Channel Beat: Apple, Cisco CEOs Talk Benefits Of Ongoing Company Relationship

This week the CRN Test Center looked at Dell's Precision 5720 All-in-One PC. It has a touchscreen, powerful processing, an adjustable "articulating" stand and one feature you wouldn't normally expect in a business computer. The Dell 5720 is priced to be less expensive than the upcoming iMac Pro, but that doesn't mean it's cheap. Another round of ransomware attacks was reported on Tuesday, this time with businesses and governments affected in the Ukraine, Russia, Denmark, Spain, the United Kingdom and the United States. Companies in the U.S. affected include DLA Piper and pharmaceutical giant Merck. CRN's security reporter, Sarah Kuranda, covered the story and said partners are urging their customers to take a multilayered approach to their security. The attacks come on the heels of a massive outbreak of ransomware last month, with WannaCry ransomware hitting more than 200,000 computers around the world. For the latest CRN security news stories, you can visit http://www.crn.com/news/security. Apple CEO Tim Cook made a surprise appearance on stage with Cisco CEO Chuck Robbins at Cisco Live this week, as the two CEOs said their companies are extending an ongoing relationship around enterprise cybersecurity and networking. Tim Cook said that the combination of Cisco and Apple products, in the enterprise, will lead to safer, less worrisome environment because both companies are known for tightly coupled software and hardware. One partner told CRN at the Cisco Live event this week that he sees a quick benefit for solution providers that are working with the two companies. "We would see that a Cisco solution is a better return on an organization's investment as a direct result of not only lower costs in insurance but more importantly the reduction in costs associated with an actual security breach," said Chris Bottger, CTO at IVCi. As partners look ahead to the opportunities in artificial intelligence and machine learning, they might want to read this week's interview with Dell Technologies CEO Michael Dell. In a wide-ranging interview with CRN, Dell said he is watching AI and machine learning technologies closely to see how best to implement them in enterprise systems. AI is powered by data, he said, and a huge volume of the enterprise data in the U.S. is stored on Dell EMC systems. CRN's Matt Brown was on the phone with Mr. Dell this week. He said that Dell knows that even if these new technologies are being developed in software, it's still an opportunity for his company and for its partners.