Observability: Bridging Business, Customers and User Experience

Reflecting on the insightful happenings of Cisco Live 2024 in Amsterdam, I wanted to further delve into the key takeaways from this event.

In the ever-changing landscape of tech leadership, we like to think of the Logicalis CIO Report as a steadfast guide, reflecting the pulse of change in the industry. As we celebrate the 10th Anniversary of this ground-breaking report we hope it continues to serve as a roadmap to the future, a visionary lens to what lies ahead.

Implementing a well-defined Zero Trust can be one of the most effective tools in protecting your organisation and saving you money in the long run. That said, you may need to focus on achieving compliance with a specific regulation before moving onto Zero Trust. Take a closer look at which common regulations and frameworks align with Zero Trust.

Cisco Live EMEA, the pinnacle event for technology enthusiasts in Europe, recently concluded with a flurry of announcements and insights that have left the IT community buzzing. Explore our Cisco Live recap, as we explore the implications of these ground-breaking announcements.

Zero Trust; those buzzwords that you keep hearing about, and you’ve seen the importance of it all. But how do you really begin your Zero Trust journey? Are you even ready for Zero Trust? Follow our Six Steps to Success for your company to move forward in the world of security.

Create a more intelligent, more efficient building that better serves the needs of your growing business.

Tyson Fury is considered by many to be one of the greatest boxers of our time. It is an interesting observation that on the surface, seems implausible when you consider that he does not appear to be the most muscular, the leanest of the fittest fighter out there. He is of course, not infallible. On many occasions, despite his size, he has been knocked off his by feet by fighters seemingly smaller and weaker.

The rising pressure from stakeholders. The heightened reporting requirements. The influence on the buying process. The competitive advantage for companies with a lower carbon footprint. There are many reasons that sustainability is front of mind for businesses. In fact, these days you’re in the minority if it’s not on your organisation’s priority list.

2023 will always be remembered as the year in which the progress and capability of Artificial Intelligence (AI) truly accelerated. Following the launch of ChatGPT in late-2022, the technology and its various capabilities have moved from a science fiction concept in most people’s minds to an everyday reality.

In 2023 Microsoft Azure grew its market share by 24%, twice the rate of its nearest rival AWS. The growth in complexity and market share is creating a worldwide shortage of people with the skills to optimise it. Logicalis can identify and relieve the pressure points and help you to obtain that peace of mind.

In a recent blog, we discussed what Zero Trust actually is and how it is the cornerstone to businesses and organisations in today’s rapidly evolving threat landscape.

Zero Trust is everywhere. Seemingly replacing ‘Digital Transformation’, it has rapidly become the new darling of the marketing word of our time. Yet beneath the marketing veneer, it has fundamental message that everyone should take note of; it will help protect your organisation, your people and your reputation.

Sustainability has gone from being a “nice to have” to a key factor when making strategic IT decisions, and we at Logicalis are ready to help our customers achieve their sustainability goals.

So, what is Zero Trust? Remember, it’s not a product – it’s a strategy that’s implemented through people, process, and technology.

Zero Trust is everywhere. Seemingly replacing ‘Digital Transformation’, it has rapidly become the new darling of the marketing word of our time. Yet beneath the marketing veneer, it has fundamental message that everyone should take note of; it will help protect your organisation, your people and your reputation.

Last week, we proudly received the 2023 Cisco Global Enterprise Networking and Meraki Partner of the Year award during Cisco’s annual Partner Summit. The award recognised Logicalis' global capability in Enterprise networking, with Logicalis Portugal receiving a special mention for their standout contribution to driving Intelligent Connectivity managed services to customers in Portugal.

In an increasingly interconnected world, the frequency and complexity of cybersecurity threats are rising.

Today, we're diving into an exciting topic that's reshaping the world of IT transformation: cross-functional value stream teams. Imagine a world where IT projects not only meet but exceed expectations, all while staying on budget and on schedule. It might sound like a dream, but Logicalis is here to show you how it can become your reality.

Sustainability has become a critical issue for businesses across the globe, and the IT industry is no exception. With increasing awareness of environmental impact, organisations are now looking to adopt sustainable IT practices that minimise their negative impact on the environment. Sustainable IT aims to reduce the environmental footprint of all areas of IT operations, from the purchasing, usage and disposal of IT assets to the energy consumption of IT equipment.

Logicalis, a global technology service provider, delivering next-generation digital managed services, has announced the launch of Intelligent Connectivity powered by Cisco, a suite of solutions including Private 5G, SD-WAN, SASE, SSE, SD-Access and ACI Data Centre.

As many of us know, the technology and IT sectors are booming and experiencing rapid innovation. Add to this the growing lack of available talent, and IT leaders are finding themselves struggling to keep pace with constantly changing technology.

Keeping your IT environment secure and up to date is a challenge that requires a reliable and efficient solution. Microsoft offers Windows Server Update Services (WSUS) as an on-premises role that lets you download and distribute updates for Windows and other Microsoft products to your network computers. Logicalis can collaborate with you in the aim to streamline your digital environment's operation and management.

IT security remains a top priority for most UK&I IT professionals as revealed by Logicalis’ 2023 IT Survey Results. The survey finds 71% of IT professionals list security as their top priority for the year. The independent UK and Ireland survey, which canvassed the opinions of over 1000 IT professionals from across the UK&I, unveils businesses are grappling with tightening IT budgets, changing IT priorities, and elevated concerns over security threats and technical skills shortages.

Unfortunately, the longer you work in cybersecurity, the more often you come across legacy operating systems and applications. These types of technologies can be a nightmare to manage and represent a huge security gap for your organisation. On 10th October 2023, Microsoft will end support for Windows Server 2012 and 2012 R2, meaning no more security updates will be available, just like SQL Server 2012.

Logicalis, in partnership with IBM, is delighted to be supporting this year’s CIO & IT Leaders Summit, Optimising technology assets to drive real value, in Croke Park, Dublin, 7th June 2023. With many valued customers across the UK and Ireland community, we look forward to welcoming you to the event.

There are a number of software licencing issues with Cisco’s ISE platform that we are keen to make customers aware of. If you are running a 2.x version of ISE, then this has an ‘End of Life’ announcement, and you need to act now. Read now for more detail around your options.

EOX is a critical milestone when looking at the lifecycle of your Cisco environment and often prompts organisations to review the impact of EOX to products, services, or subscriptions. Logicalis have compiled the latest Cisco announcements into an easy-to-read report that allows you to obtain end-of-life information including the latest End of Sale announcements and all products which are going End of Life, End of Attach and End of Security Vulnerability.

At a time when customers are increasingly looking to move from capital expenditure (CapEx) to operational expenditure (OpEx) many areas of IT have seen dramatic changes. We are fully committed to providing world class networking solutions to our customers with a suite of expert service offerings that enable customers to scale their network with better predictability and cost-effectiveness.

When I talk to my peers across the industry, many CIOs face budget constraints, making it essential to do more with less. They are also being asked to help the business realise new revenue streams with technology and looking to accelerate their digital transformation plans. But with complex layers of digital infrastructure, how can they see the bigger picture and take the right action? Our Logicalis CIO study of 1,000 global CIOs found that 75% need help to unlock their data to drive successful transformation

If the last few years have taught us anything, it is that life is unpredictable. This perma-crisis of unpredictability is set to continue as we have conflicts, financial instability, and increasing natural disasters. So while CIOs are helping organisations to innovate at pace and scale, it’s never been more important to balance that momentum with risk awareness and resilience. In 2023, the role of the CIO must be to enhance existing capabilities and create new ones, while protecting the organisation from continued volatility and increased risk.

The transition to net zero offers a great opportunity for CIO’s to increase their strategic influence in their organisations. Tech leaders are in an ideal position to advance sustainability by driving digital transformation, improving energy efficiency, and reducing carbon emissions.

So unless you have been hiding in a cave or living under a large rock, you will have heard of ChatGPT - the revolutionary AI that has taken the world by storm. In its first five days, it managed to amass 1M users and looking ahead it is projected to be able to achieve revenues of $1B by the end of 2024. That is seriously impressive - and technology like this doesn’t come along very often. But what is going to be the impact on the world of this new AI and have we opened a modern-day Pandora’s Box?

At Logicalis, as we look forward to yet another busy and challenging year for the IT industry, we've put together the strategic technology trends for 2023 that can help IT leaders see through the current economic and market challenges and deliver sustainable business outcomes that matter.

Traditional SIEM solutions were deployed on premises, needing competency in sizing, scoping and considerable resources to run. Next generation SIEM solutions are Software as a Service (SaaS) based in the cloud, taking out a lot of the upfront pain at the design stage and allowing for ‘scale up’ of the platform, as the enterprise grows. Overcome the challenges to achieve SIEM success.

Get to grips with remediation and understand what it means in a business context. An EDR solution may offer remediation actions as part of its set of capabilities. But to what extent? Which teams are involved in the delivery and management of that, and where do you go if you still have questions or need advice to progress your journey towards an increased security posture?

Are you still running Windows Server 2008 R2? With Windows Server 2008 R2 reaching the end of its Extended Security Update on January 10th, it is highly recommended that you take the time to assess your current infrastructure to ensure that your organisation can continue to operate securely and efficiently.

With sustainability top of mind for everyone, organisations are demanding transparency and clarity from suppliers and partners around ESG goals today. It’s clear that businesses expect the organisations they engage with to do more to offset their environmental impact. For example, data from 2018 showed that 62 per cent of consumers wanted companies to take a stand on issues including sustainability, transparency, and fair employment; in 2022, that number has grown to 72 per cent.

So it has been 2 weeks since I attended VMware Explore in Barcelona and looking back there were a number of key announcements that were made at the event. Firstly, it was great to see so many people at an event after the last few years and also being from the rainy north of England, it was great to enjoy a little Spanish sunshine whilst taking in the learnings from the three days.

With the current economic slowdown, it looks like another recession could be on the cards in 2023. This usually heralds a period of consolidation within IT and the closing of the purse strings with regards to planned investments. In previous decades this was standard practice, but now that we’re in a digital age, many businesses can’t afford to slow down their digital transformations if they want to survive.

Sustainability is imperative to all our futures and is directly impacted by every device we use that consumes power. This includes the on-premises and cloud infrastructures that power our digital work lives. To be as sustainable as possible we need to ensure that we are consuming the least amount of infrastructure to host our workloads and services, without impacting their availability, performance or governance.

Insights into what licencing options are available and what might be the option to consider for your organisation based on some recent announcements by Microsoft. 

Today’s CIOs face key challenges around futureproofing, innovating, and the perennial skills shortage. As businesses increasingly adopt a digital-first approach, CIOs need to deliver solutions and services that are future-ready, not stuck in the past, to mitigate the risks of these challenges. For many businesses, this means it’s time to invest in products and partners that align with your vision for what’s next, and that are able and willing to help futureproof your organisation.

In partnership with IBM, Logicalis is delighted to announce a series of price promotions, covering a range of IBM rack servers and storage systems.

As new cyberattack threats continue to emerge, organisations need to think differently about how they are securing their vital data, systems, and infrastructure.

As hybrid cloud becomes the IT architecture of choice, it is tempting to think the days of the single-vendor vertical stack are numbered.

Before cloud, on-premise IT architectures tended to follow a DIY approach, piecing together best of breed offerings from different vendors - database from Oracle, storage from Netapp, compute from IBM, and so on.

I had the great pleasure last week attending and speaking at our joint Logicalis and IBM Business Intelligence & Analytics event in London, alongside some of IBM’s data and AI experts, Matthew Robinson and Louis Regan. From hearing about IBM’s future technology roadmap and how IBM tooling can deliver greater insights, it was the open conversations between customers and Logicalis and IBM experts that was truly insightful. Here are the key takeaways I learnt from the event:

More and more climate-conscious travellers are opting to take the train instead of flying. With this in mind, and a business meeting coming up in Cologne, I decided to take the 580km trip by train.

Business conditions have never been more volatile due to the cost-of-living crisis and subsequent economic shocks. How do businesses stay healthy amid inflationary worries, supply chain constraints, increasing security threats and skills shortages? The Logicalis 2021 CIO Survey found businesses are thinking outside the box. Technology decision-makers are planning to innovate their way through changing times over the next 12 months.

At a time when agility, security and resilience have never been more important, Logicalis has developed several expert service offerings that enable customers to automate cloud resource optimisation and maximise their Microsoft investment across their IT environments.

It goes without saying that the pandemic permanently changed the way people work and how organisations operate. Hybrid working has become the norm and employee expectations have evolved – and will continue to do so – as people balance professional and personal responsibilities in a way that works for them.

Business leaders need to redefine workstyles and empower people using the digital workplace as we move forward. Equipping people with optimised spaces, streamlined processes and cutting-edge technologies will support collaboration, innovation and productivity.

The workplace of today is hybrid in many ways. Physical office space remains but is combined with remote working capabilities and virtual communications. There are those who work from home full-time and there are those who split their time across different locations. The hours people work vary greatly, as do the locations they work in.

Oracle users of Database version 12.1 will move from Extended Support to Sustaining Support at the end of July 2022, ending access to new security patches and bug fixes, which would inevitably leave the database less secure, and potentially at risk of tax, legal and regulatory non-compliance.

Hybrid working, an increase in cyber-attacks and a focus on sustainability have caused businesses to confront a big decision: transition into a digital-first business or face being left behind by the competition.

Business Process Management (BPM) has had something of a chequered history in the enterprise space. While Lean, Six Sigma and other quality methodologies have led some organisations to embrace formal process management as part of their DNA, others have not achieved the same level of traction.

Thanks to William Shakespeare for lending us his eternal question to adapt. Unfortunately, when it comes to cloud the answer isn’t quite as binary - so let’s discuss this in a bit more detail over the next few minutes.

Chatbots are all around us. Visit any eCommerce website today and the chances are it’ll instantly present you with a ‘How can I help you today?’ pop-up. The global market for intelligent virtual assistants is expected to grow at a CAGR of 28.5% from 2021 to 2028, and social media is full of amusing stories of parrots and small children wreaking havoc via Alexa.

Effective Business Process Management (BPM) is an essential foundation for any successful business digitalisation and automation strategy. In summary, you can’t successfully automate a process unless you understand it fully, and BPM provides this understanding.

There are plenty of statistics around the staggering amount of data being created and consumed globally every day. 2.5 quintillion (million million million) bytes created daily by internet users, a 5000% increase in data interactions between 2010 and 2020, and so on.

Data is a valuable business asset, yet many organizations are still not managing it with the same rigour they apply to physical assets.

Recent Logicalis UKI eBooks and articles have focused on the critical role of data in digital business, from unstructured data and the role of Information Lifecycle Management to the importance of robust, business-driven data storage strategy.

As data becomes an increasingly valuable asset, organisations have to adapt, to manage and protect their data to ensure it delivers maximum value to the business.

There are plenty of informative and valuable articles on the web about trends in data storage technology, discussing everything from reducing last byte latency to the wonders of consumption-based pricing. Data and storage are hot topics, unsurprisingly in an age where, as Mckinsey puts it, ‘“digital” and “data” have become the talk of the town.’

Heritage technologies - mainframe, Unix and magnetic tape in particular – have long been a rich source for the ‘is x technology dead?’ debate. Technical pundits fill the web with head scratching over why they haven’t disappeared, or defences for their survival.

In challenging economic times, organisations naturally look to cut back or defer non-essential investment. IT spend has traditionally been one of the areas businesses look to first when the need arises to cut budgets or delay projects, sometimes creating a ‘good enough IT’ mindset, where any IT asset that is doing the job reasonably effectively today is maintained beyond the last responsible moment for replacement.

"Unix is dead, long live Unix" – a headline that is still as topical today as it was in 2009, when a blog with that title was published to mark Unix’s 40th birthday.

In its broadest sense, virtualisation can be seen as the progressive freeing up of any computing function – compute, storage, network – from the constraints of its physical infrastructure. So far, virtualisation has been a continuous evolution, from the first virtual machines (VMs) to the world of hybrid cloud, and there is no sign yet of this evolution losing momentum.