Building the Foundation for an AI-Ready Organization

According to recent Gartner reports, an estimated 85% of artificial intelligence (AI) projects will fail through the year 2022. This estimation is likely to cast some doubt on the realm of artificial intelligence and its ability to deliver value. However, the reason that so many AI projects fail is not due to the AI processes themselves, but rather the lack of strong data governance, collaboration, and problem definition. Organizations that successfully leverage AI typically start their design with the goal of AI in mind. This approach allows organizations to work backwards, guiding them through the foundational components that help contribute to the end goal.

Global cyberattacks are becoming more widespread. The onslaught of online assaults we’ve seen five months into the year has made putting adequate measures in place to keep organization's critical information secure that much more critical. Harvard Business Review has stated that the "conflict in Ukraine presents perhaps the most acute cyber risk U.S. and western corporations have ever faced." Accelerated cyberattacks are already underway directed at Ukraine and may expand to nation-states providing support to Ukraine, including the United States.

This originally appeared as part of an article in THE Journal and Campus Technology.

This article originally appeared in K-12 Dive.

With the record number of cyberattacks making national news, cybersecurity is top-of-mind for many business executives—but an effective cybersecurity strategy involves more than just awareness of possible threats. It’s important that your organization is prepared for the inevitability of facing cyberthreats.

While the increased risk of cyber-attacks, further fueled by the pandemic, is in the news daily, too many organizations continue to lag in their planning and preparedness. There are countless stories of entities across the business and societal landscape, from big corporations to hospitals to schools, navigating data breaches and other forms of cyber-attacks that put their organizations, employees and stakeholders at risk. Cybercriminals are always looking for their next target and their tactics are continually evolving. The question is how to keep one step ahead or, at the very least, to keep pace with best practices?

Every time I meet with a customer, there are always several data center concerns that weigh heavily on their minds. For many, it’s the fear that a bad actor that will destroy, steal, or compromise data. Others worry about enduring a site failure that takes down the data center and having to failover to an alternate site, with the hope that everything shifts without a hitch while under a lot of stress. Many wonder if they can recover data in a real-time human error event. Others have a simpler question: Will my systems perform to the demands of the business?

Ransomware is currently headline news and rightly so. Technology professionals around the globe have observed recent spikes in this form of cybercrime with alarm. The sheer volume of ransomware attacks in the first six months of 2021 is said to have eclipsed the 12-month total for 2020 and show little sign of slowing.

This week at Cisco’s annual partner conference, Cisco recognized ConvergeOne with a Global Award for Customer Experience Partner of the Year for rising to market shifts and demonstrating transformative thought leadership that ensures the highest level of customer success, expertise, and dedication as customers transition to subscription and XaaS buying models.

I’ve been known to use quotes to inspire or strengthen my message, so here goes: “The sky is falling, the sky is falling” (The Remarkable Story of Chicken Little, 1840). Believe it or not, this Chicken Little quote has significance to businesses: If you are not ready for incidents, individuals will go into a panic and act like the sky is falling. Preventing this is the main focus of an incident response plan (IRP), which takes control of events that could cause catastrophic harm to your organization in advance so that you do not panic when they actually occur.