Archive for September 15, 2020

Iron Mountain & FutureVault Launch Digital Vault Platform

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 15, 2020 by itnerd

Iron Mountain Incorporated and FutureVault today announced a strategic partnership and the launch of their Digitization-as-a-Service offering with Aligned Capital Partners Inc. as the first client.

The new platform combines Iron Mountain’s logistical network and physical information management infrastructure with FutureVault’s secure digital vault platform to provide a comprehensive physical-to-digital document life cycle management service. Now, businesses can order the transfer of paper records to an Iron Mountain location where they are scanned, deposited, indexed, and stored in both a secure physical and digital location; the latter on FutureVault’s platform. Based on their unique document retention policies, organizations can choose to archive or shred their original paper documents or have them returned. Digitizing paper records and accessing them via a secure digital vault has never been easier.

What features does the Digitization-as-a-Service offer?

  • Easy packing and preparation of paper records through bar coded cover sheets and secure RFID-ready boxes
  • Secure end-to-end transport of records via quick ordering and pick-up process
  • Rapid conversion of physical documents through extensive network of imaging centers with unparalleled quality control
  • Indexing of digitized records to enable searchability
  • Documents are deposited into a branded Digital Vault Platform in specified client or corporate folders.
  • Platform offers robust digital document management and collaboration features, akin to virtual data rooms and enterprise content management systems.
  • Documents can be shared internally and externally with advanced permissioning and a complete fiduciary audit trail for security.
  • Advanced Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and indexing features afford users the ability to search through volumes of scanned records to find, retrieve and share documents quickly and easily via web and mobile devices. 

How does the Digital Vault Platform provide security for digital assets?

  • The Digital Vault Platform is PCI DSS and SOC 2 Type 1 compliant.
  • Cyber security best practices are maintained by implementing the Center for Internet Security (CIS) standard.
  • Access to documents is protected by multi-factor authentication and biometric login on mobile devices.
  • All data is encrypted in transit and at rest with symmetric key 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard with industry leading key management.
  • No permanent files are stored on users’ devices; they are accessed via the cloud only.
  • Highly secure data centers with multiple geographical regions utilized for storage & backup.
  • In addition, the platform is integrated within Iron Mountain’s world leading enterprise-class records management infrastructure delivering overall confidence in the integrity, availability and protection of digital assets.

What are the benefits of digitizing assets?

  • Search: Reduce time, cost and effort associated with searching and retrieving documents.
  • Risk: Reduce risk of data breach by properly securing paper-based records.
  • Access: Securely access digitized documents anytime anywhere from the web or via mobile device.
  • Control: Manage access to important information across the organization.
  • Cost Effective: Implement cutting edge document management technology with minimal IT investment.
  • Compliance & Audit: Employ best practices for records management compliance and easily prepare for internal and external auditing.
  • Redundancy: Create data redundancy through digitization.
  • Client Experience: Digitize client records and share with end users on demand.
  • Transformation: Quickly and confidently launch a digital transformation strategy.
  • Value Creation: Increase the value of a practice by digitizing its paper legacy and enabling easier due diligence processes for corporate transactions.

Which companies have participated so far in the Digital Vault Platform?

The first pilot participants included advisors with Aligned Capital Partners Inc. (“Aligned”), an innovative investment firm headquartered near Toronto in Burlington, Ontario with over 200 advisors across Canada.

Through the Digital Vault Platform, Aligned now has all relevant records in one place. Productivity benefits from faster file retrievals, quicker new advisor onboarding, and more effective communications. Advisors are better equipped to serve their clients, manage document retention and compliance obligations, and grow their practices.

1 Comment »

Digital ID Framework To Begin Testing In Canada

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 15, 2020 by itnerd

The Digital ID & Authentication Council of Canada (“DIACC”) today announced the launch of the Pan-Canadian Trust FrameworkTM (“PCTF”), a set of digital ID and authentication industry standards that will define how digital ID will roll out across Canada. Its launch marks the shift from the framework’s development into official operation and will begin alpha testing by public and private sector members in Canada. The alpha testing will inform the launch of DIACC’s PCTF Voila Verified Trustmark Assurance Program  (“Voila Verified”), set to launch next year.

From open banking to e-health, digital ID is a key enabler in unlocking the next frontier of our digital economy. Banks and telcos fortunately have been able to leverage existing digital ID services to support Canadians.

Alpha testing of the PCTF will be carried out by over 20 Canadian public and private sector DIACC member organizations during the next two quarters with the purpose of operationalizing the framework as fast as possible. Organizations that have volunteered to take part in the alpha test seek to gain strategic and operational insights to become demonstrated leaders in digital identity.

Learnings taken from the alpha testing will help DIACC identify what is needed to scale up a digital identity infrastructure across Canada, and help Canada secure international digital interoperability and accreditation by working with international and third party partners such as eIDAS and Kantara Initiative IAF. 

A Digital ID Trademark You Can Trust

The alpha testing will also inform the launch of the DIACC PCTF Voila Verified Trustmark Assurance Program (“Voila Verified”). The program is set to launch in fall 2021, and will issue a PCTF Voila Verified Trustmark to organizations who demonstrate compliance with PCTF components. Voila Verified will enable solutions and service providers to leverage the trustmark to elevate their market leadership and allow them to collaborate securely with assurance, providing their customers with the digital-first experience that they demand. 

Multijurisdictional Collaboration: Enabling Trusted Digital Inclusion for All

The launch of the PCTF comes at a time when having a strong digital economy is no longer a ‘nice-to have’; rather, it is imperative for Canadians. More than 70 per cent of Canadians want to see the government and private sector collaborate on a joint identity framework in Canada.

The PCTF was developed collaboratively between public and private sector stakeholders, with contributions from a broad array of individuals and organizations around the world. Over 3,400 public comments were provided over four years that helped progress the framework to its launch today. 

Leave a comment »

Guest Post: VxRail: Kubernetes at the Speed of Cloud

Posted in Commentary with tags on September 15, 2020 by itnerd

By Chad Dunn, VP Product Management, VxRail

Dell Technologies and VMware are dedicated to delivering tightly integrated products that help our customers get the most value out of their IT infrastructure investments, and today is the latest example of that commitment. In keeping with our 30-day synchronous release commitment, we are announcing integration with the latest VMware HCI software and Tanzu offerings.

VMware Tanzu on Dell EMC VxRail integration is substantial news for customers.  There also are plenty of new features in vSAN, vSphere and VMware Cloud Foundation that will benefit VxRail customers, regardless of where they are on their path to adopting Tanzu for Kubernetes orchestration and modern application development.

To help customers accelerate application modernization, VxRail delivers “Kubernetes at Cloud Speed” with multiple, fully integrated HCI infrastructure options to run vSphere with Tanzu. In fact, Dell Technologies is the only HCI vendor offering a fully integrated Tanzu portfolio with reference architecture, cluster, and private cloud offerings – all on VxRail.

Customers can choose the best infrastructure to fit their organizations operating model and level of Kubernetes expertise. Whether customers are looking to develop on a validated Platform-as-a-Service or Container-as-a-Service platform with Tanzu Architecture for VxRail, rapidly get started with a Kubernetes deployment of vSphere with Tanzu on VxRail, or deploy Kubernetes at scale on a turnkey, fully integrated, secure private cloud deployment with VMware Cloud Foundation with Tanzu on VxRail, the Dell Technologies Cloud Platform, running Tanzu on VxRail delivers –

  • Accelerated adoption: Curated VxRail systems come fully integrated and ready to deploy, automated infrastructure deployment and cloud-like resource pooling, elasticity, agility/speed, and programmability accelerate Kubernetes infrastructure delivery so developers can operate at the pace of today’s digital business.
  • Kubernetes your way: Choice of infrastructure delivery options with consistent operations that align to your organization’s operating model. Deploy the optimal infrastructure that meets your Kubernetes readiness journey.
  • Rapid Kubernetes evolution: Lock step support for latest VMware Kubernetes advancements. With VxRail automated full stack lifecycle management and non-disruptive addition of next generation platforms, customers can continuously, confidently and predictably take advantage of evolving Kubernetes technology on fully integrated, automated infrastructure.

VMware Tanzu on Dell EMC VxRail flexible infrastructure options enable businesses to rapidly adopt Kubernetes to keep pace with the speed of business. “VMware Tanzu on VxRail will provide customers with immediate value – delivering an easy to deploy and manage stack that runs both modern and traditional applications,” said Krish Prasad, SVP CPBU and GM vSphere, VMware. “VMware Cloud Foundation with Tanzu on VxRail will deliver significant operational efficiency for running Kubernetes workloads at scale in the data center, Cloud and at the Edge.”

Whether you’re ready to jump into the world of Tanzu, or just looking for the latest innovations in HCI for data center modernization, hybrid cloud adoption, or edge deployments, VxRail has you covered through tight integration with the latest VMware HCI software releases.

With the latest vSAN and vSphere releases, there are a number of advancements in storage efficiency, security and file services. One example of storage efficiency is HCI mesh, which enables storage resource sharing across clusters. This is particularly exciting for our larger VxRail customers who may have spare capacity on one of their many clusters- if they are running low on capacity in one cluster, HCI mesh enables them to utilize spare capacity from another cluster. Customers taking advantage of our VxRail HCI System Software SaaS multi-cluster management with predictive capacity analysis can track capacity usage across all of their clusters and determine how to most effectively take advantage of HCI mesh to optimize workload performance.  

Additional update benefits include:

  • vSAN “Compression only” option for demanding workloads that typically cannot take advantage of deduplication.
  • Extended file services with windows file sharing through SMB v2.1 and v3.  Both types of file shares are now able to use Kerberos based authentication when using Microsoft Active Directory.
  • New security features include vSAN In-transit Encryption and Secure Disk Wipe.
  • VMware Cloud Foundation also introduced remote cluster management, enabling VxRail customers to extend VMware Cloud Foundation workload domains to remote locations while maintaining consistent operations and integrated full stack lifecycle management across the hybrid cloud to the edge.

We invite you to register for our VMworld sessions to learn more about how the multiple, fully integrated Tanzu on VxRail infrastructure help accelerate Kubernetes adoption and time to cloud native application development across the core, edge, cloud while ensuring customers can rapidly, confidently and predictably take advantage of evolving Kubernetes technology on fully integrated, automated infrastructure.

Leave a comment »