What can you achieve by removing meetings? 76,500 in freed-up time

 Hello All,

I surveyed my readers for what they would like to see in the newsletter in 2023.

We have the results.

A majority asked for more news. That is what we will do.

If you are one of those who participated and responded, thank you! If you did not, my goal is to persuade you to join in read the newsletter, and engage often.

Read this week

• Security issues due to mass exits of employees?
• What can you achieve by removing meetings? 76,500 in freed up time. A decision others can copy.
• Microsoft eyes a massive stake in ChatGPT.
• The Most Interesting Story from CES 2023
• AWS finally comes around to encrypting S3 buckets by default.
• Will "Matter" really simplify the smart home ecosystem mess?
• Quote I am pondering this week
• Layoffs in Jan 2023. Simple but powerful visual

Let's go!

Handling the vulnerabilities left due to employees leaving the workforce in large numbers

Remote work will drive the majority of 2023 Enterprise Security spending.

Even though workers are returning to offices, Remote work has tripled in 3 years. This has thrown massive Infrastructure and Security challenges. During 2021 and 2022, we saw perimeter-based networks and security disappear. Identity and Access management has become a central function. Are the accounts and access auto-terminated when people leave? or is it manual? Does it require a layer of paperwork? Even for those who upgrade their infrastructure, Human-led errors lead to vulnerabilities. Here is some advice.

1. Automate account administration. Use Role-based Identity governance. Move towards Zero Trust based and context-based identities as the next step
2. Use biometric authentication or passwordless access
3. Deploy Modern MFA solutions. Consider solving for MFA fatigue scenarios

What can you achieve by removing meetings? 76,500 in freed-up time. A fantastic decision others can copy

Shopify is doing it.

In 2023, Shopify is removing all recurring meetings for more than 2 people across the company. Large meetings for more than 50 people could only happen on Thursdays between 11 am and 5 pm. They are limiting Big meetings to one per week.

This step will cut 10,000 events and free up 76,500 meeting hours company-wide. This is a welcome step. Long distraction-free focused hours are key to high-quality work. There is enough evidence to prove that multi-tasking should not be a badge of honor.

From an Early investor to picking a large stake in ChatGPT.

ChatGPT is too powerful. I quipped in my detailed analysis. It can assert power. it can be monetized as a transformational tech. I learned that Microsoft was an early investor in Chat GPT development investing a billion dollars a year. Now, now the news is coming out. Microsoft plans to put $10B into picking a larger stake in GPT 4. They plan to integrate with its MS Office Suite. Murmurs are going around Google's Generative AI to also come out in a big way. 2023 is heading towards a pivotal point where ML and AI could lead to a transformation in our life and work.

The most interesting story from CES.

It is not uncommon for top companies to showcase their ideas and Innovation at the yearly CES show in Vegas. BMW, Tesla, Samsung, and Sony all are showcasing their tech.

But USPS showcasing their e-delivery vehicle as part of " Delivering for America" caught my attention.

USPS is showcasing its new truck for last-mile deliveries. It is an electric vehicle loaded with tech. Even more impressive is their transformation plan "Delivering for America". USPS will invest $40B in 10 year period for a complete overhaul. Check out the complete business plan on their website.

Have you heard about "Matter" and the investment companies like Amazon and Google in it?

The past decade, smart home tech has grown fast. The experience is fragmented at best. Further, these "smart" devices need continuous connectivity to the cloud to operate.

The matter is a new and open-source standard for smart home devices. It intends to remove connectivity issues for smart devices. The standard allows smart devices to integrate and operate when offline. This can be a huge win. Amazon is working on making their products Matter compliant by 2023. Apple and Google have both added Matter compliance to their smart and flagship devices. Common standards in hardware and software are the way to go.

Auto encrypts S3 Bucket.

From Jan 2023, AWS has set the Server side encryption for S3 buckets as the default behavior.

Un-encrypted buckets were at the top of the list of cloud misconfigurations.

S3 is AWS's maturest product, with 11 years in business. but this alone may have been responsible for a large number of data accidents in the Cloud World. This is coming out late, but a welcome feature.

Quote I am pondering over this Week

Tech layoff in simple but powerful visual.

Jan 2023. Hiring needs to be sustainable. Companies are laying off people to balance their P&L.

The pandemic led to strange patterns in demand. Some businesses went up like rocket ships. some stayed flat. and some tanked. This period led to hasty hiring decisions too. The longer-term outcome is a bloodbath of layoffs.

Cheers!