Tag: #data

Cloud

Cloudflare Points Finger at Hyperscalers Holding Cloud Data Captive

Source:  www.cloudcomputing-news.net.

Cloudflare says organizations are losing control over their IT and security environments – and the big cloud providers are holding all the keys to the castle.

The web performance and security provider released a study alongside Forrester which polled almost 450 IT decision makers globally, and found that while organizations had seen a dramatic increase in application adoption – predominantly SaaS-based – challenges have resulted.

Two in five firms polled (40%) agreed that they were losing control over their IT and security environments, while just under a third (30%) of respondents noted that managing and securing public cloud environments, as well as data in SaaS environments, was ‘significantly more complex’ today than ever before.

This is not the only thing which has changed in recent years either. Almost half of organizations polled said one of their top five challenges was the growing number of users they had to manage, as well as type; not just human, but machine and third-party. IT managers are also experiencing problems with maintaining or improving their team’s productivity – cited by 44% of respondents – as well as addressing growing attack surface areas (44%).

Organizations cited an increase in the number of applications they manage as the biggest factor contributing to the loss of control, cited by 66% of respondents. An increase in locations for applications was also popular, according to 62% of those polled, as well as the shift from on-premises to cloud (54%) and the shift towards remote and hybrid workforces (49%).

Who is to blame for these challenging conditions? For Cloudflare, the answer is obvious. “Today, the big clouds have built business models on capturing your data, making it hard to move your data,” said Matthew Prince, CEO of Cloudflare. “These captivity clouds will lure you in with one product, and make it near impossible to mix and match competitive offerings across the cloud space.”

The company claims that it has a solution, and is introducing what it calls the ‘connectivity cloud.’ It is described as a ‘unified platform of cloud-native services designed to help enterprises regain control over their increasingly complex and sprawling technology and data.’

This means, in principle, four key factors. The first is deep, native integration with the internet and enterprise networks for low-latency and infinitely scalable connectivity across users, applications, and infrastructure. The second is limitless interoperability and customizable networking, while the third is a single pane of glass. The last factor is the ability to analyse extremely high volumes and varieties of traffic in order to provide ‘platform intelligence’, which can be seen as a key strength for Cloudflare.

This appears to be a serious outlay for Cloudflare, who introduced itself in the press release as ‘the leading connectivity cloud company’, which might be a safe bet considering it is thus far a category of one.

“Fundamentally, we are a network that makes it easy for you to connect and protect everything,” added Prince. “We sit atop everything else and connect anything that’s online – whether it’s a cloud, a device, a database, or on-premises hardware – so businesses can escape the grasp of the cloud captors.”

 

Data & Artificial Intelligence

Four Health IT Experts Point to Impactful Trends in 2024

Source: www.healthcareitnews.com.

“Forward-thinking provider organizations will … augment their EHRs through fully integrated, consumer-friendly tools that help reduce call volume and alleviate repetitive, manual workflows.”

“There is a renewed and intensified focus on economics, efficiencies and automation, and a cautious approach to limited application of AI to leverage less skilled and tedious tasks such as medical scribing.”

“Healthcare organizations … should lean into the proven measurable results from applications such as machine learning and natural language processing.”

These are some of the predictions from four healthcare information technology experts Healthcare IT News rounded up to offer readers thoughts on the year ahead.

Patty Riskind, CEO, Orbita

“The industry must show demonstrable progress in making healthcare as self-service as possible for patients,” said Patty Riskind, CEO of Orbita, a vendor of smart virtual assistants and workflow automation for healthcare. “This will not only benefit patients but also help alleviate the administrative burden on clinicians and staff.

“While EHR vendors have long said they will incorporate digital tools within their systems, their development priorities, by necessity, must focus on compliance and regulatory updates.

“Forward-thinking provider organizations will more aggressively seek partners to augment their EHRs through fully integrated, consumer-friendly tools that help reduce call volume and alleviate repetitive, manual workflows, resulting in more efficient operations and enhanced staff and patient engagement.”

Dr. David J. Sand, chief medical officer, ZeOmega

“Healthcare organizations across the care delivery spectrum are reckoning with the continued fallout from COVID, including staff burnout and staffing shortages, striking healthcare workers, and shifts in their revenue base,” said Dr. David J. Sand, chief medical officer at ZeOmega, an enterprise healthcare management organization.

“There is a renewed and intensified focus on economics, efficiencies and automation, and a cautious approach to limited application of AI to leverage less skilled and tedious tasks such as medical scribing.

“Last year, I predicted we would see an increase in M&A activity involving highly leveraged healthcare tech companies, many of which, while having impressive intellectual capital, had yet to create margins or revenue streams to substantiate their valuations.

“We are now seeing these companies, from insurtechs to AI-driven vendors, simply shuttering their operations, leaving others in the field to ‘hold the bag.'”

Dr. Emad Rizk, chairman, president and CEO, Cotiviti

“Healthcare is under significant pressure and change following the COVID-19 public health emergency, specifically a workforce shortage and increasing costs from wage increases and inflation,” said Dr. Emad Rizk, chairman, president and CEO of Cotiviti, a vendor of advanced technology and data analytics for healthcare organizations. “The industry is responding to these pressures by looking at ways technology can improve productivity and the quality of care delivery.

“As healthcare organizations look at these new technologies, they should take a measured approach while leaning into the proven measurable results from other applications such as machine learning and natural language processing.

“These technologies must be guided by human medical and investigative expertise, and nationally accepted guidelines by medical societies and academies. Technology can never work in a vacuum without human judgement and clinical expertise.

“In 2024, as the industry continues to explore and adopt various forms of new technologies presented to them, health plans must weigh the opportunities and risks as they develop a rigorous approach to their application, focusing on how they can help to maximize effectiveness – and always deploying them alongside human expertise, with appropriate safeguards to ensure compliance while improving value.”

Rajesh Subramaniam, managing director and CEO, ResultsCX

“The healthcare landscape is undergoing a significant transformation driven by the growing emphasis on patient engagement and empowerment,” said Rajesh Subramaniam, managing director and CEO of ResultsCX, a vendor of customer experience management systems. “Research cited in Forbes indicates 80% of consumers are inclined to connect with and remain loyal to brands that offer personalized experiences.”