The 10 Best Performing Azure Service Providers 2018

www.insightssuccess.com July 2018

The

10

BEST PERFORMING

AZURE SERVICE PROVIDERS 2018

EDITOR’S PICK Need for Secure Cloud Infrastructure

INVESTOR’S DESK Deciding Factors While Investing Into New Technologies

Harald Ehrl Managing Director

GAB ENTERPRISES Offering Conclusive Cloud Solution Providers

Editor’s Note

Microsoft Azure: Transforming the World with the Cloud Innovation

T

oday, all of us are experiencing the revolutionizing era of digitization. Most of our daily activities are mainly depending on the internet and smart devices. From waking up in the morning till going to sleep, we are using different digital services at our fingertips, such as smart wearables, smart phones, smart homes, and many more for personal care and needs.

Furthermore, different social media apps such as Facebook, Whatsapp, Instagram, and many more are becoming unavoidable part of our life. Due to availability of high speed internet, choices for entertainment are changing from conventional TV to online streaming services such as YouTube, Netflix, Amazon Prime, etc.

Today, nearly all of the financial transactions have become digital to transform conventional physical cash transaction to cashless through netbanking, blockchain, and many other digital payment options.

The healthcare industry is also becoming more effective with the utilization of digital services to provide high end treatment for individuals without any delay. E-commerce has become a trending way of purchase today as all products are available on the online platform showing detailed specification and attractive offers with doorstep delivery. These are the some examples of digital transformation, but the digitization is impacting the every sector.

All these services and platforms are creating a huge data and demands highly secure data storage infrastructure such as data centers and clouds. This has given birth to the cloud infrastructure and different cloud services to save data. Emerging technologies such as IoT, AI, Autonomous vehicles, and many more demands data to be processed to extract useful insights from their purposes. All these demands are fulfilled by Microsoft Corporation with its Microsoft Azure platform, a well known cloud computing service that helps different organizations such as Government, Financial services,

Retail, Manufacturing, Health and life sciences, and Gaming to build, test, deploy, and manage applications and services through Microsoft's global network of data centers.

Microsoft Azure Service Providers help organizations to grow with their highly suitable, customized and innovative solutions based on Microsoft Azure. All these solutions are becoming more popular with the more adoption of cloud for storage and making Microsoft Azure Service Providers more valuable in this digital era. All these factors have made us to go for the issue, The 10 Best Performing Azure Service Providers 2018 to showcase the companies who are taking Microsoft Azure to the next level with their extraordinary services and innovative approach.

On the cover of this issue we have, GAB Enterprise IT Solutions: Offering Conclusive Cloud Solutions. GAB Enterprise IT Solutions is a well-recognized name and pioneer in the enterprise cloud services industry, offering cloud-based infrastructure and network solutions for enterprises, as well as productivity solutions for the modern workplace focused around the Office365. GAB also offers extensive consulting services in designing, planning and implementation of hybrid cloud, private cloud and public cloud infrastructures environment in organizations. GAB is currently a Tier1 Cloud Solution Provider and accredited Microsoft Gold Partner in 8 different competencies.

The Insights Success Magazine, after doing in-depth research and studies, has shortlisted; Catapult: A global modern digital solutions and services firm that specializes in emerging and business-critical technologies, Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting: A highly decorated, cross-platform IT consulting firm providing services to Fortune 50, enterprise, and small business companies. HubStor: A storage software company that unlocks the power of the cloud for intelligent data management. TWT Group: Offering several IT services including the Microsoft Azure for stretching the capability of the enterprise in the market.

While going through our magazine, you must not miss out the articles such as; Need for Secure Cloud Infrastructure and Deciding Factors While Investing in New Technologies from the Editor’s Pick. Flexibility: Its Use and Abuse, Leveraging the Transformative Power of the Cloud, How is technology going to transform the financial sector, and The Role & Challenges of Data Needed for Cognitive Computing and AI from the Views of some of the Successful Leaders.

Hope this edition of ours will create a mark on your mind.

Suhel Mashayak

CONTENT Cover Story

08 GAB ENTERPRISES Offering Conclusive Cloud Solution Providers

CXO STANDPOINT FINTECH How Is Technology Going To Transform The Financial Sector

26

INDUSTRY OUTLOOK

16

Flexibility: Its Use and Abuse

16 26

CLOUD INSIGHT Leveraging the Transformative Power of the Cloud

32 42

32

TECH BYTE The Role & Challenges of Data Needed for Cognitive Computing and AI

42

CATAPULT

20

20

Bringing Modern Digital Solutions to the Forefront of the Business

28

28

A Renowned Global Provider of IT Consulting

34

HUBSTOR The Conclusive Platform for Data Storage

TWT GROUP

40

Offering IT Solutions

by Embracing Innovations

24

Article

EDITOR'S PICK Need for Secure Cloud Infrastructure

34

40

36

INVESTOR'S DESK Deciding Factors While Investing Into New Technologies

PROFILE

DENNY CHERRY & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING

Editor-in-Chief Senior Editor Managing Editor Executive Editors Contributors

Pooja M. Bansal Anish Miller Suhel Mashayak Crescent CU

Brain Smith Bhushan Ghate Visualiser David King Art & Design Director Amol Kamble Associate Designer Shweta Ambilwade Co-designer Priyanka Rajage Art & Picture Editor Paul Belin Jayant Khanna Senior Sales Manager Passi D. Business Development Manager Peter Collins Marketing Manager John Matthew Business Development Executives Sophie Smith, Brad LeeKhushboo Srivastava Kevin Thomas Sales Executives David, Kevin, Mark, Vijay Technical Head Jacob Smile Technical Specialist Amar, Pratiksha Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza Online Marketing Strategist Alina Sege, Shubham Mahadik, Vaibhav K SME-SMO Executives Prashant Chauhan, Uma Dhenge, Gemson, Irfan Research Analyst Chidiebere Moses Circulation Manager Robert, Tanaji Database Management Stella Andrew Technology Consultant David Stokes sales@insightssuccess.com

July , 2018 Corporate Ofces: Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

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Reprint rights remain solely with Insights Success.

GAB

Enterprise IT Solutions: Offering Conclusive Cloud Solutions

‘‘

‘‘

OUR CONSISTENTLY

teams work hard

to experience the relief and delight of our CUSTOMERS

Harald Ehrl Founder

At GAB, We

ENCOURAGE

Our Co-workers To Maintain A Heal y Work-life Balance

E

nterprise cloud computing refers to a computing environment that delivers software, infrastructure and platform services across the organization. With many markets experiencing severe upheavals, it is of paramount importance for companies to protect their profit margins.

This necessitates integrated business solutions that are cost-effective, and offer superior speed & performance for IT resources to enable better productivity and efficiency. Enterprise cloud computing frees organizations from the trouble of server maintenance and backups, and ensures anytime anywhere access and realtime updates.

cloud computing around 2010, GAB was quick to embrace this new vision, because it aligned with the company’s own take on the future of enterprise computing. GAB accordingly invested heavily in equipping it’s team of consultants and engineers for the new era of cloud computing, seeking the highest level of accreditation for all relevant Microsoft cloud technologies.

Today GAB’s mission is best described as: “Enabling organizations to master the digital transformation of their businesses – by planning, implementing and maintaining state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure for our customers.”

Techie and Entrepreneur

GAB Enterprise IT Solutions is a well -recognized name and pioneer in the enterprise cloud services industry, offering cloud-based infrastructure and network solutions for en ter prises, as well as productivity solutions for the modern workplace focused around the Office365.

GAB also offers extensive consulting services in designing, planning and implementation of hybrid cloud, private cloud and public cloud infrastructures environment in organizations. GAB is currently a Tier 1 Cloud Solution Provider and accredited Microsoft Gold Partner in 8 different competencies.

Harald Ehrl, the Founder of GAB Enterprise IT Solutions has always been single-minded about the reliable delivery of services to his customers. Harald possesses a deep technical understanding of cloud infrastructure technologies. He also has a keen understanding developing technological trends and of the IT industry as a whole. Although Harald prefers to keep a low profile in the industry, he never hesitates to share his view when asked for his opinion, which is a much sought after quality, both by the customers and partners alike.

Single Minded Purpose

GAB Enterprise IT Solutions’ Valuable Contribution to the Azure Industry

Clarity of vision and mission is the key to achieving ones objectives. When Microsoft´s formulated its vision of

GAB’s value proposition to the market is that it truly enables customers to embark on the path of digital

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Azure Service Providers 2018

GAB believes this optimization can be further improved.

This illustrates how the paradigms of on-premise solutions need to be challenged and reformulated in order to facilitate the transition of enterprise IT environments into the cloud.

Winning the Customer’s Trust with its Unique W Approach Appr “Customers need to be able to rely on what we say about our service and the results we will deliver. Our customers entrust the future wellbeing of their company to us when we undertake a migration project with them.

We cannot afford to disappoint them”, says Herald.

Since its inception, GAB Enterprise IT Solutions has ‘We deliver on our promises’. held to the motto: ‘W Although, the company’s mission statement has grown, it remains at the core of its value set. GAB Enterprise IT Solutions is a customer-centric organization which strives hard to meet and surpass its customer’s expectations. The company has been winning its customer’s trust based on the depth of the technical expertise which their consultants and engineers possess. transformation, which for many companies, particularly for industrial sectors such as manufacturing and engineering is a daunting task. Industrial age companies struggle with a countless issues, ranging from big investments in legacy systems to a being trapped in an analog mindset and a lack of vision or understanding, when faced with the challenge of a digital transformation. GAB provides fine technical expertise together with business acumen to customers embarking on a transition into the cloud.

In terms of the Microsoft Azure service provider industry, GAB is actively contributing in establishing the Azure Cloud as the place to go with ERP systems, particularly SAP. While a fair amount of skepticism still prevails among CIO´s concerning operating costs of SAP in Azure cloud, GAB has successfully showcased that operating costs can be reduced by as much as 25% through the intelligent optimization of Azure resources.

‘‘

We enable

COMPANIES to embark on the

DIGITIZATION of

their

BUSINESS

Attributes that Differentiate the GAB Enterprise IT Solutions GAB Enterprise IT Solutions’ success rests on two major traits, the first trait embracing the company’s commitment to service delivery and keeping the promises the company makes to its customers. The second significant trait is the company’s commitment towards excellence. While elaborating their traits and the overall strategy to achieve success, Harald asserts, “In our business, excellence can only be achieved through continuous learning. This applies not only to continually renewing the accreditations of our consultants and engineers, but also to motivating every one of our coworkers to keep learning every day.”

The business of digital transformation is an intellectually challenging work, as there are many unknowns that need to be understood. To cope up with this high intellectual demand of the business, the team of GAB Enterprise doesn’t leave a stone unturned in the quest to provide the best solution for the customer.

The company encourages its co-workers to maintain a healthy work-life balance, which at GAB can be translated into: “Work hard- play hard”. One such attribute that makes GAB stand out from the crowd is its strong passion about technology. The zest to innovate drives the team to explore new technologies and the possibilities they hold for their customers. The company also considers its co-workers as the most important factor because trust is built through the daily personal interactions between its own team members and the people working for the customers.

Paving a Way towards a Bright Future GAB strongly believes that while hybrid IT environments may constitute a practical and legitimate pathway to digital transformation in the interim; the future belongs to the cloud-only infrastructure. This development will shape the industry over the next decade or so. Accordingly, GAB will position itself

‘‘

GAB

TRANSLATES WORK

PLAY

into

HARD

increasingly as a digital facility manager for its customers, ensuring that they can rely on powerful, yet lean IT facilities at all times and in every region of the globe.

GAB Enterprise IT Solutions foresees a number of exciting opportunities for a continued strong growth of the company. While describing the future of the company, Harald says, “The transitioning of ERP systems into the Azure cloud environment will pick up momentum in the coming years. Also, we see many opportunities in the transformation of today’s workplaces into truly digitalized, modern workspaces.”

The company envisages the Azure cloud to pave the way for the prolonged development of the Internet of Things (IoT) trend. GAB expects an ever-increasing rate of adaptation of IoT-based solutions in the manufacturing and industrial engineering sector in the coming years.

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Company Name

Management

Brief

Catapult catapultsystems.com

David Fuess CEO

Catapult Systems is a global modern digital solutions and services firm that specializes in emerging and business-critical technologies.

Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting dcac.co

Denny Cherry Founder & CEO

Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting (DCAC) is a highly decorated, cross-platform IT consulting firm providing services to Fortune 50, enterprise, and small business companies.

Fortify fortify24x7.com

Jeremy Murtishaw CEO

Fortify 24×7 developed Cybersecurity Managed – a full suite of services tailored to meet client’s cybersecurity needs.

GAB Enterprise IT Solutions gab-net.com

Harald Ehrl Founder

GAB Enterprise Solutions is a Microsoft’s first tier cloud solutions provider, offering cloud-based infrastructure and network solutions for enterprises, as well as productivity solutions for the modern workplace.

HubStor hubstor.net

Geoff Bourgeois CEO

HubStor is a storage software company that unlocks the power of the cloud for intelligent data management.

Nordcloud nordcloud.com

Jan Kritz CEO

Nordcloud empower enterprises to future-proof their business and disrupt their industry.

SIS thinksis.com

Steve Sigg CEO

SIS is a technology solutions and services company, helping customers to drive their business results.

Swick Technologies SwickTech.com

Gary Swick CEO

SWICKtech provides IT Management Services and IT Project Consulting for medium to large companies and organizations.

TIG Ltd tig.co.uk

Des Lekerman CEO

TIG provide award-winning Managed Services, Cloud and Connectivity and Transformational Services.

TWT GROUP twtgroup.com

Shawn Freeman Founder

TWT Group offers several IT services including the Microsoft Azure for stretching the capability of enterprise in the market.

FinTech

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How Is Technology Going To Transform The Financial Sector July 2018|

intech (Finance + Technology) is one of most significant trends in the world. Transformational technologies, such as smartphones, smartwatches, blockchain, P2P network, cryptography, machine learning and optimization algorithms will rapidly and drastically convert the current financial world. In my opinion, there are four mega-trends in this area: 1) Cashless Society, 2) Rise of the Consumer Credit Economy, 3) Cryptocurrency and Financial System Reform via Blockchain Technology, and 4) Trade Automation using Machine Learning.

Cashless Society

Firstly, digital payments using smartphones and smartwatches are expected to further accelerate. In Japan, contactless payment systems such as SUICA and PASMO are widespread, but using smartphones for payment will become the norm. I am convinced that in the near future, you won’t need to use a real credit card, but you can pay for your dinner by simply using a smartphone at the restaurant, and you can transfer money to your friend using your smartphone. Alipay and WeChat Pay have already started to reform the way money is used, and China is now shifting to a Cashless Society. In the U.S., Venmo and CASH App are used for transferring money to each other, making cash unnecessary.

Japan will also adapt to such, where there will be an enormous opportunity for business. In the next few years, many startups will produce products that will lead to a cashless society.

The Rise of the Consumer Credit Economy Second is the “Consumer Credit Economy”. With the spread of the Internet and SNS, there is a significant change in how individuals work, and how one obtains credit. In the last century, corporations had considerable authority, and personal trust depended on the type and size of the companies they engaged with. But now, data of an individual’s skills, expertise and career are stored on the Internet and SNS, and in some cases, the number of followers on Twitter / Instagram and friends on Facebook may be more important than what kind of company you work for (there are people who have many followers called “Influencers”). In addition to this trend, individual workers

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such as users of Crowdsourcing platforms (e.g., CrowdWorks), can earn more than those who work for a company. In the U.S.,“Freelancing in America 2017”, the survey conducted by independent research firm Edelman Intelligence and commissioned in partnership by Upwork and Freelancers Union showed that the number of freelance workers is 57.3 million last year, an increase of over 4 million since 2014. In addition, based on the survey, it is predicted that the majority of the U.S. workforce will be freelancers within a decade (by 2027). With acceleration in such direction, the way of personal credit will change. In the last century, individual workers, freelancers, and small business owners had difficulty to get credit and loans from financial institutions. However now, on Kabbage.com, small business owners can get quick access to working capital by SNS information. In China, Sesame Credit, a subsidiary of the e-commerce giant Alibaba, uses data to create a score for each person based on how trustworthy they are, and high-scored users can gain various benefits such as social security and welfare, the right to be admitted to expensive private schools, and smooth clearance of Chinese customs. As these examples show, a flexible social system optimized for each individual starts to emerge. Of course, countless companies will invent some revolutionary financial product such as insurance and lending services for individual workers in the next few years, and many Fintech startups will intensely endeavor to produce such products.

Cryptocurrency and Financial System Reform via Blockchain Technology The third is blockchain and cryptography technology. As you know, blockchain is a necessary technology, the core of which is an “open and distributed ledger” and cryptocurrency is one of the hottest applications of blockchain. Cryptocurrency, represented by Bitcoin, has a tremendous impact on the economy, and is creating a new ecosystem. The combination of cryptography, P2P network and blockchain is very compelling, and it may eliminate the existing model of currency and the way money is transferred. The market value of Bitcoin is now over 10 billion US dollars.

audit, credit investigation, and transaction management.

With blockchain, the system records all data in a block, and the applicants of the network monitor each other’s data correctness, making blockchain secure by design and exemplifies a distributed computing system. With this kind of distributed system, the overhead fees currently charged will be close to zero. There are many possibilities, such as most business processes of the traditional financial institutions would be automated and decentralized by blockchain, and some blockchain companies like Bitfury and bitFlyer would begin to provide blockchain technology to existing banks and financial institutions. In addition, I am convinced that a future would come where venture companies and startups will invent new insurance products (such as automated credit surveys), and unique real estate transaction structures using blockchain.

Trade Automation using Artificial Intelligence The last is the rise of Artificial Intelligence, represented by Machine Learning / Deep Learning. “AI” has started to change the structure of the financial industry. For example, Goldman Sachs, one of the world’s largest financial institutions, has reported that they have automated trading

by Machine Learning and drastically reduced the number of traders in the company, and now there are only two persons who work as traders. In Silicon Valley, some “AI hedge funds” have begun to appear recently, where AI completely judges an investment without human intervention. As these examples show, AI can drastically improve productivity of trading businesses that are based on algorithms, eliminating need for human intervention to a bare minimum.

High-speed trading (HFT) has become a popular topic of conversation, made possible with increased computer performance and algorithm evolution, is exceeding speeds beyond human ability. Machine learning has enormous potential to transform the financial business structure.

As I described above, there are many possibilities where transformational technologies are revolutionizing the financial industry, and I’m extremely optimistic about the future. I look forward to a great future, and our lives will evolve for the better.

But blockchain technology represented by Ethereum is not limited to cryptocurrency, but to various fields such as

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CATAPULT Bringing Modern Digital Solutions to the Forefront of the Business The Growth Story What began as two technical guys working out of their home office 25 years ago, has morphed into something truly remarkable. Catapult’s Digital Solutions Group and cloud services umbrella continues to grow with a dedicated team of experts in each solution area, giving Catapult a unique advantage in helping customers solve their toughest business problems.

A Journey Towards Success

David Fuess CEO

W

ith the constant influx of new technology, the modern business is forced to adapt to keep up with demand. Traditional company processes may be outdated, hindering gains in efficiency, and productivity, as well as leaving gaps in security. As businesses look to transform digitally, they must take an allencompassing approach, incorporating cloud across all functions and segments of their business.

Enter Catapult, a modern digital solutions and services firm that uses technology to solve companies’ most unique challenges. Maintaining a cloud-first approach into each of its solutions, Catapult is helping organizations accelerate digital innovation at an unprecedented level.

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As the landscape of digital business has taken a dramatic shift from traditional approaches to the world of the cloud, Catapult transformed its focus from IT solutions to a cloudfirst services provider. Through this transformation, Catapult grew its Azure-based cloud services by 200%, and has become a leader in delivering Azure solutions to transform customers’ businesses.

Catapult is a 2017 Microsoft Partner of the Year Finalist in Cloud Productivity and was the 2016 Microsoft Partner of the Year in the United States. Year-over-year, Catapult is consistently named one of the Best Places to Work in various locations around the United States, Texas Monthly, and Glassdoor among others. Additionally, Catapult was named Top 50 of Fifty-Five and Five’s Inbound Marketing Excellence Report, and it was recently announced that Catapult has been named a finalist for the 2018 Microsoft United States Partner Award Winner for Azure Compete. By building a strong culture for their employees, Catapult continues to be recognized for numerous awards year after year.

The biggest challenges Catapult faces is that IT and cloud technology is always changing. Being able to keep up with new technology, and adapting to new approaches is

July 2018|

‘‘

‘‘

We imagine, build and sustain IT-enabled business solutions that people love to use

essential to stay competitive. Cloud continues to transform technology and change business needs, and so it is imperative that Catapult evolves along with it so that it can continue to address these constantly changing challenges.

Optimizing the Cloud Journey with Azure

including Dallas, Denver and Phoenix business units, while serving as the Group Vice President and President.

One of David’s priorities includes accelerating the growth and expansion of Catapult’s business to the U.S. and global markets. He also sets the vision and strategy for the organization, fosters Catapult’s strong relationship with its business partners, including Microsoft, and will continue to refine the company’s business model to provide a broader range and greater value of services and solutions.

As a leader in cloud services, Catapult helps companies leverage Azure to meet their business needs. With the goal of helping companies optimize and maximize their cloud environments, Catapult released a new offering titled Azure Management Services (AMS) to allow customers to continuously improve their cloud environments. Using the latest Azure innovations, a team of Catapult cloud engineers and architects work with their customers based on their pain points to develop a clear cloud strategy and provide ongoing guidance on the organization’s journey through the cloud.

“We believe that as the landscape of digital business changes, more and more providers are taking a cloud-first approach with their offerings. As companies continue to make the move to the cloud, service providers will rethink and re-shape their solutions to fully embrace the cloud, and all of its capabilities. Business needs will always be ever-evolving, and so cloud providers will need to adapt to assist with the needs of their customers,” – David Fuess, Catapult CEO.

Motive Force of Catapult

Distinctive Offerings

David Fuess is the Chief Executive Officer of Catapult. He brings 25 years of leadership and management experience, including 18 years of experience in the IT professional services industry. He has organically started three offices for Catapult,

Catapult leads with a service-based approach on all of its offerings, including 3 IP-led, cloud-based solutions that take a service approach.

Catapult’s commitment and dedication to their customers is what drives their success and separates them from the

July 2018|

competition. Catapult’s teams always deliver the most suited solutions and are easy to work with. Catapult is dedicated to helping their customers succeed, enabling them to achieve their business goals with the help of technology.

Healthy Work Environment Catapult’s core values not only enable them to hire the best people, but keep them around for the long-term. All of Catapult’s employees have: Accountability, Passion, Initiative, Teamwork, Agility, and Fun. Through these values and by keeping their employees engaged with fun activities and events, Catapult maintains a healthy workforce.

Future Roadmap As business needs change, Catapult will continue to do the same. The company is expanding its footprint globally, and as of 2017, Catapult has expanded with worldwide offices in China, Malaysia, India, Europe, and Mexico. Catapult will continue to drive strategy that allows them to enter new markets, and help businesses embrace digital no matter where they are.

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Editor's Pick

W

ith increased digitization in every sector over the last two decades, it has become necessary to store all the digital information securely. Critical sectors such as banking, healthcare, research, education, defense, and many others are already digital. As these sectors are having very critical data and any lapses in handling and storing this data may may lead to big consequences. Such scenarios demands securing the data storage infrastructure that too with real-time availability.

The Cloud Inception For big companies and organization, there is a space for investing more for data centers. But for small startups and individuals, it is diďŹƒcult to invest more in data centers. For that, there is an introduction of thirdparty data center solution providers, taking care of all data infrastructure maintenance and security. The vast growth of the internet and online applications has formed a more rigid next-generation data storage platform

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Need for Secure

CLOUD INFRASTRUCTURE

called Cloud Computing. The data here is placed at the multiple places as a backup in fragment and duplicated form to ensure security and safety.

Driving factors for Cloud The continuous improvements in wireless technology and infrastructure have made smartphone too popular as everything is available at the fingertips. We can take the example of mobile banking or net banking where individuals can perform all banking transactions with mobile or PC without visiting the bank physically. Also, individuals can experience other financial transactions through the internet such as purchase of shares, insurance policies, bill payments, booking cab, reserving hotels, and many infinite possibilities.

Furthermore, the social media sites are becoming more popular to share personal feelings, opinions, images and many more and within the huge audience, they might be friends or followers. Also, there are many dating and matrimonial sites who help an individual to meet his/her perfect match. In addition to all these, many different apps are available on the web for smartphones depending on the relevant purposes, creating huge data, also data storage infrastructure with real-time availability. All this data is too critical and private and should not be leaked. So, Cloud Computing is the answer as it is available in real time and is highly secure, and can be stored at different locations as a backup.

Big Data as a Big Push Big Data and Analytics have changed the whole world with highly accurate predictions and possibilities using past data as a source. We can say that Big Data and Analytics are the Data Processors who are converting raw data in the useful form. This raw data is derived from different sources, mainly from different cloud storage platforms.

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Cloud and Artificial Intelligence (AI) AI and Cloud are gaining the space with the introduction of technologies such as autonomous vehicles and products such as Amazon’s Alexa, Google’s Home, and many more. We all know that the future is AI and the cloud will grow with it in parallel. Automation in all sectors is in the need of the present and also of the future that calls for AI and cloud.

Why Secure Cloud Infrastructure is in Demand Thinking past the last decade, people were storing their important data in their personal pen drives or hard disks and not on the cloud as it is limited to big companies and organizations. The main factor behind avoiding cloud by individual at that time was the security concerns. People were not sure about data safety in cloud due to the chances of their important data getting stolen. But today’s cloud infrastructure has become highly secure and has a simple interface. In addition to that improved wireless internet has made it easy for individuals to upload and download their data in the cloud.

Now the cloud has becomes highly popular for storing critical data. It is readily available anywhere while the only one need − internet connection. Also, there is no need of carrying physical pen drive and for organizations, there is no requirement of constructing or outsourcing data center. This increased usage of demands highly secure cloud storage as all the data in the cloud is considered as important and expects loss or tampering.

Is Your Data Secure in Cloud?

Absolutely, till you do not share your cloud account details with any unauthorized person or your cloud service provider may have suffered from any cyber-attack. This may lead to loss of data of individual or organization if hacker successfully cracked your data encrypted in the cloud. To avoid this you need to be careful while sharing your cloud account detail and check the cloud provider's history before subscribing and storing data.

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Industry Outlook

F

lexibility, defined as the ability to change business plans to account for changing conditions and new information, is essential. Being a flexible manager requires talent, smarts, and the ability to create a future few others may see.

Being flexible allows tech companies, like Cloud4Wi, to step around huge roadblocks and better focus on “right now” business opportunities. Misused and misunderstood, flexibility can also be a refuge for managers and whole companies that are unable to make decisions and stick with them.

While we must always be flexible, deciding where the flex must end can be a real challenge.

Being too flexible – wishy-washy even – is just at least as deadly as not being flexible at all.

Flexibility as Intuition Flexibility can undoubtedly be learned. Over time, by trial and error, and with deep introspection, most managers can become better flexible managers. It seems evident that some managers naturally seem to see and understand flexible decision making and its consequences much better than others. Tech companies should seek to identify these “natural-born” flexible managers and use their wisdom when possible.

Developing a flexible culture is also essential.

This starts with an understanding that once a decision has gained the support of key stakeholders, it is no longer “owned” by whoever suggested it. That means if the decision goes wrong, the consequences fall on everyone. A shared result is the only way flexible thinkers can be encouraged to offer their best ideas, without fear of disrupting their careers.

Uses of Flexibility How tech companies respond to the changing customer environment and other external

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challenges can define success and failure. Both inflexibility in execution and change just for change’s sake can turn a tech company into a furniture liquidation sale.

Flexibility may be the tech manager’s most important personal quality. The ability to make a quick decision that doesn’t forego ongoing course corrections is what makes one manager a success and another “do you remember what’s-her-name?”

Gone are the days of strategic plans created months, even years, in advance and etched in stone. Still, we sometimes see weeks or months of immobility by companies confronted with bad news or new challenges. Decisions – good, bad, indifferent – are what drive a business forward.

Remaining still rarely helps. Moreover, no choice is generally worse than a so-so call.

When in doubt: Do Something (But Not Anything) Planning is a necessity but being in love with a failing plan is deadly. Tech companies thrive on short-term activity and flexibility that supports change when change is necessary.

Timing can be everything.

When things are going wrong, the ability to understand the consequences of possible decisions is essential. A wellcalibrated crystal ball view into the future would be helpful but is seldom available. Usually, a decision will be made based on the best available – if incomplete – information.

Not making a dangerous situation worse should be a goal of the process, but the real purpose is doing something that gets the team and the business working to solve the problem. Even if later changes are required.

The Abuse of Flexibility If too little flexibility is a problem, too much can be deadly.

Flexibility can be the refuge of the soft-minded manager, swaying in the winds of indecision and trying to make a popular choice. Flexible managers have a calibrated sense of when change is too much and risks the goal.

Sometimes, however, only big changes – the “Hail Mary pass” of business decision making – has a chance of saving the day. At those times, it Is important tech companies don’t toss process to the winds. If yours is a “consensus decision” company, think twice before allowing a single manager or small group to decide. Likewise, if a single manager is usually the final decision maker, don’t allow the wash of conflicting decisions to ruin the day.

Three Times When Flexibility Matters Most 1. Choose your core offering wisely. Be flexible in how you bring it to market.

Every tech company needs a motivating “big idea” or technology that staff, engineers, investors, and customers July 2018|

can rally around. There needs to be enough flexibility in how the big idea becomes a product or service that as the marketplace changes or roadblocks are encountered the big idea can be refocused on the new opportunity.

2. Take advantage of hot trends, but don’t look like you are stretching the truth to appear “cool.”

Artificial Intelligence has made headlines recently. Tech companies should embrace AI to build cutting-edge products, as well as improving business processes. AIdriven digital marketing framework, for example, can help tech companies better identify potential customers and target them with tailored messages.

3. Where not to be flexible: Company values Many people got into the tech business with the hope of making the world a better place. Companies benefit from having solid values that remain constant when put to the test. Work to identify these and make them a non-flexible part of company culture. Stand up for managers who make tough decisions that give life to these values. The values can help guide your decisions and, when necessary, put edges around the range of flexible options being considered.

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10 T

H E

Best Performing

Azure Service Providers 2018

DENNY CHERRY & ASSOCIATES CONSULTING A Renowned Global Provider of IT Consulting infrastructure, and network. Comprised entirely of Microsoft MVP’s and partners, and as a Managed Microsoft Partner, DCAC also provides specialized services in cloud migrations and maximizing the use of Microsoft products.

Architect behind DCAC

Denny Cherry

While Founder and CEO, Denny Cherry started DCAC due to his renowned talents with SQL Server, Denny’s goal was to refocus IT consulting services away from a singular platform or software. He decided instead to build a core group of elite consultants with the finest skills, ingenuity, talent, and drive to constantly adapt to ever-evolving IT hardware and software. The deft team of Microsoft MVP’s have a breadth and depth of core skills that allow them to face a wide variety of IT challenges, most notably cloud migration and scalability.

Founder & CEO

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oday, we can observe the speedy adoption of digitization in every sector. This vast digital transformation has demanded strong cloud infrastructure generally delivered and maintained by cloud service providers. The first phase of any cloud project is the same basic process, move the customer to the cloud from their existing on-premises hardware. After that is done, the maintenance of the cloud environment begins. This is where the cloud service providers can really shine, offering limited engagement or day-to-day maintenance of the environment.

Denny Cherry & Associates Consulting (DCAC) is a highly decorated, cross-platform IT consulting firm providing services to Fortune 50, enterprises, and small business companies as well as non-profits to optimize, fix, and/or accelerate their IT environments across architecture,

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Denny’s contributions to the company cannot be underestimated. He serves not only as CEO and Consultant, but as a Chief Marketing Officer, VP of Sales, and historically as a Co-Lead Engineer alongside Principal, Joey D’Antoni.

An unusual and key component to Denny’s contributions is not only his adeptness in managing these many fronts but in the presentation. In an industry famous for “stereo instructions” level complexity coupled with the notorious expectation for engineers to be impassive, Denny’s warm and affable personality and his commitment to “teachable consulting” shines as a differentiator, both in presentations to management and in training a client’s staff. In addition to his skills with innovation, he has a definable knack for explaining complex technical subjects in layman terms thereby achieving not only the sale but universal adoption of a new environment.

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DCAC’s Experiences As for helping clients achieve business growth, a great example is the work that was done at AER Technologies.

This automotive industry supplier had aging hardware and software at the advent of the recession, and the recession hit that industry particularly hard. By 2015, the company was experiencing daily crashes and did not have the CapEx money to revitalize both hardware and software, a situation that put their core business in jeopardy.

DCAC came up with a solution that took the company entirely to Azure, with a compilation of IaaS, PaaS and SaaS solutions, sparing them the CapEx expense for either new hardware or software, and ensuring their IT environment would be impervious to market fluctuations. The solution was considered so innovative that the company was awarded Gold for Data Center Innovations at the Golden Bridge Awards.

work either independently or in a team.

Not many consultants have that kind of talent combined with that kind of flexibility.

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personal issues at some point that will affect work schedules, and it’s up to the rest of them to pick up the slack.

Future Goals

Having such talent enables the company to be a reliable source for high quality and timely service at minimal cost. DCAC customers frequently cite that while on paper DCAC’s hourly rates are higher, the results are delivered faster and underbudget. The time savings they experience alone due to their enhanced environment often more than covers the cost of the engagement itself.

Extraordinary Work Culture for Growth As there is a heavy degree of international travel for DCAC's team members, they do not operate a from a single location or work space. Their consultants work from home or on the road, which enables them to pass along those savings to their customers.

Strategies for Success A primary driver of DCAC’s success has been the recruitment of the finest consultants in the business. The company has elected to expand based on the opportunity to acquire amazing talent, rather than filling a job purely to say it is filled. DCAC identifies consultants that are not only the best at what they can do, but those that can

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You bring the data, we’ll bring the expertise

In terms of company morale, maintaining a positive work environment isn’t really an issue for them. As a small core team where everyone is talented, recognizing and appreciating each other’s talent isn’t particularly difficult. Additionally, team DCAC recognizes each other as human beings. They know that each of them is going to have health or

In the future DCAC will continue to grow. As the company takes on more projects, it will continue to bring on consultants who are the best in the business so that DCAC can continue to offer the high level of service their clients have come to expect.

Awards and Achievements • Gold Award Winner for Data Center Innovations 2017/Golden Bridge Awards • Silver Award Winner for IT Team of the Year 2017/Golden Bridge Awards • IT Company of the Year 2017 /Technology Headlines • 20 Most Promising Azure Solution Providers CIO Review 2016 • Microsoft Managed Partner 2016 • Microsoft MVP 2012- current • Gold Microsoft Partner Cloud Platform • Gold Microsoft Partner Data Platform • Silver Microsoft Partner Data Analytics • VMWare Partner • EMC2 2013 • Microsoft Certified Master 2008

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Cloud Insight

Leveraging the TRANSFORMATIVE

Power of the

Cloud About the Author Joe Caserta is an entrepreneur, technologist and founding President of Caserta Concepts (now Caserta).

He is one of the most respected data technologists and thought-leaders in the industry today. His work was first publicized in 2003 when his innovative approach to Clickstream analytics was featured in the Intelligent Enterprise magazine, which became the standard for analyzing web data.

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he technology leaders of today’s most successful companies demand improved performance, scalability, agile process adoption, greater change control, improved system stability, better risk management, and more effective monitoring—all while reducing costs and overhead—and never jeopardizing security. In the not-so-distant past this laundry list of demands would have been nearly impossible or come at a staggering cost. With today’s advances in cloud platforms, however, these requisites are not only possible but also achievable via migration to the cloud.

To increase performance and lower costs, worldclass companies have begun migrating their entire data ecosystems from an “on-prem” model, where data infrastructure is physically housed within the company, to cloud architecture model, where the data and computing is in the cloud.

Services are developed and offered by companies

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like Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Google Cloud Platform (GCP).

The cloud model offers many advantages ranging from efficiency to scalability, but in an era where many organizations are only moving some of their data to the cloud, it’s a good time to discuss strategies to ensure that full benefits of the cloud are being realized.

Let Go of Security Concerns and Trust the Cloud While some organizations have completed a full migration to the cloud, others feel more comfortable using a hybrid model in which sensitive data, such as personal, medical or financial information, is still housed on-prem, while everything else is on the cloud. There is a persistent myth that sensitive information will be more secure if it's physically housed within a company, or behind the corporate firewall.

However, we still see major hacks occur on-prem while evidence shows housing your data on the cloud is at least as - if not more - secure than onprem. Some larger corporations have begun to realize this, which is helping to highlight that the cloud can be trusted with sensitive information.

With a hybrid model, it is also impossible to realize the full financial benefits of a migration, since you will still be paying for a data center. With a full migration, you get the financial benefits, without losing anything in security.

Reevaluate the Entire Data Ecosystem Fear of change comes in many forms within the cloud adoption process.

Some companies will do a ‘lift-andshift’ migration, in which they move

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everything from processes and software to the cloud, but put it in an environment that is very similar to the previous one. The perceived benefit here is ease-of-use.

analytics and even machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) applications. This is a huge leap for ease of governance and simplification of data.

The alternative to this is to use the migration as an opportunity to reinvent your entire data ecosystem. By removing legacy processes, software, infrastructure and even best practices, and replacing them with a solution that puts to use all of the latest technologies, you can end up with something that is highly performant, more flexible, gracefully extendable and much more cost effective. Some companies prefer to get to this point through a two-step process, which helps employees adjust to the changes and learn new material and processes.

Once this is complete, you can completely reinvent your data stores by going from something massive and monolithic to a very agile, serverless environment in which compute is used dynamically (more efficiently).

Get Ahead with Transformative Technology AI and ML are not going away. It is far more likely that they will become core components of many critical business functions. Having all data on the cloud provides the opportunity for AI and ML to interact directly with the data. If you look at the type of technology that already exists in personal assistants like Alexa or Siri, allowing them to access business data can provide huge operational efficiencies.

Take Advantage of the Cloud Environment Another key benefit of moving to the cloud is that it provides an uninterrupted environment for data and all of its related processes to exist.

Historically, data science, data analytics, data warehousing, and data transactions have been siloed actions.

They have existed as distinct operations that required movement of data in order to complete each, leading to a secondary problem of having multiple records of the same data.

When you move to the cloud, you put everything into the data lake and with these data sets, you can complete all of the necessary functions including performing transactions, warehousing,

You can automate processes that would frequently require humans to go through several steps. By combining AI and ML concepts that are already in place, such as voice recognition and natural language processing, with the ability to know where to find companyspecific data and interpret it, you could interact directly with that data. Instead of limiting these assistants to general questions such as, “How is the weather?” we could now ask, “How were my sales yesterday?” But in order to truly leverage this transformative technology, the data must be on the cloud.

For companies that have not begun their migration to the cloud, there is really no better time than now, and for those who have – it may be a good time to ensure you are taking advantage of all its benefits to the full extent. With today’s variety of advanced technologies available at our fingertips, every tool becomes an opportunity to thrive.

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10 T

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Best Performing

Azure Service Providers 2018

HUBSTOR

The Conclusive Platform for Data Storage caused due to the prevailing security threats and usability of cloud. Envisioned with the mission to make cloud infrastructure easier for enterprises, HubStor is the leading cloud storage software company. This hybrid cloud solution provider unlocks the power of the cloud for intelligent data management.

Storehouse and Defenders of Data

Geoff Bourgeois CEO

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he amount of electronic data (documents, email, videos) produced by organizations big or small is confounding. Storing all this information into the data centre can be expensive and time consuming.

The growing trend, cloud storage has eased up this process of data storage. This service enables users to store any amount of data online. Recent studies have stated that around 800 industrialists (or more) are gaining the competitive advantage of high cloud adoption. It has also predicted that public cloud service will exceed $244 billion. Despite, the advantages of being cost-effective, real-time recovery and easy accessibility to the stored data, the functionality of cloud storage is limited. This limited functionality can be

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As mentioned above, the sole purpose of HubStor is to make cloud infrastructure easier for enterprise IT teams to consume for storing and managing unstructured data workloads. Organizations use HubStor to manage and backup unstructured data for compliance and to virtualize older datasets in their primary storage for next levels of hybrid cloud agility. Ever since the initiation of HubStor, it has fixed any matter of concern related to data. Geoff Bourgeois, CEO of HubStor further adds, “This journey has led us to help clients with various types of data. Everything, starting from, medical images to genomics data, to geo-spatial imagery to email, call centre recordings, public records, and others”.

The unmatched security details provided by this company have put the mind of vendors at peace. With HubStor, the cloud is just not another backup. It enhances the clients’ on-premise backup processes while also doubling as a ransomware insurance plan and backup of Office 365.

Founded in the year 2015, the company has already built strong trust among some of the big giants. Having proved its efficiency, HubStor today has many trusted

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We enable you to unlock the power of data while offering intelligent cloud data management

clients who trust it with their sensitive data. This platform of HubStor which is easy to use, deploy and easy to adopt even promises zero lock- in. This means that if any one of the clients wants to unsubscribe to the services, they can anytime stop using it and recover all the data stored. However, post launch there is no chance that one would stop using it. HubStor is proud of its cloud storage solutions- proven and fortressed.

The Catalyst of Change and Innovation Geoff Bourgeois, the CEO at HubStor, is the type of person who enjoys trying new things and challenging the status quo. This approach of his has enabled HubStor to introduce new ways of working with clients. Things like the company’s transparent pricing model and zero lock-in approach is an exciting departure from the way vendors have traditionally worked with enterprise clients.

Guiding the team of experts, Geoff adds that the success of the company can be attributed to the simple and

July 2018|

high-quality software that works beyond the customer’s expectation.

Following this thought, the highlyresponsive and seasoned team can also be acknowledged for developing meaningful relationships with the clients.

The Cloud Story Odyssey Alike any organization, this company had its share of challenges too. One of the major challenges faced by HubStor was the protection of customary tenants and data from an accidental or malicious activity.

However, facing challenges in the data sector and moving ahead is what HubStor is best at. “We made significant investment to build a SaaS operations security framework that protects customer configurations and data from accidents or bad actors”, explains Geoff.

embrace the cloud will become agiler in their execution. Today, HubStor has built itself in such a way that no matter how many challenges come its way, the company has an alternative to it. Leave it to the team of efficient developers and ITians to find the solution and pull its client out of every data related trouble. This company has made it easy for organizations to leverage the Microsoft Azure cloud platform for needs such as backup, archiving, and compliance data management. The future lying ahead of this company is very promising and innovatory.

HubStor is growing at a fast clip which will only accelerate as the company will be investing more into marketing the brand in key markets around the world.

The team at HubStor believes that market surrounding the cloud is still very nascent. Organizations are still learning how they can best take advantage of the cloud, how the cloud’s pricing model works, and what skills they need to maintain a competitive edge. Organizations that

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INVESTOR'S DESK

DECIDING

Factors Investing Technologies WHILE

INTO

NEW

R

eaching out to new opportunities and investing in them, is more likely to be considered as an art. With each day passing, advanced technologies are often tightening the hold on business markets. It has sort of become mandatory for the enterprises to adapt with such new advancements in order to attain continuous growing culture.

Implementation of upgraded technologies brings out numerous benefits to an enterprise which mainly are interrelated with revenue-

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generation. As a matter of fact, working along with today’s technology are more beneficial and tranquil as compare to early traditional methodologies.

Where once there was one, or two, fundamental technological change on the horizon, now there are several; making investment more difficult for the enterprises. A commonly used phrase states that winning doesn’t occur on betting what has happened, or what is happening, but on what will

happen. Thus, enterprises go through a series of analysis which helps them to predict future benefits as well as the consequences. The market is filled with various technical solution providers which provide enterprises with various technical implications, if needed. But, it’s more important for an enterprise to choose the technology as per their needs. Mostly enterprises adapt advancements depending on their compatibility ratio with respect to their products and services. But, there are various other parameters which act as a

July 2018|

deciding element in order to determine the suitable technology for one's growth. Depending on the retrospective persona, such factors allow an enterprise to analysis the realtime structure with available technology to put forth the investment strategies.

Outlook on essential factors before investing Reaching Out To the Successful Early Adapters Idea spread faster than air; but it depends how intensified the idea is.

Every technology must be tested before its implementation, either the company can itself be the first one to acclimatize or it can just wait for else to do so. The decision of being the first adapter brings up maximum amount of July 2018|

risk but, if the company succeeds in achieving their desired goals then, that company is considerably known to be ground floor or bench mark for others.

Apart from being a first one to adapt, a company can take reviews of other entities who had have used or being using the same technology. A little research can dig out all the information requires to determine whether the technology is capable enough to process the work more efficiently.

Undeniably Efficient Under Fewer Resources None can predict the future, but can be prepare for it. While implicating a new technology, an enterprise focuses mainly on the big context rather the little stuffs. Success does happen by creating a larger picture, but it do needs those understated amenities to

drive it further. Whether the new technology is huge or trifling, it should be compatible with existing system as well as should require few resources to match-up the needs. In most of the cases, the adapted technology completes the task by utilizing more resources than it should have. This issue does get resolved after uncertain time; as disruption occurs into that technology leaving enterprises to reimplement the upgraded version, resulting into more loss rather than the estimated profit. In order to overcome such matters, it’s better to study and then choose the technology which satisfy the current situations and cover up the processes under existing means.

Technologies to invest into: There is range of varied technologies available in the market, which is

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single-handedly driving the digital world. Follow up with such technologies to uplift an enterprise to the desired heights.

Blockchains—everything is getting digitalized, and so is money.

Blockchain technology was created to easy up the money transaction process in a more secure way. As per its name, blockchain is chain of an encrypted block-like structure which holds the data of users more precisely. This technology is very much hard to crack through external sources as it entails a series of complex programs for encryption. So implementing such technology in an enterprise transaction process will allow the use of digital currency. One of many, Bitcoin is stated to be the best example of digital currency which uses blockchain technology.

Fog Computing—also known as cloud computing, are been diversified to

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various fields and sectors of the enterprises. Its enormous data computing capacity helps enterprises in saving substantial amount of money which was often spend on big data storages. This open-source operating software provides enterprises with a secure and better way to store company data. This cloud is utilized for commercial as well as personal purposes.

Artificial Intelligence—technology was introduced in late 90’s, due to less knowledge or technological gratification it never did came into lime-light. But, IT intellectuals were sure enough that one day the technology will witness the rise. And now, AI has achieved a place in enterprises as well as in individual's lives. Establishing of a perfect AI system might take some more time, as it includes advance and complex programming structure. This AI with the help of Machine Learning can

autonomously generate solutions to any kind problems which will save a lot of time of an enterprise. In future, there are possibilities of the utilization of fully-operated AI by many enterprises.

These are the focused technologies which are not only helping an individual to visualize the future but also, bringing it into reality. Hopefully, such advance technologies will be seen everywhere soon. Anyhow, like others these advancements may also face technological disruption by upgraded innovations. Hence, it is obligatory for the enterprises to determine suitable technology by considering above factors. These technologies will act as a backbone to enterprises in order to achieve great success.

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10 T

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Best Performing

Azure Service Providers 2018

TWT GROUP

Offering IT Solutions by Embracing Innovations that lending off out-dated business practices and enacting new innovations is the perfect way to grow. It provides solutions to several sectors such as agriculture, financial services, real estate, oil and gas, and construction. The company not only aids in the setup of IT networks, hardware, and software but also offers guidance through the implementation phase.

The prime focus of the TWT group is to provide a better quality of the services which further helps it to build a trust-worthy relationship with their clients. With a twoyear growth rate of 143%, it was recognized as one of the top 50 start-ups in the year 2016.

Assisting Clients through the processes

Shawn Freeman Founder

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he world has witnessed every possible range of technological advancements, yet new innovations are consistently surpassing the previous ones. With technological disruption, it has often become a need to implement upgraded innovations in order to keep up with the requirements of the modern organizations.

A forward-thinking and optimistic infrastructure is what every organization is aiming for, as such most preferred IT solution providers who are compatible enough with the future up-gradations.

With an unyielding commitment to implementing a results-driven collaborative approach through adapting Microsoft Azure, TWT Group, an IT solution provider is hailing high in the market. The company itself believes

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TWT Group always had a keen interest in leading edge of new technology and innovation. Consequently, with the introduction of cloud services in the market, the company has been comforting its clients with the new platform. In order to clearly articulate benefits of advancements to the clients, TWT Group first ensures their team is clear and knowledgeable on what are they selling. This method has resulted in positive outcomes for the clients. Lowered costs flexibility and strong reliable infrastructure are huge benefits in the SMB world, thus the company recognized the need to introduce such facilities to the clients. While maintaining their goal of providing cost savings initiatives and developing thoughtful relationships with their clients, a cornerstone in their growth model.

Proficient Leader with a Fine Vision Born and bred in Calgary—Shawn Freeman founded TWT Group with the goal of marketing ‘IT’ in a way

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Relationships, Freedom, Innovation, Integrity. Happiness; we march these values

more easily understood, instead of complicating the process. He prefers to keep an open concept environment in his company’s workspace, as he firmly believes in building good relationships with his team. The founder has faith in new advancements as they can be more reliable than the out-dated business practices. With a strong approach towards client satisfaction.

Prior to TWT Group, Shawn completed his bachelor’s degree in B.Sc from the University of Calgary and then further masters from the University of Waterloo. His diversified knowledge in data mining, data structures, and management has helped him to drive his company more efficiently.

Meanwhile, he has also been certified

by Microsoft and ITIL Foundations V3 as a professional and specialist.

In addition, Shawn pursues numerous speaking engagements, most recently presenting on hiring practices at DisruptHR Exchange, and on TWT’s unique business model at The Measurable Difference. He sincerely has a faith that by sharing knowledge, it will create a stronger community, city and ultimately lead to success for his own career and company.

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Being Ethical TWT Group has recognized the need for compatibility between the solutions providers and enterprises, so it prescribed certain basic elements to follow. Specifically centered around the companies core values which are Freedom, Relationships, and Innovation and ‘Do What’s Right’; implanting likewise amenities creates a collaborative team approach ensuring a more cohesive, stronger team.

Shawn created an environment focused on creating an optimistic atmosphere in their workplace resulting in a general feeling of freedom where one can put forth ideas for the company’s clients.

Along with freedom and relationships, they also place an emphasis on new innovations and ethics. Being truthful plays a crucial role for TWT group in order to sustain the relationships with their customers. The company consistently invests in its staff on both business and personal development for producing loyalty driven results.

An Optimistic View towards the Future

collaborative execution in order to meet their targets. The core functions of the company on a day-to-day basis are solving problems, building relationships, researching the latest security exploits, and strategizing with clients on their growth and plans. By setting continuous and farreaching standards TWT sets the bar high and consistently achieves.

TWT Group has focus and determination that fuels their plan to sustain their stature in the IT industry. With a strong team and fixed core values, TWT Group has become a trusted go-to an advisor in the field.

Clients Speak “We had the best year in the history of our company the past two years running because we’ve been able to focus on our core competencies and not be bogged down with issues associated with a poor IT infrastructure. TWT’s IT approach has helped us transform our business.”

-Doug McCrae, Vice President, CIP Document Solution

TWT Group works with a perfect agenda of teamwork and

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Tech Byte

OF T h e

Role CHALLENGES &

Data Needed for

COGNITIVE COMPUTING &

I

n the last few years, AI and cognitive computing have made breathtaking strides driven by developments in machine learning, such as deep learning. Deep learning is part of the broader field of machine learning that is concerned with giving computers the ability to learn without being programmed. Deep learning has had some incredible successes. But, one of the biggest challenges of deep learning is the need for training data.

Large volumes of data are needed to train networks to do the most rudimentary things. This data must also be relatively clean to create networks that have any meaningful predictive value. For many organizations, this makes machine learning impractical. It’s not just the mechanics of creating neural networks that’s challenging (although this is itself a hard task), but also the way to organize and structure enough data to do something useful with it.

There is an abundance of data available in the world—more than 180 zettabytes (1 zettabyte is equal to 1 followed by 21 zeros) predicted by 2025. Ninety-nine percent of the data in the world is not yet analyzed, and more than 80 percent of it is unstructured, meaning that there is plenty of opportunity and hidden gems in the data we are collecting. Sadly, however, much of this data is not in any state to be analyzed.

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So, what can enterprises do?

AI

You need to think about data differently from how you do today. Data must be thought of as a building block for information and analytics. It must be collected to answer a question or set of questions. This means that it must have the following characteristics: Ÿ

Accuracy: While obvious, the data must be accurate.

Ÿ

Completeness: The data must be relevant, and data that is necessary to answer the question asked must be present. An obvious example of incomplete data would be a classroom where there are 30 students, but the teacher calculates the average for only 15.

Ÿ

Consistency: If there is one database indicating that there are 30 students in a class and a second database showing that there are 31 in the same class then this is an issue.

Ÿ

Uniqueness: If a student has different identifiers in two separate databases, this is an issue as it opens the risk that information won’t be complete or consistent.

Ÿ

Timeliness: Data can change, and the AI model may need to be updated.

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About The Author Rajeev Dutt is the CEO and Co-founder of DimensionalMechanics, a Seattle based start-up in artificial intelligence. A veteran of Intel, Microsoft, HP, and BBC, Rajeev has spent 17 years in high tech including positions as CEO in two media/AI-oriented startups.

Rajeev Dutt CEO & Co-founder

Beyond the data itself, there are severe constraints that can impede analytics and deep learning, including security and access, privacy, compliance, IP protection, and physical and virtual barriers. These constraints need to be thought about. It doesn’t help the enterprise if it has all the data but the data is inaccessible for various reasons. Often, steps need to be taken such as scrubbing the data so that no private content remains. Sometimes, agreements need to be made between parties that are sharing data, and sometimes technical work needs to happen to move the data to locations where it can be analyzed. Finally, the format and structure of the data needs to be considered. Legacy data might be plentiful, but may be incompatible with the problem at hand.

The moral of the story is that we are deluged with data, but often the conditions do not allow the data to be used. Sometimes, enterprises are lucky, and with some effort, they can put the data into good shape. Very often, enterprises will need to rethink how to collect or transform data to a form that is consumable. Agreements can be made to share data or merge data sets, but completeness issues often remain.

As noted earlier, the key to success is to start with a question and then structure the training data or collect the right data to answer the question. While immense barriers remain in collecting training data, there is clearly a push by enterprises toward higher quality data evinced by the growing influence of data scientists. I am very optimistic that the corpus of high-quality training data will improve, thus enabling a wider adoption of AI across enterprises of all sizes.

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