AI in Patch Management, Chatbots, Cloud Spending, and Windows Control Panel

[00:00:02] [SPEAKER_00]: It's Wednesday, August 28th, 2024, and I'm Dave Soll. Four things to know today.

[00:00:07] [SPEAKER_00]: The Gigham Report highlights the top AI-based Patch Management solutions featuring Automox,

[00:00:12] [SPEAKER_00]: Flexera, and Kaseya. Commonwealth Bank launches ChatIT, an AI-powered IT support bot on Azure,

[00:00:20] [SPEAKER_00]: achieving 14 second response times. Windows Control Panel to be phased out in favor of

[00:00:26] [SPEAKER_00]: the modern Settings app for Microsoft, and Microsoft's new reporting strategy aims to

[00:00:33] [SPEAKER_00]: clarify Azure's true cloud consumption revenue. This is the Business of Tech.

[00:00:40] [SPEAKER_00]: Well, here's the story I've been watching for a while. Venture Beat covers how AI is helping

[00:00:47] [SPEAKER_00]: cut the risks of breaches with Patch Management. AI in ML-driven Patch Management provides

[00:00:53] [SPEAKER_00]: real-time risk assessments helping prioritize those critical patches. The Gigham radar for

[00:01:00] [SPEAKER_00]: Patch Management solutions report evaluates 19 different providers. Leading vendors mentioned

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_00]: include Automox, ConnectWise, Flexera, Invanti, Kaseya, Secpod, and Taneum. Taneum aims to

[00:01:14] [SPEAKER_00]: eliminate Patch Tuesdays by staying ahead of threats using autonomous endpoint management.

[00:01:19] [SPEAKER_00]: The Invanti's Neurons for Patch Management offers a shared platform for IT and security teams

[00:01:25] [SPEAKER_00]: prioritizing patches based on vulnerability and compliance guidelines.

[00:01:30] [SPEAKER_00]: An IBM study reveals that pursuing generative AI distracts organizations from essential IT

[00:01:36] [SPEAKER_00]: services with confidence in IT effectiveness declining significantly since 2013. Many tech

[00:01:43] [SPEAKER_00]: executives expressed concerns about their infrastructure's readiness for AI demands

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_00]: while the majority of CEOs believe their digital infrastructure is prepared.

[00:01:53] [SPEAKER_00]: Additionally, there are challenges in filling key technology roles due to financial pressures

[00:01:58] [SPEAKER_00]: and transparency in AI usage is lacking. Cloud infrastructure is rapidly evolving

[00:02:05] [SPEAKER_00]: due to the generative AI boom leading to a significant increase in capital expenditure

[00:02:10] [SPEAKER_00]: for AI server hardware projected to account for 66% of overall server spending this year.

[00:02:16] [SPEAKER_00]: While AI servers represent only 19% of shipments, their high costs are prompting

[00:02:22] [SPEAKER_00]: cloud providers to optimize existing non-AI infrastructure. Additionally,

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_00]: enterprises are increasingly considering in-house IT solutions driven by rising public

[00:02:32] [SPEAKER_00]: cloud costs than the need for better resource management. Despite these shifts, spending

[00:02:38] [SPEAKER_00]: on cloud services remains robust indicating that the cloud market will continue to thrive.

[00:02:44] [SPEAKER_00]: A survey by Cognizant and Oxford Economics reveals that many businesses are eager to

[00:02:50] [SPEAKER_00]: implement generative AI but struggle to scale it effectively. 70% of companies feel they are

[00:02:55] [SPEAKER_00]: not adopting AI quickly enough and 82% believe delays will hinder their competitiveness.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_00]: The report predicts that 13% of businesses will adopt AI in the next three or four years

[00:03:07] [SPEAKER_00]: with 46% in the next decade. Why do we care? Patch management is the obvious use case for both AI

[00:03:15] [SPEAKER_00]: and the outcome of autonomous IT. Perform testing, validation, stage rollouts, and all the like

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_00]: while using automation. Microsoft has been testing this themselves and the goal should be

[00:03:28] [SPEAKER_00]: autonomous implementations. Find it interesting to note that AI might be a distraction too.

[00:03:34] [SPEAKER_00]: Companies need to understand their data foundations and rethink business processes

[00:03:39] [SPEAKER_00]: beyond simple AI tools like chatbots to ensure successful implementations.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_00]: I'm not sure most have given this the proper thought and that's the opportunity for IT services.

[00:03:52] [SPEAKER_00]: Thread has declared death to the ticket. Did you know tickets date back to the 1800s

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_00]: and customers ate tickets? Thread uses an approach for connecting, communicating,

[00:04:04] [SPEAKER_00]: and ultimately collaborating. Thread allows people to come together around a topic

[00:04:10] [SPEAKER_00]: they can discuss and make decisions they can share and invite the right people.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_00]: The future of service is collaborative. Supercharge your service experience by

[00:04:19] [SPEAKER_00]: seamlessly integrating AI and automation to meet your customers where they are

[00:04:24] [SPEAKER_00]: in teams, Slack, and desktops not in tickets. With instant updates to and from ConnectWise,

[00:04:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Autotask, and Halo PSA keep all communication in one place where it should be with people.

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_00]: Decrease time to resolution 30% with chat-based support by visiting getthread.com

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_00]: slash msp radio to declare death to the ticket.

[00:04:49] [SPEAKER_00]: And in the practical range, one Australian bank has gone all in. Commonwealth Bank has introduced

[00:04:56] [SPEAKER_00]: ChatIT, an AI-enabled IT support chatbot built with Azure services accessible via Microsoft Teams.

[00:05:05] [SPEAKER_00]: Launched in May 2024, it provides quick solutions to technology issues with an average

[00:05:10] [SPEAKER_00]: response time of 14 seconds and over 13,000 employee interactions. ChatIT simplifies IT

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_00]: troubleshooting, integrates with the bank's internal knowledge base, and plans future

[00:05:22] [SPEAKER_00]: enhancements including allowing error message screenshots and broader access to information

[00:05:27] [SPEAKER_00]: sources. Amazon CEO Andy Jassy announced that the company's generative AI assistant,

[00:05:33] [SPEAKER_00]: Amazon Pew, has significantly reduced software upgrade times,

[00:05:37] [SPEAKER_00]: saving the equivalent of 4,500 developer years and providing $260 million in annual efficiency

[00:05:45] [SPEAKER_00]: gains. While the AI enhances productivity, concerns arise about job security for developers

[00:05:51] [SPEAKER_00]: as AI tools become more prevalent in coding tasks. Jassy emphasized that Amazon will continue

[00:05:57] [SPEAKER_00]: to leverage Amazon Q for further transformations in development processes.

[00:06:01] [SPEAKER_00]: An AWS CEO Matt Garman suggested that as AI advances, the role of software developers may

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_00]: shift away from traditional coding tasks toward innovation and understanding customer needs.

[00:06:13] [SPEAKER_00]: He emphasized that while coding may become less central, it opens up opportunities for

[00:06:18] [SPEAKER_00]: developers to focus on more creative and impactful work.

[00:06:23] [SPEAKER_00]: Why do we care? Consider the competition of an AI bot that delivers IT support with

[00:06:29] [SPEAKER_00]: average response time of 14 seconds. It's a game changer. For businesses, this kind of efficiency

[00:06:34] [SPEAKER_00]: means reduced downtime, quicker problem resolution, and a more seamless user experience for employees.

[00:06:40] [SPEAKER_00]: That high interaction rate, $13,000, suggests strong adoption and satisfaction among

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_00]: employees, proving the model's scalability in a large enterprise environment.

[00:06:51] [SPEAKER_00]: You see similar improvements with Q. These numbers reflect a substantial return on investment,

[00:06:56] [SPEAKER_00]: demonstrating the tangible benefits of integrating AI into workflows.

[00:07:01] [SPEAKER_00]: For IT service providers, offering AI enhanced solutions could be a key differentiator in the

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_00]: market, allowing them to deliver faster, more reliable services to their clients.

[00:07:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Broadcom has launched VMware Cloud Foundation 9 or VCF, enhancing private cloud deployment with

[00:07:19] [SPEAKER_00]: features like native multi-tenancy, centralized cybersecurity controls, and improved automation.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_00]: VCF 9 aims to streamline infrastructure management, reduce costs, and support AI workloads while

[00:07:31] [SPEAKER_00]: simplifying migrating existing environments into the platform. The updates focus on addressing

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_00]: legacy infrastructure challenges and improving operational efficiency, ultimately redefining

[00:07:42] [SPEAKER_00]: the private cloud landscape for businesses. Microsoft has officially confirmed that

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_00]: it's deprecating the Windows Control Panel in favor of the Settings app,

[00:07:52] [SPEAKER_00]: which offers a more modern user experience. Although the Control Panel will remain for

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_00]: compatibility reasons, users are encouraged to transition to the Settings app. This move

[00:08:02] [SPEAKER_00]: has been anticipated since early 2011, with various hints and rumors surfacing along the way.

[00:08:08] [SPEAKER_00]: Why do we care? A heads up of future training for your Windows administrators,

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_00]: Control Panel is going away.

[00:08:15] [SPEAKER_00]: Despite all the concerns over Broadcom's changes to VMware, the product does continue to

[00:08:19] [SPEAKER_00]: advance. We'll see if the licensing changes make a difference or not.

[00:08:26] [SPEAKER_00]: Microsoft has revamped its reporting structure to enhance visibility into its cloud consumption

[00:08:31] [SPEAKER_00]: revenue by removing certain components from its Azure growth metrics. This change aims to

[00:08:37] [SPEAKER_00]: understand Azure's performance better, aligning it more closely with actual consumption rather

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_00]: than pure user metrics. Company expects a slight decrease in revenue growth projections for Azure

[00:08:47] [SPEAKER_00]: but anticipates overall revenue of approximately $64.3 billion across its business segments.

[00:08:55] [SPEAKER_00]: Why do we care? This is a small but important story. You're not aware, Microsoft had previously

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_00]: included Azure with the Power BI Data Analytics tool and the Enterprise Mobility and Security

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_00]: Group of products, making it difficult to understand their Azure business fully.

[00:09:11] [SPEAKER_00]: This also removes those per-user elements of Azure. This allows investors and analysts to see

[00:09:18] [SPEAKER_00]: the pure consumption portions of the business, with cloud computing such a core component

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_00]: of both Microsoft and the industry that lets us all see the business more accurately.

[00:09:30] [SPEAKER_00]: Today's episode is supported by Huntress. You want to focus on your clients and are always

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[00:10:22] [SPEAKER_00]: Thanks for listening. It's National Bowtie Day as well as National Cherry Turnover Day.

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