FUTURE TECHNOLOGY enterprise IT narrative but organisations were challenged by this shift which happened almost overnight .
Lisa Strydom , Senior Manager , Channel and Alliances – Africa , Veeam Software , agreed and said it is prevalent in the African region , not just overseas . “ We are equipping our partners to help customers ensure they have strategies in place that help them detect malware in their environments to ensure they don ’ t back this up ,” she said . “ Another area we focus on with remote working is ensuring that customers are able to back-up their collaboration tools and the data shared across these platforms
( specifically in the Microsoft 365 space – extending not only on Exchange but also Teams , OneDrive and Sharepoint ). The necessity to ensure this data is backed up is key .”
On the tech front , Strydom added that : “ I watched a short video clip on LinkedIn recently where they were showing robots taking on human characteristics and facial expressions , so AI is here . I do think it needs to be controlled for safety reasons , but it is something we will need to embrace as it ’ s the future of IT . I don ’ t see 2022 being the year that AI fully takes off , but it ’ s getting very close . I do believe quantum computing will be what drives AI and once that takes off , we will see how IT changes , as I see it being revolutionary .”
Looking at the dire skills challenges that channel partners and the industry is facing , Strydom noted that , unfortunately , this is an ongoing challenge and one Veeam is always trying to tackle . “ There are so many avenues to target and so many are responsible to make the change . From a government level , more collaboration with the private sector to leverage the programmes they offer and to ensure the private sector can better support these initiatives ,” she said . “ CSR initiatives would also fall into this .
INTELLIGENT TECH CHANNELS Issue 47 35