Modernizing the Enterprise through Cloud, 5G and Software-Defined Networks

In the first of GDIT’s three-part Emerge Series held in April, speakers focused on how to bring visions to life within the digital modernization arena.

As one might imagine given that topic, an entire track of the event was dedicated to Modernizing the Enterprise. From Fortune 500 companies to state agencies to Federal ones, enterprise organizations are perennially looking at modernization and navigating the challenges and opportunities that come along with it. As part of this track, GDIT convened three sessions on topics of particular interest to our customers and their stakeholders.

The first session was all about Cloud Clarity and focused on helping IT leaders cut through the complexity that can often accompany cloud projects without sacrificing the critical element of security. The discussion was moderated by Patrick Ruhe, GDIT’s Defense Cloud Capability Lead, who was joined by Matt McFadden, GDIT’s Senior Director, Cyber Services and Michael South, Americas Regional Leader for Public Sector Security & Compliance at Amazon Web Services.

On security in particular, McFadden said, “The cloud really helps enable adopting a zero-trust approach. You have a common management environment, an improved user experience, centralized policy management and it really drives consistent compliance. Leveraging the cloud is a very important part of modernizing your environment and it really reduces the complexity to be able to do all these things.”

The second session, titled Raising the Bar: Optimizing 5G Tech, was moderated by GDIT Senior Director, Enterprise IT Services, Rob Smallwood. Joining him were our Director, Enterprise IT & Managed Services Gwen Cadieux; Robert Chung, Senior Consultant at Dell Technologies; and Shuaib Porjosh, Solutions Director, 5G, Defense at GDIT. Together, the group talked about how the emergence of 5G wireless technology provides expanding mission capability opportunities as well as challenges.

During the session, Cadieux noted, “There are no limits to the potential of 5G … our customers are looking to improve enterprise agility, reduce cost, reduce cybersecurity attacks and standardize services using 5G technology. By leaning forward together with our customers, GDIT is positioned and dedicated to helping our customers realize these goals.”

Porjosh said, “From 4G to 5G is not a revolution, but more of an evolution. The ecosystem is growing, the applications are just waiting to be developed, thought of, and deployed. I’m very excited because there’s a lot coming down the road.”

The final breakout session in this track was titled Flexing with Software-Defined Networks and focused on how the shift to software-defined networking models is growing in importance whether you’re operating on premise, in the cloud, or at the edge. The discussion was moderated by Mike Cole, GDIT’s Federal Civilian CTO. Joining Mike were Martin Isaksen, Federal Senior Architect at Cisco and Dan Schaaf, Solutions Director, Defense at GDIT.

During the discussion, Schaff pointed out that as agencies are looking to make data-driven decisions, the convergence of software defined networks and zero-trust architectures can enable policies, decisions and permissions that create new and more efficient ways to exploit data. Indeed.

Didn’t get to attend today’s event? Watch the sessions on-demand and be sure to mark your calendars and join us for Part Two on May 26, which will focus on Emerging Technologies. Please also join us for Part Three on June 23, focused on the Defense Cloud.