////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////// FEATURE: CLOUD MANAGEMENT
How do you see the cloud
evolving over the next
12 months?
I strongly believe that the cloud will enable
new scenarios. IoT is a huge concept and
we see this in new autonomous models
which are using SIM cards and relying on
connectivity. We’ve seen the embedded
devices as one of the weak points as they
fail to embed security. So, the cloud could
definitely be a way of identifying some of
the weaknesses and for mitigating some of
the solutions as we see more and more IoT
devices in the industry.
An increased amount of enterprises try
to completely offload your workload and
services into cloud applications which means
the solutions for this need to move into the
cloud. The cloud is becoming very dominant,
so I definitely think that more AI, more
Big Data, more Machine Learning, cloud
sourcing and autonomous security will be
key. Being in the cloud and understanding it
can only serve as a benefit for any security
company today.
How far do Israel-based
enterprises rely on the cloud?
There are two elements to this; the
consumer element and the enterprise or
the more professional element. I think that
despite the fact Israel is a very innovative
country, a lot of the big retailers and a lot
of the big solutions like Amazon, do not
have a presence in Israel just yet. A lot of
globalisation requires you to use those
retailers. The common thing of the cloud
is sometimes limited in relation to the
consumer, because to get the goods and
with some of the taxations involved, Israel is
still a large consumer of the cloud in terms
of online shopping etc., but I don’t think it’s
number one in comparison to the US.
But when you talk about technology and
enterprise technology, it’s definitely cloud-
driven and innovative. Almost all of the start-
ups and solutions are adapting to the cloud
and developing and having solutions to use
in the cloud is very popular. So, I think the
adoption of the cloud in Israel is probably
one of the best IT talents in the country.
How do you think the use
of the cloud will develop
throughout Israel?
Everybody is connected to the cloud all
the time. The new consumer generation
doesn’t really use email anymore, instead
they use social networking sites which allow
them to be instantly connected. With that
in mind, the effect of the consumer on the
business is continuous. The new generation
is stepping into the world of work with that
exact mindset in their professional work
and influencing the way IT is consumed
on connected devices. I think this drives a
different way of thinking in the sense that
you can almost create stuff in the cloud that
was not possible 10–15 years ago. A lot of
the building blocks when you build a solution
are related to how you store data, how you
organise a database, how you do storage
and logging, and 80% of an enterprise
product have similarities. I think Israel is
one of the most innovative in cyber if you
consider the number of cyber companies
that deal with Israel and that have been
acquired over the last 12 months. n
Lior Kohavi, Chief Strategy Officer and EVP
Advanced Solutions, Cyren
www.intelligentcio.com
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