Making Connections
Podcast

In this extended edition of “Making Connections,” adventure meets the corporate world through the candid insights of Mark Beaumont, a distinguished adventurer and record-breaking cyclist. Hosted by Nick Layzell, Customer Success Director at Telehouse, this episode is a deep dive into the high-stakes experiences and invaluable lessons Mark has learned from his global expeditions and how they translate for leaders in business and IT.

Joining Mark and Nick in this revealing discussion is Mark Pestridge, Executive Vice President & General Manager at Telehouse Europe, exploring the intersection of business leadership and the extreme challenges of adventure sports. This episode is a rare opportunity to hear an adventurer openly share not just triumphs but also the setbacks, offering a realistic and human perspective on leadership. For anyone leading teams, facing challenges, or looking for inspiration in business and beyond, this podcast promises an honest, inside look at the lessons learned from the front lines of adventure.

What can Mark’s candid revelations about his successes and failures teach us about resilience, strategic planning, and overcoming challenges? And how does the human side of enduring physical and mental trials inform the dynamics of team leadership and corporate strategy?

In this episode of “Making Connections” host Nick Layzell, Customer Success Director at Telehouse, is joined by two leading voices in the field: Andy Thornley from techUK and Alex Pennington, Legal Counsel at Telehouse. This episode offers an in-depth exploration of the implications of FFDA and Open Finance, discussing the nuances of data sharing mandates, impacts on digital identity, consumer protection, and the strategic responses required by financial organisations.

The financial industry is on the brink of a significant transformation with the emergence of the Framework for Financial Data Access (FFDA) in the EU and Open Finance in the UK. These ground-breaking regulations raise crucial questions: How will they reshape the landscape of financial data sharing? What are the implications for financial institutions, both in terms of challenges and opportunities? How should organisations prepare for the compliance and technological shifts ahead?

This insightful conversation is a must-listen for professionals navigating the finance sector, policymakers, and tech enthusiasts seeking to understand the dynamic intersection of financial services, regulation, and technology.

Customers are demanding more from their digital experiences when dealing with financial services organisations. Personalisation tactics are therefore growing in popularity as companies look to increase  loyalty, but they also need to consider the role of other technologies.

How can financial services companies improve their digital customer experiences, all while factoring in cloud, privacy and security? What role does connectivity play in customer satisfaction? And is cloud the answer to all digital transformation strategies?

To explore these questions, Nick Layzell talks to Matthew Lempriere, Head of Sales: UK, ME & APAC at BSO and Halil Kama, Senior Peering Advisor at the London Internet Exchange (LINX) in this episode of Making Connections.

More organisations are shifting their workloads and data to public cloud solutions. While the cloud can bring lower costs, reduce maintenance requirements and provide high scalability, it doesn’t always suit every workload.

Before organisations migrate their workloads, should they be looking at cloud alternatives? What are the key aspects they need to consider when choosing where to store their various workloads? Is cloud best used as one component in a wider strategy?

Interconnectivity remains in the spotlight as remote workforces become the norm, and end-users consume a growing number of services globally. With ever-expanding digital ecosystems – how will the importance of interconnectivity change over the next five years? How will this impact data centres and connectivity providers? And how can enterprises gain assurance of such services?

To discuss this and more, Nick Layzell speaks to Epsilon Telecommunications’ Director of Global Network Operation and Technology, Vibeke Harder, and Director of Digital Strategy & Business Development, Mark Daley, in this episode of Making Connections. 

Unlike their fictional counterparts found on the silver screen, robots have limitations in the real world. However, an increasing number of industries are finding effective use cases for robotics, making the technology integral to certain operations whilst increasing visibility to the public.

As enthusiasm grows, where can robots be applied to the data centre environment? Will their wider integration lead to human jobs being taken over? Where is the future of robotics leading us?

To answer these questions, Nick Layzell talks to Mike LeBlanc, the Founder, President and Chief Operating Officer at Cobalt Robotics and Paul Lewis, Technical Services Senior Director at Telehouse Europe in this episode of Making Connections.

Wednesday 8th March marks International Women’s Day 2023 and this year, the UN’s theme is DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality. Just 26% of the general tech workforce and only 5% of leadership positions in the sector are held by women.

This episode of Making Connections addresses the underrepresentation of women in tech, whilst our guests reflect on their experiences as women in the industry and the challenges they have faced. Discussion also speaks to the future of the industry and what business leaders can do to ensure everyone understands the role they have to play in shaping an equal future.

Joining Nick Layzell to discuss these topics is Rachel Collins, Head of Inclusion & Diversity at Colt Technology Services and Judy Gosnell, HR Director at Telehouse Europe.

References:

Closing the tech gender gap in 2022 – the challenges and opportunities

https://www.pwc.co.uk/who-we-are/women-in-technology/time-to-close-the-gender-gap.html

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2023/01/4-pathways-to-better-representation-women-in-tech-leadership/

The intersecting threats of climate change, economic pressures and the energy crisis are the latest in a series of challenges for UK businesses today. Many have had to adjust broader business strategies to accommodate increased spending and others have tweaked sustainability plans accordingly.

As the data centre landscape evolves in 2023, will organisations compromise their sustainability roadmap in the midst of rising costs? Which technological advancements will have the biggest impact? What will drive businesses to outsource their IT infrastructure this year?

To discuss these themes, Nick Layzell talks to Mark Pestridge, Senior Customer Experience Director at Telehouse Europe and Emma Fryer, Partner at ERM, in this episode of Making Connections.

With physical and cyber risks multiplying and evolving, organisations can no longer rely on traditional risk management approaches.

Today’s effective risk management need to celebrate and leverage the interrelationships between different business functions to strike a balance between risk mitigation, technological innovation, and frictionless customer experience.

So, what does that look like in practice? What opportunities and challenges are lying ahead? And are regulations able to keep pace?

To uncover the common themes around risk management strategies, Nick Layzell speaks to Sarah Draper, General Counsel and Chief Risk Officer, Telehouse Europe) and Kenneth Chen (VP, Finance Strategy Operations and Risk, Spotify) in this latest episode of Making Connections.

The opportunities of AI and ML are intrinsically linked with innovation. But whilst the benefits are in sight, the path to accessibility may not always be as clear.

With the increasing importance of AI in the UK’s tech industry, how can businesses ensure they are overcoming the barriers and challenges of AI and ML adoption, to drive innovation and operational efficiency?

To discuss this and all things AI, Nick Layzell speaks to Sue Daley (Director of Tech and Innovation, techUK) and Ozgur Duzgunoglu (Head of Engineering, Telehouse Europe) in this latest episode of Making Connections.

For organisations today, time matters more than ever.

Whilst crucial across all sectors, time is particularly critical within the finance industry; and financial leaders should be on the clock to ensure the success of its operations and integrity. So how can organisations ensure they are synchronising and accurately timestamping events, in an increasingly digital world?

Enter time-as-a-service – a recommended service offering accurate time synchronisation, for companies to introduce into their infrastructure. The benefits are clear but ensuring that this is being leveraged correctly will help map out a path to success.

In this episode, Nick Layzell speaks to Leon Lobo and Ali Ashkhasi from the National Physical Laboratory (NPL), to discuss the role of time-as-a-service, how businesses can leverage this, and why time really is of the essence.

Sustainability has rapidly risen up the IT agenda. Among the backdrop of net-zero targets, businesses are exploring options for driving green improvements and cloud and data centre providers are responding to changing sustainability expectations as a result. Nick Layzell, Customer Success Director at Telehouse sat down with Neville Louzado, Sales Director at Hyve and Dirk Turek, Senior Research Analyst at CBRE to talk through the trends.

Data volumes are on the rise – and there are no clear signs of it slowing down anytime soon.

Whilst the possibilities for organisations to engage with data are limitless, the sheer number of opportunities and volume of data itself can quickly become overwhelming. Research from Telehouse backs this up, finding that a third of enterprises have highlighted growing data volumes as a ‘serious problem’.

So what do rising data volumes mean for enterprise IT and connectivity? And how can organisations ensure they have the best IT infrastructure in place to be well-equipped? In this episode, we chat with Kurtis Lindqvist, CEO of LINX, to discuss the continued evolution of data volumes and the role that colocation data centres will play in meeting evolving connectivity and data demands.

To download our research report, visit https://thvdc.net/cf

Uncontrollable data volumes and pressure to keep a competitive edge can put enterprises under strain.

Recent research by Telehouse found that a third of enterprises recognise data growth as a serious problem. The light at the end of the tunnel is most enterprises are realising and implementing a hybrid IT approach. In the race to the connected future, businesses that use a mix of traditional IT and cloud services can enable faster connections and greater flexibility.

This podcast, featuring Andrew Tipping, Director of Business Development at Zayo Group, a global leader in communications infrastructure, discusses issues driving the demand for hybrid IT and some of the sectors likely to benefit from it.

To discover more about the report, visit: www.telehouse.net/connected-future/