Businesses constantly pursue strategies to enhance their IT infrastructure and leverage data-driven insights to drive growth and innovation. With the rise of insights-driven enterprises, the importance of unlocking the full potential of business data has become increasingly evident.
As businesses embark on this modernization journey, they face various challenges, particularly in areas such as security and data management. To shed light on these burdens, WEI works alongside industry experts to gain valuable insights on data utilization and cybersecurity to guide customers to meaningful IT modernization.
Understanding Pain Points And Embracing Modernization
In a recent WEI podcast focused on IT infrastructure modernization and its critical role in leveraging business data effectively, experts Matt Leal, Shawn Murphy, and former White House CIO Theresa Payton discuss the practicalities and strategic importance of data modernization.
While the benefits of modernization are undeniable, challenges like cybersecurity loom large. Shawn Murphy, Cybersecurity Solutions Architect at WEI, emphasizes these burdens:
- Expanding Threat Landscape: With cloud computing, remote work, and SaaS services, the attack surface has become much larger and is constantly changing. This makes it harder to pinpoint what needs protection.
- Data Proliferation: The increase in data collection leads to an extensive attack surface. It could overwhelm security teams with information and hinder their ability to analyze it effectively.
- Inability To Stop All Breaches: News reports may highlight some breaches, but the reality is likely much worse. The FBI estimates that cybercrimes cost $12.5 billion in losses. This doesn’t account for unreported breaches or losses like damaged reputation or privacy violations.
“Proactive measures are crucial,” Murphy explains, as WEI focuses its cybersecurity solutions heavily within the prevention phase. He also highlights the importance of developing useful metrics to measure the effectiveness of cybersecurity initiatives.
Additionally, Matt Leal, Presales Solutions Architect at WEI, shares the importance of a holistic solution. “While some industries are more advanced, any organization can progress with the right support. Our customers span various industries. Each has its own challenges, but we provide tailored solutions to overcome them.” Murphy adds that healthcare, for example, has specific data privacy regulations that may hinder cloud adoption. However, partnering with a Value-Added Reseller (VAR) like WEI can help organizations navigate these complexities and accelerate modernization.
Theresa Payton, former White House Chief Information Officer and currently the CEO at Fortalice Solutions, emphasizes the importance of human-centric stories in aligning technology initiatives with business strategies. She believes that understanding the human element is crucial for successful secured digital transformation.
In this context, a strategic and holistic approach to IT modernization takes center stage. Prioritizing robust cybersecurity measures becomes essential to safeguard and enhance business operations.
To connect technology effectively with people, she suggests the following:
- Prioritize The Human Element: Understand who you serve and their needs. Whether it’s employees, customers, or any other user group, identify their goals and challenges.
- Position Technology As A Solution: Instead of merely listing features, explain how technology addresses specific needs and improves the user experience.
- Tailor Your Message: When communicating with executives, frame your message around “secured digital transformation” that supports the human user story.
By keeping the human element at the center and demonstrating how technology serves it, organizations can bridge the gap and ensure that technology empowers the people it’s meant to serve. Understanding your audience and enhancing user experiences are critical steps in achieving organizational goals through advanced solutions.
The Crucial Role of Secure Data Storage
Data-driven insights are now the cornerstone of a successful business strategy. In fact, research shows that enterprises leveraging these insights are eight times more likely to achieve significant growth rates. However, complexities mentioned by Murphy can arise from data collection, analysis, and infrastructure management. Trusted partnerships with experienced technology providers, such as the case between HPE and WEI, can be crucial in navigating these hurdles.
Data security should be a paramount concern from the very beginning, meticulously woven into every aspect of the infrastructure, from the initial capture of data all the way through to its disposal. By prioritizing data security throughout the entire process, businesses can ensure they’re building a foundation of trust with their customers and stakeholders.
The concept of “secure by design” aligns with this need. It means cybersecurity is built into technology from the start and seamlessly aligns with business objectives. As we delve into the challenges faced by organizations like yours, our experts also explore the critical security considerations surrounding data storage. Leal reinforces this by pointing out that “modern solutions are often the most secure,” underlining the importance of embracing innovation to combat evolving threats.
One such secure and adaptive modern solution is HPE Alletra. This storage platform is designed for the complexities of the modern IT landscape, functioning as an ally against data breaches. Built on the sturdy foundation of HPE ProLiant Gen11 servers and powered by 4th Generation Intel Xeon Scalable Processors, the Alletra series delivers on performance, scalability, and crucially, security.
By assuming breaches will happen at any time, organizations can build stronger systems. This means having good checks and balances, clear rules for data, and even special techniques to protect it.
While data security is important, Payton argues organizations have a bigger responsibility to protect everyone involved. This means thinking about how data affects people, the risk of breaches, and what they owe those who trust them.
The best companies practice a culture of “care” for data. This ensures it’s always used and stored ethically and responsibly. Organizations need to ask, “Is this data really needed, or are we just collecting it because we can?” A culture of care makes companies consider the ethical side of things too.
Final Thoughts
The key to success in today’s digital world lies in embracing innovation, leveraging data effectively and responsibly, and prioritizing far-left cybersecurity throughout your operations. Navigating modernization isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach. WEI can help by offering tailored solutions and expert guidance for businesses, from implementing cutting-edge technologies to developing robust cybersecurity strategies.
Reach out to our experienced team for more insights and assistance on your modernization journey.
Next steps: In a digitally connected hybrid world, security is a shared responsibility. The weakest link can potentially expose everyone connected. That is why HPE has created a vision to make security an inherent part of all operations as it manages more than two million devices and over one exabyte of data through its expansive HPE GreenLake platform.
In this free white paper, we identify:
- Hybrid's impact on cybersecurity
- HPE's vision of security
- Siloed vs. shared security
- New approaches to cybersecurity talent
- Creating your own talent pipeline
- Resilience through Zero Trust
Download: Protecting The Edge To Cloud Landscape With An Eye On The Future
