Data Centre Unplugged

Hosted by Proact IT

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May 2025

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About the show

We’re taking our techies out of the data centre and our Proactivists away from their desks, to explore the hottest news, trends and topics in the world of IT. Join our guest hosts as they team up with experts from across the industry to chat all things technology - providing unique industry insight and a witty repartee you won’t want to miss!

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14 recent

May 23, 2025Episode 739 min

CyberUK 2025: Key Takeaways with Shane Wallace

Datacentre Unplugged returns with a special wrap-up episode from CyberUK 2025 —one of the premier events in the cyber resilience calendar. Hosted in Manchester by the UK Government’s National Cyber Security Centre , this internationally recognised gathering brought together cybersecurity professionals from 32 countries to explore the latest trends, threats, and innovations shaping the cyber security landscape. Joining us is Shane Wallace , Chief Technologist for Resilience at Proact , who shares his top reflections from the event. In this episode, Shane also delivers a compelling follow-up to our last podcast with more information on the recent wave of cyberattacks affecting major UK retailers including M&S , Co-op , and Harrods . Shane offers his insights into what these developments reveal about the evolving threat landscape and what organisations can learn from these attacks.

May 2, 2025Episode 640 min

Unpicking the M&S cyberattack with Shane Wallace

Datacentre unplugged is back with a special edition of our podcast, all about the recent cyberattacks that have impacted M&S, Coop and other retailers. We’re joined by Shane Wallace, Proacts ‘Chief Technologist’ for Resilience and Recovery. Shane helps to shed light on what may have happened at M&S, what they have likely been experiencing in recent weeks, and what other organisations can learn from this experience.

February 13, 202442 min

2024 in focus: avoiding accidental azure with Microsoft

Welcome to part 2 of our 3-part Microsoft update with partners TD Synnex. In this episode of ‘2024 in focus’ we’ll unpick the focus on ‘hybrid first’ instead of ‘cloud first’ and the challenges ‘accidental azure’ has brought along for a lot of organisations. Our experts will give their advise on optimizing your use of Azure while avoiding unexpected costs with ‘right first-time architecture’. Presented by: Nathan Byrne – Chief Technical Evangelist With guests: David Kieller – TD Synnex, Microsoft Azure Business Manager Sean Taylor – TD Synnex, Micorosoft Solutions Archiect Tom Bazely – Solutions Architect

February 13, 202441 min

2024 in focus: the continued focus on time, place and cost with NetApp

Welcome to the next installment of ‘2024 in focus’ mini-series with our long-standing partner NetApp. We glance back at 2023 before exploring all things new with NetApp; the release of Blue XP, their recent Ransomware Guarantee, unified control suite, and latest Flash array that’s delivering intelligence and tangible carbon savings. Presented by: Andy Smith – Solutions Director With guests: Matt Watts – NetApp, Chief Technology Evangelist Chris Roberts – Public Sector Director

February 13, 202454 min

2024 in focus: the importance of a partner according to Dell

This episode of ‘2024 in focus’ is brought to you in conjunction with Dell Technologies and industry analysts Canalys. We’ll get a take on the market challenges 2023 threw at organisations, before exploring what Canalys and Dell predict the agenda of the CIO to look like it 2024; the continued growth in hybrid cloud, operational resilience and legislation, the increasing importance on sustainability, and the importance of a trusted partner. Presented by: Andy Hale – Technology and Solutions Director With guests: Rob Tomlin – Dell, Vice President for UK Chanell Alastair Edwards – Canalys, Chief Analyst

February 13, 202428 min

2024 in focus: the latest flash and container updates from Pure

In this episode of ‘2024 in focus’ we explore how organisations can do more with less, as economic pressures have resulted in tightened purse strings for many organisations. Alongside Mike from Pure we’ll explore the agenda for CIO’s in 2024 around sustainability, containerisation, hybrid cloud environments, and subscription-based storage based on consumption. Presented by: Andy Hale – Technology and Solutions Director With guests: Mike Roan – Pure Storage, Vice President for Systems Engineering Mike Moss – Solutions Architect

February 13, 202440 min

2024 in focus: Citrix and their first year as part of the cloud Software Group

The next in our ‘2024 in focus’ mini-series is brought you with our friends at Citrix as we explore their first year as part of the Cloud Software Group. We start by exploring Citrix’s renewed focus on partnerships and latest announcements on universal licensing. We then explore what’s in store for 2024 with an increased focus on secure EUC, hybrid cloud investments, security and IT as an enabler for sustainability. Presented by: Nathan Byrne – Modern Workspace Chief Technical Evangelist With guests: Gerard Lanvin – Citrix, Chief Technology Officer Andrew Barlow – Citrix, Partner Account Manager

February 8, 202445 min

2024 in focus: the Commvault vision for cyber recovery

In this second installment of our ‘2024 in focus’ mini-series we’re joined by recovery experts Commvault to learn about their new Commvault Cloud approach and technology advancements. We’ll explore the shift away from backup and disaster recovery solutions in isolation to all encompassing resilience solutions, and how the rise in AI is helping keep you secure. Presented by: Andy Smith – Solutions Director With guests: Ian Wood – Commvault, Senior Director for Sales Engineering Lara Matthews – Solutions Architect Tony Lamont – Solutions Architect

February 5, 202447 min

Preparing for new legislation: what NIS2 and DORA mean for Operational Resilience

New DORA and NIS2 legislation changes offer a critical chance for organisations to revise their cyber security strategies; ensuring they have end-to-end resiliency, while enhancing client and staff satisfaction, and ultimately ensuring against financial loss. It’s no longer ok, to rely on your security posture to keep you safe from cyber attacks – you must be able to recover. You must be Operationally Resilient. You must do so by October 2024. Presented by: Nathan Byrne – Chief Technology Evangelist – Proact With Guests: Gary Mcintosh – Field CTO for Cyber Security – Dell Technologies Shane Wallace – Cyber Recovery Architect – Proact Tim Simons – Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) - Proact

December 21, 2023Episode 432 min

2024 in focus: Microsoft, Copilot and modern work

In the first episode of our ‘2024 in focus’ series, we’ll be getting the Microsoft perspective on modern workplace and how it’s set to evolve. We’ll take a look back at key announcements from 2023, look forward to the Microsoft vision for 2024 and shine a light on Copilot, the revolutionary AI assistant that is set to change how we all interact with Microsoft 365 and the wider Microsoft stack. Presented by: Nathan Bryne – Workspace Chief Technology Evangelist – Proact With guests: Sean Taylor – Microsoft Cloud Solutions Architect - TD Synnex Deborah Sweeney – Microsoft Modern Work Business Manager - TD Synnex