The Acronis Global Cyber Summit 2020 is officially over! Our first hybrid-virtual conference attracted more than 9,000 registrants from around the globe, all eager to learn about the benefits of cyber protection from more than 70 industry experts and thought leaders.
At the closing day of the 2020 Summit, these insights and discussions extended to a wide range of topics – touching on everything from challenges that professional sports teams face when it comes to cybersecurity to the best practices service providers should employ to boost their efficiency and profitability.
If you weren’t able to catch all of today’s sessions, you’re in luck: we’ve collected some of today’s key highlights to give you an at-a-glance view of Day Two at the #AcronisCyberSummit. Plus, as part of our effort to share the cyber protection approach to everyone in IT, all of the Summit content will be available on-demand for attendees to revisit and share following the event.
Click on the session or speaker names below to watch today’s top moments or visit the Agenda page to replay any session presented.
Keynote Address
Sir Julian King, the former European Commissioner for the Security Union helped to kick off the final day of the Acronis Global Cyber Summit 2020 with an in-depth analysis of the geopolitics that underlie technology developments in Europe and the UK.
Speaking from a storied background in modern tech development and regulation, Sir Julian emphasized that on the world stage, the “balance of power is increasingly based on technology and the data that drives it. Business voices have a crucial role to play in driving development and a competitive advantage in tech, AI, and surveillance. We need business and politician voices together if we are going to get this right.”
Ultimately, Sir Julian concluded that the future of technology development and implementation needs to be based upon a clear drive to do good for the world and the people in it: “There’s a clear need to put people and their fundamental rights at the heart of technology development.”
General Session Highlights
Speaking to goals and experiences of interest shared by the entire cyber protection ecosystem, our closing day general sessions offered a fascinating look behind the scenes of world-class organizations and into the shifting psychology of tech companies and tech buyers in the post-COVID world.
Amid High Profile Attacks, Sports Teams Strengthen Cybersecurity Efforts
Acronis VP, Pat Hurley sat down with four leaders from the world of professional sports: Brian Shield, VP of IT at the Boston Red Sox, Ray Chan, VP of IT at the San Diego Padres, Steven Newmark, President of Roush Fenway Racing, and Susie Wolff, Team Principal of ROKiT Venturi Racing.
The panel members shared their perspectives on the role of data in keeping their businesses delivering at peak performance. “IT is one of the very unique departments that interfaces with every other part of our organization,” said Chan. Expanding on this point, Shield reflected on his time joining the Red Sox and thinking, “when your team is performing well it makes you ask, ‘Are we a World Series-quality IT team?”
IT Channel: Industry Outlook, Opportunities & Trends
Jay McBain, Principal Analyst of Forrester guided attendees through research and predictions about the evolving psychology and behavior of tech companies and their buyers. “Customers are being careful with their spending post-COVID,” he explained. “They’re primarily now choosing to spend money on automation of workflows, cloud initiatives, remote work security, and tactical business consulting.”
However, the method of buying is changing as well. Tech buyers have increasingly approached decision making like consumers, researching solutions on their own and often making a decision before ever speaking to a salesperson.
Track Highlights
Each of the conference’s four tracks concluded today with rousing sessions focused on the distinct goals and frustrations common to their audience. Attendees including MSPs, ISVs, developers, resellers, enterprise IT pros, and tech sales and marketing experts had the opportunity to engage in interactive, informative panels and workshops designed to deliver actionable next steps that they could apply to their own organizations immediately.
IT Channel
In this workshop led by IT Channel expert Karl Palachuk, service providers gathered to discuss honest assessments MSP organizations should complete to enhance their efficiency and profitability. One of Palachuk’s key messages: identify your ideal clients and be prepared to avoid and disconnect from those that don’t fit your model.
“Imagine if you could build an entire business made up of people who looked like your ten favorite clients. Imagine how it would run. It’s not always easy, but it can be done and it can help make you happier and more profitable.”
Enterprise IT
Delivering Real-World Business Resilience for Secure Digital Transformation
The Enterprise Track had a great panel discussion that explored real-world examples of business resiliency. Moderated by Acronis’ Ryan Davis, the conversation featured Scale Computing CEO Jeff Ready and Director of Solutions at elevITy, Paul Hager. The two exchanged stories of recent examples they’ve seen involving customers whose digital transformation saved them from incidents that would have otherwise caused them to stop operating – either temporarily or permanently.
They both agreed that there’s a pressing need for businesses of all sizes to fortify their remote work. “We’re not going back to offices the same way again,” said Hager. So while vendors stepped up at the start of the pandemic with free access to solutions, the industry is past that initial reaction – and businesses need to prepare for the long haul.
Hager added that with the solutions from Acronis and Scale Computing working hand-in-hand, building that business resiliency is much easier and much more effective ... and they both have the examples to prove it.
Developers and ISVs
Overview of the Acronis Cyber Platform: From Registration to Training, Certification to Launch
Follow in the footsteps of the biggest ecosystem vendors and learn how the Acronis #CyberFit Cyber Platform Partner program is designed to get your developers and teams building integrations quickly – so you can launch solutions that drive results – for you and the ecosystem around you.
Sales and Marketing
Louis Gudema, President of Revenue & Associates and author of Bullseye Marketing: How to Grow Your Business Faster taught attendees how to identify and use their currently underutilized marketing assets as well as Acronis marketing campaigns to grow their business. Louis spoke about the three phases of the Bullseye Marketing approach and took a deep dive into Phase One which focuses on exploiting existing marketing assets like email marketing and website usage. He also spoke about the importance of knowing your customer and what about your company is different vs. distinctive.
Special Events
Women in Tech: All Together we can Create Opportunities in Technology for Women of all Backgrounds
In our second annual Women in Tech event, a panel of female leaders in the industry joined Acronis VP, Ronan McCurtin and moderator Ana Maria Montero to share their experiences developing successful careers in the historically-male technology field.
Our panelists: Amanda Lee of Pax8, Amy Luby of Acronis, Ann Cloyd of DeepTech Inc., Christelle Heikkila of Arsenal F.C., and Michelle Ragusa-McBain of the JS Group, spoke about the positive effect of diversification and inclusion on business culture and success while also commenting on the key lessons they’ve garnered to this point in their careers, and the importance of inspiring the next generation of women to explore the industry.
Key takeaways from this inspiring panel include the importance of staying true to yourself in your chosen career, the value of a solid network, and the point that real, lasting change needs to begin with children at home. Amy Luby addressed this saying, “Talk to your kids and get them to challenge the ‘things that girls do’ and the ‘things that boys do’. We’ve got to start at home if we’re going to change corporate culture in the long term.”
The Acronis Global Cyber Summit 2020 came to a close with a reception hosted by Acronis CEO SB. In his closing remarks, SB reflected on the future of cyber protection and the challenges and threats that necessitate its adoption. “Cyber protection is about staying online and staying in business. You can’t do that with only a partial solution. Only cyber protection solutions can ensure that you stay protected.”
SB also laid out five steps for Summit attendees moving forward from the event:
- Deploy cyber protection
- Market and sell advanced packs
- Increase your #CyberFit score
- Leverage the Acronis Cyber Platform
- Support the Acronis Cyber Foundation
Share your experience
With the Acronis Global Cyber Summit 2020 over, we’re already looking for ways to make next year’s event even better. To do that, we ask that you take a moment to complete our event feedback survey here.
Additionally, if you had an especially valuable experience at this year’s event, please record a brief video testimonial here to share your story with the global cyber protection community.
About Acronis
Acronis is a Swiss company, founded in Singapore. Celebrating two decades of innovation, Acronis has more than 1,800 employees in 45 locations. The Acronis Cyber Protect Cloud solution is available in 26 languages in over 150 countries and is used by 20,000 service providers to protect over 750,000 businesses.
