252 | Breaking Analysis | How IBM and Palo Alto Networks Team to Combat Cyber Threats

It’s estimated that organizations spend more than $200B annually on security hardware, software and services globally. That’s a big number. But consider that the economic impact of cybercrime ranges from $500B – $2T annually. There’s even an estimate from cybersecurity ventures that says the figure is as high as $9.5T. Each year, it seems the more we spend, the more vulnerable we become, which is especially concerning given the exposure to critical infrastructures. Governments around the world have stepped up their involvement with executive orders, privacy regulations and lots of “finger wagging” at the technology industry and its customers. Frankly some of that is justified. The technology industry does much good but has a subpar record at solving this problem. One premise that we’ve put forth at theCUBE Research is that the industry must find ways to better collaborate and share resources to combat cyber threats. Two firms, IBM and Palo Alto Networks, have joined forces to combine deep expertise, AI and platform approach to better protect organizations from attackers. 

In this Breaking Analysis we look at the security landscape and unpack the multi-dimensional relationship between IBM and Palo Alto Networks to better understand how industry collaboration can improve cyber defenses and modernize security operations. With us are two senior executives from each firm, Mohamad Ali, SVP and Head of IBM Consulting and BJ Jenkins, the President of Palo Alto Networks.

251 | Breaking Analysis | What Microsoft’s Financial Disclosures Reveal About Azure’s Market Position

Microsoft’s new financial disclosures include changes to the way it reports Azure metrics. The company said the change was to better align Azure with consumption revenue and by inference, more closely aligning with how AWS, the leader in cloud computing infrastructure, reports its metrics. The accounting change removed certain mature, slower growth revenue streams and consequently raised the growth rates for Azure. It also had the effect of increasing the AI services contribution within Azure. While this was reported and often applauded in the media and financial circles, what wasn’t widely discussed is that while such a change increases growth rates, by definition it reduces the size of the Azure business and its resulting revenue market share. Regardless, in our view, Microsoft is comfortable that the future AI revenue contribution within Azure combined with both higher growth rates and a greater AI contribution will foster greater investor confidence and enthusiasm over time. They’re probably correct. 

AI Talent: Act Now Before It’s Too Late

One of the most critical success imperatives for AI is lacking the critical attention it needs – the imperative to win the battle for the best PEOPLE. Explore the supply and demand dynamics of the AI talent marketplace and why you must act now.

Navigating and Securing Open Source in the Cloud-Native Era

The rapid adoption of open-source software (OSS) in enterprise and cloud-native applications has revolutionized the technology landscape, offering unprecedented innovation and agility. However, this proliferation comes with significant security challenges, particularly in managing vulnerabilities within OSS components, including outdated or abandoned ones. We explore the current state of OSS usage in enterprises, the associated security risks, and strategies to address these challenges and why “shift-let” alone is not enough. We also examine how companies like Kosai are innovating solutions to help organizations secure their software supply chains effectively.

250 | Breaking Analysis | Desperately Seeking AI ROI as IT Budgets Tighten

Data from recent surveys shows that the scenarios we’ve been putting forth throughout 2024 continue to be in play. Specifically, we cite three main dynamics affecting the tech spending climate, including: 1) IT budgets continue to be constrained as; 2) GenAI is being funded by stealing from other budget buckets; and 3) The ROI for AI initiatives remains tepid, as expectations for break even continue to be pushed out to the right. Nonetheless, customers remain highly optimistic about the prospects for AI driving productivity improvements. Moreover, the cloud remains a key ingredient in supporting AI workloads.

The Causal AI Marketplace

There is a missing ingredient in today’s AI, which, when added, will make AI a truly indispensable partner in business. The missing ingredient is CAUSALITY. Explore the emergence of the Causal AI marketplace.

Tracer’s Agentic AI Aims to Revolutionize Brand Protection: A Game-Changer in Digital Security

Tracer has introduced Flora, the world’s first agentic AI solution designed to combat digital brand misuse, provide digital security, and safeguard brands and customers in

Harnessing the Power of Enriched Metadata for Cloud Workloads

As organizations continue to distribute applications and infrastructure across public clouds, private data centers, and edge locations, securing and managing workloads across these private and public cloud environments has become critical. Whether it’s an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system or business analytics applications, these workloads require robust security measures, consistent service delivery, and seamless performance […]

249 | Breaking Analysis | From LLMs to SLMs to SAMs, How Agents are Redefining AI

We believe the AI center of gravity for enterprise value creation is shifting from LLMs to SLMs. Where the S not only stands for small but encompasses a system of small, specialized, secure and sovereign models.  Moreover, we see LLMs and SLMs evolving to become agentic, hence SAM – i.e. small action models. In our view, it’s the collection of these “S-models,” combined with an emerging data harmonization layer, that will enable systems of agents to work in concert and create high impact business outcomes. These multi-agent systems will completely reshape the software industry generally and more specifically, unleash a new productivity paradigm for organizations globally.