World

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This episode was sparked by an article Wayne read that discussed how increasingly organisations are looking to bring more and more people back into the office. But, is this the right thing to do? and if it is how is today's worker and office environment different from the one many of us were used to in 2020.

This episode is not about the rights and wrongs of bringing people into the office,  but the practical impacts of doing so. Is your office setup for not only lots of people coming into it but also for the different ways people need the space and infrastructure to work to meet modern work approaches?

The team share their thoughts and some of the practical things to consider to ensure, that if you are bringing people back to the office, you give them the most effective experience you can.

To catch all Tech Takeaways episodes please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all good homes of podcasts. 


Chapters: 

00:00:00 - The Change in Nature of Work and Hybrid Working
00:02:03 - The Rise of Video Conferencing
00:03:59 - The Impact of Video Calls on Office Space
00:05:43 - The Impact of Video Calls and Working from Home
00:07:40 - Broadband Usage and Infrastructure Challenges
00:09:39 - Ensuring Effective Environments for Businesses
00:11:33 - Architectural Changes for a Hybrid Workforce
00:13:27 - Improving Network Bandwidth for a Better User Experience
00:15:22 - Planning for Returning to the Office

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Usernames and passwords are at the heart of cybersecurity, both business and personal, whether we know it or not! User credentials control access to our key applications and of course all of our data. Because of that, they are not only important to us, they are a key target for cybercriminals. A cyber bad guy with usernames and passwords can cause a lot of damage to a business or individual.

The harsh reality is user credentials do get compromised, but if that does happen, what can we do to protect our applications and data from compromise? One of the best tools we have available to us is multi-factor authentication (MFA) and that's the topic of this week's show. We discuss why MFA is valuable, some of the challenges that come with adoption, how to be smart with how you use it and what the future holds.

So if you are MFA curious then this is the show for you.

To make sure you catch all episodes of the show then subscribe. You can subscribe on YouTube, Spotify, Apple Podcasts and all good homes of podcasts. You can also subscribe on our website https://www.gardnersystems.co.uk/podcasts/

Chapters:
00:00:00 - Introduction 
00:02:05 - Evolution of Multi-Factor Authentication in the Enterprise
00:04:07 - Challenges of Implementing MFA at Scale
00:06:13 - Dealing with Issues of MFA Implementation
00:08:01 - Security Buy-In and Communication
00:10:16 - Benefits of Single Identity Platform
00:12:21 - Context-Driven MFA Application
00:14:14 - Trusting User Behavior and Device Locations
00:16:33 - Passwordless Authentication and Cybersecurity Risks

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On this week's show we have two things returning by popular demand, firstly our topic, you all loved our first chat about Generative AI, so much so that we thought we'd discuss it again. To help us to do that, is our second item of popular demand, our guest, Sophos's Jon Hope.

Jon brings to us his insight into GenAI, including what it's good at doing, what it isn't and what we need to consider before we broadly adopt it. We also discuss how AI can break some of the cybersecurity approaches that we rely on and how we may be able to solve them.

To make sure you catch all future episodes of Tech Takeaways, subscribe. We are available on YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts. You can also find us on at website at https://www.gardnersystems.co.uk/podcasts/



Chapters

0:00 Introduction

1:41 John’s view on generative AI

4:35 Why use humans and not AI

7:07 AI will be so good we won’t know the difference

9:04 Advice

12:42 Closing Words

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Backups - we've all got them, we all know how to do them, we've got it nailed, haven't we? Well, maybe not!

On this week's show, we look at backups and recovery, from basics such as recovery points and times, recovery tests and good data protection discipline, to modern threats to our backup data and systems.

The team share some good practice on how you can make your backups more secure and effective.

If you've got some tips you'd like to share then let us know.

To make sure you catch all episodes of Tech Takeaways subscribe on YouTube, all good homes of podcasts or via our website at https://www.gardnersystems.co.uk/podcasts/



Chapters

0:00 Introduction
1:39 What questions should you be asking?
5:30 Resilience plan
8:40 Backup Solutions
14:30 Key Takeaways
15:00 Closing Words

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In part two of our chat with Sophos's Jon Hope we talk about cyber incident response plans. With the volume and complexity of cyberattacks, regardless of how much prevention we put in place, the chances of getting hit by an attack remain high. Therefore, preparing for such an eventuality should be as high on the list of priorities as attempts to prevent it.

We discuss with Jon the importance of an incident response plan and the things you should consider to build an effective one. We talk about when to build a plan (spoiler: now is the answer!), who should be involved, why it's not just an IT plan and what not to do with your IR plan!

Jon shares lots of great tips that will help you in getting your IR planning right. An effective IR plan may be the difference between your business recovering from a cyber attack or not.

To make sure you catch all future episodes of the show please subscribe. You can do so on YouTube, on our website or wherever you get your podcasts.

You can find Jon on LinkedIn and his podcast on Spotify and all good homes of podcasts look for "One Million Questions to Ask".


Chapters

0:00 Introduction
1:24 When should I plan for an incident?
4:01 What does a plan look like?
7:36 How not to store your response plan
10:31 Ransomware and AI
14:19 Closing Words