Inference and legacy storage – the potential pitfalls

A significant shift is underway that is changing the way applications are deployed – it’s known as inference. This article explores the concept, and how to prepare.

According to DataCamp, Machine learning inference is crucial because it allows the model to be used for real-world use cases such as predictions, classifications, or recommendations. In other words, inference is how AI models decipher information or put in even more simple terms, it makes data usable.

How is inference changing things?

The emergence of highly sophisticated inference applications is reshaping the market landscape. These advancements necessitate finely tuned platforms supported by intricate distribution systems. With careful architectural planning, businesses can achieve remarkable leaps in efficiency, yielding undeniable long-term economic advantages.

To meet the demand for these mission-critical applications, we anticipate a revolutionary evolution in application delivery platforms and innovative availability frameworks. The year 2024 is poised to experience a surge in platform demands reminiscent of the late 1990s.

Undoubtedly, our world for the most part operates under the mantra of accomplishing more with fewer resources. This principle is particularly relevant in the realm of AI. Inference applications, known for their resource demands, pose a significant challenge for businesses striving to remain competitive amidst the necessity for costly and expansive systems.

Presently, managing AI processes and applications relies on specialised operators, intricate networking setups, demanding co-computing requirements, and sophisticated storage solutions. The application and data delivery landscape is changing – are you ready for it?

So what’s not to love?

That’s the good news. Needless to say with opportunity comes threat, and cyber criminals are also getting in on the act. This year will see new and undiscovered attack vectors leveraging the intelligence and power of AI. Find out more – and how to solve it – in this article from Tintri.

Want to find out more?

As a Tintri Partner, Complete IT Systems can offer you expert advice on the solutions and how they could be effectively deployed in your business.

To find out more please call us on 01274 396 213 or use our contact form and we’ll arrange a good time to call you back.

How circular is your business?

Circularity means different things to different people. No one business is at the same stage when it comes to sustainability, and this means a range of solutions are required to embrace a circular economy.

From the desire for more efficient solutions to drive sustainability goals, implementing sustainability targets, or looking to make a start on the circular journey, adopting the philosophy of ‘reduce, reuse and recycle’ is a great start to a more sustainable future for your organisation.

This article from Lenovo discusses what circularity means for your organisation and how you can take the next step.

Want to learn more?

Complete IT Systems have a team of Barracuda specialists on hand to demo the solution, discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation.

To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.

Remember AOHell? How hackers are using AI for phishing

Phishing attacks are one of the most successful and damaging types of threat activity, and they have been that way for a long time.

The first attack recognised as phishing was launched in 1995 using a Windows application called AOHell that targeted users of the America Online (AOL) service. It exploited vulnerabilities in AOL’s software to steal passwords and credit card numbers, send mass phishing emails, and creating fake accounts. Since then, nothing has been off limits to hackers.

So it’s only natural that now AI tools are here, hackers are able to exploit them for phishing and other malicious activity. This article from Barracuda looks into how phishing attacks have evolved over time, and how to combat them affecting your business through GenAI.

Want to learn more?

Complete IT Systems have a team of Barracuda specialists on hand to demo the solution, discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation.

To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.

 

The good and the bad of cloud storage spending

Cloud storage remains an essential ingredient in modern IT infrastructure environments.

The data is clear. Enthusiasm for cloud storage is on the rise. Respondents overwhelmingly predict they will increase their data storage in the cloud in 2024, with a 9% increase compared to last year.

However, there’s a good and a bad of cloud storage spending.

The bad? 53% of organisations exceeded budgeted spending on public cloud storage in 2023.

The good? Excess spending isn’t always because of fee structures and billing complexity. Growing utilisation of cloud storage services and data are two of the leading reasons why organisations are exceeded budgeted spend on cloud storage in 2023 – which indicates they are getting more value out of their data and service(s).

Find out more

As Wasabi partners, Complete IT Systems have the skills and resources to help your business implement the best solutions for the modern workplace. For more information on how Complete IT Systems and Wasabi can help, call 01274 396 213 or email .

 

Storage stuck in the 90s? How VM-aware storage unlocks DevOps’ potential

Even the best things don’t last forever, and storage is no different. This week we’re talking about DevOps and your data centre.

DevOps, when implemented correctly, has a positive impact on how work gets done. A successful DevOps implementation leads to expedited workflows, quicker troubleshooting, improved communication, and better results overall. Businesses are facing rapidly changing data requirements and there are a few areas of focus that should prompt DevOps teams to consider what methodology works best to meet their business goals moving forward.

Find out more about how the real-time analytics and automation of Tintri VMstore’s VM-aware technology can unlock the full potential of your DevOps environment, providing unparalleled productivity and agility.

Want to find out more?

As a Tintri Partner, Complete IT Systems can offer you expert advice on the solutions and how they could be effectively deployed in your business.

To find out more please call us on 01274 396 213 or use our contact form and we’ll arrange a good time to call you back.

Closing vulnerabilities in your apps

Web apps allow users to work faster and more flexibly. They also contain vulnerabilities hackers can – and do – exploit.

To give you some context, in 2023, web applications were the main means of breach hackers used. They featuring in 80% of incidents and 60% of breaches.

Why web applications are a top target for attack

First, many web applications carry vulnerabilities or configuration errors. Second, many contain extremely valuable information, such as personal and financial data. A successful breach will give attackers direct access to that data. Barracuda research shows that 40% of IT professionals who’ve been involved in ethical hacking believe web application attacks are among the most lucrative for cyber-attackers, and 55% say the same for APIs.

How to close vulnerabilities

This e-book takes an in-depth look at three critical attack vectors — API vulnerabilities, bot attacks, and client-side attacks — as well as how organisations can fill the gaps in their application security and protect against these evolving threats.

Want to learn more?

Complete IT Systems have a team of Barracuda specialists on hand to demo the solution, discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation.

To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.

March special £100 printer cashback – offer ends soon!

Brother are offering some great printer cashback deals on colour laser, mono laser, inkjet, scanners and labellers this March

Your business can now claim up to £100 cashback or free 3 year warranty on selected devices! This special offer is only available until 31st March, so don’t delay!

Contact us today to learn more about the promotion, what your business can earn, and how we can help you to claim your cashback.

Find out more

Get in touch to find out how Brother solutions can help you improve your business’s resilience.

 

What will you change for Digital Cleanup Day?

We generate around 40 million tons of electronic waste around the world every year. That’s like throwing 800 laptops every second.*

Approximately 160,000 laptops are disposed of every day in the EU alone and around 70% of these could be re-used. No matter the number, the percentage of e-waste that end up in landfill is too great – a huge amount of the e-waste is shipped to South America, Africa, China and India despite laws in place to forbid this.

So what can we do to change this on Digital Cleanup Day?

First, what is Digital Cleanup Day? It’s an annual event to raise global awareness about the environmental impact of the digital industry. This initiative encourages people to take concrete action by cleaning up their digital data and/or giving a second life to their unused computer equipment. It takes place every third Saturday in March. Read more about it on the link below.

The need for laptops and technology is clear. But it is not sustainable to continue throwing away perfectly functional laptops simply because it is a few years old and the warranty has run out.

Sustainable IT, also known as Green IT, covers the manufacturing, use, management and disposal of information technology in a way that minimises its impact on the environment. You can do small things such as joining Complete IT Systems as signatories of the Techies Go Green initiative to drive decarbonisation in UK businesses.

Our friends at Circular Computing provide a sustainable alternative to buying brand new devices. They save money, reduce carbon, and help the earth.

Here are some of the key benefits of sustainable laptops:

  • Enterprise-grade performance laptops from HP, Dell & Lenovo meets the needs of most office users. Elitebook, Thinkpad & Latitudes with standard specs of Ci5 8/256/14/W10P.
  • A premium user experience equivalent to new. Each laptop is remanufactured & compliant (to ISO8887) which guarantees quality, performance, and consistency.
  • Significant savings on the cost of new devices.
  • Backed by 1-3 year warranty options.
  • Each laptop is certified carbon neutral and you can claim 316kgs of CO2 avoided in your Scope 3 CSR report.
  • In addition, 5 x Trees are planted in India or Africa for every laptop purchased, helping people and making earth cooler.
  • Aligns with your corporate values. Sustainability, social value ambitions and business needs are met when purchasing carbon neutral remanufactured laptops.

Find out more in this short video

Want to learn more?

As Circular Computing Partners, Complete IT Systems have a team of specialists on hand to demo the solution. We can discuss business benefits, provide demonstration models, and offer special monthly pricing.

To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.

*source: https://www.theworldcounts.com/stories/electronic-waste-facts

M365 Copilot basics webinar: 20th March

Hot on the heels of our successful recent webinars, by popular demand we’re running another!

Copilot aims to boost productivity and streamline work by providing AI-generated suggestions and content within Microsoft 365 apps. Join us to learn what it is, key use cases, and perhaps most importantly, some of the latest updates from Microsoft that are coming thick and fast!

Do you have your flight plan ready?

Join one of our Microsoft Copilot basics webinars, and our Copilot expert Scott Brunton, solution engineer from our partners Arrow ECS UK will outline the following:

  • An overview of what Copilot is
  • How to build an effective information management strategy
  • Securing your data and applications ready for Copilot
  • Last but by no means least, we’ll have a Copilot Q&A session

Register now

📅 Wednesday 20 March | ⏲ 10:00 GMT | ▶ Register now.

These links take you to our Microsoft Teams registration forms. Thank you for your interest, and we look forward to welcoming you to an enjoyable and productive session. You can connect with Scott on LinkedIn in advance of the session, or let us know any questions in the meantime.

 

 

A CISO’s guide to the role of AI in cybersecurity

Pop quiz – it’s the year of the Suez Crisis, the start of the transatlantic cable service, and Japan’s ascension to the UN. What year is it?

To avoid an immediate spoiler, the answer is at the bottom of this page! But to bring us back into the present day, the mystery year is also the year that the field of computer science began seeking to create intelligent machines that can replicate or exceed human intelligence. In other words, it was the year that AI as we now describe it was conceived.

Historical segways aside, today’s digital landscape is evolving at an unprecedented pace, and the rapid emergence of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) marks a distinct shift in how we perceive and use the capabilities of AI. That’s great, but it’s also causing some concerns in terms of cyber security.

This e-book from Barracuda is specifically tailored to senior IT security and risk professionals seeking to navigate the complex landscape of cybersecurity and shed light on how AI is shaping the future of cyber defence. It covers:

  • The evolution of AI
  • How AI is changing the threat landscape
  • The ways cybercriminals are using AI
  • How AI is being used to improve security

Want to learn more?

Complete IT Systems have a team of Barracuda specialists on hand to demo the solution, discuss business benefits and help you understand how the technology works for your organisation.

To get in touch or request a demo please contact us.

 

❓ Drumroll – if you guessed the year 1956, well done to you! There’s no prize, but there is more fascinating reading in the guide.