Enterprise Strategy Group - Experts & Thought Leaders

Permiso, the pioneer in real-time identity security, announced the expansion of its platform to include comprehensive protection for AI identities, including AI users, AI builders, and AI agents, in order to provide enterprises with a single platform to protect all digital identities against cybersecurity threats. Available now, the expanded Permiso solution is unique in the market in that it treats AI security as an extension of identity security and offers the same comprehensive coverage for AI that has made the company’s platform the gold standard for human, non-human and vendor identity protection. Actual AI usage patterns Static tracking alone does not provide any information about who and how AI is being used The solution focuses primarily on runtime intelligence to discover actual AI usage patterns, along with the more common tracking of static information, which only captures the configuration supporting AI and AI usage. Static tracking alone does not provide any information about who and how AI is being used, leaving enterprises blind to an important part of AI risk.  Identity risks and track real-time activity "Your AI security posture will be shaped by your overall security program," said Jason Martin, Permiso Co-CEO and Co-Founder, adding "Identity security is a core pillar of any strong program and essential to securely operationalising AI. Every identity has unique risks, but all must authenticate and be authorised to access critical systems and data." He continues, "Soon, enterprises will run hundreds or thousands of AI agents, making it vital to inventory them, assess identity risks and track real-time activity to spot suspicious behaviour. Companies don’t want separate systems for each identity type - they need a single platform that provides full coverage and eliminates blind spots against identity-driven threats." New AI features New AI features provide granular visibility into AI usage patterns, enabling security teams to understand The new AI features provide granular visibility into AI usage patterns, enabling security teams to understand not just who has AI access, but precisely how they're using it - from specific AI services to the types of activities performed. This is critical to enable organisations to discover vulnerabilities, protect against them, and defend against potential attacks.  “AI isn’t a new silo, it’s an identity problem,” said Permiso CTO, Ian Ahl, adding “Permiso finds every AI identity, human and non-human. We map static exposures, and use runtime detection on live activity so you can adopt AI without widening the attack surface.” Permiso's AI into three groups Permiso categorises AI identities into three groups: AI Users: Employees and stakeholders using AI services like ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot, Claude or other AI platforms. AI Builders: Developers and teams creating, modifying or deploying AI models and applications. AI Agents: Autonomous AI systems operating within organisational environments. Identity security principles “As enterprises scale AI projects, they recognise that identity security is essential for protecting AI users, builders and agents. Solutions that apply proven identity security principles, such as runtime intelligence and static tracking to AI agent identities can address a significant gap in enterprise security,” said Todd Thiemann, Principal Analyst at Enterprise Strategy Group. Permiso’s specific AI identify security features Permiso’s specific AI identify security features, which integrate seamlessly with existing Permiso deployments and require no additional infrastructure, include the ability to discover, analyse and defend against threats via:  Tracking of shadow AI usage by employees using personal accounts, which can increase the AI attack surface and go unrecognised. Notification of unauthorised AI service access through federated authentication. Discovery of AI agents operating with excessive permissions, some of which have up to 90% unused permissions, similar to patterns seen across other identity types. This introduces unnecessary risk. Discovery of sensitive data sharing with external AI models, whether initiated by human workers using AI or autonomous AI agents. Permiso’s unique approach to identity security “As organisations embrace AI, it has to be viewed through the lens of identity. Whether it’s an employee, a developer, or an AI agent, the risks ultimately come down to who has access, what they can do, and how that activity is monitored," said Permiso customer, Terrick Taylor, Security Operations Manager, YAGEO Group. The industry is also taking note of Permiso’s unique approach to identity security. GigaOm recently recognised the company in its Radar for ITDR Report, calling Permiso a Challenger, as well as a Fast Mover.

Dell Technologies announces significant private cloud infrastructure advancements to help customers manage both traditional and modern workloads with greater speed, efficiency, and security. Many IT teams struggle to handle the demands of both traditional and modern workloads while dealing with rising costs, evolving virtualisation needs, and vendor lock-in concerns. Organisations are adopting disaggregated private clouds built with virtualisation-optimised compute, storage, and cyber resilience solutions that provide greater flexibility, choice, and control over their data. Managing private cloud deployments Integration of Dell NativeEdge into the Dell Automation Platform provides a full-stack solution  Dell Private Cloud, delivered through the Dell Automation Platform with on-premises and SaaS deployment options, helps customers easily automate, scale, and manage private cloud deployments using their preferred cloud OS stack and Dell disaggregated infrastructure, including PowerStore, PowerFlex, and PowerMax. Customers can use AI-driven automation for infrastructure management and monitoring.  Additionally, integration of Dell NativeEdge into the Dell Automation Platform provides a full-stack solution optimised to simplify and secure operations across distributed cloud and edge environments. Storage and cyber resilience are key to any private cloud. Dell is introducing significant innovations in these areas to help customers build smarter, faster, and more secure private clouds. Dell PowerStore Dell PowerStore delivers simple, enterprise-grade, high-performance storage tightly integrated with modern virtualisation platforms and adaptable for containerised environments. The Nutanix Cloud Platform solution will soon support Dell PowerStore, combining Dell’s trusted storage innovation with Nutanix’s cloud operating model to meet customer demand for greater choice and control in how they deploy infrastructure. PowerStore’s latest hardware and software advancements deliver greater cost-efficiency, AI-accelerated automation, and enhanced resiliency. Enterprise performance, lower costs: PowerStore 5200Q offers high-capacity performance with the economics of QLC flash, flexible scaling up to 25PBe per cluster and optimised workload placement through integration with existing PowerStore clusters. Software-driven security and resiliency: Improve enterprise security and resiliency with built-in anomaly detection, single sign-on and biometric authentication, HashiCorp key manager support, and replication over fibre channel. AI-powered self-healing: Cut issue resolution time by 90% through automated health checks and repairs powered by Smart Support Auto-Heal functionality. Dell PowerFlex      Dell PowerFlex, the industry’s most resilient software-defined block storage, offers flexible, software-defined storage that scales linearly and features deep virtualisation and Kubernetes integrations. The PowerFlex Ultra release introduces the Scalable Availability Engine (SAE), which drastically simplifies workload management and reduces costs with improved efficiency and reliability. Reimagining software-defined storage: PowerFlex’s Scalable Availability Engine (SAE) is built on a native block, fully distributed, erasure-coded architecture that delivers breakthrough storage efficiency, resiliency, and scalability for software-defined data centres.  Extreme storage efficiency: Achieves up to 80% storage efficiency with over 50% reduction in physical storage footprint, allowing organisations to store more data in less space while lowering costs and power consumption. Data availability and resiliency: Delivers up to 10x9s of data availability with the ability to tolerate up to two node failures simultaneously, ensuring enterprise workloads remain operational even during hardware failures while maintaining data integrity across large-scale deployments. Dell PowerMax Dell PowerMax offers mission-critical storage with enterprise-class scalability, automation, and resiliency with broad integrations for virtualised environments and full Kubernetes CSI support for container workloads. Software advancements deliver up to 25% greater performance, advanced automation, and enhanced security for mission-critical environments. Enhanced automation: Free up IT teams to tackle higher-value tasks with features like 1-click software updates in less than 6 seconds, zero-touch management installs and the ability to achieve up to a 66% reduction in steps for replication mode changes. QLC support: PowerMax 2500 introduces QLC drive support for capacity-intensive workloads while delivering flexible single-drive scaling from 122TB to 8.8PBe per array. Advanced security: The world’s most secure mission-critical storage platform now includes features like Single Sign-On with Microsoft Entra ID and encrypted email alerts to ensure the highest standards of data protection and compliance. Dell PowerProtect Dell PowerProtect offers cyber resilience for virtual, cloud-native, and containerised workloads across data centres and every major public cloud, helping ensure rapid recovery to keep businesses running without disruption. The latest appliance and software innovations help organisations reduce their attack surface, detect and respond to threats, and quickly recover from cyber incidents. Entry-level appliance, enterprise-level security: The new PowerProtect Data Domain DD3410 is a compact solution for remote offices and smaller environments with exceptional data reduction capabilities, grow-in-place scalability from 8 to 32 TBu, and advanced security to keep data safe. The appliance supports a broad partner and backup software ecosystem and native integration with Dell PowerStore and PowerMax. Unified cyber resilience experience: The new PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance is a modern, software-defined solution that delivers centralised management for consistent operations. It enhances cyber resilience with enterprise-grade protection, including anomaly detection, data immutability, and integrity to safeguard against disruptions and threats. The Data Manager Appliance is the best way to achieve cyber resilience with Dell PowerProtect. Perspectives "At Dell Technologies, we’re empowering our customers with solutions that not only meet today’s IT challenges but also anticipate tomorrow’s needs,” said Travis Vigil, Senior Vice President, ISG Product Management, Dell Technologies. “Our latest storage and cyber resilience advancements are designed to help organisations build private clouds that are smarter, more secure, and ready to handle the demands of both traditional and modern workloads." Virtualised environments "With our Nutanix Cloud Platform soon supporting Dell PowerStore, we will be giving customers a new choice in how they architect their virtualised environments,” said Thomas Cornely, Senior Vice President, Product Management at Nutanix. “This integration will deliver an enterprise-grade solution that meets today’s demands for flexibility, while allowing organisations to build confidently with Dell infrastructure." Dual challenge "Organisations today face the dual challenge of managing traditional and modern workloads while navigating rising costs and evolving IT demands,” said Simon Robinson, Principal Analyst, Enterprise Strategy Group, now part of Omdia. “Dell’s latest advancements in storage and cyber resilience provide a comprehensive and flexible foundation for disaggregated private cloud environments, empowering businesses to achieve greater efficiency, security, and scalability across their IT operations." Availability Dell Private Cloud is available with support for Dell PowerStore, Dell PowerFlex, and Dell PowerMax. Dell NativeEdge integrated with the Dell Automation Platform is available. Dell PowerStore 5200Q will be available in October 2025. Dell PowerStore software updates will be available in October 2025. Dell PowerStore support for Nutanix will be available in early access in Spring 2026. Dell PowerFlex updates will be available in October 2025. Dell PowerMax updates are available in October 2025. Dell PowerProtect Data Domain DD3410 will be available in Q1 2026. Dell PowerProtect Data Manager Appliance will be available in Q4 2025.

A new study from Enterprise Strategy Group (ESG), commissioned by cybersecurity pioneer AlgoSec, has revealed that most organisations are struggling to secure applications across fragmented, hybrid cloud environments.  As more applications are spread between on-premises data centres and multiple cloud providers, traditional approaches to network security are proving ineffective. The report, “The Case for Convergence in Hybrid Multi-cloud, Application-centric Networks,” shows that 89% of organisations are using different tools and policies to secure various parts of their infrastructure, making it harder to maintain consistency and control. Key findings Key findings from the research include: Hybrid is the new normal: 85% of organisations use two or more cloud service providers, but 43% of applications are still on-premises. Most expect that mix to stay for the foreseeable future. Security tools are siloed: Nearly 80% use firewalls from cloud providers, while others rely on third-party tools or micro segmentation solutions, leading to inconsistent policies and limited visibility. Attacks are happening: 43% of organisations experienced a public cloud attack in the past two years. Common issues include malware moving across systems (44%), misconfigurations (32%), and open ports (26%). Collaboration is still lacking: Even as some teams merge responsibilities for on-prem and cloud security, 55% say they still need to improve coordination between security, cloud, networking, and application teams.  Real business impact: Beyond risk reduction, companies see strong operational gains. The top expected benefits of better network security include greater efficiency (63%), lower costs (48%), and faster cloud migrations (46%).