A recent report from Gartner predicts that 40% of data science tasks will become automated by 2020. Since the data science skills gap has been a concerning topic over the past few years, this news comes as a relief to some.

It was Gartner who said, back in 2012, that by 2020 there will be a shortage of 100,000 data scientists. The new report has prompted some to wonder what exactly is the future of jobs in data science and what will the field look like in coming years. To understand where data science is heading, it’s important to understand first what parts of data science can and will be automated and also understand the tasks that won’t be automated in the coming years.

Data science tasks that will be automated

According to the report, certain tasks are set to automate in the coming years: “With data science continuing to emerge as a powerful differentiator across industries, almost every data and analytics software platform vendor is now focused on making simplification a top goal through the automation of various tasks, such as data integration and model building.”

Simplification is key for data scientists. Automating mundane and repetitive tasks frees up employee time to work on more complex algorithms.

Data integration, for example, combines data from multiple sources and provides a unified look at the data as a whole. This process can and should be automated, in order to quickly pull together trusted data from multiple sources so that a skilled data scientist can analyse the results.

Model building involves collecting data, analysing and searching for patterns, and using data to make predictions. There are already tools that can automate model building – machines can collect data and point out patterns. Furthermore, these tools are becoming smarter, in that they are learning what type of patterns to detect.

Machine learning and automation are already impacting data integration and model building, helping data scientists complete jobs faster and more effectively. A machine does not have the error risk that humans have, so for tasks such as these, automation is vital.

Data science tasks that can’t be automated yet

Artificial intelligence (AI) can only go so far. Right now the technology is not quite there to automate the majority of data science tasks.

Data wrangling, for example, is the process of manually converting “raw” data into another form that is easily consumed. Data wrangling, also known as data munging, takes good judgement from a human – a concept AI tools don’t have quite yet.

Data interpretation and visualisation will not become automated in the sense that there will always be people that need to walk executives through the data for understanding. Only then can leaders make data-driven decisions for the good of the company.

Aspects of data visualisation may become automated in the future. Since more and more data is being produced at a rapid rate, the human workforce simply cannot keep up with the demand. Low-level pieces of data visualisation can be automated, but there will always be human intelligence factor needed to interpret and explain the data itself. Humans are still needed to write the various AI agents that can soon take over the mundane data science tasks as well.

The future of data science in the age of automation

So will data science tasks become automated? Certain aspects of low-level data science can and should be automated. Data collection and combining data takes valuable time away from trained experts, but there are many tools out there that help to automate all or parts of these tasks.

However, AI tools do not yet have human curiosity or the desire to create and validate experiments. That part of data science most likely will never be automated in our lifetime, simply because the technology has a long way to go.

Data scientists who are advancing in their field should not fear unemployment in the near future. Data scientists are typically programmers, mathematicians, and thought leaders all wrapped up in one, so no matter where the industry goes, it is unlikely someone with those qualifications will be on the job hunt for too long. More importantly, humans will still be needed to understand and collaborate with other humans for data science projects to be successful. This collaboration is key to transforming data into actionable data for decision-making.

Data science will scale thanks to automation tools, and data scientists will be able to work more efficiently and effectively. But human intelligence is still very much needed in this field, so though automation will and should help, it cannot completely take over.

If there is one thing we can be certain about when it comes to cybersecurity, it’s that the landscape will remain dynamic and turbulent over the coming years. Today, news headlines are dominated by cyberattacks and breaches that span across all industries – causing security to be top of mind for almost all businesses. However, these headlines don’t seem to be slowing down, which means that businesses are still struggling to keep up with the rapidly evolving threat landscape.

So, what are the biggest obstacles businesses face in achieving a stronger cybersecurity posture, and how are MSPs best suited to help clients and prospects overcome these obstacles?

Cybersecurity Insiders’ 2017 Cybersecurity Trends Report recently uncovered that lack of skilled employees, lack of budget and lack of security awareness among employees are the three biggest cybersecurity challenges for businesses. Let’s break these down one by one.

Lack of skill

The problem: Finding qualified talent remains an ongoing challenge in the business world – specifically when it comes to IT security. In the report, 45 percent of respondents list lack of skilled employees as the first major obstacle to achieving stronger cybersecurity. It’s clear that cybersecurity is a rising concern today, but why is it still so difficult for businesses to find and retain security talent? For some, this can be attributed to the lack of training, certification, or even hands-on experience, while others believe that conventional education and policies simply can’t meet demand. Nevertheless, lack of skill has become a major obstacle in preventing businesses from achieving stronger cybersecurity.

In fact, this will remain a major obstacle for businesses because it’s estimated that by 2019, 1 to 2 million cybersecurity jobs will remain unfilled. The struggle to find employees with the right security skill set is plaguing businesses, including the small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) that you serve. More often than not, these businesses don’t have the necessary resources or bandwidth to support their cybersecurity needs. Unfortunately, this leaves them very vulnerable to attack.

The solution: To address this skills gap, SMBs can leverage a managed services provider who has the appropriate technology, level of skill, experience and understanding of IT systems. Your clients won’t have to worry about learning curves or lacking the right IT skills because they’ll have access to your team of highly-trained technicians. With 24x7x365 monitoring and support, any issues that arise will be promptly remediated and taken care of. Additionally, the preventative solutions you provide, such as remote monitoring and management (RMM) and antivirus, will help bolster your clients’ cybersecurity defences and reduce their vulnerability to threats.

By leveraging your IT services, your SMB clients will have peace of mind knowing that you’ll always be working in the background to monitor and manage their IT systems, scan for any malicious activity and ensure that their network and endpoints remain secure.

Lack of budget

The problem: No matter the issue, lack of financial resources always seems to be a major roadblock for businesses. Although we’re seeing a slow increase in the investment of cybersecurity, 45 percent of respondents still list lack of budget as the next major obstacle to achieving stronger cybersecurity. The problem is that cybersecurity spending is still not at a level that matches the changing threat landscape.

Often, security budgets are hard won because you can’t see the results right away – it’s more about protecting against future issues. And for SMBs especially, financial resources are already limited, which means that not having the budget to invest in stronger cybersecurity can make them much easier targets.

The solution: Fortunately, one of the biggest values of managed services is greater cost savings. Instead of spending thousands of dollars on security hardware and software, your clients can leverage your technology, services and expertise – all at a fixed monthly cost. Also, when SMBs outsource their IT security needs to an MSP, they won’t have to deal with the added costs of onboarding new employees, training processes or paying for their benefits.

By handing off some of these needs to a trusted technology partner, SMBs can free up time for their in-house staff to think more strategically – which, in turn, increases profitability. Overall, an MSP can provide businesses with scalable IT services that can be customized to their needs, fit within their budget and keep them protected against current and future threats.

Lack of security awareness

The problem: In a perfect world, employees would act as a company’s most effective security defense. However, this is not a perfect world. Sometimes the greatest vulnerabilities are created by employees who did not receive proper security awareness training. We all know that human error has been responsible for some of the worst data breaches, and this happens mostly when security training is an afterthought. In fact, 40 percent of respondents say that lack of security awareness among employees is the third highest obstacle to strengthening cybersecurity. Organizations could risk their reputation, customer trust, and potentially their bottom lines when employees aren’t properly trained and end up mishandling data or falling for a phishing attack.

The solution: Working with an MSP is one of the best ways to overcome this obstacle. It’s in an MSPs nature to stay up-to-date on today’s threats so that they can provide the security awareness education employees need to guard against malicious schemes.

In working with an MSP, clients will have continuous support for not only their IT systems, but also their security-related planning, procedures and protocol. MSPs work with standards such as PCI compliance day in, day out, and should be able to steer clients within the specific parameters and regulations they need to adhere to. All in all, leveraging the knowledge and expertise of an MSP can allow businesses to close the security awareness gap and ensure that they’re well-equipped to face the cybersecurity landscape – with both internal and external defences. 

Need additional help? Continuum’s Cybersecurity Sales Success Kit: 2017 Edition provides you with custom, white-label content you can leverage to tailor your pitch and grow revenue for your security offering. Download the kit here.

The article ‘Overcoming Cybersecurity Challenges with Managed IT Services’ first appeared on Continuum Blog.

Lots of cloud technology predictions and analysis are still dealing with future spending and planning, but there are plenty of real-world cloud use cases and implementations happening now. One approach, taken by stalwart GE, is to use SaaS applications for non-differentiated uses. For them, that means moving functions like HR, finance, taxes and scheduling to SaaS, while spending their software development time and resources on the core apps that make GE better, such as inventory, planning and sales. Essentially, as for more and more large enterprises, GE is getting out of the infrastructure business.

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According to a roundup by Gartner, the average cost of downtime for an enterprise is $5,600 per minute. While the data collected was from incredibly large companies, the cost of downtime for even small startups is no laughing matter. Let’s assume, for the sake of simplicity, that your core product is a web app that relies solely on organic sales, totaling $1 million in revenue a year. This amounts to about $2 in lost revenue per minute. This doesn’t sound like too much in the grand scheme of things, but revenue is only a small part of your downtime costs. We also must consider wasted operating costs.

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Deloitte has announced the acquisition of Day1 Solutions, a cloud consulting business, to expand its options and accelerate clients’ digital transformation.

The consulting giant is also adding 3,000 new US-based high tech engineering jobs, as well as opening a series of cloud studios in Orlando, New York, and Washington D.C.

Day1 Solutions is a certified Amazon Web Services (AWS) partner, and its website now links to Deloitte’s cloud page. “Day1 Solutions’ customer base extends across commercial industries and government agencies, with significant success in the public sector,” Deloitte notes. “Their entrepreneurial spirit and high energy will help Deloitte reimagine how technology is delivered.”

Deloitte has frequently written about and released reports on the strength of the cloud ecosystem. The company’s 2015 report showed cloud computing was the strongest technology investment sector for the third year running, with an overall score of 4.18 out of 5 among venture capitalists polled, ahead of mobile (4.05) and the Internet of Things (3.95). In September, Deloitte reiterated its view that cloud infrastructure, big data and analytics were among the top technologies most likely to generate greater productivity.

“Cloud is the backbone of innovation and a conduit for clients to reimagine how they do business. For years, we’ve helped our clients view cloud integration as a critical driver for business transformation,” said Ranjit Bawa, principal at Deloitte Consulting LLP in a statement.

“By adding these significant investments to our portfolio, our clients will have access to deeper cloud expertise and even more innovative capabilities, as well as the talent they need to help them thrive in a fast-moving digital economy.”

“At the end of the day, our commitment to clients is to harness the power of cloud to accelerate their digital transformation,” added Luis Benavides, founder and CEO of Day1.

Financial terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Tencent’s cloud computing services will be beefed up with GPU accelerators from NVIDIA to ‘help advance artificial intelligence for enterprise customers’, the companies have announced.

The collaboration will include plugging Tencent’s cloud into NVIDIA’s Pascal architecture to connect multiple GPUs, as well as offering services incorporating Tesla P100, P40 and M40 GPU accelerators.

In other words, this means companies on Tencent’s cloud will be able to harness features such as facial recognition, machine learning and natural language processing through combining a more traditional CPU with a graphics processing unit. “GPU accelerators now power energy-efficient data centres in government labs, universities, enterprises, and small-and-medium businesses around the world,” NVIDIA notes. “They play a huge role in accelerating applications in platforms ranging from artificial intelligence to cars, drones and robots.”

NVIDIA added that during the first half of this year the servers will integrate up to eight GPU accelerators. The two companies’ collaboration goes as far back as December, launching GPU servers based on NVIDIA’s Tesla M40 GPUS and deep learning software last year.

“Tencent Cloud GPU offerings with NVIDIA’s deep learning platform will help companies in China rapidly integrate AI capabilities into their products and services,” said Tencent Cloud vice president Sam Xie in a statement. “Our customers will gain greater computing flexibility and power, giving them a powerful competitive advantage.”

If you want souped-up GPU goodness, then NVIDIA is the best place to go. Pretty much every major cloud player, as Karl Freund notes in Forbes, is utilising ‘GPUs as a service’. Take Amazon Web Services (AWS) as an example; at the higher end of its broad spectrum of capabilities on its cloud are P2 instances, launched in September last year for general purpose GPUs, with NVIDIA at the heart of it. Microsoft, Google and IBM – the rest of the ‘big four’ in cloud infrastructure – are also customers.

A report from Kantar Millward Brown earlier this month put Tencent as the most valuable brand in China, while a note from Gartner argued the country’s overall digital skills shortage could partly be attributed to the biggest companies hoovering up all the talent, citing Tencent with Baidu and Alibaba specifically.

SYS-CON Events announced today that Telecom Reseller has been named “Media Sponsor” of SYS-CON’s 20th International Cloud Expo, which will take place on June 6–8, 2017, at the Javits Center in New York City, NY.
Telecom Reseller reports on Unified Communications, UCaaS, BPaaS for enterprise and SMBs. They report extensively on both customer premises based solutions such as IP-PBX as well as cloud based and hosted platforms.

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