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I am researching two, linked articles on software-defined storage.
The first sets out to define software-defined storage and set out its benefits to enterprise users.
The second aims to take the pulse of the market and outline some of the key products and what they do.
I am currently looking for technical or white papers on the sector, as well as analyst research. The deadline for submissions is Tues, 9th May. Please email with your suggestions.
This piece – for the Storage section of Computer Weekly – will provide an overview of data classification tools. We will also look at how analytics tools and data classification overlap (and indeed, how analytics is hard to do without data classification). So I am open to hearing from vendors and end users in the storage, data science and business analytics camps.
We aim to cover:
I don’t anticipate using direct vendor quotes but I am open to vendors sending a brief summary of their capabilities in this space, along with any end user examples or case studies.
The deadline for leads is Tuesday, 21 March, 1700hrs London time.
Please email me in the first instance.
My next articles for Computer Weekly’s storage section will look at storage egress charges, and backup maintenance.
What are cloud storage egress charges and what you can do to reduce them?
The piece will cover:
What are cloud egress charges?
How do they compare to others charges made for cloud storage?
What are the risks to organisations from unchecked egress charges?
What can you do to manage and mitigate over-burdensome egress charges?
Deadline for leads: Monday 19 December
Why does backup need maintenance, what does it consist of and how do we do it?
Why can’t you just leave backups to run without some kind of maintenance programme?What can go wrong if you just set and forget?What is involved in maintaining backup systems?
How does use of the cloud change this? We will look at backing up to the cloud as well as cloud to cloud back up.
What tools can you use to help maintain backups?
What innovations in backup might make all this easier?
Deadline for leads: 07 January.
For either of these articles, please contact me by email in the first instance.
I am working on a couple of storage-related articles to appear in the last quarter of the year.
These are:
How long do we need data? And which technologies are available now, or being developed, that can extend data storage life? In some industries the projected retention period for critical data is now over 100 years, so can storage keep up?
The piece will cover:
Deadline for leads: Monday, 14th November
Some critical IT components are becoming harder to source, and that is having an knock-on effect on computer hardware, including storage; potentially shortages could also ipacrt the cloud. In this piece we will look at:
Deadline for leads: Monday, 21st November
<p>For either of these articles, please contact me by <a href=”mailto:journalism@stephenpritchard.com?Subject=CW: November 2022 features”>email</a> in the first instance.</p>
I am currently researching the following articles for Computer Weekly.
How enterprise backup products will change in the next decade
What are the key areas of functionality in enterprise backup that we are likely to see in the coming decade?
This piece will look at developments in automation, cloud, containers, the edge and how backup technologies are adapting — or will need to adapt — to encompass them. But I am open to other suggestions around emerging backup technologies, beyond those listed above.
Deadline for leads: Monday 17th October
Ransomware, storage and backup: Techniques and limits
This article will explain the technologies and techniques in storage and backup, that are available to defend against and recover from ransomware.
But it will also spell out the limits of the abilities of storage and backup against a threat that is possibly best countered elsewhere.
This is a slightly longer article, so I also aim to cover:
Deadline for leads: Monday 24th October
For either of these articles, please contact me by email in the first instance.
I am working up two further features for Computer Weekly.
The first is looking at artificial intelligence, machine learning and RPA (robotic process automation), with a focus on what the cloud providers can offer enterprises to help them build AI and ML applications.
We want to examine:
The deadline for leads for this article is Tuesday 16th August, with a view to completing any interviews by Friday 19th.
To contribute, please contact me by email. Many thanks.
Designing a data architecture
For this piece, we want to set out how an organisation should design a data architecture: what works, what doesn’t, what the benefits are, and what resources (tools, people and skills) that are needed.
This cuts into data management, but it’s less focused on tools, and more on the business processes. It might suit consultants and analysts most of all, but we are also keen to speak to a data analyst working in a business it possible.
At this stage the deadline is flexible, and I am open to discussions with experts about the direction the article could take (see here for some previous TechTarget coverage https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/What-is-data-architecture-A-data-management-blueprint).
To contribute, please email, in the first instance, with your views and background. I’d like to have contacts for interviews lined up by 26 August.
I am writing a set of storage features for Computer Weekly. These will be published in May.
Which backup and recovery technologies can safeguard against ransomware? And what are the limitations of backup and disaster recovery tools, and techniques, to protect against this type of incident?
In the past we have covered immutable snapshots and offsite backups including tape, as well as recovery strategies tailored to ransomware. This feature will draw together lessons learned by organisations that have faced ransomware attacks, and cover the backup and recovery industry’s tools and advice.
Deadline for leads: Wednesday 20 April
This feature is an overview of leading Kubernetes backup technologies.
How do they work, how are they best used, and how do organisations acquire them (eg are they standalone or part of a larger product suite).
We are open to vendor submissions but do please look at our previous coverage on this.
Deadline for leads: Wednesday 27 April
This piece will look at situations that can make it hard for organisations to move to object storage, and how they can overcome them. We are looking to identify the most important hybrid storage barriers, as well as ways around the problems.
Inevitably, the piece will look at hybrid cloud in the context of both pure-play cloud and on-premises storage. But there is a working assumption that CIOs will be looking at hybrid cloud, if they’re not already using it, that it has advantages, and that businesses want to do more of it.
Deadline for leads: Wednesday 27 April
Please contact me by email if you can supply information or propose a spokesperson.
For Computer Weekly, I am writing a feature looking at the storage requirements for AI, machine learning and analytics technologies.
This will include:
the demands these technologies make on storage infrastructure
The types of storage are best for the varying workloads in these areas (file, block, object, cloud
What storage vendors recommend for AI/ML/analytics use cases, and by workload
The deadline for leads is Wednesday, 16 March, with interviews the week after.
Please get in touch via the usual email address.
For Computer Weekly, I am writing this feature:
Cloud computing is often held to be the way to save on IT infrastructure costs. But do the cost savings actually stack up? And do IT departments have the skills and resources to fully cost up the different options available from cloud providers?
The article will ask:
More detailed questions will be supplied to experts offering comment. We want to include storage costs in the article.o
Please respond with any leads by Tuesday 8th Feb, 1700hrs; all interviews will need to be completed by Friday 11 February.
Please get in touch via the usual email address.
I am researching a feature on “abandoned domain” attacks: how unused or obsolete domain names can be exploited by criminal hackers.
This is often connected to business email compromise or attempts to take over email servers, but there are other ways a disused domain can be exploited.
The piece will look at how these attacks work, how they leverage expired domains, and what they are trying to achieve – exfiltration of data, say, or spreading ransomware.
And the piece will look at how security teams can monitor for domain issues, and potentially regain control of an abused domain.
To submit suggested interviewees, or for more information on the publication and deadline, please email me no later than 2nd December.