Tag: Dell | SpinSafe

Q&A on How Dell Sees Security at the Edge

June 23, 2023/in Computer Security

Edge computing modern IT technology on virtual screen. — Image: Adobe Stock

In May 2023, Dell announced NativeEdge, an edge operations software platform. Dell has been talking to customers for years in advance of the release about the needs of technology operating at the edge.

To get into the details, I spoke with Aaron Chaisson, Dell Technologies’ vice president of telecom and edge solutions marketing, at Dell Technologies World in Las Vegas. The following is a transcript of my interview with Chaisson; the interview has been edited for length and clarity.

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Challenges of cloud spending and deployment

Megan Crouse: What decisions are you seeing customers or potential customers struggle with right now in terms of enterprise cloud purchasing that weren’t being talked about a year or three years ago?

Aaron Chaisson: One of the biggest things that companies are looking to do is there is an interest in being able to consume (cloud) in an as-a-service fashion. They want to take the experiences they are getting from hyperscalers and potentially be able to bring those experiences on-prem, especially toward the edge. Customers want to leverage edge technologies to drive new business outcomes, to be able to act upon data more rapidly. How do they take the capabilities, the features and the experiences that they get from a cloud and deliver those in edge environments?

One of the questions that we commonly see is: Are you taking established cloud technologies and moving them to the edge? Or are you really looking to use the best practices of cloud, of automation and orchestration-as-a-service, but to deliver it in a more purpose-built fashion that delivers unique value to the edge? And that’s really where NativeEdge is designed to be able to deliver an edge experience, but in a customized way that targets outcomes that customers are looking to at the edge.

SEE: Don’t curb your enthusiasm: Trends and challenges in edge computing (TechRepublic)

Customers choose between edge and on-prem

Megan Crouse: Do you see customers deciding workflow-by-workflow, where they’re going to pull from the edge, and if so, how is Dell working on simplifying that process through something like NativeEdge?

Aaron Chaisson: It’s early days for the…

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CISO Conversations: HP and Dell CISOs Discuss the Role of the Multi-National Security Chief

May 10, 2023/in Computer Security

HP and Dell Technologies are two of the world’s largest international computer manufacturers. Their CISOs, Joanna Burkey (HP) and Kevin Cross (Dell), both manage security teams comprising many hundreds of people, and are responsible for corporate security across multiple jurisdictions. The role of CISO is different for a multinational corporation compared to a national company.

Reporting and budget

Historically, the CISO reports to the CIO, and this remains the most common reporting structure. Not all CISOs agree with this because of the inherent conflict of interest between IT and security. Both Burkey and Cross believe it is right for some companies, but wrong for others.

There’s no one size fits all solution to the hierarchy issue, says Burkey. “Every company has a different culture and different value prop; and it is these that determine the right location for the CISO.”

Cross has a very similar view. “There is no right or wrong answer to this,” he says. “It is dependent on the company culture and the business landscape how things should best be structured.” Supporting this, he notes that Dell’s structure is slightly unusual. “I report to a chief security officer who reports to general counsel, who reports to the CEO.” A stronger than usual integration with Legal could be considered important for a firm working across multiple jurisdictions with different privacy and data security requirements.

Budget is always an issue for any CISO – getting sufficient funds to do what is important. One of the weaknesses in having the CISO report to the CIO is that it is still common for the security budget to be taken as a percentage of the IT budget. But security has grown beyond IT alone.

“Cybersecurity is a strategic horizontal in most enterprises,” comments Burkey. “Cyber is important everywhere and it is really important that the funding model and the financial partnerships for cyber span the enterprise.”

Achieving this is complex and governed by the individual business landscape. “I’ve seen different models that can work,” she continued. “Budget could be received from a single source, such as the CFO or CTO, but…

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