Setting the stage for the year of security
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Intel Corporation: Setting the stage for the year of security
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I N T E L C O R P O R AT I O N
William ‘Bill’ Giard, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Intel, on how Intel’s industryleading approach to security will benefit the wider industry
F
ounded in 1968 in Santa Clara, California, Intel Corporation began with a focus on computer memory. From the very start,
the company prided itself on its agility and breadth of ability, as well as a customer-driven philosophy that ensured its popularity with consumers. When 04
Business Chief last spoke to Intel in August 2019, the company stated that it was moving “from a PC-centric strategy to a data-centric one”. It was a big shift for Intel, which had spent the last 50 years focusing on the former. However, realising that storage, memory, computing and data centres were all part of a larger, more exciting picture, it was determined to make the transition. Almost six months later, we spoke with William ‘Bill’ Giard, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Intel, who talked about his vision for the company in 2020. Part of Intel for over 20 years, having joined almost immediately after completing his studies at Portland State University, Giard has seen the evolution of the business first-hand. “I saw what it was doing in the industry and got really energised about working with computers and electronics,”
1968
Year founded
$70bn Revenue in US dollars
10,000+ Number of employees
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I N T E L C O R P O R AT I O N
“ Changing Intel is a big deal, but changing an industry direction is probably what excites me the most” 06
— William ‘Bill’ Giard, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Cloud Enterprise Solutions Group, Intel
he explains. “For me, it was just a logical choice once I graduated.” Starting as an engineer and then working his way up to CTO, Giard says he has gained a lot of valuable experience in enterprise IT, including data management, product life-cycle management and big enterprise systems. “It really opened my eyes to what we’re doing for the wider industry. Changing Intel is a big deal, but changing an industry direction is probably what excites me the most.” Giard believes that embracing digital transformation, understanding system architectures and how to enable business processes is a pivotal strategy for the company. However, his primary focus is on understanding how Intel’s software can be used to enable hardware in such a way that it works seamlessly. “My role as CTO is about combining technical hardware and software implementations with the developments happening in data growth, analytics, infrastructure modernisation and security,” he says. “This is where my passion really lies.” Giard’s strategic vision for Intel is a trifecta of technological developments: hybridcloud solutions, analytics powered
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07 by artificial intelligence (AI), and, most
the keystone of Intel’s product devel-
importantly, security.
opment. “It can’t be bolted on after
Security is of paramount impor-
the fact; it’s got to be built in from the
tance to both customers and the tech
start. And enabling that work, where
industry as a whole. With ransom-
we’re trying to perform computing at
ware incidents and insider threats
the edge, I think is critically important
infiltrating even the most hermetic
to our business strategy.”
of organisations, such as the US
Owing to the necessity for latency-
Federal Government, it’s becoming
sensitive applications and the
all too clear that traditional firewalls
emergence of 5G, which is ushering in
and perimeter-based controls can no
the possibility of real-time solutions,
longer adequately protect the digital
‘edge computing’ is a paradigm taking
world. Recognising it as, perhaps, ‘the’
on great precedence in the indus-
central challenge of 2020, Giard has
try. Instead of sending data from a
decided to make security solutions
device to a server where it can then be w w w.i ntel. com
I N T E L C O R P O R AT I O N
“Security needs to be at the forefront: it’s the number one growth potential in a number of areas” — William ‘Bill’ Giard, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Cloud Enterprise Solutions Group, Intel 08
analysed, the analysis is conducted on
Intel’s efforts to tackle the issue have
the device itself. Common examples
been bolstered by healthy relationships
of edge computing include the bio-
with its digital solution partners, such as
metric readers (fingerprint or facial
Microsoft, Red Hat, IBM and VMware,
recognition hardware) on smart-
which has enabled a productive eco-
phones. “This is where technology is
system in which to develop solutions.
shifting quite rapidly,” Giard explains.
Intel’s more than seven-year part-
“It allows us to meet our customers
nership with Lockheed Martin, one
where they’re addressing their chal-
of the top security providers in the
lenges. Security needs to be at the
world, on a project for the Federal
forefront: it’s the number one growth
Government is a demonstration of
potential in a number of areas, but
its commitment to delivering world-
security professionals will tell you
class security capabilities. After all,
it hasn’t gotten enough attention.”
Giard explains, there’s no better way
to develop an awareness of security
up meant a vastly improved level of
than by working with a security com-
protection, which, nonetheless, didn’t
pany. “In the federal arena, security
compromise performance in any way.
is the first conversation you have
The Intel Hardened Security
instead of the third or fifth. When
Solution resulted from this partner-
Lockheed Martin asked us to assist
ship. The company recognised that
them in that effort, it helped us not
the problem lay in security occurring
just develop our Xeon processors,
at different layers of the computing
but also to develop our understand-
process: the operating system, the
ing that integrated security has got
application layer, virtual machines,
to work from the moment the system
etc. The traditional approaches to
turns on.” Intel’s collaboration with
protection can leave customers
Lockheed made it clear that building
open to threats in multiple areas
security from the most nascent level
and a more rigorously consolidated
E XE CU T I VE PRO FI LE
William (Bill) Giard Bill has over 20 years of experience in designing enterprise architectures and developing software solutions to support mission-critical systems across supply-chain, product development, and enterprise infrastructure segments. Prior to joining DPG, he led the software development efforts within Intel IT to modernize the application and computing environment, delivering secure and usable solutions across multiple client computing platforms utilizing cloud technologies to enable new business models.
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I N T E L C O R P O R AT I O N
structure was required. Constituted from Xeon hardware and Security Runtime Environment (SRE) software, the Intel Hardened Security Solution is designed to address fundamental challenges experienced by CIOs and CISOs daily, delivering comprehensive protection across the entire computing process. The solution is able to provide an organisation with a new and comprehensive security method that will help it safeguard its 10
most precious asset: data. “Our approach is about enabling data creation, consumption and insights not only across data centres but also the public cloud environment. Our rich portfolio of technologies from Intel Xeon Scalability processors to Intel Ethernet to Intel Optane Memory and Storage are key to achieving that,” Giard states. In addition, as a leader in the industry, Intel has a long and established history of collaborating with partners of all sizes to optimise software in Intel’s architecture. Customers benefit from a high-performing cloud platform that easily integrates into their
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“We take the philosophy that growth and speed of execution helps everyone” — William ‘Bill’ Giard, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Cloud Enterprise Solutions Group, Intel
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I N T E L C O R P O R AT I O N
“In the federal arena, security is the first conversation you have instead of the third or fifth” 12
— William ‘Bill’ Giard, Chief Technology Officer (CTO), Cloud Enterprise Solutions Group, Intel existing environments. “We take the philosophy that growth and speed of execution helps everyone,” he says. Reinforcing this point, Mike Gann, Director of Business Development, adds that this is what helps Intel distinguish itself from competitors. “The coolest thing that I’ve seen at Intel is how we partner within that ecosystem to really make an impact. As a company, we want to deliver innovative technology that will change how we all work, play and live. We want to change the world.”
It’s a noble idea, but one that can’t succeed without a solid, customercentric strategy to back it up. Fortunately, Intel has and always will be about providing an easy, ‘out of the box’ experience for consumers of its products. “Part of our value comes from providing that flexibility. No matter where the data resides, we’re helping customers put it in the right place so that they can take appropriate action. From a security perspective, that means making it easy for them by just incorporating it into the infrastructure, giving them peace of mind,” Intel explains. This arrives at the crux of the matter for Intel: as cyber-attacks get more sophisticated and old defences lose their potency, a comprehensive and fundamental reimagining of the whole concept is required and that is what Intel believes in. “After all,” Giard says, “if you get the foundation right, you can act fast and solve the problem very quickly.”
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Intel Corporation 200 Mission College Blvd. Santa Clara, CA 95052 USA T (408) 765-8080 www.intel.com