IDC Corporate USA - Experts & Thought Leaders

Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, recently commissioned IDC to conduct a major ransomware and disaster preparedness survey, which revealed the extent to which backup-related issues are currently failing organisations across the globe. These backup-related issues are currently the number one cause of data loss —responsible for 32% of incidents — despite the fact that backup and recovery was cited as the number one priority for IT software investment this year.  Data disruptions Respondents reported an average of 4.2 data disruptions per year requiring an IT response The IDC White Paper, titled 'The State of Disaster Recovery and Cyber-Recovery, 2024–2025: Factoring in AI,' pulls its insights from a survey carried out across North America, Western Europe, India, and Australia, among organisations with 500 to 10,000+ employees. Respondents reported an average of 4.2 data disruptions per year requiring an IT response with one ransomware attack and one internal attack per year on average. Backup environments Across respondents, the weakness of a backup-only recovery strategy was evident. For instance, 48% of organisations in the survey that paid a ransom indicated they did so despite having valid backups, with the most common reasons cited being a desire for a speedier recovery or minimised data loss. Nonetheless, only 20% of ransom-payers were able to fully recover their data after payment, creating a "worst of both worlds" situation in which organisations deploy and maintain backup environments without any concrete advantages in the event of an attack. Disaster recovery challenges   Most commonly cited DR challenges for organisations are IT personnel time and resource availability These challenges are exacerbated by worsening personnel issues: according to the report, the most commonly cited disaster recovery (DR) challenges for organisations are "IT personnel time and resource availability" and "IT personnel skills and knowledge."  The same applies to cyber recovery, with 34% of respondents citing "keeping recovery processes up to date" as a primary challenge in this arena and 31% of respondents citing "staff knowledge and skill sets."  Importance of a holistic approach In response to these challenges, the report highlights the importance of a holistic approach to DR and cyber recovery (CR) in which "backup and recovery, disaster recovery, and cyber-recovery" build on each other and provide a higher degree of data protection. Continuous data protection (CDP) in particular provides essential support here, allowing organisations to recover to a point just prior to the attack and consequently minimise any data loss. Unified solutions like these enable organisations to scale systems without proportionally adding staff — an essential benefit since, per IDC, IT organisations tend to take a cautious approach to hiring. Trustworthy for DP/CR  While most respondents claim that AI will have a "significant" impact on DR/CR down the line At the same time, businesses remain split on the future of AI. While most respondents claim that AI will have a "significant" impact on DR/CR down the line, a strong majority — 59% — don't think current AI is trustworthy for DP/CR. Meanwhile, although the vast majority of organisations are using cloud for backup/DR, 58% are still protecting a majority of their apps purely on-premises, suggesting that on-prem remains a highly viable backup/DR solution. Overall, 40% believe AI will provide a greater benefit than a threat. Data protection efforts  "It’s unfortunate to see organisations funnelling resources into backup processes only to realise that it was all for naught — paying the ransom money and losing the data," said Phil Goodwin, research vice president, IDC. “What's clear is that only a holistic approach can eliminate these negative outcomes and keep organisations safe. In particular, CDP will prove increasingly central to unified data protection efforts in months and years to come."  Data environments "Organisations are increasingly responsible for data environments whose complexity they are unequipped to handle and whose integrity they are ill-prepared to safeguard," said Caroline Seymour, vice president, storage product marketing, HPE.  "This is not the fault of any individual organisation, but it does demand a more sophisticated approach to data protection — one in which traditional backup is not the be-all-end-all but instead one of a suite of complementary tools, including CDP." 

Acronis, a pioneer in cybersecurity and data protection, is pleased to introduce Acronis XDR the newest addition to the company’s security solution portfolio. Easy to deploy, manage, and maintain, Acronis XDR expands on the current endpoint detection and response (EDR) offering and delivers complete natively integrated, highly efficient cybersecurity with data protection, endpoint management, and automated recovery specifically built for managed service providers (MSPs). Acronis XDR Cyberattacks have become increasingly sophisticated due to cybercriminals deploying AI and attack surfaces expanding, allowing businesses to be more vulnerable to data breaches and malware. To protect their customers, MSPs who offer security services commonly only have a choice of complex tools with insufficient, incomplete protection that are expensive and time-consuming to deploy and maintain. As a direct response to these challenges, Acronis XDR is the solution providing complete protection without high costs and added complexity. Endpoint protection platform “Acronis makes a compelling entrance into XDR,” notes Chris Kissel, Research Vice-President at IDC. “Acronis has provided an endpoint protection platform for the better part of a year. They have extended their XDR stack mapping alerts to MITRE ATTACK and offer cloud correlation detections. Importantly, their platform supports multitenancy, and the dashboard provides intuitive visualisations.” Key features and benefits of Acronis XDR Native integration across cybersecurity, data protection, and endpoint management. The product is designed to protect vulnerable attack surfaces enabling unmatched business continuity. High efficiency, with the ability to easily launch, manage, scale, and deliver security services. It also includes AI-based incident analysis and single-click response for swift investigation and response. Built for MSPs, including a single agent and console for all services, and a customisable platform to integrate additional tools into a unified technology stack. Cybersecurity “MSPS must provide reliable cybersecurity to customers with diverse IT environments and constrained budgets,” said Gaidar Magdanurov, President at Acronis. “Acronis XDR enables MSPs to offer top-notch security without the complexity and significant overhead of traditional non-integrated tools. This is achieved in several ways, including AI-assisted capabilities within the Acronis solution that helps MSPs provide the utmost cybersecurity - even if an MSP only has limited cybersecurity expertise.” Acronis MDR Acronis MDR is a service offering used with the Acronis EDR solution focused on an EPP Earlier in 2024, the company released Acronis MDR powered by Novacoast, a simple, effective, and advanced endpoint security service built for MSPs with native integration of data protection to deliver unmatched business resilience. Acronis MDR is a service offering used with the Acronis EDR solution focused on an endpoint protection platform (EPP) to provide passive endpoint protection. The addition of Acronis MDR amplifies MSP’s security capabilities without the need for large security resources or added investments. AI-based innovations The introduction of Acronis MDR and XDR follows a string of security-related offerings and solutions from Acronis, building on the company's EDR offering released in May 2023. Acronis security solutions leverage AI-based innovations and native integrations, which lower complexity and provide complete security most easily and efficiently. With a comprehensive security portfolio from Acronis, MSPs can offer complete cybersecurity to their customers and scale operations to grow their business.

Automation Anywhere, a pioneer in AI-powered automation, announced its new AI + Automation Enterprise System that puts AI to work with automation to drive exponential outcomes. Unveiled during Imagine 2024, the company's new offering is infused with its second-generation GenAI Process Models to speed up the discovery, development, and deployment of AI process automation. AI Agents The company also launched new AI Agents to manage complex cognitive tasks and automate more than ever before possible across every system in an enterprise. These solutions will help organisations achieve dramatic efficiency improvements, driving process tasks that formerly took hours down to minutes, and delivering 3x time to value and up to 10x business impact across business workflows that include customer service operations, finance, IT, and HR. AI Agent-powered automation "Every enterprise today is facing the same inescapable growth and productivity mandate to work smarter, not harder to be more productive, more efficient, and more innovative," said Mihir Shukla, CEO and Co-Founder, of Automation Anywhere. "Automation is the foundation that's gotten us partway there. But AI Agent-powered automation is the breakthrough that will take us beyond to automate the seemingly impossible, create a new operating model for business, and drive enterprise transformation with stunning results." Rapid cognitive workflows with Enterprise AI agents AI Agents take automation to the next level with the ability to learn from enterprise data A breakthrough new feature is the ability to build custom AI Agents with the new AI Agent Studio. AI Agents take automation to the next level with the ability to learn from enterprise data, make informed decisions, and take action responsibly across any enterprise system, speeding processes by up to 90 percent.  AI Agent Studio AI Agent Studio features low-code tools, making it easy for developers of all skill levels to quickly create specialised AI Agents to help with their specific use cases – no data scientist required. These AI Agents combine AI and action to tackle more complex cognitive work, like identifying and automatically replacing a product in the case of a stock shortage. They are adaptive, capable of learning from complex enterprise data, and able to take swift action for quick resolution and higher ROI. Enterprise AI Agent highlights New AI Agent Studio, generally available, provides developers of all levels with low-code tools to easily build, manage, and govern custom AI Agents. Developers can start with the foundational model of choice, including models from AWS, Google Cloud, Microsoft Azure OpenAI Service, and more. Developers also will be able to augment AI Agents with enterprise knowledge through a native Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG) service, and Amazon Bedrock in October. Finally, developers will have built-in prompt testing to ensure outputs are relevant for any use case before putting AI Agents into action. Enhanced Security & Governance equips AI Agents with built-in controls for the protection and monitoring of how AI and company data are being used to ensure security and compliance. New functionality includes monitoring and audit of agent and model performance, guardrails for consistent use, and human-validation and prompt testing to limit hallucinations and maximise the quality of outputs. Future Data Masking will automatically redact sensitive data from any input getting processed by a model. Robust and critical insights "AI Agent Studio has truly streamlined my workflow, boosted my productivity, and has been a game-changer," said Khaled Mostafa, Intelligent Automation Services Delivery Manager, Magnoos Information Systems. "The ability to seamlessly switch between foundational models from pioneering vendors within a single platform has significantly enhanced my prompt engineering process." "Governance is critical and the features are incredibly robust, offering detailed insights into all our interactions with these models which makes me much more comfortable including GenAI capabilities in my automation." GenAI Process Models 2.0 The GenAI Process Models 2.0 are exclusively designed to drive faster process discovery The underlying engines that power the AI + Automation Enterprise System are Automation Anywhere's unique GenAI Process Models. The GenAI Process Models 2.0 are exclusively designed to drive faster process discovery, 30 percent faster automation creation, 90 percent accuracy with document processing, and 50 percent more automation resiliency – above and beyond what LLMs alone can deliver. The models are tuned with rich metadata from more than 300 million process automation running on Automation Anywhere's cloud-native platform. Automation solutions A new set of developer automation solutions built on the new GenAI Process Models 2.0 include: New Automator AI, generally available, is a comprehensive set of generative AI products and capabilities to accelerate the automation lifecycle, making it faster and easier to build, deploy, and manage automation. Features include: Generative Recorder, enabling teams to build more resilient UI automation with a generative AI fallback that automatically detects changes in a source application interface and self-heals in real-time to keep work moving, reducing automation downtime by up to 50 percent. Enhanced Autopilot, generally available, enables cross-functional teams to go from discovery to automation in record time by quickly converting process documentation into draft process automation using generative AI. Autopilot allows for inputs from any mining tool in BPMN format to build automation. Model setup and deployment are faster and easier than ever with a new testing and setup experience Document Automation, which has seen tremendous customer response and 9x customer growth year on year, leverages generative AI enhancements for real-time processing of any document type, including unstructured documents, and achieves more than 90 percent accuracy. Companies can rapidly capture data in the flow of work from any document type with the new ability to extract data from complex tables, more than 30 supported languages, and expanded model options. Model setup and deployment are faster and easier than ever with a new testing and setup experience and new support for on-prem deployment. Seamless integration "Automation Anywhere continues to seamlessly integrate AI and automation to help customers get more out of their AI investments," said Maureen Fleming, Program Vice President of Intelligent Process Automation Research, IDC. "These latest enhancements and platform capabilities, including AI Agents, make AI-powered automation even more accessible, empowering organisations and employees to leverage AI in new ways, helping them work smarter than ever before." Accelerate business productivity with AI  To help customers achieve value quickly, Automation Anywhere is also delivering a suite of AI-powered solutions to help accelerate business outcomes across all key business functions. Automation Co-Pilot, the embed-anywhere enterprise assistant for organisations is conversational (in preview status) thanks to a new integration with Amazon Q Service. It's faster for business users to get work done across any application with chat capabilities for on-demand assistance to ask questions of knowledgebases, call on AI Agents, or initiate automation. The enterprise-ready Automation Co-Pilot can be embedded in any application a user works in and action across any system in an organisation. Service Operations Solution Accelerator, generally available, helps teams get to business impact faster with pre-packaged AI Agents and pre-defined workflows for a variety of service operations use cases. Employees can improve every customer interaction with the ability to not only quickly execute process automation but can call on AI Agents to complete cognitive tasks like order management, returns processing, and service Q&A. Over the next few quarters, new Solution Accelerators will be rolled out for finance, IT, HR, and industries including Healthcare, Banking, and Manufacturing.

The past decade has seen unprecedented growth in data creation and management. The products and services that consumers use every day – and the systems businesses, large and small, rely on – all revolve around data. The increasing frequency of high-profile data breaches and hacks should be alarming to anyone, and there’s a danger data security could worsen in the coming years. According to DataAge 2025, a report by IDC and Seagate, by 2025, almost 90% of all data created in the global datasphere will require some level of security, but less than half of it will actually be secured. Nuanced approach to data security Security is a circle, not a line. Every actor involved in the handling and processing of data has responsibility for ensuring its securityThe rapid proliferation of embedded systems, IoT, real-time data and AI-powered cognitive systems – as well as new legislation like the European Union’s GDPR – means that data security has to be a priority for businesses like never before. With data used, stored and analysed at both the hardware and software level, we need a new and more nuanced approach to data security. Security is a circle, not a line. Every actor involved in the handling and processing of data has responsibility for ensuring its security. What this means in practice is renewed focus on areas of hardware and software protection that have previously not been top of mind or received large amounts of investment from businesses, with security at the drive level being a prime example. The importance of data-at-rest encryption In a world where data is everywhere, businesses need always-on protection. Data-at-rest encryption helps to ensure that data is secure right down to the storage medium in which it is held in a number of ways. Hardware-level encryption, firmware protection for the hard drive, and instant, secure erasing technology allow devices to be retired with minimal risk of data misuse. Data-at-rest encryption helps to ensure that data is secure right down to the storage medium in which it is held in a number of ways A recent report from Thales Data Threat found that data-at-rest security tools can be a great way to help protect your data. However, it’s important to note that this must be used in conjunction with other security measures to ensure that those that fraudulently gain access to your key management system can’t access your data. Ensuring drives to be Common Criteria compliant One straightforward test any business can do to ensure its storage is as secure as possible is to check whether the drives are Common Criteria compliantDespite the clear benefits, this kind of encryption lags behind other areas, such as network and endpoint security, in terms of the investment it currently receives. The same Thales Data Threat report found that data-at-rest security was receiving some of the lowest levels of spending increases in 2016 (44%), versus a 62% increase for network and a 56% increase for endpoint security. One straightforward test any business can do to ensure its storage is as secure as possible is to check whether the drives are Common Criteria compliant. Common Criteria is an international standard for computer security certification, and drives that meet this standard have a foundational level of protection which users can build on. Providing an additional layer of security The retail industry has seen a spate of security breaches recently, with several major US brands suffering attacks over the busy Easter weekend this year. As frequent handlers of consumer card information, retailers are particularly vulnerable to attack. Data-at-rest encryption could enhance security in these instances, providing an additional layer of security between customer records and the attacker The advanced threats retailers face can often evade security defences without detection. Such a breach could grant attackers unrestricted access to sensitive information for possibly months – some breaches are known to have been detected only after consumer payment details appeared on the dark web. These types of undetected attacks are highly dangerous for retailers, which are relatively helpless to protect consumer information once their defences have been compromised. Data-at-rest encryption could significantly enhance security in these instances, providing an additional layer of security between customer records and the attacker which has the potential to make the stolen data valueless to cyber criminals. Industries in need of data-at-rest encryption Healthcare organisations, which hold highly sensitive customer and patient information, have a strong use case for data-at-rest encryption. With the widespread adoption of electronic patient health records, that data is increasingly more vulnerable to attack. Recent research from the American Medical Association and Accenture revealed that 74% of physicians are concerned over future attacks that may compromise patient records. With the widespread adoption of electronic patient health records, that data is increasingly more vulnerable to attack The financial sector would also benefit from further investment in data-at-rest encryption, given 78% of financial services firms globally are planning on increasing their spending on critical data, according to Thales’ Data Threat Report. It’s helpful to view security as a circle in which every piece of hardware and software handling the data plays its part SMEs and enterprises are not immune to security threats either – with growing numbers of people traveling for work or working remotely, the risk of sensitive business data becoming exposed via device theft is heightened. Usernames and passwords have little use if thieves can simply remove unencrypted hard drives and copy data across. Securing every hardware and software Technology vendors often focus on aspects of hardware and application security that are within their control. This is understandable, but it risks proliferating a siloed approach to data security. There is no single line for data security -- rather, it’s helpful to view it as a circle in which every piece of hardware and software handling the data plays its part. There’s a clear need for more industry dialogue and collaboration to ensure data security is effectively deployed and connected throughout the security circle and across the value chain.

To say the surveillance industry has changed over the last quarter of a century is an understatement. From high-definition cameras and TVs to high flying drones and video analytics – the surveillance industry has shifted in ways we never expected to see in such a short space of time. What’s more, with such advancements in both quality and choice that’s now available in the market, it’s no wonder that revenue in the video surveillance market is set to double to $75.64 billion by the end of 2022. Overall, some of the biggest opportunities in the surveillance industry will be through adopting new technological practices, particularly around the Internet of Things (IoT), cloud storage and artificial intelligence (AI) such as machine learning. The main question however is exactly how these trends will shape the surveillance industry of the future? Growing data needs in the IoT era Recently, Seagate and IDC released a whitepaper looking at the future of data and the factors that will contribute to worldwide data exploding to 163ZB by 2025. One of the biggest reasons for the increase in data is the rise of connected devices as a result of the IoT. Specifically, within surveillance we are seeing this occur already, thanks to drones and other wearable security devices becoming connected and coming online. With so many more transactions being created and tracked it’s crucial to think about how the surge in data will be managed. The use and integration of data in businesses and our lives is also quickly moving to the need for real time data Hard drives optimised for surveillance With such complexity in both the data set and its use, it’s imperative that we make sure that we have all the right hardware for the job. In the past, data centres would typically use the largest capacity drives their budget would stretch to, with the knowledge that the drives would be sufficient for its needs. However, as we move to a more complicated data set thanks to the rise of the IoT, we now need to begin to make more of a conscious effort to consider what drive is right for our needs. A prime example is how specialised hard drives have been making their way in to the surveillance market that have been optimised for specific use functions. One such drive is Seagate’s SkyHawk which allows security applications to continuously record video over a 24/7 basis. Unlike other industries, the surveillance market needs drives that have the capacity to run and write data 90% of the time so that businesses are never caught out using unsuitable and unreliable drives which could have serious consequences to personal and business safety. Access to video in the cloud   The rise of connected devices is also generating a substantial volume of data. This poses the question of where exactly this data will be stored and conversations are already taking place around access to video in the cloud.  A key driver of the shift to cloud-based, fast-access, and truly mobile data usage is that data has increasingly become a critical influencer for our lives in all aspects There are a couple of benefits to consider when it comes to video surveillance in the cloud. Firstly, the data is stored in a central, shared system so users can access the content quickly and easily from wherever they are. Secondly, it’s possible to update a cloud-based product on an ongoing basis, often in real-time, and once improvements have been made they are immediately visible and available to customers. Emergence of hypercritical data A key driver of the shift to cloud-based, fast-access, and truly mobile data usage is that data has increasingly become a critical influencer for not only our businesses but also our lives in all aspects. Our research with IDC revealed that data usage is changing and it now has to be analysed by its level of criticality. The emergence of hypercritical data also means that businesses should look to review how they capture data and deliver data analytics. This is because they’ll require an infrastructure that can deliver high reliability and bandwidth as well as increased security. This could be something as simple as making sure they choose the hard drives that offer the ability and resilience to deal with the requests for data analysis. Thanks to AI we’ll see the industry becoming more proactive, rather than reactive Machine learning and AI for real-time analytics The use and integration of data in businesses and our lives is also quickly moving to the need for real time data. As such, data is delivered to not only inform but also determine actions — sometimes autonomously. Consequently, machine learning and AI is causing a huge buzz within video surveillance. And it’s no wonder when the opportunity for our industry is huge. If security guards and emergency services can use the data from AI to make smart predictions, it will help increase preventative and real-time tactics in surveillance, rather than simply being used as a post event, forensic tool. Thanks to AI we’ll see the industry becoming more proactive, rather than reactive, as a result of machine learning being able to predict security and surveillance situations before they happen. Over time, the demand for intelligent video analytics and systems is only going to increase as more and more industries realise the benefits for its application. It’s up to all of us to work with our partners and customers to ensure that they are ready for this change and are advised of the best way to manage and store the data generated to meet their needs.

Widespread use of smartphones and the loT have fuelled explosive demand for connectivity, convenience and control The growing Internet of Things (loT) or intelligent, inter-connected devices are causing a paradigm shift in nearly every technology sector, including the security installing industry. The global IoT market, according to research firm IDC, Framingham, Mass., is predicted to increase from 10.3 million “endpoints” in 2014 to more than 29.5 million in 2020. This article by SourceSecurity.com's dealer/integrator correspondent, Deborah L. O’Mara looks at COPS Monitoring’s focus on helping security companies easily add a wide range of new services and corresponding RMR. Smartphones and loT connectivity demand Across the security landscape, this widespread change and adoption of devices and systems riding on the network is causing massive change across the board, from installing companies to central station monitoring firms. Jim McMullen, president and chief operating officer, COPS Monitoring, Williamstown, N.J., says widespread use of smartphones and the loT have fuelled explosive demand for connectivity, convenience and control, and the Underwriters Laboratories Listed, Factory Mutual Approved central station provider is delivering the critical services associated with these trends. “Smart hardware for items like lighting, thermostat, locking, and video cameras and useful apps to manage these components are the types of services customers want. Fortunately, many of today’s modern security systems have proven to be a viable platform for a more comprehensive connected home solution. Dealers that understand and embrace these new services can leverage the growing demand by integrating home automation and lifestyle services with security. In many cases, it equates to additional recurring monthly revenue (RMR) and a ‘stickier’ customer.” Geo-diverse hometown central stations COPS Monitoring operates six strategically located geo-diverse hometown central stations. Five central stations, in New Jersey, Florida, Arizona, Tennessee and Texas, are hot-redundant and load sharing. If local conditions affect one of its locations, it continues to deliver fast and professional service by over-staffing other load-sharing centers. The company’s sixth central station in Maryland will be integrated into its current services in 2015.  "Smart hardware for items like lighting, thermostat, locking, and video cameras and useful apps to manage these components are the types of services customers want, " says Jim McMullen, President & COO COPS Monitoring McMullen says that from the company’s beginning more than 37 years ago, COPS Monitoring’s success has been dependent upon one thing: helping independent alarm dealers succeed.  “Today, we are the largest independently-owned third party monitoring company in the industry, yet our regional approach allows us to maintain a more personable ‘hometown’ level of service,” he says. “With one of the most of experienced management teams in the industry and an in-house staff of programmers, COPS Monitoring not only has clear vision and leadership, but we also have the resources and ability to give our dealers an advantage by quickly adopting the best new technologies as they become available.” New services and corresponding RMR COPS Monitoring is fine-focused on helping security companies easily add a wide range of new services and corresponding RMR. “We support essentially all of the modern panels from major manufacturers that give dealers the ability to offer their customers a variety of home control, lifestyle services and security apps,” McMullen says. “In addition to the ability to control their alarm system and other connected devices, consumers can also receive notification about alarm events. We also created our own useful app for dealers to package to end-users as a white-label solution. Unfortunately, today’s security system apps don’t give customers the most important information about what happened during an alarm event - such as who was called, whether a passcode was given, or if the authorities were dispatched. That’s why professional central station monitoring services are so critical, and we wanted the results of our actions to be at the end-users’ fingertips,” he says.  User-friendly interface for customer satisfaction This solution has been a differentiator for the COPS dealers: the smartphone, tablet and PC access called MPower is branded with the dealer’s logo. The interface is also colour-coordinated for a custom look and feel for each dealer. “The additional peace of mind of knowing what happened during an alarm event is why our dealers consider MPower an integral part of protecting RMR.  Its user-friendly interface improves customer satisfaction and ultimately helps to reduce attrition.  What’s more is that MPower can be offered as a standalone service because it works with any panel and transmission format, whether a connected home system is installed or not,” McMullen says. “Our industry is changing at a pace faster than ever before, which means dealers need a central station that can stay ahead of the technology curve and have the ability to quickly support the best emerging technology so they can provide the products and services their customers demand.”