If you work in an IT operations, cybersecurity or tech leadership role, you probably receive several tempting invitations to industry events and conferences every month. They are usually held in comfortable venues with balmy weather and lots of nearby attractions to entertain family members you might bring along. Your hosts will probably serve up some good food, drink, and entertainment ... but in a working world where there already aren’t enough hours in a week, how can you justify time away at an event in Vegas or Orlando or some other sunny clime? Before you ask your boss to pony up precious T&E budget to fund your trip, you should build a business case to justify your attendance – one that lays out the company’s return on the investment of your time.

IDC's Rob Westervelt, Research Director, Security Products, explores how the need to protect corporate data and IT infrastructure requires security teams to partner more closely with data owners and operations staff – and uses recent examples of ransomware attacks to show why each group must independently enforce the policies that govern corporate data. "Building a cohesive security program requires integrated technologies,” he writes, “but organizations can't ignore the fact that people are an essential ingredient for an effective program."

FC Internazionale Milano today announced that it has teamed up with Acronis, a global leader in cyber protection, in a multi-year partnership. Several members of Inter attended the formal partnership announcement at Acronis headquarters in Singapore on July 19, including team Captain Samir Handanovic, Tommaso Berni and Corporate Chief Executive Officer Alessandro Antonello.

IDC's Andrew Smith, Research Manager, Enterprise Infrastructure, offers his thoughts on how enterprises are collecting more data than ever before and learning how to use that data to digitally transform their business...and how its increased value has implications for storage, usage, and security. A new data strategy should be considered. "Solving this problem requires the right data strategy," he says, "something inclusive which spans organizational disciplines and ensures the flood of data being welcomed with open arms doesn't end up washing us away."