< PreviousLEO networks www.networkseuropemagazine.com 50Telesat, a satellite pioneer Telesat is a satellite network operator and true industry pioneer established by the Canadian Parliament back in 1969 as a commercial company with a mandate to provide satellite communication services across Canada, the 2nd largest country on Earth by size. Soon after, Telesat launched Anik A1 using a McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) Delta 1000 rocket system on November 9, 1972 – almost 50 years ago! It was the world’s first domestic communications satellite placed in a Geostationary Earth Orbit (GEO). Their pioneering efforts continued and by 1978, Telesat had launched the first commercial Ku-band satellite offering the first Direct-to-Home (DTH) television service laying the groundwork for the global DTH industry. Telesat Lightspeed In addition to their existing state-of-the-art global GEO satellite network, Telesat is planning a new LEO satellite network, which will leverage their impressive experience in space-based connectivity that spans over half a century. Their planned LEO network is being designed to best address the rigorous requirements of telecom, government, maritime and aeronautical customers. Telesat’s first LEO satellite was launched in January 2018 to demonstrate key features of their LEO system design. In particular, it demonstrated the capability of the satellite and customer ground-based terminals to deliver a low- latency broadband experience that (Medium Earth Orbit) MEO and GEO satellites cannot provide. Given the impressive pedigree, history and experience in the satellite networking space, it’s no surprise that in 2024, Telesat projects to commercially launch Telesat Lightspeed, initially comprising 298 satellites. Telesat’s goal is to shrink the Digital Divide, create hundreds of new high-quality jobs in Canada, spur domestic investment and exports, and ensure Canada is at the forefront of the new and rapidly- growing space economy. Telesat Partnering with Ciena As Telesat works towards a 2024 commercial launch, they’re already modernising their terrestrial backhaul networks to provide high-speed, high-capacity network connectivity to governments, telcos, mobile network operators, and other enterprise customers for improved delivery of 5G, cloud computing, video streaming, and other bandwidth-intensive broadband services. Upgrading their terrestrial networks today will allow Telesat not only to improve their service offerings to existing customers but also to proactively prepare for the impressive leap in network performance to be provided by their new Telesat Lightspeed network. To Boldly Go… Putting satellites into space is not new, but LEO technology and enabled network performance is new and a literal gamechanger for underserved communities of end-users, both humans and machines. As LEO satellite networks continue to grow and provide the basic human right of reliable broadband network access to traditionally underserved communities, I believe the global Digital Divide will shrink. Underserved communities are rooting for LEO satellite operators like Telesat to succeed, and so am I. n LEO networks www.networkseuropemagazine.com 51 Putting satellites into space is not new, but LEO technology and enabled network performance is new and a gamechanger for underserved communities of end-users, both humans and machines. Carl Oliver Product Manager Giacom The cloud backup opportunity Transitioning towards the use of cloud-based technologies has formed a key component of the acceleration of digitalisation across the globe. But, as organisations shift from using on-premise solutions to the cloud, many will not have considered that data – despite being located in the cloud – still needs to be backed up. This is particularly true of the SMB market. cloud backup opportunity www.networkseuropemagazine.com 52 The channel therefore, needs to educate and support SMB organisations as they develop and deploy their cloud strategies. But, it also means that ITCs need to work with their CSP partners to capitalise on the potential recurring revenue generating opportunities that backup provisioning can offer. Carl Oliver, Product Manager, Giacom unpacks this and explains why cloud backup is increasingly important for SMBs and where the opportunity lies. On-premise backup solutions aren’t fail safe It won’t come as a surprise to the IT channel that protecting data and backing it up is critical. But, what is the difference between backing up data on-premise compared with cloud backup solutions? As you can imagine, an on-premises backup solution stores data securely on office-based hard drives. In principle, this is a feasible option, but what if a natural disaster occurs such as a pandemic, flood or fire? Accessing data becomes problematic and depending on the situation, data could be lost forever. A case in point is last year, as pandemic work-from-home restrictions prevented many people from working in offices, making the idea of accessing office technology and IT backups difficult. So, many businesses turned to the cloud for support, this rightly highlighted the need for cloud data security. How secure is data when stored in the cloud? There’s a common misconception that just because you shift your applications and workloads into the cloud, that all of your data is completely secure. While the cloud offers many benefits, including the availability of data, it doesn’t entirely protect organisations from data loss or corruption alone. For instance, a recent study found that 32% of companies using the cloud had experienced data loss in the cloud across numerous threats. It points out that 64% of this data loss was accidental and that 20% was down to malicious intent. Worse yet, the average cost of this data loss without a backup solution in place equates to almost $4,000 – not counting the potential reputational damage and fines from regulators. So, while the cloud has enabled businesses to evolve and thrive, especially through the current pandemic, it’s clear that data stored in the cloud still needs to be backed up via a dedicated method. This is why it is important for organisations to factor cloud backup solutions into their long-term cloud and data protection strategies. They are crucial and help address this growing risk of data loss that takes place, be that through accidental or malicious means. Advantages of cloud backup solutions Using cloud backup solutions offers organisations a host of benefits too. Many modern backup tools include enhanced security features and the ability to scale backups as required. They also generally offer quicker recovery times if and when backed up data is needed. Further, better security protocols, encryption, software patches and updates mean that there are more effective security options for ITCs to provide to their end user customers in the cloud too. Moreover, by using the cloud, organisations can scale more easily. They d backup y for MSPs cloud backup opportunity www.networkseuropemagazine.com 53 have the option and capability to move their data efficiently and quickly across the world. However, as with all technology there are security risks to consider, which ITCs need to advise clients on. This is where the relationship between CSP and ITC is important. Modern and effective CSPs work with their ITCs to support them with cloud deployment consultancy and execution to customers. This usually includes providing collaborative insights about managing data privacy, security and infrastructure maintenance. Equally, this is an area where the SMB market requires more support – since 37% of SMBs, according to Forrester, are not adopting cloud due to security concerns. Supporting SMBs with cloud backup in a Covid world Through the pandemic, many organisations turned to remote working to maintain productivity. Many of these applications are cloud-based; and for some, this meant that their IT estate had to evolve; and across the world there was an explosion in the use of collaboration technologies. And this is set to continue, research from the Cloud Industry Forum indicates that 88% of organisations expect their adoption of cloud services to increase in the next 12 months. This trend towards cloud application adoption amplifies the need to move away from depending on on-premise backups towards relying on cloud backup solutions instead. Further, since technology operates in an ‘always on’ state of play, businesses can’t afford to wait for someone to physically attend an on-premise site to perform maintenance, especially during a pandemic. Aside from this, it is crucial to note that during any crisis, malevolent actors will seek to cause mayhem and exploit vulnerable situations. For instance, according to the Office of National Statistics, cybercrime greatly increased during the last year – added to that, not a week goes by without hearing about a high-profile cyber security incident. For instance, recently, North Korean hackers attacked Pfizer and Serco experienced a cyber-attack related to NHS Test and Trace. Clearly, Covid-19 has created the perfect situation for cyber criminals to exploit. With many IT teams stretched – either by work at home restrictions, cloud/digital transformation projects or cyber-attacks – they have their work cut out for them. The pressure they face is unprecedented and emphasises the importance of putting in place robust data recovery and business continuity strategies to support their businesses. Evidently, there is a significant opportunity for the channel to step in and provide advisory and execution support and services to SMB customers. Conclusion Even though cloud solves many problems for organisations, it does come with data protection challenges. One answer to this problem involves using dedicated cloud backup solutions to protect data. The other answer lies in market education about how best to secure cloud applications and data. Within this scenario, CSPs and ITCs must work together to educate the market – especially S\MBs – about how to secure and back up data effectively. By doing this, ITCs can take advantage of their CSP partner’s knowledge – positioning themselves as trusted advisors to clients – and also take advantage of the available lucrative recurring revenue generating opportunity. nSimon Rolph EO & Founder Such Sweet Thunder Life beyond the dashboard why data quality gives you the platform to go above and beyond However, what if we said this was ineffective and could be the cause of being left behind? As business needs develop, data analysis needs change too, and dashboards are pushing businesses into grey areas where they can’t analyse data in the ways they need to. While dashboards are fit for the purpose they were created for, businesses are now looking for a solution to data analytics that can be fluid and fast-changing. Analysts could be looking to measure one part of the business one day, and then a different part the next, and dashboards can’t provide the fluidity to keep up with this demand. Similarly, when dashboards first emerged, they weren’t just a big step forward for data management - they were also a significant advance for MIS (Management Information Systems) and EIS (Executive Information Systems), but they haven’t evolved sufficiently to continue to be efficient and effective in these areas. What is a dashboard in data? Mentioning a dashboard to those who aren’t ‘in the know’, or only have passable knowledge of data analytics, the first consideration is that of a car. While there are clear and obvious differences, the concept is still the same - a series of indicators that take raw data from the car, transform it into workable information, and then relay said information to the driver. These indicators could include speed, car analysis, or faults. While there are marked differences between the dashboard on a car and that of data, the fundamentals remain the same. A data dashboard is a tool businesses use to help track, analyse and display data, usually to gain deeper insight into the overall wellbeing of the organisation, a department, or even a specific process. Dashboards have been used in business for many years, and for the vast majority of this time they’ve been highly credible and vital for operations. Data is integral to everything we do in business, from reporting to decision making. The role that dashboards play in our data lives has changed significantly, making our data tracking and analysis time-efficient, synchronised, automated – even simple perhaps. beyond the dashboard www.networkseuropemagazine.com 54dashboard a quality gives you the to go above and beyond beyond the dashboard www.networkseuropemagazine.com 55Why do we need to move on? Times are changing and as such, dashboards are becoming less and less vital. In their place, a modern alternative must step up and fill the void. Ultimately, dashboards are becoming outdated, and future analysis methods need significant modernisation to not only be fit for purpose, but continue to be the best option in the years and decades to come. There are some prime reasons why dashboards are becoming outdated and why the upgrade to more relevant and fit-for-purpose alternatives needs to happen. Ultimately dashboard are failing for three main reasons: • They’re naturally inflexible in nature • They’re built without a user in mind • They can’t interpret data into usable information They’re naturally inflexible in nature Dashboards are notoriously rigid and are ultimately a blunt instrument. They present all data in the same way, all the time, and it’s always raw data. The key to this issue though is that they can only really search for what they’re being asked to search for - there’s no mindset beyond the dashboard and no interpretive qualities. They’ll pick out information on what they’ve been programmed to do and that’s it. Businesses nowadays are having to be even more flexible and fluid than ever before which isn’t a style that suits a dashboard. The modern CTO or IT infrastructure will need one data set one day and another the next, which a dashboard simply can’t provide. They’re built without a user in mind Dashboards aren’t at all personal - there’s no specification to the person, or the business they’re collecting data for. They do one job across the board and don’t have the capabilities to drive any deeper. Dashboards are often based on a set of assumptions and priorities which are often set without a deep enough understanding of the business, so the dashboard will rarely be measuring everything that a business needs to know unless significant care is taken in the setting up process. On that subject, dashboards are notoriously complex to set up, often requiring help from an IT expert, developer or a reporting tool that features pre-loaded dashboards that don't gauge metrics that are pertinent for all users. Even once they’re set up, it can be challenging from the onset because specific software is meant for experienced developers, making them complex to set up by anyone outside the IT field. An additional drawback of dashboards falls into the realm of human interaction and the fact that us as users become too comfortable and begin to ‘go through the motions’ rather than apply some genuinely critical thinking. Because dashboard users see the same data everyday, they can become ‘programmed’ in what they’re looking at which then leads to a lack of consideration and analytical thinking. Users have become too comfortable with dashboards and aren’t applying the right thinking more often than not, which leads to the human mind not ‘seeing’ anything anymore from a data perspective. They can’t interpret data The final, biggest failing of a dashboard is that it can’t interpret data. It can pump out raw data into the hands of a human who then ultimately has to undertake the task of interpreting that data into really workable, usable, decision-making information. This then factors in the flaws of human error, mistaken interpretation or data being misread and then miscommunicated. beyond the dashboard www.networkseuropemagazine.com 56 Dashboards are becoming outdated, out-thought and aren’t fit for the purpose they were originally designed for.What’s the solution? The solution to dashboards - and moving on - lies within directed and dynamic analytics. Dynamic analytics essentially do what they say on the tin - the data analysis they offer is flexible, fluid and constantly evolving. For obvious reasons, this goes above and beyond the capabilities of a dashboard, collecting, collating and then analysing a multitude of data in a short time period. The idea of storytelling will also be key to a ‘post-dashboard’ world - putting the analysis into context and then retaining said context for future reference, looking for those all important trends and patterns. However, there is a challenge when it comes to dynamic analytics - and it’s a big one. In order for this modern, fluid data collection process to be a true success, the quality of your data has to be impeccable. When the collection of data isn’t of high quality and is laden with errors, it will ultimately cause the information or analysis to be unreliable and could easily lead to errors being made. When there is such a reliance on this data and such a reliance on its ability to aid us making decisions, any flaws or weaknesses in the data itself could lead to catastrophic mistakes and turn your informed business decisions into no more than a stab in the dark. Ultimately, dashboards are becoming outdated, out-thought and aren’t fit for the purpose they were originally designed for. It is vital that business leaders look to adopt dynamic analytic tools to keep up with the curve and get the best usable data to make their decisions. However, CTOs and decision makers do need to be aware of the risks of using dynamic analytics and how important it is to have data of the highest quality. If you take all of these considerations into account and act on them accordingly, then you can enjoy a happy and healthy data set, ready to make the very best business decisions. n beyond the dashboard www.networkseuropemagazine.com 57Mike Foster Channel Manager VIPRE Security is a growing concern across every industry, particularly now with the growth of dispersed workforces around the world. Cyberattacks continue to increase and become more sophisticated with businesses of all sizes needing to invest in the right support. This is even more crucial for small and medium- sized businesses (SMBs), who may lack the adequate internal resources and teams to protect themselves against such threats. Investing in channel support to survive the evolving security landscape channel support www.networkseuropemagazine.com 58But, by partnering with an established Managed Service Provider (MSP) who can act as a trusted advisor to create a solid cyber security strategy, SMBs can benefit from the knowledge, skills and solutions available within the channel. MSPs, therefore, need to ensure they leverage this opportunity to support their end customers, while businesses crucially make the necessary investment to keep their network, data and people secure, as Mike Foster, Channel Manager, VIPRE, explains. Covid-19 transforms the market With businesses accelerating their digital transformation during the Covid-19 pandemic to ensure business survival and continuity, there has been a knock-on effect on cybersecurity strategies, which now must be prioritised and invested in. Over the past eighteen months, organisations have had to transition to working securely and efficiently from home and, splitting their time between the office and remote work, in turn, creating new security challenges. This channel support www.networkseuropemagazine.com 59Next >