DCN June 2016 | Page 9

industry news BUSINESSES WARNED NOT TO GIVE UP ON DATA REFORMS JUST BECAUSE UK COULD QUIT EUROPE As the UK prepares to vote on whether to leave the European Union, businesses are being warned not to give up on data reforms inspired by the forthcoming EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Businesses across the country have been studying implications of the new Regulation, due to be in force in May 2018, which aims to create a ‘one-stop shop’ for data protection across the European Union. Some of the key aspects of the bill include huge fines for data breaches, new rules around the collection of personal data and new rights for European citizens to ask for data be deleted or edited. Many businesses will also be required to appoint a Data Protection Officer. However, the Brexit vote opens up the possibility that the UK could be out of the EU by the time it comes into force. John Culkin (pictured), director of information management at Crown Records Management, said, ‘It would be tempting for businesses to think that if the UK leaves the EU this regulation would not apply. In fact, that isn’t the case. Although an independent Britain would not be a signatory of the Regulation, in reality it would still be impossible to avoid its implications. ‘The Regulation governs the personal data of all European citizens, providing them with greater control and more rights over information held about them. So any company holding identifiable information of an EU citizen, no matter where it is based, needs to be aware. With millions of EU citizens living in the UK, too, it’s hard to imagine that many businesses here would be unaffected.’ EVENTS Cloud and DevOps World 21st-22nd June Olympia, London www.cloudanddevopsworld.com IEEE International Conference on Cloud Computing 27th June – 2nd July InterContinental Mark Hopkins Hotel, San Francisco www.thecloudcomputing.org/2016 Cisco Live 10th-14th July Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas www.ciscolive.com DataCentre Transformation Manchester 12th July University of Manchester www.dtmanchester.com DCD Converged India 20th-21st July Sheraton Grand Bangalore Hotel www.dcdconverged.com/conferences/india-2016 Sixty-six per cent of IT professionals feel that increasing IT complexity makes it more difficult for them to be successful Ipswitch has announced the findings of recently completed research into how IT teams are managing the increasing complexity of their applications and infrastructure. Respondents overwhelmingly feel that today’s IT environments are very complex – and that growing complexity is making it more difficult for them to do their jobs successfully. The research pointed to IT teams feeling that they are at risk of losing control of their company’s IT environment in the face of new technologies, devices and performance requirements. 66 per cent of IT professionals feel that increasing IT complexity makes it more difficult for them to do their jobs successfully. 88 per cent of respondents want IT management software that offers more monitoring flexibility, with fewer restrictions. According to the research, some 44 per cent of IT teams are either not monitoring everything they want to on their networks – or don’t know if they are. Further highlighting the trouble that IT teams are having monitoring and managing the systems used in their organisations, the research showed that the vast majority are using multiple different tools to monitor their networks. ‘With the pressure of increasing complexity, IT teams are looking for better IT management tools that enable them to securely control their environment and ensure 24/7 uptime and performance,’ said Jeff Loeb, chief marketing officer, Ipswitch. ‘Modern IT teams need powerful and easy to try, buy and use IT management solutions that are both flexible and affordable.’ 9