“Moving from an internal IT/security organization to an ecosystem of edge partners can lead to successful business outcomes and help with cost-effectiveness and resilience.”
Hi Theresa, welcome to our Interview Series. Please tell us about your journey and how you arrived at the idea of joining AT&T?
Thanks for having me. I’ve been Head of Cybersecurity Evangelism with AT&T Business for almost four years now. Before joining AT&T, I was an industry analyst for many years at Gartner, where I spearheaded the application quality ecosystem, championed application security technology, and created the successful Application Development conference. Prior to my time at Gartner, I also co-founded an analyst firm, voke, and served as a Product Manager at Borland International Software where I launched Borland Jbuilder – the first Java integrated development environment (IDE) and Marketing Strategist at Sun Microsystems where I worked on the Jini project – the concept of the internet of things (IoT) before the term was coined.
As a young software engineer, I worked on new and innovative technology that impacted the world. Speaking around the globe about new product categories fueled my desire to learn more and share more. I’m passionate about collaboration and sharing knowledge that distills complex technical concepts into meaningful business decisions, which is what led me to where I am today, serving AT&T Cybersecurity.
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Data silos, shadow IT, and SaaS sprawl are some of the common technical terms that are affecting the way IT managers handle security and risks. Could you tell us how these challenges could be met with a better IT Security and Networking plan?
We learned from the most recent AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report that organizations realize they can no longer function in decades-old silos built over the past 50+ years. These silos are starting to erode. The key word is “starting” because this behavior has been rooted in people for so long, and change management is often difficult within any organization. Cross-functional cooperation is necessary for a better security and networking plan; because of the changing nature of the environment, security can’t be done in a vacuum or silo. Endpoints are changing drastically and becoming more diverse and intentional in functionality. And, security has moved from being a technical problem to a business requirement. If we think about the next generation of computing where networks are faster and have lower latency, applications are headless and communicate from device to device, and organizations are focused on digital-first experiences, security has to be part of the decision-making process from the beginning.
In organizations where silos are eroding and a new era of computing is taking root, security challenges can be met by using a trusted third-party advisor, whether that is managed security services, a consulting organization, or global systems integration. The help of a trusted third-party advisor can support organizations with their journey to the edge and this new era of computing. In fact, 71% of our AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report participants say they’ll bring in those third-party advisors once they’re in production with their edge use case.
Can edge ecosystems fully replace traditional IT infrastructure? If not, what would it take to handle the ever-growing demands of the IT and Cloud organizations?
Edge use cases are all around us. Edge computing consists of three characteristics:
- Software-defined – this can be on-premise or in the cloud
- Workloads, applications, and hosting are closer to where data is being generated and consumed
- A distributed model on management, intelligence, and networks
If we think about these characteristics, we can quickly see edge use cases everywhere we look. Think about driving into a public parking structure to seek out a parking spot. We have all been in parking garages where the number of available spaces are displayed floor by floor. This is an edge computing use case. It is controlled by a series of sensors sending information in near-real tine to the display board showing available parking spaces.
Other common examples of edge use cases are smart warehousing, real-time inventory management, and smart buildings.
Edge computing is the next generation of computing that is driving positive business outcomes. Think about the parking space example – customers of a parking garage with near real-time information are probably willing to pay more to park there for the convenience of knowing how available parking spaces are. This is a business outcome that will drive more customers and create return customers.
Edge computing is changing everything – our networks, our applications, and our experience with computing.
In our recent AT&T Cybersecurity Insights Report, 75% of organizations are on a journey to the edge and 56% consider themselves in partial implementation of edge computing. We’re moving further away from devices like laptops, desktops, phones, and tablets, and we’re now living in this world of IoT and near real-time data-centric information.
Your report stated that organizational changes to enhance collaboration would emerge as a key element for Edge adoption – could you please explain a bit more about this point?
Moving from an internal IT/security organization to an ecosystem of edge partners can lead to successful business outcomes and help with cost-effectiveness and resilience. Edge partner ecosystems are becoming more accepted because they provide practical ways to the edge and competitive differentiation. The keystone of the journey ahead is collaboration, and stakeholders are urged to holistically tackle edge computing, networking, and cybersecurity.
Our report shows that organizations are recognizing that security is an integral part of edge computing and are taking a balanced investment approach. For edge use case budgets, our survey respondents told us they are investing almost evenly across planning (23%), network (30%), applications (22%), and security (22%). This evenly balanced budget approach further shows the relevance of an ecosystem approach to edge use cases.
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Which industries are better prepared than the rest when it comes to Edge Cloud adoption?
All seven industries surveyed in our report (retail, finance, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, energy and utilities, and United States state local and higher education (SLED) anticipate connecting all edge types in the next three years, but Industrial IoT/OT environments are currently in the lead, followed by IaaS/PaaS/SaaS cloud data centers. Healthcare expects to invest 31.5%, the highest of all industries, in network operations on the edge, according to AT&T’s Cybersecurity Insights Report.
What are the inherent advantages of using Edge to build a resilient and secured organization?
Organizations gain significant competitive business advantages and better experiences for the customer by embracing edge computing. By applying best practices, the edge can help organizations strike the right balance at the right time and avoid common mistakes. Some don’t realize they’ve already encountered edge computing via telemedicine, finding available parking places in a public structure, or working in a smart building. Edge is moving us into a digital-first future, one that is full of new possibilities. At every point of the journey, resilience and security must work together to handle risk, meet business requirements, and promote operational efficiency.
Why should CIOs and CISOs also include Application Development teams in the planning process? What kind of outcomes should they expect in return for DevOps/ API management teams’ participation?
Application security is becoming increasingly important. It’s been a topic of conversation since 2002, but the needle has not moved very far since then. Application development and the way applications are put into production has to change. It has to be part of the broader edge ecosystem.. With edge computing, applications are no longer graphical user interface (GUI)-based, waiting for us to input something via a keyboard or voice command. Edge computing applications are small and ephemeral and come together on an as-needed basis.
Having and integrated, cross-functional, and collaborative team working cohesively is critical.
What is your prediction on the role of Edge functions as businesses embrace greener technologies in future?
Edge computing is about near real-time interaction, experiential computing, making decisions in near-real-time, and saving time and effort. If you look at one of the largest examples of an edge use case in our report, it is smart building management. This use case brings the idea of preemptive maintenance to deliver a more efficient experience for the occupants of the building. This is one example where energy can be optimized through near-real-time information.
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Thank you, Theresa ! That was fun and we hope to see you back on cioinfluence.com soon.
[To participate in our interview series, please write to us at sghosh@martechseries.com]
Theresa Lanowitz is a proven global influencer and speaks on trends and emerging technology poised to help today’s enterprise organizations flourish. Theresa is currently the head of cybersecurity evangelism at AT&T Business.
Prior to joining AT&T, Theresa was an industry analyst with boutique analyst firm voke and Gartner. While at Gartner, Theresa spearheaded the application quality ecosystem, championed application security technology, and created the successful Application Development conference.
As a product manager at Borland International Software, Theresa launched the iconic Java integrated development environment, JBuilder. While at Sun Microsystems, Theresa led strategic marketing for the Jini project – a precursor to IoT (Internet of Things). Theresa’s professional career began with McDonnell Douglas where she was a software developer on the C-17 military transport plane and held a US Department of Defense Top Secret security c********.Theresa holds a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from the University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA.
AT&T Cybersecurity’s Edge-to-Edge technologies provide phenomenal threat intelligence, collaborative defense, security without the seams, and solutions that fit your business. Our unique, collaborative approach integrates best-of-breed technologies with unrivaled network visibility and actionable threat intelligence from AT&T Alien Labs researchers, Security Operations Center analysts, and machine learning – helping to enable our customers around the globe to anticipate and act on threats to protect their business.
