Enhancing Cyber Resiliency: The Imperative for Automated Data Protection

One of the most telling data points in the Dell 2024 Global Data Protection Index (GDPI) survey is that the majority of organizations believe GenAI will help give them an advantage over cyber criminals. This optimism is certainly understandable given that 52% of organizations reported that they experienced a cyberattack in the last 12 months that prevented them from accessing their data. GenAI could deliver much needed automation to cybersecurity management and prevention in a world still reeling from a shortfall in cybersecurity skillsets.

While the promise of GenAI unfolds, half of organizations are turning to their vendor partners to backfill gaps in their cybersecurity skillsets. On the recent Power2Protect Podcast, Securing Tomorrow: Navigating the Cyber Resilience Landscape with Dell and C1, I had a conversation with Dr. Vito Nozza, Director – Chief Advisor for the InfoSec Capabilities Group at C1, a Dell partner. The discussion focused on what tactical steps organizations can take to mitigate their cybersecurity risks while planning for a more comprehensive approach to fend off the inevitable attacks that will emerge across their hybrid multicloud environments. 

Backup Data is a Primary Target

Dr. Nozza pointed out that the average “dwell time” for cybercriminals once they penetrate your network is 210 days. During this period, they conduct reconnaissance and discovery to pinpoint weaknesses in the environment, and one of their prime targets is your backup data. This requires organizations to implement proactive measures to identify vulnerabilities so they can’t be easily exploited by cyber criminals and automated tools to detect anomalies so that threats can be quickly identified. 

Tactical Choices for Risk Mitigation

Organizations can make many tactical choices to reduce risk levels. Dr. Nozza identifies a few, including immutable data storage, dual-factor authentication and VPN usage for end-users. However, to identify and address the core vulnerabilities, it is crucial to undertake a comprehensive cyber security assessment. Leveraging automated vulnerability scanning tools and conducting tabletop working sessions with IT operations and security staff help pinpoint security gaps, leading to the formulation of best practices for improved security posture.

DevSecOps and Addressing Software Vulnerabilities

In what may be surprising to many, the top vulnerabilities contributing to ransomware attacks, as identified by a recent ESG report, Ransomware Preparedness: Lighting the Way to Readiness and Mitigation, are found within application and systems software rather than end-users falling victim to phishing attacks or clicking on malicious links. Dr. Nozza highlighted the significance of DevSecOps, integrating security into each phase of the software development lifecycle. The cultural shift required for DevSecOps implementation can be a challenge, but the stakes in the current threat landscape are pushing organizations to overcome these barriers.

Cloud Security Challenges and the Role of Automation

As organizations consider moving some workloads from public cloud to on-premises due to security concerns, the challenges of cloud security become apparent. The lack of visibility into cloud workloads and the complexity of managing multiple cloud tools contribute to security risks. Dr. Nozza suggests that automation, particularly driven by GenAI, emerges as a potential solution to bridge the gap, offering predictive tools, personalized training and automated restoration processes post-cyberattack.

The Role of GenAI in Bridging the Skills Gap

One of the biggest challenges IT and security teams have is wading through the overwhelming number of security alerts that flash across their dashboards on a daily basis. This, combined with the dozens of security and data protection tools that IT teams have to manage, make cybersecurity operations extremely challenging. GenAI’s potential to drive automation into security and data protection management could be transformative. In addition to relieving IT teams from manual operations, GenAI can filter through the noise of the heavy volume of security alerts that often consume administrative resources. In addition, by anticipating and proactively addressing threats in real-time, GenAI could significantly bolster cyber defenses while enabling IT admins and security teams to focus on strategic challenges. In short, the integration of GenAI into IT administrative processes can bridge the skills gap in cyber security, data protection, cloud infrastructure management and other key areas across IT. 

Looking Ahead: Focusing on Data Protection and Security

As organizations focus on protecting and securing their data across edge, core and cloud, the demand for services such as cyber assessment, managed detection and response, vulnerability patching and cyber recovery is expected to rise. Dr. Nozza provided insights into the future landscape, emphasizing the need for comprehensive data protection strategies and the importance of using modern data protection software with cyber vaults to reduce threat exposure.

Source: dell.com

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The Journey that Never Ends (in a Good Way)

I’ve talked in previous posts about how we guide customers to success in multicloud using a proven framework and methodology Dell Technologies follows that we’ve honed over many years. We’ve covered the strategize, implement and adopt phases of the framework, and you might be wondering—what’s next?  After all, we’ve developed a strategy, implemented the cloud according to our business requirements and helped drive adoption of the platform with our cloud consumers. Surely, we’re at the finish line, right?

The truth is the finish line doesn’t exist, at least not in the traditional sense. The final phase of the framework, the scale phase, is an iterative phase that seeks continuous improvement through data-driven insights, a continually evolving digital user experience, experience measurement and systems and services optimization for peak performance. In truth, organizations should continually revisit all phases of a cloud adoption framework as new applications, services and capabilities are introduced into its cloud environment.

Measure Continually, Cut Frequently

We’ve all heard the adage “measure twice, cut once” when it comes to constructing or building something. In the scale phase, we’re modifying that a bit to read more like “measure continually, cut frequently.” You’re never “done” with your cloud, and it requires continual improvement. You just need the data and actionable intelligence to know what to “cut” and how much.

Data needs become the driving force for optimizing cloud operations and usage. Organizations should leverage data gathered from the cloud environment, such as resource utilization, performance metrics and consumption patterns, to gain valuable insights into how the cloud is performing. These insights empower IT teams to make informed decisions, proactively address any bottlenecks or performance issues and identify areas for improvement. Making data-driven decisions ultimately leads to positive iteration in your cloud environment.

You also need to understand exactly what’s working and what’s not for your cloud consumers, and there is only so much insight you can gather from utilization metrics and response times. The reality is you may have “silent sufferers” in your organization, or those who are dissatisfied with their cloud experience but suffer in silence over the limitations they encounter. In most cases, the silent sufferer simply stops using the cloud and goes elsewhere for the cloud services they need (or worse, spreads negative feelings amongst their peer consumers). Performing regular surveys of key cloud consumers and stakeholders will give you that real “boots on the ground” intelligence about how the cloud is working and what needs to be improved, which can also influence the future cloud roadmap. Employee experience is a key contributor to driving adoption and scale of your cloud!

A Familiar Experience

Prioritizing the user experience and providing a cloud environment that is familiar and easy to use is another important element to driving scale. Today people are accustomed to intuitive and user-friendly interfaces, often provided by popular cloud services like Apple, Google, Dropbox and Spotify, among others, and they expect the same from their enterprise cloud services. Therefore, organizations must aim to offer a similarly streamlined experience that looks good while providing quick and easy access to the workloads, systems and services cloud consumers need to do their jobs.

Cloud services should provide transparency in terms of cost, availability and performance by tier level, enabling cloud consumers to choose the best cloud to use based on their individual requirements. A clean, efficient service catalog for your cloud can encourage people to use it while minimizing the learning curve for new users, encouraging faster onboarding and broader adoption across the organization.

Hands On/Hands Off

For some customers, managing the ongoing operations of their cloud environments can be a burden that limits innovation and reduces the overall experience. Dell supports our customers in this phase by offering a comprehensive set of Managed Services, enabling them to hand off the day-to-day operations of their cloud environments to an experienced team at Dell. Our customers report doing so allows them to focus on innovating for the business rather than spending time on operational tasks that require high levels of team member involvement.

Revisit The Roadmap

Back in the strategize phase we discussed how Dell helps our customers create a roadmap to success and define what good looks like in order to align with an organization’s business objectives. In the scale phase, this now becomes the barometer for evaluating cloud success and aligning it with the broader business strategy.

Regular measurement and reporting of success criteria enable business stakeholders and leaders to assess the impact of cloud adoption. Key success criteria may include cost savings, improvements in system performance, enhanced scalability and increased user productivity. These measurements help build confidence in the value of cloud adoption and justify ongoing investments in multicloud services. The cloud journey never stops but continues to evolve and iterate to meet the ever-changing needs of the business.

The scale phase of the framework is a critical juncture where we help customers refine and expand their cloud environments for maximum efficiency and user satisfaction. Cloud adoption is not a one-time creation process but rather a continuous journey that requires ongoing commitment, iteration and improvement to keep providing the services and capabilities organizations need to compete. Dell Technologies Services uses our multicloud adoption framework to help customers at all phases of their cloud journey and help them continue to evolve, grow and take advantage of their cloud investments.

Source: dell.com

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Dell’s Direct Liquid Cooled Servers Scale with Intel Power

More demand is being placed on data center air cooling systems due to the increased power density of the rack. This density is the result of the need for additional compute performance driven by AI, high-performance computing (HPC) and other workloads and the subsequent chip design required to deliver that performance. It is expected that processor and accelerator power will only continue to grow from today’s 300W to 1000W and beyond. While the traditional air cooling widely used in data centers globally has evolved, there is a need for newer technologies, such as liquid cooling, to address increased cooling requirements. With liquid cooling technologies, data centers can also achieve cost savings and sustainability benefits.

Innovations from Intel and Dell Technologies provide energy efficient cooling solutions for today’s and tomorrow’s compute and data center needs.

New-to-4th Gen Intel Xeon Scalable processors, including the Xeon Platinum 8480+ or the Xeon Platinum 8470N, have a full set of built-in accelerators that deliver performance and energy savings. These accelerators, continued in the latest 5th Gen Intel Xeon processors, cover a wide variety of workloads including AI, security and storage and enable up to 10x higher performance/watt. ¹

At a system level, Dell Technologies has collaborated with Intel to deliver dense, high-performance computing with liquid cooling for many years, starting with the 2019 launch of liquid-cooled C6420 servers with Intel Xeon SP processors. Inside of these servers, small heat exchangers, or cold plates, are mounted to the top of the processor. This technology is known as direct to chip, DTC, or direct liquid cooled, DLC. A mixture of water and propylene glycol is pumped directly to the cold plate where it whisks heat away into the fluid. The resulting warm fluid is pumped to a heat exchanger inside the coolant distribution unit (CDU), where it exchanges the heat with cooler facility water to cool the liquid back down. This is a closed system that continuously pumps liquid to the chips and back through the circuit to the heat exchanger; no water is lost or consumed in the process. The cold plates are used to cool the high-powered heavy hitters in the system, such as CPUs and GPUs, while air is used to the cool the rest of the components.

Over the subsequent years, Dell launched additional server platforms with direct to chip liquid cooling (DLC) as an option. With the latest generation, Dell has made 12 more server platforms DLC-ready. These platforms enable the use of innovative processors like the Intel Xeon 8470Q with 52 cores and on-board HBM memory.

One notable example is the DLC-cooled Dell PowerEdge XE9640. It ships with four powerful Intel Data Center GPU Max 1550 processors and is one of the most powerful platforms available for HPC and AI/ML applications today. Although these servers still use air to cool lower-powered components, liquid cooling with cold plates enabled Dell to pack four GPUs and two CPUs into a 2U form factor while cutting hundreds of watts of fan power that would otherwise be needed.

In addition to the water and energy savings as a sustainability benefit, liquid cooling opens up the possibility of heat reuse from the cooling system for other applications such as building heating, heating greenhouses and farms, and industrial manufacturing.

Dell Technologies and Intel enable no-compromise compute power with greater energy efficiency through liquid cooling.

Source: dell.com

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Enhance Your Retail Experience with Dell PowerEdge XR Servers

In today’s fast-paced and ever-evolving retail landscape, success hinges on innovation, efficiency and adaptability. Dell Technologies recognizes that the intersection of cutting-edge technology and changing consumer behavior is paving the way for new opportunities and challenges in the retail sector. As IT decision makers in the retail industry, it’s crucial to stay ahead of the competition by leveraging the power of enterprise computing and data-driven insights.

The National Retail Federation forecasts robust retail sales growth in 2023—between 4% and 6%, with total sales projected to reach between $5.13 trillion and $5.23 trillion. This impressive growth rate exceeds the pre-pandemic average, signaling a thriving retail industry. However, with growth comes challenges, and retailers must harness technology to address two primary obstacles of enticing customers back into physical stores and improving on-site operations and lowering operational costs.

Dell Technologies helps retailers take advantage of the latest technologies to deliver hyper-personalized experiences to their customers, improve operations and lower cost. Specifically, retailers can deploy on-site edge computing solutions in individual stores to process and analyze real-time data from sensors, cameras and point-of-sale systems. Dell’s edge computing solutions enable retailers to seamlessly capture data at the edge and transform it into actionable insights.

Personalization Drives Customer Engagement

In a competitive market, winning the hearts and minds of customers is paramount. By harnessing the power of data analysis, artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), retailers can hyper-personalize interactions. Studies show that shoppers are more likely to make a purchase when brands offer personalized experiences. Through tailored recommendations, personalized offers and customized experiences, retailers can foster deeper customer engagement and loyalty, ultimately boosting sales performance.

Omnichannel Retailing

The COVID-19 pandemic accelerated online shopping trends. However, luring customers back to physical stores remains essential to retailers’ success, as customers are more likely to “impulse buy.” With omnichannel strategies, retailers can seamlessly integrate their physical and digital channels. Customers can place more “buy-online pick-up in-store” (BOPIS) orders efficiently, leading to increased sales.

Optimizing Inventory Management

Reducing nil picks—instances when online orders are out of stock upon pickup—is vital. Advanced inventory management systems with real-time updates and predictive analytics allow retailers to accurately forecast demand, minimize nil picks and improve order fulfillment accuracy.

Enhancing the Mobile Shopping Experience

Mobile commerce has reshaped retail by offering convenient purchasing options and personalized recommendations. AI-powered product recommendations and dynamic pricing strategies can increase sales. Mobile technology also empowers store associates to access real-time inventory data, process transactions and provide personalized service, enhancing the overall customer experience.

Seamless Returns Instill Customer Trust

Streamlining the returns process is critical for fostering customer trust and loyalty. Automated return management systems can reduce return rates by providing hassle-free return experiences. Combine this with user-friendly, mobile-enabled applications, and employees can interact with customers confidently—with intelligent upselling and via a seamless returns process.

Improving Operations and Lowering Costs

Shrinkage costs retailers an estimated $61.7 billion annually. Technology, including computer vision applications and AI-powered inventory management, can address these challenges. Automated inventory management systems improve turnover rates by 20% and reduce manual errors. AI-driven solutions minimize overstocking and reduce the risk of markdowns and waste.

Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality

Retailers can sell on value rather than price by implementing augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) solutions. AR and VR solutions allow customers to experience a product and see its benefits before committing to purchasing it. These immersive experiences can increase sales conversion rates by elevating the perceived value of products.

Success Begins with the Right Infrastructure Technology

To navigate the rapidly changing retail landscape successfully, modernizing the IT infrastructure is paramount. Retailers must invest in scalable systems, cloud-ready computing and robust cybersecurity measures to run their evolving technology. Integration of on-premises edge computing solutions on a per-store basis is critical for real-time operational workloads and data utilization. Dell Technologies’ portfolio of edge and hybrid cloud solutions supports the applications retailers need to be successful. Tailored to address the unique needs of retailers, these infrastructure solutions prioritize data security and allow for scalability, simplified deployment and flexible acquisition options.

In an era of digital transformation, retailers must harness technology to enhance profitability, improve operational efficiency and deliver exceptional customer experiences. Dell Technologies offers a comprehensive package to empower retailers in their journey towards success. By embracing advanced technological solutions, retailers can unlock their full potential and position themselves for sustained growth in an increasingly digital world. Update your technology today to stay ahead of the curve and drive success in the retail industry.

Source: dell.com

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Dell’s Workspace ONE Solutions: From Setup to Success

Managing diverse devices across multiple environments has always posed a challenge for IT administrators. And today, ensuring both security and end-user productivity adds an extra layer of complexity. In the era of hybrid work, this has become even more challenging as organizations navigate the balance between remote and on-site work. To make life easier for IT admins, Dell Technologies and Workspace ONE offer several manageability solutions.

For years, Workspace ONE has been a leading digital workspace solution that streamlines end-user computing experiences, providing secure access to applications and data across devices. Just like streaming entertainment services, Workspace ONE solutions are also available in hassle-free subscription service models. Though Workspace ONE allows IT to manage everything in a unified manner, the implementation process can be a daunting task. Our goal is to provide customers with a seamless experience, enabling them to gain the advantages of Workspace ONE with minimal impact to existing resources.

When you use Dell Services for your Workspace ONE deployment, you gain access to solutions tailored to your specific business challenges—from setup to asset management. And if you encounter any issues, our team is here to help. The Dell Professional Services team offers a range of solutions to support organizations using Workspace ONE.

• Digital employee experience management. Since user feedback matters to modern IT organizations, this feature allows you to gain insights into how employees feel when using devices and apps. Armed with this valuable information, you can address issues before they become major headaches, ensuring your employees enjoy a positive digital work environment while maintaining eNPS targets.
• Zero Trust implementation services. Security is a top priority, and this service simplifies the process. It ensures the security of devices and apps through Workspace ONE’s control, aligning with your organization’s Zero Trust security model.
• Integration services for ServiceNow. Keeping your existing workflows running smoothly is crucial. This service simplifies device tracking and support using Workspace ONE, seamlessly fitting into your current ServiceNow workflow without causing disruptions.

Through close collaboration with customers, Dell Technologies and Workspace ONE have developed a comprehensive set of services that set you up for success. The future of work awaits and it’s time to embrace it with confidence. Want to learn more? Read our datasheet on implementation services.

Source: dell.com

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Navigating the Edge Computing Revolution: Peering into the Future

Imagine stepping into a world where data comes alive right before your eyes, presenting you with actionable insights as they emerge. This isn’t a sci-fi plot but the promise of edge computing—a transformative technology rapidly gaining traction.

In essence, edge computing processes data right where it’s generated, be it a retail store, a manufacturing hub or a bustling smart city. This approach offers impressive speed and efficiency, unlocking opportunities for businesses to innovate and gain a significant edge (pun intended). For instance, we’re already witnessing the influence of edge computing in sectors like retail through omnichannel retailing and with the evolution of smart factories under Industry 4.0.

Now, let’s look at some intriguing numbers: the global edge computing market is projected to skyrocket from a valuation of $15.96 billion in 2023 to a staggering $139.58 billion by 2030. Such growth doesn’t just signify adoption but screams the immense benefits this technology offers. According to Dell Technologies research, a significant 41% of IT decision makers believe edge is the cornerstone of their IT strategy, reflecting the urgency among businesses to harness data insights lest they lag behind competitors.

So, what makes edge computing so compelling?

• Minimized response times. With data being processed closer to where it’s generated, latencies plummet. This is especially crucial in our burgeoning 5G world, where quick insights are not a luxury but a necessity.
• Addressing complex data management. With data sources scattered everywhere—from factories to retail spaces—managing them becomes more challenging than within the confines of a traditional data center. Solutions like Dell’s PowerEdge XR servers are tailored for this, offering powerful management tools even for remote environments.
• Unlocking knowledge with AI. The edge isn’t just about data collection; it’s also about on-site analytics. From improving transportation with vehicle-to-vehicle communication to improving fleet management, edge computing combined with AI is a game changer.
• Prioritizing security. In our digital age, data security has never been more important. With edge servers often situated in exposed locations, bolstering security is vital. Given the rise of cyber threats, there’s a push toward Zero Trust environments, and Dell PowerEdge XR servers are stepping up to this challenge.
• Growing without constraints. As the growth of data continues to accelerate, the ability of servers to scale and adapt is paramount. Edge servers are designed to endure tough conditions —think dust, vibrations and wild temperature swings—without a hitch.

But amidst all these tech discussions, let’s not lose the human touch. Behind every piece of data is a person, and edge computing aims to make their experience seamless, whether they’re a shopper in a mall, a worker in a factory or a resident of a smart city.

Dell Technologies is paving this path toward a brighter, data-driven future. Our PowerEdge servers are not just pieces of hardware; they’re enablers of change, helping organizations smoothly sail the edge computing waters.

Source: dell.com

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Empowering Retail Evolution in 2024

As the new year begins, retail organizations are evaluating the past year and aligning on how best to maximize operations and profitability for the coming year. As they consider the role technology plays in these pursuits, Dell Technologies can help retailers plan for the road ahead and understand both the known and unknown challenges they face.

Retailers are constantly trying to create better customer and employee experiences and are concerned with how to deliver more capabilities inside their stores while consolidating technology, resources and expenses. Dell Technologies and its vast partner ecosystem provide the opportunity to address existing and new technology pursuits that can create value. David Dobson, Global Industry Director and Retail COE Lead at Intel Corporation believes that “when considering technology projects like artificial intelligence projects, retailers should consider what they need to implement to get short-term and long-term value.”

Leveraging Technology to Deliver Value for Retailers

Dell NativeEdge platform, powered by Intel, centralizes and streamlines edge operations at scale across the edge estate with infrastructure management using Zero Trust security capabilities and zero-touch provisioning.

With the industry’s broadest portfolio of edge infrastructure hardware and industry-leading secure supply chain, Dell Technologies can digitally sign and certify hardware in the factory. This enables automated deployment and configuration of the edge infrastructure managed by NativeEdge, while ensuring a Zero Trust chain of custody.

Built on an open design, Dell NativeEdge offers retailers the flexibility to choose the ISV applications and multicloud environments for chosen edge application workloads. Organizations can centrally and consistently deploy containerized and virtual applications anywhere using blueprints to work with choices of IoT frameworks and OT vendors.

These days, it’s hard to talk about retail without addressing loss prevention. Retailers face a constant barrage of illegal activities from in-store loss prevention to organized crime pursuits. Dell Technologies offers retailers AI-enabled loss prevention capabilities, and our experts help advise customers navigate general theft and shoplifting, employee theft, return fraud, people flow, safety analytics and many other use cases.

Visit Dell Technologies Retail Experts at Retail’s Big Show

2024 is getting off to a fast start, and Dell Technologies will be in full force at the National Retail Federation’s (NRF) Retail’s Big Show, January 14 to 16 in New York City.

A key highlight of our presence at the event this year will be “Clara,” our generative AI digital concierge. Experience a “real” conversation to discuss our presence at NRF and learn more about Dell Technologies in retail. This generative AI capability can apply in multiple retail use cases, including front-of-store concierge assistance, answering questions about a store and its services and products. Retailers can train the necessary language models to support “conversations” they would like to have with their customers and employees.

We will have several experts available at the show to discuss our solutions, demonstrate key capabilities and answer retail questions.

Empowering Retail Evolution with Dell Technologies

No matter where you are in your digital transformation journey, we look forward to discussing how retail organizations can deliver on the promise of creating better customer and employee experiences with digital intelligence.

Source: dell.com

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A Guide to Mobile Broadband and PC Connectivity Options

In the dynamic landscape of mobile connectivity, choosing the right broadband option for your PC is critical to ensure a seamless and productive digital experience. In this guide, we’ll explore and compare the strengths and limitations of different mobile broadband options, including 4G LTE, 5G and traditional Wi-Fi, empowering informed decision making when choosing Dell Connected PCs, based on their unique needs.

4G LTE: Riding the Fourth Generation Wave

Introduced to the market as the fourth-generation wireless technology, 4G revolutionized mobile communication by delivering faster internet speeds and improved data transfer rates for mobile devices. Its launch marked a significant advancement over 3G, providing seamless multimedia streaming, quicker downloads and enhanced mobile communication experiences. Today, it continues to be widely used and popular globally for mobile communication.

Strengths:

• Proven reliability. 4G LTE has been a stalwart in the mobile connectivity arena, offering reliable and consistent internet speeds.
• Widespread coverage. 4G networks are well-established globally, providing broad coverage in urban and suburban areas.
• Mature technology. With years of refinement, 4G LTE is a mature technology that balances speed and efficiency.

Limitations:

• Speed variability. While generally fast, actual 4G speeds can vary based on network congestion and geographical location.
• Upgradability. As newer technologies like 5G emerge, 4G LTE may eventually face limitations in meeting the growing demand for higher speeds and lower latency.

5G: Surfing the Fifth Generation Wave

5G, the fifth-generation wireless technology, represents the latest evolution in mobile communications standards, offering even faster internet speeds and significantly improved data transfer capabilities for mobile devices. Introduced to the market as a successor to 4G, 5G brings unprecedented advancements, enabling ultra-fast downloads and low-latency communication, and supporting the widespread connectivity of emerging technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT).

Strengths:

• Blazing speeds. 5G promises significantly faster speeds, enabling high-bandwidth applications like augmented reality and 4K video streaming.
• Low latency. With reduced latency, 5G enhances real-time communication, making it ideal for online gaming and video conferencing.
• Capacity for many devices. 5G networks are designed to accommodate a vast number of connected devices simultaneously.

Limitations:

• Limited coverage. While expanding rapidly, 5G coverage may be limited in certain regions, especially rural areas.
• Device compatibility. Not all PCs are equipped with 5G modems, so users should ensure device compatibility before opting for this technology.

Wi-Fi: The Time-Tested Connection

Wi-Fi, short for Wireless Fidelity, is a technology that enables wireless networking by allowing devices to connect to the internet and communicate with each other using radio waves. Widely adopted for its convenience, Wi-Fi provides users with the flexibility to access high-speed internet wirelessly, fostering seamless connectivity for various devices, and is traditionally the way most PCs access the internet.

Strengths:

• Ubiquity. Wi-Fi is widely available, with most urban areas, offices and homes providing access.
• Cost effectiveness. Many locations offer free or affordable Wi-Fi access, reducing reliance on cellular data plans.
• Ease of use. Connecting to Wi-Fi is straightforward and requires minimal setup.

Limitations:

• Dependency on infrastructure. Wi-Fi availability is contingent on the presence of routers and access points.
• Password requirement. Requirement to get a password to access the network which might include fees and/or registration.
• Variable network speed and range. Network speed and range depends on version of Wi-Fi available and number of concurrent connected users.
• Security concerns. Public Wi-Fi networks can pose security risks, requiring users to exercise caution when accessing sensitive information.

Making an Informed Decision

Choosing the right mobile broadband option for your PC involves considering your usage patterns, location and the level of performance required. Whether you opt for the reliability of 4G LTE, the cutting-edge capabilities of 5G or the convenience of Wi-Fi, understanding the strengths and limitations of each technology will guide you toward a more informed decision. As we ride the waves of connectivity, the key is to find the right option that aligns with your specific needs and propels your digital experience to new heights.

Source: dell.com

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Charting a Path to Cyber Resilient Data Protection

The latest Dell Global Data Protection Index (GDPI) reinforces the importance of staying the course when it comes to protecting data in today’s digitally transformed world. Navigating the complex terrain of data protection remains a formidable challenge and demands a steadfast commitment to understanding all the risks that can threaten an organization’s data. The latest GDPI brings into focus new insights into the heightened threat of cyberattacks, the rise of generative AI (GenAI) and the ongoing expansion into multicloud environments.

Cyber threats continue to grow and remain at the top of the list for causes of organizational disruption, with 52% of respondents reporting a cyberattack that prevented access to data within the past 12 months. This is the highest percentage in more than five years. The monetary impact on organizations is considerable with costs more than doubling over our last report.

This trend is concerning, as 75% of organizations surveyed are worried their existing data protection measures are unable to cope with ransomware threats and 69% reporting they are not very confident they could reliably recover in the event of a destructive cyberattack. Yet despite these perspectives, most organizations (59%) invest more in cyber prevention than cyber recovery. Knowing successful attacks are on the rise, organizations must carefully consider the balance between prevention and recovery.

Another reoccurring red flag is that 81% of organizations believe the rise in remote workers, fueled by the pandemic and still prevalent today, has increased their exposure to data loss from a cyberattack. This sentiment is up from 70% in our last research findings.

We also uncovered new insights regarding the use and effectiveness of insurance policies to help mitigate an organization’s financial exposure. While 93% of organizations cited the use of ransomware insurance policies, they noted several conditions could limit coverage. For example, 57% responded their insurance providers required proof of best practices for cyber threat prevention, 40% indicated some scenarios would void the policy and 40% pointed to the fact that payments to some entities may be restricted by law.

In the end, 85% of organizations had to pay to access their data. So, while insurance policies can be a valid component of a cybersecurity strategy, organizations must understand their limitations.

In response to these growing threats, organizations are not sitting still when it comes to fortifying their cyber resiliency. Several trends indicate organizations are becoming more proactive, with 50% bringing in professional services to bolster resources, 49% conducting regular cyber recovery testing and 42% having deployed a cyber vault with physical and logical separation from production data.

For the first time, the GDPI probed the impact of GenAI on both the cyber threat landscape and future data protection requirements. According to the report, 52% believe GenAI will provide an advantage to their organization’s cyber security posture and 27% feel GenAI will initially provide an advantage to cyber criminals. Beyond the impact of enhanced prevention and new threats, 88% agree GenAI is likely to generate large volumes of new data and increase the value of certain data types they will need to consider when mapping out their future data protection strategies.

While multicloud is still the preferred strategy for organizations seeking to deploy or update applications, data protection continues to be a major concern. Of IT decision makers surveyed, 79% are not very confident their organization can protect all the data across their public clouds, and 40% of organizations cite challenges over data security in public, multicloud environments. Continuing to increase confidence in multicloud data protection and cyber security is critical, considering the majority (more than 56%) of respondents believe these are the most important capabilities for enabling operations.

As organizations increasingly turn to public cloud solutions, implement hybrid working models and experiment with GenAI, the criticality of data protection is more evident than ever. Yet, securing and safeguarding digital assets is becoming a more complex challenge for many. In a landscape continuously threatened by cyberattacks, businesses need to chart a path and stay the course. The journey is a marathon, not a sprint.

The Dell Global Data Protection Index, commissioned through Vanson Bourne, surveyed 1,500 IT and IT security decision makers from a wide range of public and private industries in September and October 2023 across the globe.

Source: dell.com

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Navigating the Next Sustainable Frontier

In our previous blog, we focused on where the sustainability puck is, our overall research and where we are going in helping our telecom and enterprise customers reach their sustainability goals. Where does the puck go next? Out to the edge! What is interesting about the edge is that, as we make an impact in edge sustainability, I see the ROI for both communications service providers (CSPs) and the enterprise, making implementing these solutions even more compelling.

5G has been called “the Enterprise G” because CSPs have the potential to monetize their network investments as they work to solve enterprise challenges, leveraging their highly distributed network to process data where it is generated—at the edge and at customer sites. And if CSPs can build edge solutions with sustainability in mind, their ROI will be potentially better due to reductions in energy consumption. In our research with GSMA Intelligence, we found that by retaining 20% of traffic at the edge (instead of sending it to the cloud), there is a potential overall reduction in energy use of 15%. Similarly, at a higher scale, if 40% of edge data were retained, this would translate into an energy savings of just over 30% (see Figure 8 below). There are, of course, variations on this, but the edge can be more efficient if CSPs make better use of it in building enterprise solutions.

Sustainability at the Edge

When we think about moving workloads to the edge, we also need to consider the environmental requirements the hardware solutions will need to support. Edge environments require compute solutions that are ruggedized to handle harsh environments such as extreme heat and cold, high humidity, etc. For example, think about a CSP deployment of a private wireless solution in a manufacturing facility. The CSP would bring the hardware directly to the manufacturing customer and deploy it on-site, needing to ensure it can handle environmental conditions not typical of a traditional data center without the need for constant monitoring or replacement.

Flexible and independent sled configurations for servers are key to allow for deploying virtually any workload to the edge. Ensuring your hardware has ease of upgrading makes it possible to ride the wave of new technology, improving performance and lowering TCO.

In addition to being edge-ready and flexible, this equipment also needs to be efficient. Enterprise customers are deploying edge solutions to save themselves time and money. By not using a lot of power (people or energy) to maintain their equipment, the ROI is even greater—making the sales more compelling for CSPs.

AI, Management and Edge Compute

AI inferencing is increasingly being done at the edge, hence the term “EdgeAI.” This has opened up new opportunities for edge use cases that were previously unimaginable, building solutions like self-driving cars and video surveillance. As we capture more and more data at the source (the edge), it is important that CSPs have an energy-efficient approach as they deploy AI-enabled edge infrastructure. This will help minimize latency and enable real-time decision-making, which is crucial for many applications.

In addition to bringing AI to the edge, CSPs must be able to deploy and manage their (now) distributed hardware wherever it is outside of a data center. Dell NativeEdge helps enterprises securely scale their edge operations using automation, open design, Zero Trust security principles and multicloud connectivity. This means edge use cases across various industries can now securely power any workload, anywhere, to achieve desired business outcomes.

Today, more sustainable edge hardware like the PowerEdge XR8000 is a must, and the research with the GSMAi underscores the significance of an energy “dividend” by leveraging efficient processing at the edge. As industries across the board increasingly adopt edge computing, they not only enhance their operational efficiency but also contribute to sustainability efforts. The potential energy savings are not just theoretical; they translate into real-world impact, reducing the carbon footprint of digital operations in key industries.

As we look to the future, embracing edge computing in tandem with responsible practices and innovations is not just a choice, it’s an imperative. At Dell Technologies, we are excited about the future of sustainability at the edge and are well-positioned to drive these changes, paving the way for a more sustainable and efficient digital landscape. Learn more on how to push the edge to net zero.

Source: dell.com

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How to Keep Device Trust Close to the Vest

Here’s a painful reality of cybersecurity: When you harden one attack surface, adversaries just move on to softer targets. As a result, we’ve seen a growing number of attempts exploiting vulnerabilities at the device level, which were once considered rare due to the technical skills needed to execute these kinds of attacks. According to a 2023 survey of global ITDMs conducted by Futurum Group, 69% of organizations report a hardware or firmware level attack. That’s up 1.5X since the 2020 study!

Breaches can happen at dozens of points along the device lifecycle, and as we saw in recent years, supply chain is a growing attack vector. The Executive Order in 2021 was an important step toward strengthening the resilience of U.S. supply chains—but there’s still much work to be done. As attackers’ methods become more sophisticated, product tampering becomes increasingly difficult to spot. How can organizations reduce the risk of tampering at the supply chain level?

With platform certificates. Let me explain.

Recently, the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) issued a “blueprint” for the secure procurement of hardware, including laptops, desktops and servers. The guide effectively creates a new industry standard for procuring and receiving hardware that can be applied to verify authenticity. Included are the criteria for deploying an acceptance test, as well as qualifying example solutions in line with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the Federal organization that offers guidance on standards and measurements to advance technology.

Dell Technologies was actually one of eight technology vendors that participated in developing the example with Secured Component Verification (SCV). Built to the platform attribute certificate standards developed by the Trusted Computing Group (TCG), SCV aligns with the DoD’s recent guidance. It provides a digital certificate that not only contains a list of all internal components, but also ties hardware to a specific manufacturer, model and serial number. With SCV in place, customers have assurance through the platform certificate that components are delivered to them as ordered and per spec. The DoD views Dell’s platform certificate as a critical artifact used as part of an acceptance test that should be performed when the device arrives at an organization’s receiving department.

Dell has offered SCV for some time, for both devices and servers. Two things make Dell’s platform certificate unique among others available in the market. First, Dell offers two versions of SCV for devices to account for customers’ unique IT environments. SCV on Cloud offers secure certificate storage and retrieval within Dell’s secure cloud environment. It automates the process by making the component verification easily viewable via tools such as TechDirect (Dell’s online portal), Windows Event Log and endpoint managers such as Microsoft Intune. For customers who must use air-gapped environments (i.e., those that are isolated from unsecured systems and networks), SCV on Device is also available.

The second reason SCV is differentiated in the market: Dell manages the entire solution in-house, from collection of component information and certificate creation to storage and retrieval. That’s because root of trust (the first code that runs in a PC when it’s turned on) is foundational to Dell Endpoint Security. By taking on this end-to-end ownership and not ceding our processes or customers’ data to outside parties, we maintain tighter control on our supply chain and mitigate potential risk introduced by outside parties.

We know the DoD’s guidance will be on the minds of global organizations and federal governments as the next buying cycle approaches.

Source: dell.com

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Concept Luna – What’s Next?

Technology is the backbone of our economy, and as a global technology leader, our customers need our hardware and solutions to run their businesses. At Dell Technologies, we have ambitious ESG goals to use more sustainable and recycled materials and to take back as many products as we sell to reduce waste and keep materials in use longer. We know these are ambitious goals, because that’s what the world needs right now—everyone contributing meaningfully to combat the estimated 54 million metric tons of e-waste produced globally each year. Dell has the scale and commitment to lead our industry in driving a more circular economy—and we’re going all in.

In just the last couple of years, our work on sustainability-related innovations has produced more than 430 patent applications as we infuse sustainability across our portfolio. The potential impact of these individual initiatives, viewed across a diverse product line like Dell’s, is exponential.

Inspired by Concept Luna

Concept Luna, introduced two years ago, is our vision of technology in a future world where nothing goes to waste. Our work on Concept Luna has inspired and accelerated circular design—from monitors and laptops to servers and storage, and everything in between.

Concept Luna provided inspiration to company-wide teams and has served as a catalyst to accelerate work in different areas: Modular design; design for repair, refurbish and recycle; and reducing emissions by sourcing more sustainable materials and energy efficient components.

Circular design in products means keeping materials and products in circulation as long as possible. Our initiatives fall into four interconnected areas:

• Modular design. Using modular components, we’re reducing adhesives and screws and making our products easy to access for repair and upgrades, and to extend the lifespan of products and components. In the coming year, you will see more modular components, like a serviceable display panel, as well as continued reductions in the number of adhesives and screws in our devices.
• Emissions reduction. We’re designing products with energy-efficient components, sustainable materials and fewer materials, overall, to reduce waste and our reliance on newly mined or created materials. We have bolstered our commitment to sustainable materials by increasing our use of recycled steel, low emissions and recycled aluminum, and we are introducing recycled cobalt for laptop batteries in 2024. Using sustainable and recycled materials in our technology takes time and commitment. We are building supply chains for materials that don’t currently exist in our industry but that hold up to durability and performance standards our customers have come to expect from Dell.
• Intelligent telemetry. We’re using digital tools like predictive analytics, AI and machine learning, as well as digital entry points to access device diagnostics and, ultimately, extend the life of components.
• Repair, Refurbish, Recycle. We offer services that make it easy to return and recycle end-of-life technology and resources that promote accessible repair. This bolsters our ability to harvest components and materials that can be reused, refurbished and recycled.

Igniting Action

We set out to engineer all that was possible with Concept Luna. We’re devoted to taking what we’ve learned and incorporating it into how we accelerate circular design across our breadth of products more quickly. This approach is reinforced by customer feedback, which stressed the importance of balancing ease of repair and performance with security, durability, reliability and longevity needs.

This is important work, and we are proud of the industry conversations and progress our explorations like Concept Luna have propelled. All companies should embrace circular design and big, out-of-the-box thinking. For us, Concept Luna started as a futuristic vision but has become the catalyst to accelerate company-wide commitments and initiatives to achieve ambitious ESG goals and positively impact business, people and the planet.

Source: dell.com

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