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NETWORKcomputing<br />

I N F O R M A T I O N A N D C O M M U N I C A T I O N S – N E T W O R K E D www.networkcomputing.co.uk<br />

A GREAT NIGHT FOR NETWORKING<br />

Discover this year’s Network Computing Awards winners inside!<br />

SMOOTH OPERATOR<br />

Getting NetOps and<br />

SecOps in harmony<br />

DEVICE AS A SERVICE<br />

The evolution of end-user<br />

computing<br />

ESTABLISHING ZERO<br />

TRUST<br />

Why a machine identity<br />

management policy is key<br />

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> VOL 33 NO 03


SAVE THE DATE<br />

RDS, Dublin: 20-21 Nov <strong>2024</strong><br />

Infrastructure • Services • Solutions<br />

DataCentres Ireland combines a dedicated exhibition and<br />

multi-streamed conference to address every aspect of<br />

planning, designing and operating your Datacentre, Server/<br />

Comms room and Digital storage solution – Whether<br />

internally, outsourced or in the Cloud.<br />

DataCentres Ireland is the largest and most complete event in<br />

the country. It is where you will meet the key decision makers as<br />

well as those directly involved in the day to day operations.<br />

EVENT HIGHLIGHTS I<strong>NC</strong>LUDE:<br />

Multi Stream Conference<br />

25 Hours of Conference Content<br />

International & Local Experts<br />

Entry to ALL aspects of<br />

DataCentres Ireland is FREE<br />

• Market Overview<br />

• Power Sessions<br />

• Connectivity<br />

• Regional Developments<br />

• Open Compute Project<br />

• Heat Networks and the Data Centre<br />

• Renewable Energy<br />

• Standby Generation<br />

• Updating Legacy Data Centres<br />

Meet your market<br />

60+ Speakers & Panellists<br />

100+ Exhibitors<br />

Networking Reception<br />

Ticket & Registration<br />

Sponsor<br />

Lanyard Sponsor<br />

For the latest information & to register online visit<br />

www.datacentres-ireland.com


COMMENT<br />

COMMENT<br />

ARE WE SPEAKING AI'S LANGUAGE YET?<br />

Anew survey from intelligent automation experts ABBYY this month has focused on the<br />

'FOMO' experienced by organisations in the UK and worldwide when it comes to adopting<br />

AI. Conducted in June, the Intelligent Automation: AI Trust Barometer <strong>2024</strong> survey asked<br />

1,200 IT decision makers in the UK, US, France, Germany, Australia and Singapore about their<br />

levels of trust in AI and their deployment of the technology. In the UK respondents reported that<br />

their average AI investment reached £730,000 in the past year despite more than a third (37%)<br />

of business leaders having concerns about implementation costs. Almost all (95%) of the UK business<br />

leaders surveyed said they plan to increase their AI investment in the year ahead, with just<br />

over half (52%) stating that a key driver for adoption was pressure from customers. However<br />

'hype' for AI was not seen as an important factor for the UK respondents, with only 18% saying it<br />

was a consideration.<br />

The main AI fears reported concerned misuse of the technology by their own staff and cost (both<br />

37%), concerns about data protection (36%), AI hallucinations (35%), and compliance risk (32%).<br />

Interestingly the UK respondents reported a very high level of trust in AI tools at 85% with small<br />

language models (SLMs) or purpose-built AI (92%) deemed the most trustworthy. The UK also<br />

reported the highest levels of generative AI use, with 77% saying they use it compared with 65%<br />

globally. Commenting, Maxime Vermeir, Senior Director of AI Strategy at ABBYY, said, "It's no surprise<br />

to me that organisations have more trust in small language models due to the tendency of<br />

LLMs (large language models) to hallucinate and provide inaccurate and possibly harmful outcomes.<br />

We're seeing more business leaders moving to SLMs to better address their specific business<br />

needs, enabling more trustworthy results."<br />

REVIEWS:<br />

Dave Mitchell<br />

DEPUTY EDITOR: Mark Lyward<br />

(netcomputing@btc.co.uk)<br />

PRODUCTION: Abby Penn<br />

(abby.penn@btc.co.uk)<br />

DESIGN: Ian Collis<br />

(ian.collis@btc.co.uk<br />

SALES:<br />

David Bonner<br />

(david.bonner@btc.co.uk)<br />

SUBSCRIPTIONS: Christina Willis<br />

(christina.willis@btc.co.uk)<br />

PUBLISHER: John Jageurs<br />

(john.jageurs@btc.co.uk)<br />

Published by Barrow & Thompkins<br />

Connexion Ltd (BTC)<br />

35 Station Square,<br />

Petts Wood, Kent, BR5 1LZ<br />

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£62/year, £115/two years, £168/three years<br />

© <strong>2024</strong> Barrow & Thompkins Connexion Ltd.<br />

All rights reserved. No part of the magazine<br />

may be reproduced without prior consent,<br />

in writing, from the publisher.<br />

Sasa Crnojevic at SAS also sounds a note of caution about LLMs deployment in his article on<br />

data-driven networks this issue, observing that while Gen AI is "a top priority for organisations in<br />

<strong>2024</strong> to increase efficiency, automate operational tasks and spur creativity, there is still some caution<br />

around its implementation due to the challenges, including orchestration and governance,<br />

which must be overcome to successfully adopt and align it with existing business frameworks. LLM<br />

models displaying hallucinations is one of the best known examples." He adds that "AI models are<br />

only as good as the data fed into them, so without high quality data the algorithms won't reach<br />

their maximum potential."<br />

SolarWinds Database Expert Kevin Kline also points some potential pitfalls of LLM adoption,<br />

warning that "In the rush to leverage Gen AI, some organisations have created their own large<br />

language model based on internal data. More often than not, they are unprepared for this giant<br />

leap forward. Without the right data governance in place, there's a risk of error-prone data or<br />

data without proper tagging or categorisation proliferating through the organisation. The result is<br />

two-fold: First, an LLM system built on poor-quality data that can lead to spurious results. Second,<br />

data that is improperly tagged or categorised means that a Gen AI prompt might retrieve data<br />

inappropriate for the end-user." Garbage in, garbage out? Some things never change. <strong>NC</strong><br />

GET FUTURE COPIES FREE<br />

BY REGISTERING ONLINE AT<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK/REGISTER<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 03


AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> VOL 33 NO 03<br />

CONTENTS<br />

CONTENTS<br />

A U G U S T / S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 4<br />

NETWORKcomputing<br />

I N F O R M A T I O N A N D C O M M U N I C A T I O N S – N E T W O R K E D www.networkcomputing.co.uk<br />

A GREAT NIGHT FOR NETWORKING<br />

Discover this year’s Network Computing Awards winners inside!<br />

SMOOTH OPERATOR<br />

Getting NetOps and<br />

SecOps in harmony<br />

DEVICE AS A SERVICE<br />

The evolution of end-user<br />

computing<br />

ESTABLISHING ZERO<br />

TRUST<br />

Why a machine identity<br />

management policy is key<br />

SAFETY IN UNITY..................14<br />

James Campanini at Logitech outlines<br />

five steps businesses can take to secure<br />

their unified communications<br />

environment and protect their business<br />

ESTABLISHING ZERO TRUST....20<br />

David Higgins at CyberArk explains how<br />

machine identitiy management can play<br />

a pivotal role in an organisation's Zero<br />

Trust strategy<br />

SMOOTH OPERATOR...........10<br />

Network packet data could prove crucial<br />

in driving NetOps and SecOps<br />

collaboration, according to Mark Evans<br />

at Endace<br />

THE EVOLUTION OF END USER<br />

COMPUTING.........................18<br />

John Hayes-Warren at Agilitas explains<br />

how DaaS (device as a service) could<br />

hold the key to monitoring and<br />

maintaining remote technology<br />

NETWORK COMPUTING<br />

AWARDS <strong>2024</strong>.......................27<br />

Now in their 18th year, the winners of the<br />

<strong>2024</strong> Network Computing Awards were<br />

announced at an evening awards<br />

ceremony held in London in May<br />

COMMENT.....................................3<br />

Are we speaking AI's language yet?<br />

INDUSTRY NEWS.............................6<br />

The latest networking news<br />

ARTICLES<br />

CLOSING THE I.T. SKILLS GAP WITH<br />

MANAGED SERVICES......................08<br />

By Adam Gaca at Future Processing<br />

FIVE TIPS FOR IMPLEMENTING AI<br />

WITHOUT RISKING YOUR DATA.....09<br />

By Andrew Smith at Kyocera<br />

TUNING IN TO THE CHANNEL.......22<br />

By Zhanna Boguslavska at SolarWinds<br />

NETWORK DATA ANALYTICS...........24<br />

By Sasa Crnojevic at SAS<br />

REMOTE WORK IN THE FACE OF<br />

EVOLVING CYBER THREATS............26<br />

By Jonathan Wright at GCX<br />

CASE STUDY<br />

DRIVEN BY OT SECURITY................12<br />

SGF relies on macmon NAC's 20 years of<br />

experience in the field of network security for<br />

their central security solution<br />

REVIEWS<br />

NETALLY LINKRUNNER AT 4000.......07<br />

BACKBOX NETWORK AUTOMATION<br />

PLATFORM.........................................16<br />

04 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


INDUSTRY NEWS<br />

NEWSNEWS<br />

NEWS NEWS<br />

NEWS NEWS NEWS NEWS<br />

NEWS NEWS<br />

Enhanced backup and recovery for Microsoft 365<br />

Hornetsecurity has released an enhanced version of its 365<br />

Total Backup solution for Microsoft 365, now including<br />

comprehensive backup and recovery support for Microsoft<br />

Planner. This enhancement follows the roll-out of Microsoft’s<br />

Planner function to manage tasks and projects. The free update<br />

is available for Hornetsecurity customers on both its 365 Total<br />

Backup products and 365 Total Protection (Plans 3 and 4). The<br />

broader scope of protection supports GDPR compliance and<br />

adds to the existing backup and recovery functionality across<br />

essential M365 applications, including Mailbox, OneDrive,<br />

SharePoint, and Teams.<br />

A key feature of this upgrade is the granular restore option,<br />

which empowers administrators to choose multiple restore<br />

points. It provides a visual representation of the plan and its<br />

evolution within selected timestamps, allowing users to restore<br />

specific tasks with ease. This mirrors that of Microsoft Planner<br />

for enhanced usability. Additionally, the full restore function<br />

allows administrators to restore all plans associated with one or<br />

more Microsoft 365 Groups to the same group, a different<br />

group, or a zip archive.<br />

Are your endpoint devices ready for Windows 11?<br />

ControlUp has announced the initial findings from its new<br />

ControlUp Edge DX Windows 11 readiness assessment<br />

tool. Across a sample set of over 750,000 enterprise<br />

Windows endpoint devices, the findings reveal that 82% have<br />

not yet migrated to Windows 11, while only 18% are running<br />

the new Microsoft operating system. Of the devices yet to<br />

migrate, 88% are ready for migration, 1% can be upgraded<br />

to meet the requirements prior to migration, and 11% need<br />

to be fully replaced. The ControlUp Windows 11 readiness<br />

data was compiled from a sample set of over 750,000<br />

enterprise Windows devices managed by ControlUp as of<br />

early <strong>Aug</strong>ust <strong>2024</strong>.<br />

The best (and worst) places for tech jobs in the UK<br />

Anew study from eskimoz.co.uk has looked at the best and worst<br />

places for tech jobs in the UK in <strong>2024</strong>. According to the study<br />

London continues to dominate the top spots for tech jobs, while<br />

certain North East and Wales areas face challenges. The City of<br />

London is the best place for tech jobs in the UK, boasting the<br />

highest wages (£30.15/hour) and the shortest commute (5,348 km<br />

annually). This area achieved the highest final score of 90.00, with<br />

a notable 6.97% growth in the number of tech enterprises.<br />

Conversely, Thurrock was found to be the least desirable area for<br />

tech jobs, experiencing the second-fastest rate of decline in the tech<br />

sector (35.48%). Despite these challenges, some areas like Bexley<br />

have seen significant pay increases within the industry. Thurrock has a<br />

final score of 50, with an average hourly wage of £16.33 and a total<br />

of 300 enterprises. View the full study here: https://shorturl.at/UJrdc<br />

Staying on the PULSE of security engagement testing<br />

Independent cybersecurity consultancy, Prism Infosec has<br />

announced the launch of its PULSE testing service to enable<br />

organisations which may not have the bandwidth or resource to<br />

dedicate to a full-scale red team exercise to assess their defence<br />

capabilities against real-world threats. PULSE addresses the gap<br />

that currently exists between penetration testing and red teaming<br />

which can prevent organisations from gaining an accurate<br />

understanding of their security posture.<br />

Penetration Tests are contained evaluations that assess security<br />

boundaries and controls of distinct systems that excel at the<br />

analysis of specific vulnerabilities contained to specific control<br />

planes of individual systems. In contrast, red teaming is a realworld<br />

test of the organisation's defences against threat actor<br />

activities and capabilities which sees the tester adopt a more<br />

opportunistic approach that more closely mirrors the attacks the<br />

business could expect to be subjected to. PULSE has been devised<br />

to bridge the gap between the two different approaches using<br />

threat actor simulation.<br />

PULSE evaluates the security of an organisation's perimeter,<br />

endpoint security, and environment, from the point of view of a<br />

time-limited opportunistic threat actor. Conducted over five days<br />

using techniques aligned with the MITRE ATT&CK framework, tests<br />

are carried out that are flexible, repeatable and measurable.<br />

Suitable for organisations that have invested in security tooling but<br />

lack a full-time dedicated Security Operations Centre (SOC) and<br />

staff, the timeframe and methods used ensure PULSE tests are not<br />

disruptive while still subjecting systems to rigorous assault.<br />

06 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


PRODUCT REVIEW<br />

NetAlly LinkRunner<br />

AT 4000<br />

PRODUCT REVIEW<br />

PRODUCT<br />

REVIEWPRODUCT RE<br />

Since their introduction over two decades<br />

ago, NetAlly's LinkRunner® AT network<br />

cable testers have become the go-to tool<br />

for network engineers - and they just got even<br />

better. The latest LinkRunner 3000 and 4000<br />

models take everything that made their<br />

predecessors famous and add a wealth of new<br />

and valuable features.<br />

The LinkRunner AT 3000 is a direct<br />

replacement for the 1000 and 2000 models<br />

while the LinkRunner AT 4000 on review takes<br />

over from the G2. Both offer advanced<br />

copper NBase-T and fibre cable testing<br />

facilities which the 4000 expands on with<br />

network discovery, periodic AutoTests,<br />

HTTP/FTP response measurements, path<br />

analysis and packet capture.<br />

There's much more, as both models offer<br />

network switch and Power over Ethernet (PoE)<br />

testing capabilities. They can automatically<br />

detect and run diagnostics on switches to<br />

provide information such as their name, data<br />

rate, port number plus VLAN ID, and support<br />

the 802.3af/at/bt standards, all classes from 0<br />

to 8 and Cisco's proprietary UPoE.<br />

Using the LinkRunner AT 4000 couldn't be<br />

easier as it runs NetAlly's embedded Androidbased<br />

OS and will appeal to novices as well as<br />

technicians. The bottom line is if they can use a<br />

mobile then they'll have no problems with the<br />

LinkRunner AT 4000.<br />

The 5in. colour touchscreen presents icons for<br />

swift access to all tasks and you can install<br />

other third-party Android apps as well. The<br />

screen's FAB (floating access button) opens<br />

action menus offering instant access to further<br />

analysis tools related to the selected task.<br />

The unit includes a default profile for quick<br />

one-tap tests of wired networks, and after only<br />

20 seconds it reported back with an impressive<br />

amount of network information. This is<br />

presented as 'cards' colour coded to indicate<br />

warnings or errors and you can tap on any of<br />

them and drill down for more details.<br />

With the PoE test enabled in the profile and<br />

a class selected, it showed details of power<br />

delivery and the measured voltage under<br />

load for our Netgear 48-port PoE+ Smart<br />

switch. You can easily customise AutoTest<br />

profiles, place them in groups, add new ones<br />

and enable periodic tests using preset or<br />

custom intervals.<br />

As you'd expect, cable tests are in abundance<br />

and just as easy to run. For unterminated<br />

cables, it reports back on the measured length<br />

plus shorts, splits and opens with the optional<br />

Wiremapper accessory identifying split pairs,<br />

crossover cables, normal or negative pair<br />

polarity and shielded cables.<br />

The Discovery tool presented us with a card<br />

for every device on our network which we could<br />

tap on to pull up more detail such as their<br />

network interfaces, addresses and where<br />

appropriate, SNMP agent uptime. The integral<br />

iPerf app can run performance tests to the<br />

NetAlly iPerf accessory or a system hosting an<br />

iPerf server.<br />

The LinkRunner AT 4000 works directly with<br />

NetAlly's Link-Live cloud portal for topology<br />

mapping and analytics. Its smart interactive<br />

dashboard view provides technicians with an 'at<br />

a glance' snapshot of what is happening on<br />

their networks.<br />

After claiming the LinkRunner 4000 for our<br />

account, we could upload test results and<br />

packet capture data. Many test results are<br />

uploaded automatically to the portal and<br />

used for further analysis and report creation,<br />

and the device can be remotely controlled<br />

securely from Link-Live or V<strong>NC</strong> where the<br />

technician is presented with a precise<br />

representation of its screen.<br />

NetAlly's LinkRunner AT 4000 raises the bar<br />

for cable testing and network analysis as it<br />

delivers a remarkably powerful set of<br />

diagnostics and troubleshooting features in a<br />

ruggedised handheld device. Its large screen<br />

and Android-based OS make it incredibly easy<br />

to use, it integrates seamlessly with NetAlly's<br />

Link-Live cloud portal and with prices starting at<br />

around £3,225, is very affordable. <strong>NC</strong><br />

Product: LinkRunner AT 4000<br />

Supplier: NetAlly<br />

Web site: www.netally.com<br />

Telephone: +44 (0)115 865 5676<br />

Price: From £3,225 exc VAT<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> 07<br />

NETWORKcomputing<br />

@<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards


OPINION: MSPs<br />

CLOSING THE I.T. SKILLS GAP WITH MANAGED SERVICES<br />

MANAGED SERVICE PROVIDERS (MSPs) CAN HELP ALLEVIATE THE IMPACT OF THE WIDENING IT SKILLS GAP<br />

ACCORDING TO ADAM GACA, VICE PRESIDENT OF CLOUD SOLUTIONS AT FUTURE PROCESSING<br />

Business operations have become<br />

increasingly digital to facilitate remote<br />

working and improve access to<br />

computing infrastructure. Therefore, it is<br />

becoming vital for organisations to balance<br />

operational stability, while also pushing the<br />

boundaries of innovation. However, with a<br />

surge in demand the IT skills gap widens,<br />

leaving most businesses in a precarious<br />

position with limited growth opportunities.<br />

Research indicates that over 55% of<br />

businesses in the UK are experiencing a severe<br />

digital skills shortage, with organisations<br />

struggling to train staff on new IT infrastructures.<br />

As technology continues to progress at a rapid<br />

pace, businesses are finding it difficult to keep<br />

up, leading to this<br />

significant disparity<br />

between the skills<br />

employees possess<br />

and the skills required<br />

to effectively leverage<br />

new technology.<br />

Currently, 27% of<br />

UK workers<br />

believe that they<br />

lack sufficient<br />

digital skills<br />

required for their<br />

job role. If this<br />

trajectory<br />

continues,<br />

businesses<br />

must take<br />

decisive action<br />

or face risks of<br />

operational<br />

imbalances<br />

and limited<br />

growth<br />

opportunities.<br />

One solution gaining traction is the<br />

adoption of managed services, as it enables<br />

businesses to access a team of experts and<br />

specialists. By utilising a managed service<br />

provider, companies can alleviate pressures<br />

caused by the IT skills gap, with flexibility to<br />

meet the specific needs of the business, at<br />

any specific time.<br />

ACCESS TO ON DEMAND EXPERTS<br />

As the IT skills gap widens, businesses are left<br />

with a digital skills shortage, with an estimated<br />

20% of the workforce in the UK predicted to<br />

be significantly underskilled for their jobs by<br />

2030. By onboarding a managed service<br />

provider, organisations can gain access to<br />

experts and specialists when required to<br />

alleviate pressures that arise from the IT gap.<br />

By taking advantage of on-demand specialists,<br />

businesses' internal teams can reallocate time<br />

to focus on core functions and growth in order<br />

to bridge the growing gap.<br />

Furthermore, by leveraging managed services,<br />

businesses can mitigate the risks associated<br />

with IT infrastructures and operations. By<br />

reducing the risks of software downtimes and<br />

data breaches through external monitoring, a<br />

managed service can deliver a reliable IT<br />

support system that evolves with the changing<br />

landscape, and ultimately the business.<br />

I<strong>NC</strong>REASED FLEXIBILITY<br />

With over 85% of organisations identifying an<br />

increased adoption of new technology,<br />

businesses are more likely to need the flexibility<br />

to ensure adaptation to emerging software to<br />

drive transformation. As the gap widens, this<br />

poses a significant challenge for businesses,<br />

halting the opportunity for future success.<br />

Businesses can streamline their operations with<br />

the introduction of a managed capacity - a<br />

flexible competency-based model which allows<br />

them to access specialists within a specific skill<br />

set to target exact pain points.<br />

The customisable attributes of a managed<br />

capacity offer businesses scalable support.<br />

Compared to a whole team of experts working<br />

across a broad scope, businesses can fine-tune<br />

specialists to target a weak point on a rolling<br />

basis, filling precise gaps. Enlisting a managed<br />

capacity model also enables businesses to be<br />

brought back up to speed with new software<br />

better positioning the company with their best<br />

foot forwards to drive transformations.<br />

ADOPTING NEW TECHNOLOGIES<br />

With the adoption of emerging technologies<br />

such as AI and the cloud, businesses require a<br />

specific skill set, further creating a global lack of<br />

in-house skills. With more than 75% of<br />

companies looking to adopt cloud computing<br />

and AI technologies in the next five years<br />

according to the World Economic Forum,<br />

businesses must ensure they have a highly skilled<br />

workforce to leverage a streamlined enrollment<br />

process. By shifting to a managed service<br />

operation, businesses can tap into a team of<br />

expert IT consultants for cost-effective solutions<br />

and services, allowing businesses to meet<br />

increasing demand, without heavily investing in<br />

resources needed to train existing teams.<br />

With the acceleration of emerging<br />

technology, leveraging a managed service<br />

provider could be the key for businesses to<br />

close the IT skills gap, by providing expert IT<br />

support that drives innovation and operational<br />

efficiency. The solution can significantly reduce<br />

operational costs, freeing up resources to<br />

invest in other critical areas to accelerate<br />

growth. Tailored solutions with managed<br />

capacity ensure that specific pain points can<br />

be bridged, empowering more agility and<br />

success now and in the future. <strong>NC</strong><br />

08 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


OPINON: AI SECURITY<br />

IMPLEMENTING AI WITHOUT RISKING YOUR DATA<br />

KYOCERA'S ANDREW SMITH SHARES HIS TOP FIVE TIPS FOR ANY ORGANISATION LOOKING TO<br />

TAKE ADVANTAGE OF AI - WITHOUT THE SECURITY PITFALLS<br />

The Gen AI bubble might not be growing<br />

as quickly as it was in 2023, but as<br />

adoption continues apace, organisations<br />

across the globe are still being caught out by<br />

outdated security protocols. To combat the risks<br />

associated with AI and to help more<br />

organisations take advantage of it, Andrew<br />

Smith, CISO for Kyocera Document Solutions<br />

UK has shared his top five tips for making sure<br />

any organisation can implement AI without<br />

putting their data security at risk:<br />

1: Avoid using personal or proprietary<br />

information in Gen AI LLMs<br />

It is not common knowledge how and where<br />

data is used when utilising generative AI<br />

models. Often end users do not know the<br />

sensitivity of the data they are uploading and<br />

are more focused on the potential outcome AI<br />

technology can generate. The important<br />

approach for business leaders is to ensure they<br />

do not restrict AI use, and in turn create<br />

shadow use, but instead provide education to<br />

users on how to safely use AI in addition to<br />

providing AI models that are safe to use in the<br />

business domain.<br />

2: Create a company policy on AI & privacy<br />

From my experience the challenge colleagues<br />

are facing here is the lack of reference material<br />

and best practise in which to build from.<br />

Instead, the source of reference is best practise<br />

in data use, safety and privacy and adopting<br />

this approach in the utilisation of AI. This way<br />

the core topic in which is the data is utilised<br />

and generated is protected and considered by<br />

the foundation of well-established data and<br />

privacy policies.<br />

3: Manage data privacy settings<br />

Data privacy settings are challenging in this<br />

space, with many different AI toolsets being<br />

launched on a daily basis being web-based.<br />

Our approach in this space is utilising broader<br />

data privacy controls and data boundaries and<br />

sources to ensure extraction of data is<br />

understood and controlled prior to it being<br />

uploaded to insecure sources. As more private<br />

AI tools and models are released, IT have the<br />

ability to control the use cases and abilities of<br />

the toolsets as well as expanding the outcomes<br />

and outputs of the technology. This is where we<br />

believe mainstream adoption may be achieved.<br />

4: Regularly change passwords and use data<br />

access controls<br />

It is important that companies have strong IT<br />

policies that guide and control how users use<br />

systems and in particular the rules in which they<br />

must comply with. Modern IT platforms and<br />

data loss prevention policies and controls<br />

allow IT to have greater influence on user<br />

behaviour, BUT end user education is always<br />

essential to ensure the best possible protection<br />

for corporate IT systems.<br />

5: Audit AI interactions and monitor data<br />

breaches<br />

The important element with trying to audit AI<br />

use and subsequent data breaches is first to<br />

ensure there is strong guidance around<br />

permitted use cases and to utilise work groups<br />

that understand how users want to develop<br />

business operations utilising AI.<br />

Depending on the AI use case and in<br />

particular with new private AI models<br />

there are options for IT to have much<br />

greater control and insight. For<br />

data breaches, it is essential to<br />

utilise IT controls alongside<br />

industry leading cyber toolsets to<br />

monitor and spot potential data<br />

leaks or breaches. <strong>NC</strong><br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 09


OPINON: NETOPS<br />

SMOOTH OPERATOR<br />

NETWORK PACKET DATA COULD PROVE CRUCIAL IN DRIVING NETOPS AND SECOPS<br />

COLLABORATION ACCORDING TO MARK EVANS, PACKET CAPTURE EVANGELIST AT ENDACE<br />

Historically, many networking and<br />

security teams have operated quite<br />

independently with different - and<br />

often conflicting - priorities, separate<br />

budgets, and their own specific sets of tools<br />

and technologies.<br />

However, this is quickly changing. NetOps<br />

and SecOps teams are increasingly<br />

collaborating much more closely and even,<br />

in many cases, merging to form a combined<br />

NetSecOps team - as noted in Enterprise<br />

Management Associates' recent report<br />

'NetSecOps: Examining How Network and<br />

Security Teams Collaborate for a Better<br />

Digital Future'.<br />

There have been some significant changes<br />

in this <strong>2024</strong> report since the last NetSecOps<br />

report released in 2021. However, it notes<br />

that executives still believe that collaboration<br />

has increased more than middle managers<br />

and technical staff indicate, suggesting that<br />

more focus on enabling closer collaboration<br />

- such as sharing tools, budgets and data<br />

sources - may be required.<br />

Some of the key factors driving this closer<br />

collaboration between NetOps and SecOps<br />

teams are:<br />

The desire to automate network and<br />

security functions<br />

The move towards hybrid cloud<br />

environments<br />

Adopting SASE (Secure Access Service<br />

Edge)<br />

Managing OT (Operational Technology)<br />

environments<br />

Multi-cloud usage<br />

Work-from-home<br />

The good news is that network and<br />

security teams understand the need for<br />

increased collaboration: many teams have<br />

already converged to increase<br />

collaborative activity and this trend is<br />

continuing to grow. The benefits of this<br />

closer collaboration are clear too -<br />

reduced security risk, improved operational<br />

efficiency, faster issue resolution, cost<br />

savings and improved reliability are all<br />

reported as significant benefits.<br />

The bad news is that closer collaboration<br />

is not always simple to achieve: NetSecOps<br />

teams often struggle to gain visibility into all<br />

their hybrid cloud environments, and many<br />

are concerned about the integrity of their<br />

data collection tools, which may be<br />

susceptible to compromise by attackers.<br />

As organisations look to increase<br />

collaboration to stay on top of hybrid and<br />

multi-cloud architectures, there are several<br />

trends we're seeing across processes, tools,<br />

and technologies.<br />

KEY CHALLENGES TO MONITORING<br />

IN THE CLOUD<br />

The reality is that most NetSecOps teams find<br />

it challenging to monitor the performance of<br />

applications and infrastructure in the cloud.<br />

Both NetOps and SecOps need access to<br />

relevant data for end-to-end cloud monitoring,<br />

but it's not always easily accessible.<br />

Often, when a SecOps team needs data,<br />

they request it from the network engineering<br />

team, which is a slow and manual process.<br />

These requests can become particularly<br />

drawn out when there is limited or no<br />

interaction between network engineering<br />

team and security teams, and no<br />

transparency between how either team access<br />

data to monitor cloud networks.<br />

Even worse, security teams often have<br />

their own infrastructure and ways of<br />

monitoring data, which can result in<br />

duplicating efforts and costs when network<br />

engineering teams begin using different<br />

tools for the same purpose - and paying<br />

twice for the same outcome.<br />

Where many teams are seeing improved<br />

results for cloud transparency is by architecting<br />

a shared infrastructure for both network and<br />

security teams. This approach ensures they<br />

share the same source of truth and avoid<br />

unnecessary expenses.<br />

HOW NETWORK PACKETS CAN DRIVE<br />

NETSECOPS COLLABORATION<br />

Whether through on-demand requests or<br />

10 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


OPINON: NETOPS<br />

establishing dedicated repositories, security<br />

teams often rely on the expertise of network<br />

engineers to access and analyse packet<br />

data effectively. Packet data plays a pivotal<br />

role in incident reconstruction during<br />

forensic analysis, providing organisations<br />

with a comprehensive understanding of<br />

security incidents.<br />

Unlike log data, which may be missing<br />

vital information, or may have been<br />

modified or deleted by attackers, full<br />

network packet data provides the absolute<br />

truth about what happened on the network.<br />

It lets security teams get to the root cause of<br />

security and performance issues quickly and<br />

conclusively without the need for guesswork.<br />

In EMA's report, 87% of senior engineers,<br />

analysts and architects surveyed recognised<br />

the value of providing security teams with<br />

access to full packet data, with 39%<br />

considering this access essential.<br />

The research points to a growing trend that<br />

we're seeing at enterprise organisations<br />

globally: as data and applications have<br />

steadily moved to the cloud, traditional<br />

security perimeters have changed. Achieving<br />

true hybrid cloud visibility for security and<br />

network operations teams means that<br />

organisations require a single, unified view<br />

of network activity across on-premise,<br />

branch and cloud assets. It's time to make<br />

sure full network packet data is universally<br />

accessible across both on-premise and<br />

cloud networks, and ensure network and<br />

security operations teams have the skills to<br />

be able to analyse packet data.<br />

USING PACKET DATA TO IMPROVE<br />

COLLABORATION<br />

The increasing importance of packet data<br />

for security teams has driven closer<br />

collaboration between NetOps and SecOps<br />

teams and is fuelling an increased need for<br />

the ability to share packet data and make it<br />

available to both teams on demand. This<br />

replaces the scenario<br />

where previously SecOps teams have<br />

had to request packet data (and sometimes<br />

the analysis of that data too) from their<br />

NetOps colleagues and wait for a response.<br />

That delay is no longer acceptable if<br />

SecOps teams are to be able to respond to<br />

threats quickly enough to prevent escalation.<br />

HOW ARE SECURITY TEAMS USING<br />

PACKET DATA?<br />

The EMA report also found that the primary<br />

use case amongst those surveyed was to<br />

investigate alerts tied to host-based security<br />

solutions, including endpoint detection and<br />

response (EDR) or virus scanners. Teams are<br />

also using packet capture to investigate<br />

alerts from network security tools, such as<br />

NDR/XDR, WAF, IDA, IPS/IDS, SIEM and<br />

SOAR platforms. Packet capture was also<br />

reported to be widely used for investigating<br />

data exfiltration or indicators of<br />

compromise, threat hunting, compliance,<br />

and forensic security analysis.<br />

Network operations teams are looking to<br />

use packet data to enable increased<br />

automation of network management tasks<br />

such as network and application<br />

troubleshooting remediation.<br />

CHALLENGES TO CLOUD TRAFFIC<br />

DATA VISIBILITY<br />

EMA's research also found that gaining<br />

visibility into cloud traffic data is a major<br />

factor in facilitating increased<br />

collaboration<br />

amongst security and network<br />

teams. Almost 90% of organisations<br />

surveyed said it was valuable for both<br />

networking and security personnel to have<br />

access to cloud network traffic.<br />

While most teams understand the value of<br />

having access to cloud traffic data, the<br />

research showed that only 38% have full<br />

packet access: "Organisations have better<br />

visibility into cloud traffic when IT<br />

leadership successfully encourages network<br />

and security teams to deploy shared tools<br />

to enhance collaboration. We also found<br />

that deep cloud traffic visibility enabled this<br />

collaboration to reduce security risk, speed<br />

up network problem resolution, and boost<br />

both teams' influence over technical<br />

initiatives, like cloud migration and<br />

transformation"<br />

There are clear benefits to encouraging<br />

closer collaboration between NetOps and<br />

SecOps teams - and potentially good<br />

arguments for merging these teams (and<br />

their budgets) to promote the use of shared<br />

tools, workflows and processes. In<br />

addition, the cross-pollination of skills from<br />

both teams can result in a whole that's<br />

greater than the sum of its parts and give<br />

members of both teams significant<br />

opportunities for career growth. <strong>NC</strong><br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 11


CASE STUDY<br />

DRIVEN BY OT SECURITY<br />

SGF, A LEADING PROVIDER<br />

OF GLOBAL AUTOMOTIVE<br />

ENGINEERING SOLUTIONS,<br />

RELIES ON MACMON'S 20<br />

YEARS OF EXPERIE<strong>NC</strong>E IN THE<br />

FIELD OF NETWORK SECURITY<br />

FOR THEIR CENTRAL<br />

SECURITY SOLUTION.<br />

According to a study by PwC, five<br />

out of six SMEs were targeted by<br />

email phishing in 2022.<br />

Ransomware attacks also continue to<br />

weigh heavily on the German economy:<br />

73% of the SMEs surveyed were victims of<br />

an attack last year. Business leaders<br />

should be aware that they are an<br />

important element of a vulnerable supply<br />

chain and therefore are of interest to<br />

extortion attempts by criminals. In<br />

particular, the automotive industry, which<br />

is considered a central pillar of the<br />

German economy, is targeted by<br />

cybercriminals worldwide.<br />

SGF: FROM BAVARIA INTO THE<br />

WORLD<br />

In the more than 75 years since it was<br />

founded as a family-owned company,<br />

Süddeutsche Gelenkscheibenfabrik<br />

(SGF) GmbH & Co. KG has developed<br />

into a global market leader with its<br />

products. The company offers<br />

international customers individual and<br />

sophisticated noise, vibration and<br />

harshness (NVH) solutions for<br />

the decoupling and<br />

damping<br />

of vibrations and noises in the<br />

automotive, rail and industrial<br />

applications. In the field of metal forming,<br />

SGF manufactures high-strength metal<br />

parts for electric motors for cars.<br />

In the financial year 2022, 700<br />

employees at 4 locations worldwide<br />

generated 120 million euros. SGF has<br />

developed into the market leader in<br />

torque transmission and has 75 years of<br />

experience in thread and binder<br />

technology. In addition to highly qualified<br />

employees and state-of-the-art<br />

development and production facilities,<br />

special know-how from rubber and<br />

silicone processing is the basis for the<br />

high-quality standard of the products.<br />

SGF is certified according to DIN EN ISO<br />

9001 and ISO/TS 16949 and thus meets<br />

the highest requirements of the<br />

automotive industry.<br />

BELDEN'S MACMON NAC:<br />

PROFITABILITY, COMFORT AND<br />

SECURITY<br />

SGF recognises the growing threat to the<br />

security of their IT and OT (operational<br />

technology) networks. In the digital world<br />

the best security strategies are<br />

increasingly deciding the future of<br />

companies. In cooperation with CyProtect<br />

AG as an experienced gold partner of<br />

macmon secure, a proof of concept was<br />

set up for SGF, with macmon NAC as the<br />

central security solution.<br />

CyProtect AG is a manufacturer-agnostic<br />

cybersecurity service provider and<br />

combines a profound understanding of<br />

IT/OT and IoT for safety-critical processes<br />

with the cutting-edge technologies of<br />

leading security manufacturers. In<br />

particular, the company was constantly<br />

relocating employees. The associated<br />

manual configuration of the security ports<br />

12 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


CASE STUDY<br />

to which the endpoints were connected<br />

always proved to be time-consuming<br />

for the IT administration.<br />

PARTICULARITIES OF SECURING<br />

THE OT NETWORK<br />

In addition to IT security, operational<br />

technology security has been gaining<br />

importance at SGF for years. The focus<br />

is on the secure access of internal<br />

employees and external service<br />

providers to their own in-house<br />

machines and systems. The access to<br />

endpoints must be secure and<br />

monitored. The security here is primarily<br />

regulated by the enterprise firewall.<br />

The range of OT devices available in<br />

the company is diverse at SGF. These<br />

include numerous IoT devices, robots,<br />

programmable logic controllers (PLCs),<br />

sensors, cameras, and remote<br />

maintenance routers. macmon NAC<br />

supports numerous processes by<br />

creating an overview of all endpoints in<br />

the OT network. The administrator can<br />

see the exact physical location and see<br />

which VLAN the device is currently in.<br />

Thomas Schuster, System<br />

Administrator at SGF, explains the<br />

points of contact between IT and OT<br />

security: "In our industrial business, we<br />

have been working on joint solutions<br />

for years, because the more IT is<br />

installed in OT, the closer the<br />

cooperation must be. Even in the<br />

decision-making process, the IT<br />

department is informed by the OT, and<br />

we clarify the remote maintenance<br />

options or the required connectivity<br />

before new purchases are done."<br />

Schuster adds: "This is the only way to<br />

ensure that there are no surprises<br />

during commissioning." In general, OT<br />

security must guarantee absolute<br />

reliability, because nothing is more<br />

economically damaging to a production<br />

operation than delays or even the<br />

failure of production facilities. Schuster<br />

explains: "It has proven its worth that<br />

each machine has its own VLAN - so we<br />

currently have to manage a large<br />

number of over 250 networks."<br />

This is a complex challenge in which<br />

macmon NAC provides an overview<br />

and control by identifying the<br />

endpoints. Thomas Schuster confirms:<br />

"Especially in the case of machine<br />

relocations - extensions and<br />

reconstructions - macmon is here to<br />

help. I am often asked by the<br />

developers of programmable logic<br />

controllers (PLCs) why a certain device<br />

cannot communicate. Here it is<br />

essential to quickly find out where the<br />

device I am looking for is physically<br />

plugged in. In addition, I need to know<br />

on a case-by-case basis whether it is<br />

not or possibly even wrongly plugged<br />

in. This way I can reliably help our<br />

developers."<br />

RELIABILITY IS A TOP PRIORITY IN<br />

OT ENVIRONMENTS<br />

"By identifying all endpoints, no<br />

unknown or unauthorised devices can<br />

be present in our OT network," adds<br />

Thomas. "In contrast to IT<br />

environments, however, it is not allowed<br />

to temporarily block a plant in which<br />

are sometimes more than 100 devices.<br />

Maintaining smooth production<br />

operations is a top priority.<br />

Nevertheless, reporting a newly<br />

detected IP/MAC address helps us<br />

significantly in troubleshooting.<br />

macmon is indispensable for your IT<br />

and OT security."<br />

Thomas concludes by outlining the<br />

following benefits of implementing<br />

macmon:<br />

I can protect what I see thanks to the<br />

overview and transparency.<br />

I know immediately which device is<br />

plugged into which switch port.<br />

I can search and filter extensively in<br />

the data. In a live view and a<br />

historical overview, all devices can<br />

be made visible.<br />

I can easily see that there are a lot<br />

of ports on a switch that have not<br />

been used in a long time and I can<br />

plug them out. I don't have to buy<br />

new switches, it's budget friendly.<br />

I am happy about the enormous<br />

time savings for administrative<br />

processes, which relieves our scarce<br />

resources. <strong>NC</strong><br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 13


OPINION: UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS<br />

SAFETY IN UNITY<br />

JAMES CAMPANINI, HEAD OF B2B EUROPE AT LOGITECH, OUTLINES FIVE STEPS BUSINESSES CAN<br />

TAKE TO SECURE THEIR UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS ENVIRONMENT AND PROTECT THEIR BUSINESS<br />

Unified Communication (UC)<br />

systems are now a critical part of<br />

business technology, allowing<br />

organisations to align communication<br />

tools, enhance collaboration and support<br />

an evolving range of employee needs.<br />

But in recent years, we've seen a rise in<br />

security threats and attacks. From DDoS<br />

(Distributed Denial of Service) attacks<br />

targeting VoIP systems and mobile apps, to<br />

a rise in numerous hacking strategies, from<br />

phishing, to malware, the avenues into UC<br />

make them an attractive target for<br />

criminals. The results can be catastrophic.<br />

Failure to invest in the right security<br />

standards can lead to significant<br />

reputational damage, lost consumer trust,<br />

and serious fines. For instance, in 2023,<br />

Equifax was fined £11,164,400 by the<br />

Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) for a<br />

major security breach that exposed<br />

consumer data.<br />

How can organisations protect<br />

themselves? It's important businesses<br />

secure UC environments through a multifaceted<br />

approach. Here are five steps<br />

businesses can take to implement this.<br />

Step 1: Choose the right UC software<br />

The first step in securing UC<br />

environments is working with a<br />

communication vendor that can adhere<br />

to your specific security needs. Businesses<br />

should assess their threat environment,<br />

and determine exactly which features<br />

you'll need to protect sensitive data.<br />

For instance, some may require a<br />

UCaaS solution that's already compliant<br />

with specific industry standards like<br />

GDPR, PCI payment processing, and<br />

HIPAA (for healthcare). To ensure<br />

adherence to data sovereignty<br />

requirements, also consider where your<br />

data is stored. Whatever the nature of<br />

your business, you should always ensure<br />

the right solution has:<br />

Comprehensive encryption capabilities:<br />

The right UC solution should offer endto-end<br />

encryption for data in transit and<br />

at rest. Look for Transport Layer Security<br />

(TLS), and Secure Real-Time Transport<br />

protocol from your voice vendor.<br />

Access controls: Most leading UCaaS<br />

and UC solutions should come with<br />

features that allow you to assign specific<br />

permissions to each of your employees.<br />

Ensure you can guarantee only the right<br />

people in your organisation can access<br />

specific resources and perform certain<br />

tasks.<br />

Visibility: Your UC solution should allow<br />

you to track the movement of your data,<br />

determine where files and information are<br />

stored, and audit your ecosystem<br />

whenever necessary. It's also worth<br />

looking for solutions that allow you to<br />

implement your own security policies.<br />

Step 2: Consider your wider cloud<br />

security strategy<br />

A broader cloud security strategy should<br />

accompany UC systems. This is<br />

14 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


OPINION: UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS<br />

particularly crucial if you will be<br />

building a team of in-office, hybrid,<br />

and remote or mobile workers.<br />

Consider what type of network security<br />

strategies you'll need to implement,<br />

such as firewalls that can protect your<br />

company from outside attacks. Think<br />

about how your employees gain access<br />

to your cloud ecosystem, and whether<br />

you should be implementing Zero Trust<br />

strategies, to ensure the wrong people<br />

can't enter your ecosystem.<br />

It's also worth looking at apps and<br />

software that can help to enhance your<br />

cloud security strategies, such as<br />

endpoint device management tools,<br />

automated vulnerability management<br />

software, and solutions that can<br />

monitor threats, and notify your teams<br />

when risks emerge.<br />

Step 3: Don't forget your hardware<br />

Software makes up a significant part of<br />

the UC experience. However, you also<br />

need the right hardware, to ensure<br />

employees can remain productive, and<br />

connect with colleagues wherever they<br />

are. If you're leveraging a cloud-based<br />

environment for communications, you'll<br />

need a secure SBC (Session Border<br />

Controller) solution.<br />

Companies now offer solutions with<br />

tools for protecting against significant<br />

threats such as SQL injection and<br />

denial-of-service attacks. When<br />

purchasing hardware for meeting<br />

rooms and collaboration, choose a<br />

vendor that takes a security-first<br />

approach to design.<br />

Step 4: Address the issue of human<br />

error<br />

Up to 88% of data breaches and<br />

security issues in any business are a<br />

result of human error. UC system<br />

controls can also limit who can access<br />

specific tools and resources to reduce<br />

your exposure to threats.<br />

However, there are other steps to take<br />

to create a truly secure environment.<br />

For instance, implementing multi-factor<br />

authentication methods can protect<br />

accounts from outside attacks. Business<br />

should also provide password<br />

management tools, alongside training<br />

staff on how to identify common unified<br />

communication threats.<br />

Step 5: Constantly monitor and analyse<br />

risks<br />

It's not enough to simply put security<br />

standards in place. Businesses require<br />

systems that them to keep track of<br />

potential issues, determine threats, and<br />

implement more comprehensive future<br />

security strategies. Intelligent monitoring<br />

software can help you to monitor calls<br />

and conversations in real-time, looking<br />

for signs of suspicious activity.<br />

The right tools can also make it easier<br />

to track how endpoints and hardware<br />

are used, and look for gaps in security<br />

settings. Plus, there are solutions that<br />

can give you a real-time view of your<br />

network security at any moment.<br />

Make sure you have a plan in place<br />

for maintaining full visibility into any<br />

security issues, and build a disaster<br />

recovery plan, so your teams know<br />

what to do if something does go<br />

wrong.<br />

KEEPING YOUR UC SECURITY<br />

UNIFIED<br />

Now more than ever, it's crucial to<br />

ensure that your UC environment is<br />

protected against an evolving variety of<br />

threats. The right security strategy,<br />

combining hardware, software, and<br />

intelligent processes, will protect your<br />

company's reputation, and keep you<br />

compliant with industry regulations. <strong>NC</strong><br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 15


PRODUCT REVIEW<br />

BackBox Network<br />

Automation Platform<br />

PRODUCT REVIEW<br />

PRODUCT<br />

REVIEWPRODUCT RE<br />

As enterprise networks grow in complexity<br />

businesses can no longer afford to rely<br />

on inefficient and error-prone manual<br />

processes to manage and maintain critical<br />

infrastructure devices. Network automation is<br />

now an essential tool for support departments<br />

and change management teams as it brings<br />

operational efficiencies, not least in terms of<br />

significantly reduced security risks.<br />

This can be challenging in geographically<br />

distributed, multi-vendor environments, but<br />

BackBox's Network Automation Platform (NAP)<br />

has you covered as it supports over 180<br />

technology vendors. It provides an impressive<br />

suite of tools that include network vulnerability<br />

and change management, automated device<br />

configuration backup with five-step verification,<br />

device updates, configuration comparisons, a<br />

smart one-click restore service and much more.<br />

A key feature is the BackBox automation<br />

library, which offers over 3,000 pre-configured<br />

tasks for common use cases such as firmware<br />

and OS updates, vulnerability management,<br />

compliance audits and device backups. The<br />

beauty of this no-code automation approach<br />

is support staff don't need to be versed in<br />

complex scripting languages as they can<br />

create custom automation tasks using only API<br />

commands or the CLI.<br />

Installation is a breeze and the NAP CentOS<br />

ISO or OVA/VHDX file can be deployed on<br />

physical, cloud or virtual servers. We loaded it<br />

on a Hyper-V host, followed the quick start<br />

wizard and had NAP ready for action in only<br />

twenty minutes.<br />

The web console is easy to navigate, and you<br />

start by running an SNMP discovery job on<br />

selected networks. An instant time saver is the<br />

ability to assign a backup task to these jobs, so<br />

that as your devices are being discovered they<br />

will also be backed up for the first time.<br />

Regardless of the type of device, all<br />

configuration backups can be stored in the<br />

same repository for consistency. Alternatively,<br />

you can send them to different local, remote or<br />

cloud locations, and ransomware protection<br />

comes into play as BackBox supports<br />

immutable cloud storage.<br />

For backup integrity and assured recovery,<br />

BackBox applies five checks on every backup<br />

which include end of file, file size, checksum<br />

matches and file size comparisons with<br />

previous backups. Configuration recovery is a<br />

swift process as you choose a device, view its<br />

log history, pick a backup job and select the<br />

restore option.<br />

Remote sites are integrated into BackBox by<br />

deploying agents which take their instructions<br />

from the central console. These run distributed<br />

parallel executions and perform backups<br />

locally so there are no overheads on the main<br />

server. Furthermore, businesses can keep<br />

backups at remote locations if they need to<br />

demonstrate regional compliance.<br />

The Network Vulnerability Manager component<br />

inventories network devices, reports back on<br />

discovered vulnerabilities, prioritises them and<br />

delivers full remediation services. It follows all<br />

industry standard benchmarks and provides<br />

technical surveys during backups. It works hand<br />

in glove with Intelli-Check tasks which monitor<br />

health and compliance of all devices by<br />

regularly running tests on them and optionally<br />

remediating out of compliance devices.<br />

Using threat intelligence from NIST and other<br />

bodies such as CISA, Backbox manages the<br />

entire lifecycle of vulnerabilities by matching<br />

inventory against all CVEs and using<br />

configuration information to determine risk.<br />

You can run tasks to find all vulnerable devices<br />

on the network, see which CVEs apply to<br />

specific devices and find out what their risk<br />

level is. BackBox runs scheduled remediation<br />

jobs and accelerates remediation by<br />

performing multi-step updates and applying<br />

them to high availability pairs with one task.<br />

BackBox's Network Automation Platform<br />

takes the pain out of configuration<br />

management, network security and<br />

compliance. Easy to deploy, it can streamline<br />

all essential backup and update operations<br />

across multi-vendor environments and its smart<br />

zero-code automations will appeal to busy<br />

support departments. <strong>NC</strong><br />

Product: Network Automation Platform<br />

Supplier: BackBox Software<br />

Web site: www.backbox.com<br />

Sales: info@backbox.com<br />

16 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


EVENT ORGANISERS:<br />

Do you have something coming up that may<br />

interest readers of Network Computing?<br />

Contact dave.bonner@btc.co.uk<br />

FORTHCOMING EVENTS<br />

<strong>2024</strong><br />

FORTHCOMING EVENTS<br />

FORTHCOMING EVENTS<br />

4-6<br />

JUNE<br />

13<br />

JUNE<br />

19<br />

SEPT<br />

2-3<br />

OCT<br />

20-21<br />

NOV<br />

INFOSECURITY EUROPE<br />

ExCel London<br />

www.infosecurityeurope.com<br />

<strong>2024</strong> CIO/CISO DACH SUMMIT<br />

Frankfurt, Germany<br />

www.cdmmedia.com/events<br />

<strong>2024</strong> CIO/CISO IRELAND SUMMIT<br />

Dublin, Ireland<br />

www.cdmmedia.com/events<br />

<strong>2024</strong> UC EXPO EUROPE<br />

ExCel, London<br />

https://ucxevents.io/ucexpo/en/page<br />

/ucexpo-home<br />

DATA CENTRES IRELAND<br />

RDS, Dublin<br />

www.datacentres-ireland.com


OPINION: DAAS<br />

FOUR YEARS ON: THE EVOLUTION OF END-USER COMPUTING<br />

JOHN HAYES-WARREN, CEO AT AGILITAS EXPLAINS WHY DAAS (DEVICE AS A SERVICE) COULD<br />

HOLD THE KEY TO MONITORING AND MAINTAINING REMOTE TECHNOLOGY<br />

The world of work has changed<br />

significantly in recent years, and how<br />

we distribute and maintain the office<br />

equipment that we have come to rely on<br />

has shifted the current landscape. In the<br />

years since the pandemic, however,<br />

the location and condition of these<br />

devices are often unknown, with the<br />

tech not just kept in multiple business<br />

locations, but in people's homes too.<br />

With the pandemic causing<br />

overnight shutdowns, some of this kit<br />

may have been distributed in haste,<br />

meaning it has not been properly<br />

managed. So the question is: how<br />

are businesses monitoring<br />

and maintaining their<br />

remote tech?<br />

DaaS (Device as a<br />

Service) adoption is<br />

one area that<br />

continues to surge,<br />

driven by the<br />

evolving needs of<br />

businesses<br />

worldwide.<br />

The DaaS market has experienced<br />

substantial growth in the past few years,<br />

predicted to grow by 28.71% between<br />

<strong>2024</strong> and 2029. This can be largely<br />

attributed to the escalating demand for<br />

the flexibility of working from anywhere<br />

and scalable work solutions.<br />

As the need for a circular economy and<br />

more sustainable culture grows, break/fix<br />

is an easy business approach for IT<br />

service providers - but it comes with its<br />

challenges as technology continues to<br />

advance. As the IT landscape continues to<br />

navigate the lasting impact of the<br />

pandemic, businesses must now consider<br />

the best way to manage and utilise team<br />

equipment.<br />

MAINTAINING I.T. HARDWARE: A<br />

MUST FOR REMOTE TEAMS<br />

Hybrid working models have transformed<br />

the way IT businesses operate. Remote<br />

teams rely heavily on technology for<br />

seamless communication and<br />

collaboration. Connecting dispersed<br />

workforces is a necessity, with remote<br />

technology tools like video conferencing,<br />

instant messaging, and project<br />

management platforms vital for enhancing<br />

productivity and ensuring data security.<br />

Managing and maintaining technology<br />

bolsters remote operations in the evolving<br />

digital age. Therefore, IT businesses need<br />

to ensure their devices are reliable and<br />

durable to maintain optimal performance.<br />

Regular maintenance activities like<br />

software updates, security patches, and<br />

hardware inspections can help secure<br />

business processes by preventing potential<br />

issues and vulnerabilities from occurring.<br />

18 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


OPINION: DAAS<br />

Businesses can also take a proactive<br />

approach to their device management<br />

by frequently monitoring the health and<br />

performance of devices, addressing<br />

issues promptly, and regularly<br />

replacing old or malfunctioning<br />

hardware. By investing in maintenance<br />

and upkeep, companies can minimise<br />

downtime, prevent data loss, and<br />

prolong the lifespan of their remote<br />

tech infrastructure.<br />

UNLOCKING SCALABILITY AND<br />

SUSTAINABILITY THROUGH DAAS<br />

Device as a Service represents a new<br />

phase in IT hardware management.<br />

Businesses have gradually shifted away<br />

from a break/fix model that only<br />

prioritises software and hardware units<br />

when an issue arises, leaving<br />

companies victim to unexpected<br />

downtime and hardware vulnerabilities.<br />

The flexibility and scalability offered<br />

by DaaS serve as a key advantage. By<br />

leveraging DaaS, Channel<br />

organisations can shift from traditional<br />

ownership models to a more flexible<br />

subscription or lease-based service.<br />

This allows companies to scale<br />

back on costs by minimising<br />

upfront expenditure.<br />

Through seamless scalability<br />

options, DaaS can also<br />

improve resource allocation<br />

by allowing companies to<br />

adapt to evolving business<br />

needs. Through continuous<br />

device support,<br />

maintenance, and lifecycle<br />

management, DaaS<br />

ensures that organisations<br />

have access to the latest<br />

up-to-date hardware to<br />

support processes.<br />

DaaS adoption can also unlock<br />

sustainability benefits for Channel<br />

businesses. By leveraging DaaS, they<br />

can scale back on the resources and<br />

energy required to refurbish and<br />

operate devices. It can also enable e-<br />

waste reduction by ensuring that retired<br />

devices are recycled responsibly,<br />

minimising the impact on the<br />

environment. Furthermore, integrating<br />

DaaS into business strategies can help<br />

align technology investments with<br />

sustainability goals, reduce carbon<br />

footprints and contribute to a more<br />

sustainable IT ecosystem.<br />

END-USER COMPUTING IN THE<br />

NEW DIGITAL AGE<br />

The pandemic played a key role in the<br />

development of remote access solutions<br />

and technologies. With organisations<br />

continuing to grow globally, it has led to<br />

end-user computing needs evolving<br />

significantly. The ability to manage what<br />

these systems need has never been more<br />

important, with efficiency key to<br />

innovation across the IT landscape.<br />

When implementing DaaS in an office<br />

environment, organisations should<br />

consider their current and future<br />

hardware needs. By assessing current IT<br />

infrastructure, companies can make<br />

informed decisions when selecting the<br />

right DaaS provider and service plan. IT<br />

operators must also evaluate the<br />

provider's capabilities in terms of device<br />

provisioning, deployment, maintenance,<br />

and support.<br />

As businesses continue to navigate the<br />

complexities that come with new<br />

technology, DaaS can serve as a<br />

strategic enabler, but only when<br />

managed correctly. Through proactive<br />

maintenance, seamless device<br />

provisioning and responsive support,<br />

DaaS can unlock sustainability,<br />

scalability, and cost-efficiency benefits -<br />

allowing organisations to optimise their<br />

IT infrastructure, remain competitive<br />

and adapt to the evolving demands of<br />

today's workforce. <strong>NC</strong><br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 19


SECURITY UPDATE<br />

ESTABLISHING ZERO TRUST<br />

DAVID HIGGINS, SENIOR DIRECTOR, FIELD TECHNOLOGY OFFICE AT CYBERARK, OUTLINES THE<br />

CRITICAL ROLE OF MACHINE IDENTITIES IN ENHA<strong>NC</strong>ING CYBERSECURITY<br />

Today's rapid technological evolution has<br />

had a profound impact on working<br />

behaviours and processes. It's especially<br />

apparent in the consistent rise of cloud services,<br />

which have prompted unparalleled scalability<br />

and accessibility by allowing workers to access<br />

data and applications from anywhere and<br />

collaborate more efficiently.<br />

But, alongside immense flexibility, these new<br />

ways of working have also brought<br />

considerable challenges, including the rise of<br />

more sophisticated cyber threats. And that has<br />

given rise to the philosophy of Zero Trust - the<br />

principle that no entity inside or outside the<br />

network perimeter should be trusted by default.<br />

Zero Trust is widely recognised as an effective<br />

route to mitigating the risks associated with<br />

compromised credentials and unauthorised<br />

access, and yet accelerating adoption and use<br />

of machine identities is posing questions of<br />

existing frameworks. So what exactly do these<br />

identities entail?<br />

WHAT ARE MACHINE IDENTITIES?<br />

Put simply, a machine identity is a unique digital<br />

credential used to distinguish certified software<br />

code, applications, virtual machines or even<br />

physical IoT devices from others on a network.<br />

They can be incredibly useful in a security<br />

context, allowing IT teams to authenticate and<br />

authorise devices and applications within the<br />

network and grant seamless access to various<br />

resources and services.<br />

Typically machine identities use secrets, API<br />

keys, Cloud Access Keys, digital certificates and<br />

other credentials to enable machines to<br />

communicate securely with other systems.<br />

Under a Zero Trust framework, those identities<br />

need to be protected in exactly the same way<br />

as their human counterparts; the integrity of<br />

every machine seeking access needs to<br />

be verified and subjected to strict<br />

access controls before they're<br />

granted access to mission<br />

critical information.<br />

As organisations<br />

digitally<br />

transform<br />

however, doing so effectively is becoming more<br />

and more difficult. The number of machine<br />

identities that the average organisation uses<br />

continues to grow exponentially, to the extent<br />

that they now outweigh human identities by a<br />

factor of 45:1, meaning that they have greater<br />

access to sensitive data than human identities.<br />

So without the right policies and automation,<br />

machine identities and secrets can easily be<br />

exploited by cyber attackers and become a<br />

vastly expanding attack surface.<br />

SAFEGUARDING MACHINE IDENTITIES<br />

THROUGH AUTOMATION<br />

Whilst it is common for companies to use<br />

software as a service (SaaS) applications to<br />

store and process data, they will also develop<br />

their own software applications to respond to<br />

customers' needs and requests - and with digital<br />

transformation, there is a good chance the<br />

number of applications used will keep rising.<br />

Research suggests organisations expect an<br />

increase of 68% in the number of SaaS<br />

applications deployed in their environment.<br />

As the volume of machines in organisations'<br />

networks continues to increase, the number of<br />

secrets needed to access IT and other<br />

resources securely keeps growing. What's<br />

concerning is that this rapid growth has<br />

outpaced IT teams' ability to manually track the<br />

number, purpose and location of machines<br />

and secrets. It's a big reason why 65% of<br />

organisations report they took the necessary<br />

steps to protect machine identities last year, or<br />

plan to do so in the next 12 months.<br />

Automation in particular is on the rise.<br />

Organisations are looking to move away from<br />

manual processes, which are prone to errors<br />

and make it difficult to keep pace with the<br />

speed at which modern IT environments<br />

change. Automating processes makes it easier<br />

20 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


SECURITY UPDATE<br />

to safeguard machine identities and secrets,<br />

and ensure the security and integrity of digital<br />

infrastructures.<br />

THEY KEY TO BUILDING A STRONG<br />

ZERO TRUST STRATEGY<br />

Machine identities and secrets management<br />

are essential components of a Zero Trust<br />

security strategy because they provide a<br />

means of authentication and secure<br />

communication between machines on a<br />

network. As organisations start building their<br />

Zero Trust roadmap, disclosing machine<br />

identities and secrets management in their<br />

identity governance policy and procedures<br />

contributes to boosting security. This way,<br />

organisations have the power to ensure that<br />

only trusted machines are able to<br />

communicate on the network, and detect<br />

and prevent unauthorised access attempts.<br />

So, when building out machine identities,<br />

there are at least four goals to aim for, the<br />

first one being greater visibility. Operating<br />

with limited visibility across the company's<br />

environment makes the task of securing<br />

machine identities challenging and<br />

inefficient. That's why a comprehensive<br />

secrets management and machine identity<br />

management policy is so important. It offers<br />

greater visibility into an organisations'<br />

network, allowing them to closely monitor<br />

and track managed and unmanaged secrets<br />

and machine activity.<br />

The second key goal is improved security.<br />

Centralised management of secrets and<br />

machine identities is vital to build a<br />

comprehensive Zero Trust strategy.<br />

Functions like centralised rotation of secrets<br />

help eliminate the problem of hard-coded<br />

secrets and enable organisations to audit<br />

which applications and machines are using<br />

each secret.<br />

Aiming for lower risk digital transformation<br />

enablement is also important. The dynamism<br />

of hybrid and multi-cloud environments and<br />

DevOps practices<br />

demands agile central management for<br />

secrets and machine identities. Integrating<br />

identity security automatically in CI/CD<br />

pipelines, for instance, ensures that identity<br />

integrity becomes an inherent part of the<br />

company's development processes rather<br />

than just an afterthought. In other words,<br />

identities within the network are accurately<br />

verified and protected.<br />

The final thing not to forget is the need to<br />

work towards improved operations efficiency.<br />

While automation tools are incredibly useful,<br />

native integrations with DevOps tools and<br />

the cloud provider's built-in services lead to<br />

an even higher boost in efficiency. Overall,<br />

this helps increase developers' adoption of<br />

secure coding practices, ultimately improving<br />

productivity and accelerating the deployment<br />

of new services more rapidly.<br />

Ultimately, incorporating machine identities<br />

and secrets management into a Zero Trust<br />

strategy brings a lot of advantages. It gives<br />

organisations the chance to establish a<br />

more robust and secure network<br />

architecture and minimise costs associated<br />

with traditional security approaches, while<br />

reducing the time required to deploy new<br />

services. So, investing in tools and processes<br />

to manage these identities effectively will pay<br />

dividends by reducing risk and ultimately<br />

fortifying the company's security posture in<br />

the face of an<br />

ever-changing threat landscape.<br />

As organisations continue to adopt Zero<br />

Trust, business leaders must keep in mind that<br />

machine identities play a pivotal role in digital<br />

environments - and this is why an efficient<br />

overall security strategy accounts for them.<br />

ROBUST MACHINE IDENTITY<br />

MANAGEMENT<br />

As organisations navigate the complex<br />

landscape of digital security, safeguarding<br />

machine identities emerges as a critical pillar<br />

of effective Zero Trust security measures. A<br />

comprehensive machine identity<br />

management policy can be a game changer<br />

for organisations, empowering them to<br />

secure their networks and protect against<br />

cyber threats in a more efficient way, while<br />

simultaneously mitigating risks and fortifying<br />

their security posture<br />

Today's organisations need to be able to<br />

navigate the complexities of the digital age<br />

with confidence. Diligently verifying identities<br />

can help them do that. Systematically<br />

overseeing machine identities and secrets,<br />

and leveraging threat analytics to detect and<br />

address potential abuses, can empower<br />

them to improve their cyber defences, and<br />

securely embrace the future. <strong>NC</strong><br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 21


OPINION: CHANNEL PARTNERS<br />

TUNING IN TO THE CHANNEL<br />

IT'S TIME TO TAKE ANOTHER LOOK AT THE CHANNEL<br />

ACCORDING TO ZHANNA BOGUSLAVSKA, GLOBAL CHANNEL<br />

AND ALLIA<strong>NC</strong>ES MARKETING LEADER, SOLARWINDS<br />

Nothing in the technology industry<br />

stands still for long. And the<br />

channel - that essential ecosystem<br />

of distributors and resellers that helps<br />

supercharge IT sales - is no exception. As<br />

someone who watches these things<br />

closely, I believe the industry's approach<br />

to channel partnerships has been<br />

somewhat out of sorts lately.<br />

While it's difficult to say precisely<br />

why, it's clear that the explosion in<br />

AI and cloud services has shaken<br />

things up in a big way - not least<br />

in areas like AI-powered<br />

observability, service<br />

management, and database<br />

management solutions for<br />

enterprises. As a result,<br />

everyone from resellers to<br />

software developers is trying<br />

to figure out how to deal<br />

with these changes. Despite<br />

all the uncertainty, one thing<br />

is clear: the underlying<br />

health of the channel<br />

remains strong.<br />

According to research<br />

from channel analysts<br />

Canalys, channel partners<br />

"remain the backbone of<br />

the tech industry, accounting<br />

for 73.2% of the total IT<br />

market in <strong>2024</strong>." It states<br />

that the channel will<br />

"continue to play a<br />

crucial role in<br />

scaling vendors'<br />

reach and delivering complex technology<br />

solutions to customers," but only if they<br />

continue to provide the level of<br />

engagement that has made this such a<br />

compelling part of the IT industry.<br />

DON'T UNDERESTIMATE THE VALUE<br />

OF CHANNEL PARTNERS<br />

Part of ensuring this engagement is<br />

recognising that the move to cloud services<br />

and subscription models is not just<br />

changing how people work - it's also<br />

impacting what they buy, and how they buy<br />

it. That's important. Maintaining good<br />

channel partners is a priority in a world<br />

where businesses are trying to grow smartly<br />

and sustainably - especially when budget<br />

and resources are tight.<br />

After all, working with channel partners is<br />

a two-way street. They can help you make<br />

better plans, allow you to stand out from<br />

the crowd, and provide insights that give<br />

you that all-important USP. If embracing<br />

the channel is part of a move into new<br />

territory regarding sector or geography,<br />

then their knowledge and expertise can<br />

help mitigate risk.<br />

Whether starting a channel programme<br />

from scratch or embarking on a plan to<br />

rejuvenate existing relationships,<br />

committing to a strong partnership strategy<br />

is a smart move. But for it to succeed, your<br />

channel strategy has to dovetail with the<br />

ambitions of your own organisation while<br />

ensuring that you take full advantage of<br />

what your partners have to offer. Getting<br />

that right is fundamental to success.<br />

22 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


OPINION: CHANNEL PARTNERS<br />

FOCUS ON BUILDING A ROBUST<br />

NETWORK<br />

If you're in any doubt about the role the<br />

channel can play, an impact study by<br />

Forrester found that a typical<br />

organisation looking to invest in the<br />

channel could achieve a 296% return on<br />

investment (ROI) over three years - or an<br />

average of $2.4 million in net value over<br />

the same period. But this can only be<br />

achieved if organisations commit to their<br />

channel programmes by allocating<br />

sufficient budget to drive sustained and<br />

scalable growth.<br />

That commitment is essential because it<br />

gives channel partners the confidence<br />

and incentive to invest in your brand's<br />

success. This reassurance is critical as<br />

they look to take your brand to market.<br />

Take SolarWinds, for example. Last<br />

year, we announced several<br />

enhancements to our Transform Partner<br />

Program. These included better support<br />

for our technology partners and MSPs<br />

with cloud marketplaces and new<br />

revenue pools, as well as other benefits<br />

to accelerate growth and drive revenue<br />

for our partners.<br />

The programme was initially launched in<br />

2022 to enable our partners to better<br />

support their customers' digital<br />

transformation and innovation efforts.<br />

This commitment confirms that channel<br />

partnerships are the lifeblood of any<br />

company's successful growth into new<br />

markets-including ours.<br />

PLAY TO YOUR STRENGTHS<br />

As Forrester explains in its impact report,<br />

driving sales via a partner programme<br />

has become an important differentiator<br />

for organisations. Investment is critical,<br />

but these relationships are not solely<br />

financial. Even though your channel is,<br />

technically speaking, situated outside your<br />

organisation, they are your partners. And<br />

under the right conditions, they can add<br />

much more than just an uplift in sales.<br />

Perhaps the most significant advantage<br />

is that your partners hold the potential to<br />

free up valuable time and resources for<br />

you and your team. Handling customer<br />

onboarding in their respective markets is<br />

just one example.<br />

In this instance, partners can play to<br />

their strengths by providing excellent<br />

customer service and product delivery. In<br />

the process, they allow you to<br />

concentrate on your critical core<br />

competencies: driving innovation and<br />

improving operations. You get to focus<br />

on what you do best while empowering<br />

your partners to do the same. This is<br />

where channel partnerships can excel<br />

and benefit all parties.<br />

TAP INTO THE BENEFITS OF LOCAL<br />

KNOWLEDGE AND ACCESS<br />

I urge anyone exploring their channel<br />

options not to overlook the value that<br />

your channel partner brings simply by<br />

virtue of being immersed in their own<br />

local, niche, or untapped market. After<br />

all, a strong channel partnership isn't just<br />

about gaining access to a new market.<br />

A partner doesn't simply open doors or<br />

provide a geographic toehold. Instead, a<br />

true partnership leverages your partners'<br />

firsthand knowledge, insights, and<br />

expertise. As a colleague told me recently,<br />

"Not only are your channel partners your<br />

local guide in a new region, they're also<br />

your local champion."<br />

So, make the most of it. Build on the<br />

trust, brand awareness, and credibility<br />

your partners have developed to cement<br />

your own. That way, you will both be<br />

well positioned to meet the goals for<br />

future success. <strong>NC</strong><br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 23


OPINION: DATA-DRIVEN NETWORKS<br />

NETWORK DATA ANALYTICS:<br />

THE BIGGEST OPPORTUNITIES AND CHALLENGES<br />

SASA CRNOJEVIC, EMEA AIOPS BUSINESS PRI<strong>NC</strong>IPAL FOR SERVICE PROVIDERS AT SAS, EXPLAINS<br />

HOW COMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS CAN GET THE MOST FROM DATA-DRIVEN NETWORKS<br />

The telecoms industry has been rapidly<br />

changing in recent years, with the<br />

introduction of technological evolutions<br />

from 5G and IoT, to cloud computing and AI.<br />

There is demand from today's consumers<br />

and enterprises alike for services with Zero<br />

Wait, Zero Touch, and Zero Trouble, and<br />

to meet these expectations,<br />

Communication Service Providers (CSPs)<br />

need to deliver seamless services with no<br />

delays to enable and support Industry<br />

4.0 expected outcomes.<br />

From network devices to servers and<br />

applications, there are various ways for<br />

CSPs to gain insight into their network<br />

performance, allowing them to switch<br />

their strategy accordingly. Yet too often,<br />

CSPs fail to make the most of their data,<br />

due to storing it in silos, relying on old<br />

legacy systems, or not tackling a skills gap<br />

within their organisation.<br />

However, overcoming these issues and<br />

linking network data with actual customer<br />

experience data across all touch points of the<br />

customer journey is key to CSPs being able to<br />

transform their data into actionable business<br />

decisions, during a time when they<br />

are actively seeking new<br />

revenue streams.<br />

ENSURING<br />

BETTER<br />

QUALITY<br />

DATA<br />

Data-driven<br />

networks have<br />

presented a new<br />

opportunity for<br />

CSPs to bridge network services to business<br />

operations, leading to a more frictionless<br />

process, enhanced operational efficiency, and<br />

improved customer experience by leveraging<br />

real-time data and AI.<br />

Integrating data from various sources, while<br />

ensuring accuracy and completeness for<br />

analysis, is a significant challenge for CSPs. In<br />

the Data Strategy Insights for Telco Companies<br />

report last year, 70% of respondents that<br />

struggle to trust their data said data quality is<br />

their biggest issue, while 60% said poor data<br />

quality is the leading challenge for integration<br />

projects which run poorly.<br />

AI models are only as good as the data fed<br />

into them, so without high quality data the<br />

algorithms won't reach their maximum<br />

potential. To fully reap the benefits of these<br />

data-driven networks, CSPs must ensure they<br />

can unlock their data's potential and make<br />

better informed decisions.<br />

MANAGING INFRASTRUCTURE AND<br />

CLOUDS COSTS FOR AI<br />

If you don't know when and how to process<br />

your data before storing or analysing, just<br />

keeping it in the public cloud or moving it in<br />

and out of the public cloud can get rather<br />

expensive. That's why it's important that CSPs<br />

implement AI streaming capabilities on the<br />

edge of their networks - i.e. analysing data<br />

directly from devices serving, for example, selfdriving<br />

cars or IoT projects. In this situation it<br />

doesn't make sense or can be risky for the data<br />

to be analysed in a central location, due to<br />

latency and other mission critical requirements.<br />

Having scoring capabilities for the streaming<br />

data is equally as important as those used for<br />

24 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

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OPINION: DATA-DRIVEN NETWORKS<br />

data stored in database and in memory as<br />

part of your end-to-end analytics lifecycle.<br />

INTEGRATING GENERATIVE AI INTO<br />

FRAMEWORKS<br />

Increasing the quality of data can in turn<br />

increase the accuracy of not only<br />

traditional machine learning models, but<br />

also Large Language Models (LLMs). In<br />

light of this, CSPs must embrace not only<br />

AI, but also Generative AI (GenAI) in order<br />

to stay ahead of the curve in an industry<br />

which is ever-evolving and changing. At the<br />

TM Forum DTW - Ignite event, in April<br />

<strong>2024</strong>, we saw that 80% of innovative pilot<br />

projects called Catalysts were focused<br />

around solving business problems via<br />

automation using AI and GenAI.<br />

Even though GenAI is a top priority for<br />

organisations in <strong>2024</strong> to increase<br />

efficiency, automate operational tasks and<br />

spur creativity, there is still some caution<br />

around its implementation due to the<br />

challenges, including orchestration and<br />

governance, which must be overcome to<br />

successfully adopt and align it with existing<br />

business frameworks. LLM models<br />

displaying 'hallucinations' is one of the best<br />

known examples.<br />

GenAI alone does not serve much purpose<br />

for CSPs,<br />

but once it is combined<br />

with AI-driven algorithms and processes<br />

through orchestration and governance, it<br />

can help them take steps towards network<br />

automation and optimisation. It would<br />

allow them to rapidly spot any anomalies,<br />

identify the causes and interpret or<br />

summarise any issues which may arise.<br />

REDUCING THE NEED FOR<br />

TECHNICAL KNOW-HOW<br />

Despite these advances in technology, the<br />

need for technical know-how within CSPs<br />

is in some instances reducing, due to the<br />

emergence of low and no-code systems<br />

and transforming the end users into<br />

citizen data scientists. These have<br />

introduced ready-made elements, userfriendly<br />

tools, and drag-and-drop<br />

functionalities, so people who don't have<br />

technological backgrounds or coding<br />

knowledge will be able to use these<br />

systems. This can apply once CSPs reach<br />

Level 3 (conditional autonomous network)<br />

and Level 4 (highly autonomous network)<br />

on the TM Forum autonomous networks<br />

maturity model (L0 - L5).<br />

This is a huge opportunity for the industry<br />

going forward, as anybody working within<br />

a CSP<br />

organisation - from customer service<br />

representatives to operations managers<br />

and other non-technical staff - can now<br />

work with data and AI tools and benefit<br />

from the innovative and creative solutions<br />

they provide. However, there remains a<br />

need for some employees with deeper<br />

technical and data science skills to<br />

oversee the development and monitoring<br />

of more complex AI models and decisions,<br />

ensuring that AI is compliant with<br />

upcoming regulations and follows a<br />

Trustworthy AI programme.<br />

Transforming some of the end business<br />

users into citizen data scientists and making<br />

access to data and low or no-code tools<br />

more widespread encourages innovation<br />

across all departments, while also allowing<br />

customer-facing applications and portals to<br />

be rapidly developed. With the right kind of<br />

Trustworthy AI programme, this will enable<br />

the TMT industry to quickly adapt to<br />

customer feedback and market demands,<br />

ultimately enhancing user experience and<br />

meeting the evolving demands of<br />

customers in an ethical way. <strong>NC</strong><br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 25


SECURITY UPDATE<br />

REMOTE WORK IN THE FACE OF EVOLVING CYBER THREATS<br />

CRITICAL GAPS IN NETWORK SECURITY ARE AN OBSTACLE TO THE FUTURE OF WORK,<br />

ACCORDING TO JONATHAN WRIGHT, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCTS AND OPERATIONS AT GCX<br />

According to the CIPD, 83% of UK<br />

organisations have hybrid working in<br />

place to improve staff retention and<br />

attract the best talent. While this promotes<br />

greater flexibility, allowing workers to<br />

transition between offices, homes and even<br />

public settings like cafes and trains, it<br />

presents an increased cyber security risk.<br />

Public networks are publicly accessible<br />

without significant restrictions or security<br />

measures, and threat actors using simple<br />

tools can access unsecured passwords and<br />

logins on these shared Wi-Fi networks.<br />

This risk is further compounded by the<br />

adoption of distributed cloud infrastructure.<br />

As organisations migrate their operations to<br />

the cloud, they expose themselves to more<br />

cyber attack vectors for criminals to exploit.<br />

Despite increased cyber threats, businesses<br />

often find themselves relying on short-term<br />

fixes and a patchwork of disparate point<br />

security solutions. However, many of these<br />

solutions are poorly implemented and<br />

riddled with assumptions regarding the<br />

sphere of control of other solutions in the<br />

stack.<br />

Today, no device on the network is safe<br />

from potential compromise. From a humble<br />

photocopier to a sophisticated server, any<br />

device with an IP address is a potential<br />

gateway for malicious actors. Once criminals<br />

gain a foothold, the entire network becomes<br />

their playground. Mitigating these risks<br />

becomes difficult, especially for those still<br />

clinging to outdated security solutions, and<br />

ill-equipped to handle threats.<br />

BEYOND LEGACY SECURITY<br />

Far too many organisations rely on outdated<br />

solutions to address today's threats. Software<br />

Defined Wide Area Networks (SD-WAN),<br />

originally designed for on-site work, and<br />

Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) served this<br />

purpose. Yet, these ageing solutions are not<br />

equipped to provide deep application-level<br />

visibility within the network and with it more<br />

sophisticated policy management and<br />

mitigation techniques.<br />

This requires a revaluation of security<br />

policies. To effectively accommodate<br />

employees' flexible work arrangements,<br />

businesses must invest in adaptive IT<br />

solutions and maintain a resilient IT<br />

infrastructure. This includes implementing<br />

agile systems that can support hybrid work<br />

environments while ensuring data security<br />

and optimal performance across various<br />

devices and locations and across all<br />

applications.<br />

FORTIFYING ALL DEFE<strong>NC</strong>ES<br />

Today, organisations must embrace modern<br />

Zero Trust aligned solutions like Secure<br />

Access Service Edge (SASE) to fortify data<br />

security from endpoints to the cloud. This is<br />

no longer a luxury but a necessity. The key<br />

lies in the holistic deployment of network<br />

security stacks, as this minimises the reliance<br />

on disparate tools. This not only reduces the<br />

number of potential layers of vulnerability but<br />

also streamlines IT operations. The result is a<br />

single-stack solution that underpins zero-trust<br />

architecture. This approach provides greater<br />

visibility across more potential attack vectors,<br />

continuously monitoring beyond the initial<br />

authentication phase where traditional VPN<br />

security measures falter.<br />

A CYBER-SAFE FUTURE OF WORK<br />

In the face of an ever-expanding attack<br />

surface, organisations might be tempted to<br />

shy away from the benefits of hybrid and<br />

remote work models. This need not be the<br />

case. Beyond financial and productivity<br />

gains, embracing hybrid and remote work<br />

fosters a satisfied, loyal and engaged<br />

workforce. By catering to individual<br />

preferences and needs, organisations can<br />

tap into a vast pool of top talent.<br />

The key lies in deploying solutions as a<br />

single network and security stack<br />

underpinned by zero-trust architecture. This<br />

provides the visibility needed to prevent data<br />

breaches while enabling effective monitoring<br />

and rapid response capabilities should<br />

threats materialise. By harnessing the power<br />

of cloud-native security solutions and<br />

nurturing a culture of cyber vigilance,<br />

businesses can confidently navigate the evershifting<br />

threat landscape. This allows<br />

organisations to reap the rewards of hybrid<br />

and remote work while fortifying their longterm<br />

resilience.<br />

26 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

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AWARDS <strong>2024</strong><br />

SPONSORED BY:<br />

Photo gallery: https://shorturl.at/APj70<br />

A GREAT NIGHT FOR NETWORKING<br />

The <strong>2024</strong> Network Computing<br />

Awards took place on May 23rd at<br />

an evening awards ceremony at the<br />

Radisson Blu Hotel in Bloomsbury Street.<br />

Hosted by former England cricketer Chris<br />

Cowdrey and Network Computing's own<br />

David Bonner, the evening's entertainment<br />

was provided by mindreader Graham<br />

Jolley - who thankfully didn't use his<br />

powers to reveal any of the winners before<br />

they were announced!<br />

You'll find a full round-up of our <strong>2024</strong><br />

winners and runners-up over the next<br />

pages. They include Netro, who won both<br />

the Testing / Monitoring Product of the<br />

Year and Network Infrastructure Product<br />

of the Year categories, and Intec<br />

Microsystems, winners of the Distributor<br />

of the Year award for the second<br />

consecutive year. NetAlly's CyberScope<br />

Air wireless network security scanner won<br />

our Bench Tested Hardware category<br />

YouTube: https://youtu.be/lH7XgVwdLJ8?feature=shared<br />

while 101 Data Solutions were named<br />

Reseller of the Year. Zeus Cloud took top<br />

spot in the One To Watch Company<br />

category while Veritas triumphed with a<br />

trio of trophies on the night.<br />

Congratulations once again to all of our<br />

<strong>2024</strong> winners and runners-up and a big<br />

'thank you' to our sponsors and everyone<br />

who took the time to vote online.<br />

https://networkcomputingawards.co.uk<br />

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AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 27


AWARDS <strong>2024</strong><br />

NETWORK INFRASTRUCTURE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Netreo - a BMC company - Netreo<br />

RUNNER-UP: Endace - EndaceProbe family<br />

Receiving Network Computing's Network Infrastructure Product of the Year award validates our ongoing commitment to customer<br />

satisfaction. Netreo Network Observability enables customers to simplify network performance monitoring and administration with<br />

centralised observability, intelligent alerts, and AI-driven automation. The combination reduces administrative burden, simplifies<br />

issue resolution, and frees IT teams to focus on business initiatives that drive revenue and proactively resolve network issues before<br />

impacting customers. As part of the BMC Helix AIOps and Observability solution, customers will have the opportunity to extend<br />

observability into their entire enterprise infrastructure and benefit from ML/AI-powered discovery, monitoring, optimisation,<br />

automation, and remediation of services.<br />

DATA PROTECTION PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Hornetsecurity - 365 Total Protection<br />

RUNNER-UP: Veritas - Veritas Backup Exec<br />

365 Total Protection is the only solution to cover all aspects of data protection, security, compliance, security awareness, and<br />

backup for Microsoft 365. Clients can choose from various services to suit their business needs, and enjoy state-of-the-art email<br />

security, as well as automated email continuity, legally compliant email archiving and email misdirection prevention. They can opt<br />

for backup and recovery for endpoints and Microsoft 365 data in mailboxes, Teams, OneDrive, and SharePoint. They can also<br />

effortlessly manage Microsoft 365 permissions, enforce compliance policies, and monitor violations. They can use realistic spear<br />

phishing simulations and AI-powered e-training to raise employee awareness.<br />

TELEPHONY PRODUCT OF THE YEAR (MYPHONES HAS BEEN REBRANDED TO EVONEX)<br />

WINNER: MyPhones - Altos<br />

RUNNER-UP: Lily Comms - LilyCloud Hosted VoIP<br />

The Evonex platform is a futureproof, feature rich, and fully supported hosted telephony solution built on highly resilient, patented,<br />

super reliable technology that is easy to use and manage. It has a range of market-leading applications designed to make your<br />

everyday communications experience highly effective in the fast-moving world of business, expanding as you grow and adapting to<br />

your flexible working needs.<br />

Not only is it cost-effective, saving you money on VoIP calls with no capital outlay and a simple licensing structure, but it also<br />

enables you to monitor and improve productivity with inclusive DDI level reporting.<br />

TESTING / MONITORING PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARD<br />

WINNER: Netreo - a BMC company - Netreo<br />

RUNNER-UP: NetAlly - NetAllyAirCheck G3 Pro<br />

Winning Network Computing's Testing / Monitoring Product of the Year for an unprecedented eighth time in nine years is a<br />

testament to our continued focus on capabilities that meet the changing needs of our customers. Centralised observability and AIdriven<br />

automation enable IT to resolve problems faster and proactively avoid critical issues before impacting customers. Intelligent<br />

alert correlation and automated issue resolution eliminate alert fatigue and significantly reduce alert volume. And as part of the<br />

BMC Helix AIOps and Observability solution, Netreo Network Observability will further simplify and improve network performance<br />

optimisation with integrated causal, generative, and predictive AI.<br />

28 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

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AWARDS <strong>2024</strong><br />

BEST SUPPLIER TO THE DATA CENTRE<br />

WINNER: Prism DCS<br />

RUNNER-UP: Sudlows<br />

Prism DCS is an award winning data centre solutions provider specialising in the design, manufacture and installation of bespoke<br />

solutions including hot and cold aisle containment solutions, security caging and data centre cabinets. We utilise expert in-house<br />

design, manufacturing and installation teams to provide a high quality service with unrivalled lead times. Prism DCS was acquired<br />

by Leviton Network Solutions earlier this year.<br />

NETWORK SECURITY PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: WatchGuard Technologies - Firebox M Series<br />

RUNNER-UP: macmon - macmon NAC<br />

Firebox M290 & M390<br />

Powerful performance for the growing network. Ideal for small and midsize organisations with up to 250 users looking for a rack-mounted solution.<br />

Firebox M590 & M690<br />

Supports growing midsize businesses with modular port options for greater flexibility as networking needs expand. Ideal for up to 1,000 users.<br />

Firebox M4800 & M5800<br />

Top of the line, with modular port options that allow businesses to create their ideal M4800 or M5800 deployment, and dual-redundant power<br />

supplies for highest performance and uptime. These appliances are ideal for the central headquarters location of a large distributed enterprise<br />

organisation, offering optimal flexibility to evolve the appliance over time.<br />

THE RETURN ON INVESTMENT AWARD<br />

WINNER: ExaGrid - Tiered Backup Storage<br />

RUNNER-UP: Veritas - Veritas Backup Exec<br />

As highlighted by the Return on Investment Award, ExaGrid continues to innovate its product and improve the economics of backup<br />

storage by providing advanced integration and improved deduplication with the leading backup applications, and offering a scaleout<br />

architecture which eliminates expensive forklift upgrades and planned product obsolescence, all while delivering the best<br />

performance, security, and ransomware recovery solution at a low cost up front over time.<br />

REMOTE WORKING PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: SolarWinds - Dameware Remote Everywhere<br />

RUNNER-UP: Veritas - Veritas Alta SaaS Protection<br />

SolarWinds Dameware Remote Everywhere is a fast, simple, and lightweight cloud-based remote support solution. The right remote<br />

support solution doesn't just connect IT professionals to machines, it saves time and resources. With Dameware Remote<br />

Everywhere, IT professionals can access nearly any platform or device to solve issues quickly. Packed with troubleshooting,<br />

communication, session monitoring, reporting, and security features, technicians can complete remote support functions with<br />

minimum clicks and time. Clear dashboards and data help IT professionals optimize business efficiency and configure elements for<br />

their organisation.<br />

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AWARDS <strong>2024</strong><br />

STORAGE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Veritas - Veritas Backup Exec<br />

RUNNER-UP: ExaGrid - Tiered Backup Storage<br />

Being recognised in this category underscores Backup Exec's commitment to delivering innovative, ground breaking storage<br />

capabilities to allow users to work with all types of storage, including disk, deduplication, network, and cloud storage, along with<br />

reducing data backup storage with its integrated data deduplication technology.<br />

NETWORK MANAGEMENT PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Efficient IP - SOLIDserver DDI<br />

RUNNER-UP: Zeus Cloud - NetMinder<br />

SOLIDserver DDI: Empower network automation and security with core DDI services. The SOLIDserver DDI suite is designed to<br />

deliver highly scalable, secure and robust virtual and hardware appliances for critical DNS-DHCP-IPAM services. It provides vital<br />

benefits for the agility, reliability, and security of your network infrastructure.<br />

The DDI solution ensures dynamic, integrated management of IPAM with DNS and DHCP services in a single process, bringing up<br />

to 80% time savings for network administrators. All IP addressing scheme changes are automatically pushed to the DNS and DHCP<br />

servers, eliminating human errors and enforcing corporate policies.<br />

DISTRIBUTOR OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Intec Microsystems<br />

RUNNER-UP: Brigantia<br />

We are thrilled to win Distributor of the Year at the Network Computing Awards for the second consecutive year. This prestigious<br />

recognition reflects our unwavering commitment to delivering exceptional service and top-quality products to our clients. It<br />

underscores the hard work and dedication of our entire team. We extend our heartfelt thanks to our loyal customers and partners<br />

for their continued support, which has been instrumental in our success. This award inspires us to strive for even greater heights<br />

and to continue innovating and improving our offerings. Thank you for being an integral part of our journey!<br />

RESELLER OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: 101 Data Solutions<br />

RUNNER-UP: Logicalis<br />

101 Data Solutions is honoured to be named Reseller of the Year <strong>2024</strong>, a testament to our commitment to delivering high-quality<br />

IT solutions and services. This award reflects our consistent excellence and the strong relationships we've built with our clients and<br />

vendor partners. Our success is driven by the dedication and expertise of our team across all areas, from customer<br />

communications to solution design and support.<br />

We extend our sincere thanks to our clients, partners, and employees for their continued support. We look forward to the next<br />

year, continuing to innovate and address key technology challenges.<br />

30 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

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AWARDS <strong>2024</strong><br />

PARTNERSHIP OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Veritas and Wasabi Technologies<br />

RUNNER-UP: Dell Technologies/NVIDIA<br />

We at Veritas are very proud to have been recognised as part of the Partnership of the Year Award. We owe these incredible<br />

achievements to our users and everyone who voted for us. Your votes and continued trust in Backup Exec have made these awards<br />

possible. The recognition we have received from the Network Computing Awards motivates us to continue innovating and<br />

improving our solutions to meet and exceed your expectations.<br />

HARDWARE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: ExaGrid - Tiered Backup Storage<br />

RUNNER-UP: Vertiv - Vertiv Liebert® GXT5 Lithium-Ion UPS 1000 - 3000 VA<br />

ExaGrid has been voted Hardware Product of the Year, recognising the continued innovation of its Tiered Backup Storage. ExaGrid<br />

has added three new appliance models in <strong>2024</strong>, including the EX189, which offers the largest single scale-out system storage<br />

capacity for any backup storage on the market. One of the key highlights of the updated product line is that all ExaGrid appliances<br />

are available in 2U models, offering rack space efficiency which allows organisations to save on rack storage and cooling costs<br />

while accommodating large data backups and future data growth.<br />

SOFTWARE PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: BackBox - BackBox Network Automation Platform<br />

RUNNER-UP: Eseye - AnyNetSMARTconnect<br />

Network automation is now an essential tool for support departments and change management teams as it brings operational<br />

efficiencies, not least in terms of significantly reduced security risks. This can be challenging in geographically distributed, multivendor<br />

environments, but BackBox’s Network Automation Platform (NAP) has you covered as it supports over 180 technology<br />

vendors. BackBox’s Network Automation Platform takes the pain out of configuration management, network security and<br />

compliance. Easy to deploy, it can streamline all essential backup and update operations across multi-vendor environments and its<br />

smart zero-code automations will appeal to busy support departments.<br />

CLOUD BASED SOLUTION OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Endace - EndaceProbe Cloud<br />

RUNNER-UP: Portnox - Portnox Cloud<br />

EndaceProbe Cloud is a cutting-edge network monitoring solution that enables unmatched visibility and security across global cloud<br />

infrastructures. It delivers high-fidelity, always-on packet capture, collecting the vital evidence security and network teams need for<br />

comprehensive threat investigation and rapid troubleshooting of performance issues. Seamlessly integrating with EndaceProbes deployed in<br />

on-premise and private-cloud environments, EndaceProbe Cloud supports scalable deployment and robust data retention and integrates<br />

directly with a wide range of security and performance monitoring tools. EndaceProbe Cloud empowers IT teams to maintain optimal cloud<br />

network performance and security, and enables full visibility across hybrid and multi-cloud infrastructure.<br />

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AWARDS <strong>2024</strong><br />

NETWORK PROJECT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: SGF/macmon<br />

RUNNER-UP: National Oceanography Centre/Logicalis<br />

Süddeutsche Gelenkscheibenfabrik (SGF) GmbH & Co. KG is a global market leader offering international customers individual<br />

and sophisticated noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) solutions for the decoupling and damping of vibrations and noises in the<br />

automotive, rail and industrial applications. In the field of metal forming, SGF manufactures high-strength metal parts for electric<br />

motors for cars. Recognising the growing threat to the security of their IT and operational technology (OT) networks, SGF worked<br />

with CyProtect AG, a gold partner of macmon Secure, to implement macmon NAC as the central security solution.<br />

BE<strong>NC</strong>H TESTED PRODUCT OF THE YEAR - HARDWARE<br />

WINNER: NetAlly - CyberScope Air<br />

The CyberScope Air fully supports Wi-Fi 6/6E networks and brings visibility into the 6GHz band, where it can connect at its full data<br />

rate and capture frames. It's capable of providing a wealth of information including site surveying, analysis and troubleshooting<br />

tools, network discovery, L2 and L3 path analysis, short-term monitoring facilities with real-time wireless measurements and trend<br />

graphs that highlight network changes over time.<br />

The combination of powerful diagnostics tools and vulnerability scanning makes NetAlly's CyberScope Air a highly desirable tool<br />

for technicians tasked with maintaining wireless network security. It's remarkably easy to use and clearly capable of filling the<br />

security gaps that common network monitoring products leave behind.<br />

BE<strong>NC</strong>H TESTED PRODUCT OF THE YEAR - SOFTWARE AND SERVICES<br />

WINNER: Hornetsecurity - 365 Permission Manager<br />

365 Permission Manager offers a convenient and user-friendly interface for CISOs and M365 admins to minimise risk by properly<br />

governing assets and adhering to compliance standards by means of auditing. Thanks to 365 Permission Manager, CISOs get a<br />

more comprehensive view of permissions and whether items are shared with others, helping them to better protect sensitive<br />

information. It allows M365 admins to define compliance policies for sharing sites, files, and folders in Microsoft 365 and then<br />

easily monitor the states of policy compliance, and to audit policy violations - which helps organisations maintain compliance with<br />

internal and external regulations and policies.<br />

NEW PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: DrayTek - Vigor 2927Lax-5G<br />

RUNNER-UP: NetAlly - CyberScope Air<br />

DrayTek's proud winner, the Vigor 2927Lax-5G is a dual Ethernet Gigabit WAN and Wi-Fi 6 Router. This is a top choice selection<br />

for SMEs looking for high-performance networking solutions, combining both reliable and highly regarded features of the Vigor<br />

2927 series and advanced qualities attached to being the first DrayTek 5G router.<br />

With its 5G capabilities, Wi-Fi 6 connectivity, and enhanced firewall features, it offers lightning-fast speeds and secure<br />

connections. Affordable with multiple WAN redundancy and accessibility features for those who demand consistent internet access.<br />

This is the ultimate trustworthy router for businesses who prioritise reliability, speed, and security.<br />

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AWARDS<strong>2024</strong><br />

THE GREEN IT AWARD<br />

WINNER: Dell Technologies<br />

RUNNER-UP: Circular Computing<br />

At Dell Technologies, we believe that we can be most successful as a sustainability-focused company by putting technology and<br />

expertise to work where they can do the most good for people and the planet. Environmental responsibility starts with our<br />

operations, becoming more efficient in how we create and deliver technology solutions worldwide. It extends through our supply<br />

chain, where we work to ensure consistent, transparent environmental and social stewardship among thousands of companies<br />

across the globe. It ultimately provides customers with products that give them the power to do more while consuming less, and<br />

with solutions that can create further environmental benefit.<br />

THE INSPIRATION AWARD<br />

WINNER: Andy Hirst, Sudlows<br />

RUNNER-UP: Martin Lethbridge, WatchGuard Technologies<br />

As Managing Director of Sudlows, Andy heads the full critical infrastructure department. Andy has served as Chairman of the ECA<br />

ICCT and is an incorporated Engineer and Fellow of the IET. Andy promotes the upskilling of young engineers and is a mentor for<br />

the IET, and holds the uptime institutes' ATD and the TIA942 accreditation. Andy encoureages continual learning within his team<br />

and as a testimony to this has recently studied and attained his MSc in Data Centre Leadership and Management. Andy's drive<br />

within Sudlows has lead him to open up offices in the Middle East and India.<br />

THE CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD<br />

WINNER: Prism DCS<br />

RUNNER-UP: Netreo<br />

Prism DCS was once again voted winner of the Customer Service Award. Established in 1996, UK based PRISM DCS provides an<br />

unrivalled, service-focused offering including consultation, design, manufacture and installation of 19" cabinets, hot and cold aisle<br />

containment, security caging to communications network and data centre applications. Prism DCS was acquired by Leviton Network<br />

Solutions earlier this year.<br />

INNOVATION OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Vertiv - Vertiv Avocent® DSView Solution<br />

RUNNER-UP: Endace - Complete network visibility<br />

The Vertiv Avocent® DSView Solution is a secure IT management platform that integrates and scales from Enterprise to Edge configurations. It<br />

offers high performance, security, and automation for device management, monitoring, and control. The Vertiv Avocent® MP1000<br />

Management Platform manages service processors, virtual machines, IP KVM modules, and remote access appliances, providing centralized<br />

firmware updates and enhanced security. The Vertiv Avocent® RM1048 Rack Manager reduces power and cabling costs with PoE and supports<br />

over 100+ user sessions. The Vertiv Avocent® IPUHD 4K IP KVM provides remote 4K KVM with end-to-end encryption, HDMI, DP, MiniDP, and<br />

USB-C connectivity. The Vertiv Avocent® IPIQ IP KVM enhances remote access and troubleshooting with improved video resolution.<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> NETWORKcomputing 33


AWARDS<strong>2024</strong><br />

THE ONE TO WATCH COMPANY<br />

WINNER: Zeus Cloud<br />

RUNNER-UP: Aztech IT<br />

Zeus Cloud is a leading solutions integrator; driving growth, resilience and innovation for our clients through our technical<br />

expertise, broad solutions portfolio and supply chain capabilities. We are the MSP's best friend.<br />

THE ONE TO WATCH PRODUCT<br />

WINNER: Zyxel Networks - XMG 1915<br />

RUNNER-UP: Extreme Networks - 4000 Series<br />

The award-winning Zyxel Networks XMG1915 series offers 2.5G multi-gig smart managed switches, ideal for SMBs needing highspeed<br />

network upgrades. Available in 8 and 16-port variations, it features 2 x 10Gb SFP+ uplinks for enhanced connectivity. With<br />

speeds up to 2.5 times faster than standard gigabit networks, it allows for easy enhancement using existing wiring. The series<br />

supports PoE++ for WiFi 6/6E/7 APs and IoT devices, ensuring versatility. NebulaFlex technology offers flexible management<br />

through a user-friendly Web GUI or the Nebula Control Centre for unified cloud management. Its near-silent operation ensures<br />

minimal disruption, making the XMG1915 the most affordable multi-gig solution, combining performance and cost-efficiency.<br />

PRODUCT OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: Veritas - Veritas Backup Exec<br />

RUNNER-UP: Netreo - Netreo<br />

This award is a clear indication of Backup Exec's overall excellence and its significant impact on the small and mid-sized enterprise<br />

(SME) market. It highlights our commitment to delivering a top-tier product that meets the diverse needs of our global users.<br />

COMPANY OF THE YEAR<br />

WINNER: ExaGrid<br />

RUNNER-UP: Prism DCS<br />

ExaGrid is honoured to be recognised as Company of the Year, and we are grateful to our partners and customers for their<br />

support. Congratulations to all of the winners of the Network Computing Awards <strong>2024</strong>, and many thanks to everyone who voted.<br />

34 NETWORKcomputing AUGUST/SEPTEMBER <strong>2024</strong> @<strong>NC</strong>MagAndAwards<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTING.CO.UK


We hope you have enjoyed reading this issue which features a round-up of all<br />

the winners from the <strong>2024</strong> Awards. Technology is constantly evolving. In our<br />

mission to keep the Awards relevant, appropriate and useful we think carefully<br />

about the categories that should be included. This often means that we<br />

introduce some new categories. Equally, it sometimes makes sense that we<br />

rename or discontinue some categories.<br />

As we plan for the Awards of 2025 we will be looking closely at the levels of<br />

nominations and votes that the various categories attracted in the Awards of<br />

<strong>2024</strong>. However, historical data cannot guide us about what NEW categories<br />

should be introduced for the future. This is where your input will be very<br />

welcome. We want to hear and take on board your views. What new categories<br />

would you like to see in the Awards of 2025? Please share your views with<br />

david.bonner@btc.co.uk<br />

WWW.NETWORKCOMPUTINGAWARDS.CO.UK<br />

ATTENTION VENDORS:<br />

Our nominating and voting model means that it’s very definitely an advantage if<br />

your solutions are well known and well-liked – and of course it should be !<br />

However, the Network Computing Awards also provide opportunities for you to win<br />

recognition by impressing a Judge.<br />

The BE<strong>NC</strong>H TESTED PRODUCT OF THE YEAR is a judged category for all<br />

solutions that have been reviewed for Network Computing in the year leading up to<br />

the Awards ceremony. To book your solution(s) in for review contact<br />

david.bonner@btc.co.uk

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