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Is GenAI a Solution Without a Problem?
Organizations are investing heavily into generative AI tools, but many of the experiments aren't making it into production.
Welcome to the first edition of ByteSize! We’re ramping up production and hope to be in your inbox a few times a week with relevant news stories and industry updates from around the world of IT, brought to you by the team at Experts Exchange. In this email you can find:
📰 News Roundup - a collection of topical news stories we believe are important for keeping IT professionals up to speed with a fast-moving landscape.
🛩 Industry Moves - notable changes in leadership roles across the tech space.
👨💻 Job Opportunities - if you’re looking for work, we’ve put together a list of great opportunities for you to check out.
🕵 Community Spotlight - a featured interview with an exceptional member of the Experts Exchange community.
🕹 Tech Face-Off - Which email security program sucks less? Exchange or Symantec? We’ll get into it…
All of that in more in this edition of ByteSize! We hope you enjoy it, and can’t wait to keep you up to speed with everything happening in the world of IT! - The Experts Exchange Team.
📰 News Roundup
Deloitte believes generative AI is at a crossroads: 67% of surveyed orgs said they’re increasing investments in generative AI but, intriguingly, the vast majority “moved 30% or fewer of their GenAI experiments into production.” Why? Because the gargantuan datasets needed to run these shiny new AI models is often opaque and contains third-party information. What this could mean, Deloitte suggests, is bigger investments into data management. But currently there are a whole lot of great AI models without the gas (uh, data) needed to power them.
Psst. Wanna buy some corporate secrets with that used iPhone? Cheap, gently-used tech products that contain corporate secrets is a sort of magical turducken for IT folks: a delicious surprise within a tasty treat. But resellers in the US and China are selling hard drives and prototype phones with all kinds of corporate secrets on them, including secretive “dank memes from Apple stores in Europe.” Make sure you know where that discarded tech ends up.
SaaS data breaches on the rise According to AppOmni, 31% of organizations have had a SaaS data breach. This is a 5% uptick from just last year, and yet the blame-game is rampant: client-side IT teams are blaming SaaS IT teams, and vice versa. Our advice? Allied forces. Pull a cybersec Winston Churchill against hackers, saying: “We will fight them on the SaaS, we will fight them on the breaches.”
Salesforce owns Own Company for $1.9B CRM majordomo Salesforce recently ponied up $1.9B cash so that they could own Own Company, a SaaS data protection platform. It’s a natural fit: Own Company’s own services (stick with me, reader!), including their backup and recovery products, already use Salesforce as a backbone. This is Salesforce’s biggest acquisition since buying Slack in 2021 for $21B. For IT pros, this could mean better data protection, though only time will tell.
US, UK, and EU to sign AI treaty Fans of acronyms and regulation everywhere are rejoicing as the US, UK, and EU signed an international treaty promising to protect human beings (that’s you and me) against the dangers AI inherently possesses. ”[This] is a major step to ensuring that these new technologies can be harnessed without eroding our oldest values, like human rights and the rule of law," says Britain's justice minister, Shabana Mahmood For engineers and IT, this could mean more regulatory hoops to jump through. But also perhaps no robot overlord uprising in 2030?
Verizon buys Frontier for $20B Top-shelf cellphone provider Verizon decided to go steady with fiber-optic internet provider Frontier Communications to the tune of $20B, strengthening their potential fiber-optics customer locations to 25 million. For IT, this means less competition in the space though possibly better security as Verizon’s cybersec team is world-renowned. Twenty billion dollars is a lot of money for faster internet but it sure beats working out of the local Starbucks, I guess.
🛩 Industry Moves
Kara Sprague named CEO of HackerOne. Sprague joins HackerOne after seven years at Seattle-based F5, where she was Chief Product Officer since 2022 and Executive Vice President before that. Sprague said in a recent press release: “As CEO, I plan to expand our platform capabilities in service to enterprise customers, invest in and grow our community of security researchers, and continue to foster trust with customers, partners, and the researcher community.”
Berta Rodriguez-Hervas in at Pfizer as AI Chief. After stints at Tesla, Nvidia, and Stellantis, Rodriguez-Hervas joins Pfizer as their new AI and Analytics Officer.
Atte Lahtiranta to head core engineering group at Citadel. Investment management firm Citadel snagged Lahtiranta from Goldman Sachs, where he was CTO.
Viome adds Kal Raman as COO. Microbiome product company (and CancerDetect developer) hired Raman, who has experience as Senior Vice President of Amazon and Chief Digital Officer for Samsung.
Shopify hires Mikhail Parakhin as CTO. Top engineering talent Mikhail Parakhin will join Toronto-based Shopify after leading AI teams for a total of 12 years at Microsoft.
Peter Horadan joins Vouched as new CEO. Lockstep founder and former Avalara executive Peter Horadan will join fraud detection company Vouched as their new CEO, hoping to eradicate deepfakes and other AI-produced content through verification.
Vikas Mehta hired by Remitly as CFO. Digital remittance company Remitly hired Vikas Mehta, who joins Remitly after finance leadership positions at PayPal, Microsoft, Walmart, and Nike.
Lāth Carlson gets nod to head National Nordic Museum. Lāth Carlson, former executive director of Seattle’s Living Computers Museum + Labs (recruited for that position by Microsoft’s Paul Allen!), will be the new Executive Director and CEO at Seattle’s National Nordic Museum.
S. “Soma” Somasegar joins UiPath. A longtime former Microsoft leader, Somasegar will be the latest addition to the board of robotic process automation company UiPath.
Steve Hagerman aboard Truist as new CIO. With 25 years of experience, Hagerman joins Truist after a stint as CIO of Wells Fargo. He will work on Truist’s enterprise team, focusing on AI, data, security, AI, and analytics.
👨💻 Job Opportunities
🕵 Community Spotlight
Andrew Hancock is a true character in the Experts Exchange ecosphere. With his uncanny ability to untangle thorny programming problems, expertise in VMWare, and down-to-earth demeanor, he stands out. He's even a beekeeper, selling his own honey.
Andrew has been on Experts Exchange since its inception in 1996. He's a certified VMware vExpert PRO (2011-Present), has won over 46 Experts Exchange Awards, and holds the unique honor of being MVE (Most Valuable Expert) at Experts Exchange. Because of this (and because we want some of that sweet, sweet honey), we figured he’d be the perfect intro to A our Q’s. Condensed for length and clarity, here’s our interview.
What led you to specialize in VMware?
Early in my career, I saw the potential of virtualization to reduce costs, improve scalability, and simplify management. Visiting VMware World 2015 in Barcelona, courtesy of Experts Exchange, was a major catalyst. It allowed me to engage with industry leaders and expand my knowledge, solidifying my focus on VMware.
Why did Cyrus Computer Consultants Ltd switch from Citrix to VMware?
In the late 90s, as communication WAN costs decreased and Citrix became widely adopted, the technology shifted from cutting-edge to mainstream. Cyrus Computer Consultants Ltd saw the need to stay ahead of industry trends and made the strategic decision in 1998 to shift focus to VMware.
We believed that, the Intel '86 era would significantly reduce costs by consolidating workloads, offering a more scalable and cost-effective solution for the IT industry. VMware’s virtualization technology aligned perfectly with this, allowing us to remain at the forefront of technological innovation.
What advice would you give to IT professionals looking to advance in VMware and virtualization?
In the late 90s, as Citrix became mainstream, Cyrus Computer Consultants Ltd saw the need to stay ahead of industry trends. We believed that the Intel '86 era would significantly reduce costs by consolidating workloads. VMware's virtualization technology aligned perfectly with this, allowing us to remain at the forefront of innovation.
What advice would you give to IT professionals looking to advance in VMware and virtualization?
Master the Basics: Build a solid understanding of core VMware products and virtualization concepts.
Hands-on Practice: Set up a home lab or use VMware's labs to experiment.
Certifications: Earn VMware certifications like VCP, VCAP, and VCDX.
Join Communities and Forums: Engage with online communities like Experts-Exchange and VMware's forums.
Work on Real Projects: Gain practical exposure to enterprise environments and understand VMware's business impact.
How has being part of the Experts Exchange community impacted your career?
It has significantly enhanced my technical skills, expanded my professional network, and opened doors to new opportunities. The community introduced me to new technologies and encouraged me to push my boundaries. Through this environment, I was nominated and became part of the prestigious VMware vExpert and VMware vExpert Pro programs.
What emerging trend in tech excites you the most right now?
AI is definitely the most exciting trend for me. Its rapid advancements are transforming nearly every industry. The integration of AI into VMware and virtualization is a game-changer, with AI-enhanced infrastructure management automating many tasks traditionally handled by IT professionals.
Can you share a challenging problem you solved recently?
I encountered a complex VMware environment with performance issues and unexpected downtime. A client was experiencing intermittent system lags due to storage latency across multiple hosts. To solve this, I reconfigured the storage network settings and implemented Storage I/O Control (SIOC). By dynamically adjusting the I/O resources allocated to each VM based on priority and actual need, we balanced the load more efficiently across the datastore. Additionally, I fine-tuned the resource allocation to give higher priority to critical VMs during peak usage periods.
🕹 Tech Face-Off
Which Email Security Program Sucks Less?
There are no two words that, when combined, strike fear into the heart of an IT professional more than “email” and “security.” (Perhaps “public” and “speaking.” Or “microwave” and “broken.”)
Why? It’s because so many phishing and cybersecurity problems come through email – 94% of businesses reported email security incidents in 2023. Besides, nobody outside of the most Gandalf-bearded IT guys (so…actual wizards) likes the idea of touching their email settings on a regular basis.
We’ve picked two programs to compare. Let’s dive into which Email Security program sucks less:
Microsoft Exchange Online Protection (EOP) You definitely already know Microsoft. You probably, reluctantly, know what Microsoft Exchange is. So it won’t blow your mind when we tell you that this is the no-duh choice if your org is part of the staggering 47.9% of companies already invested in the Microsoft 365 ecosystem.
Pros: It’s easy to set up, easy to use, and is scalable as your business grows. Adjustments to the security settings aren’t as straightforward as we’d perhaps like them to be, but anyone with an IT background should be able to dial in to what they need… and since Microsoft 365 has such a large footprint in business, this may be your one and only choice.
The best way to think about Microsoft EOP is that it’s like Denny’s: as long as you don’t go in there expecting true greatness, you’ll be pleasantly surprised.
Cons: We hate to say it, but Microsoft EOP has a reputation for being peculiarly unstable and buggy at the most inopportune moments: you may only experience this 5% of the time, but when that 5% happens on a heavy work day, you’ll really notice it. This is not something you’d expect from a longtime tech giant.
Frequent updates (yay for security! bad for stability!) often change locations of features, and some users report issues during migration from on-premises to cloud. You’ll also have to pay extra for some features that Symantec Messaging Gateway offers right out of the box.
Symantec Messaging Gateway: It’s hard to call a $3.34B company like Symantec’s parent company Gen Digital the “underdog,” but compared to Microsoft, they most certainly are. Symantec Messaging Gateway (MG from now on because… typing) bills itself as a one-stop-shop for all things email security, and it largely delivers on all fronts.
Pros: The UX is a lot more forgiving than Microsoft. It’s highly customizable, has strong capabilities for managing malware, and the advanced spam and phishing detection gets better reviews than EOP.
Whereas EOP truly shines for workspace admins who get to see all the bells and whistles, MG’s benefits ring louder for the end user. Messaging Gateway, for everyday users, is a bit like getting a Tesla. You’ll initially love all the capabilities, but you’ll end up being grateful for just how quiet it is.
Cons: It’s resource-intensive. Where Microsoft EOP can just hum away in the background, some users found that they were too often tinkering with MG to get it to the right place, though it definitely should be mentioned that the cloud version of MG is far more “set it and forget it” than the traditional desktop counterpart.
Detection accuracy could be improved, and there’s also the matter of a recent acquisition by Broadcom which could mean big product changes down the line anyway. And, while we’re at it, not that it matters, but the name is just awful. Once you realize that “Messaging Gateway” sounds like the name of a tour opener for Dave Matthews Band, you can’t unsee it.
Look, this isn’t The Matrix (though my kickass vinyl pants might suggest otherwise). It’s not like if you choose Microsoft over Symantec something terrible will befall the space-time continuum. Both solutions offer strong email security features. Both have high user satisfaction ratings.
It really will depend on your organization's existing infrastructure, specific security needs, and integration requirements with other systems.
If we had to pick, Symantec Messaging Gateway would win by a hair.
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