In this episode, we’re joined by Ewald Munz, Head of Manufacturing, Automotive and Sustainability EMEA at Splunk, to explore the evolving landscape of Operational Technology (OT). As the lines blur between IT and OT, organisations face growing challenges—from securing legacy industrial control systems to gaining visibility across hybrid environments. John and Ewald unpack these challenges and discuss real-world applications of how Splunk is enabling security, resilience, and observabil...

In this special episode of The Somerford Podcast, John Dee hosts a powerful conversation with Dame Alison Rose, former CEO of NatWest Group, and Major General Sarah Johansen, Deputy Chief of Defence Intelligence. Together, they explore the evolving nature of leadership across sectors — from banking to defence — and reflect on decision-making in crisis, building trust, leading with authenticity, and championing women in traditionally male-dominated fields. Find out more about Somerford...

In this episode of The Somerford Podcast, John Dee and James Astley sit down with Hussain Al Khalsan, Chief Information Security Officer at Zand, to explore how the UAE’s first digital bank is embracing an AI-powered, digital-first strategy to modernise banking from the ground up. Find out more about Somerford Middle East: https://www.somerfordassociates.com/somerford-middle-east/ ━━━━ Keep notified of news and announcements on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/somerford-associates...

In this new episode of the Somerford podcast, John Dee and James Astley are joined by Phil Westgarth (Network International) and Steve Foster (Netskope) to explore the evolving landscape of cybersecurity, AI integration, and the value of context-driven visibility. With real-world examples and practical insights, the conversation highlights how organisations can maintain control, improve threat detection, and support secure access to generative AI tools without compromising data integrity. The...

TGW (Transportgeräte Wels), a leading systems integrator of automated warehouse solutions, embarked on a journey to data-driven operational resilience powered by Splunk and Somerford. In this special case study episode of The Somerford Podcast, we dive into how TGW adopted Splunk Cloud to transform its operations. Hear from TGW and Somerford experts as they unpack the challenges, successes, and key insights from this partnership—from enhanced visibility to AI adoption and the future of...

AI governance is evolving fast, and so are the risks of getting it wrong. As organisations embrace AI and machine learning, they face emerging regulations, heightened scrutiny, and the challenge of building trust in rapidly changing systems. In this episode, Tahir Latif, Global Chief Privacy and AI Governance Officer at Securiti.ai — one of Somerford’s key partners — joins us to explore AI governance in practice. Hosted by John Dee, Somerford’s Director of Strategy, we cover data visibilit...

DORA is here. The Digital Operational Resilience Act impacts every financial entity, and understanding its implications is crucial. Driven by escalating cyberattacks, geopolitical instability, and even the increasing impact of climate change, this legislation demands attention. Join us as we unpack DORA's complexities with Charles Adriaenssens, Financial Services Strategist at Splunk, and Adam Avards, Cyber Risk Specialist at UK Finance. We'll delve into the core of DORA, from its five key pi...

In this episode of the Somerford Podcast, we explore the growing importance of Data Observability in today’s data-driven world. Robert Castley from Splunk joins us to discuss how businesses can unlock the full potential of their data through advanced observability practices, with a focus on AI resilience and how Splunk helps deliver actionable insights to build robust, adaptive systems. Dan Gray, a Splunk Technical Consultant at Somerford, also shares his expertise on how organisations can l...

In this special episode of The Somerford Podcast: Stories of Success — Motivation, Diversity, and Resilience, join John as he converses with two inspiring leaders: Brigadier Melissa Emmett MBE and Sarah Self.​ Tune in to hear their insights on believing in one’s work, fostering camaraderie, and finding purpose, and discover why these elements are crucial for sustaining resilience and motivation. 🌐 Find out more about Somerford: https://www.somerfordassociates.com/about-us/ ━━━━ Chapt...

Italo Nesi, Solutions Engineer at Confluent, joins John Dee, Head of Strategy & Engagement at Somerford, for a conversation about the transformative world of data streaming. Listen in on why real-time data handling and the efficient architectures provided by Kafka and Confluent are becoming critical for driving innovation and operational efficiency across industries. 📊 Streamline your cloud migration with Confluent's Migration Accelerator Programme: https://www.somerfordasso...

Lerry Wilson and Becca Lambert join John to discuss The Splunk Edge Hub. Splunk's Senior Director for Platform Ecosystem and Innovation, Lerry Wilson, explains their latest IoT data access and processing innovation. Also joining the conversation is Becca, Somerford's Splunk Edge Hub Technical Expert, who explores the processor's current and future use cases. 📊 Find out more about Somerford and Splunk Edge Hub: https://www.somerfordassociates.com/splunk-edge-hub/ ━━━━ ...

James returns, this time joined by Jonathan Mepsted, Vice President of Middle East & Africa at Netskope for a discussion on Netskope's past, present and future. Jonathan talks about the foundational principles shaping Netskope's enduring vision, highlighting the future applications of GenAI in the workplace and sharing his philosophy on team culture. 🇦🇪 Find out more about Somerford in the Middle East on our website: https://www.somerfordassociates.com/somerford-middle-east/...

John and James are joined by Shaun Cooney at Splunk to talk about all things resiliency. They explore organisational operational resilience, underscore the importance of personal resilience, and share their individual experiences, touching upon both current and previous professional endeavors. 🇦🇪 Find out more about Somerford in the Middle East on our website: https://www.somerfordassociates.com/somerford-middle-east/ ━━━━ #middleeast #uae #somerford

Listen to the story behind why Somerford is expanding into the Middle East. Find out how we are replicating our UK processes in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region and building a community of trust for organisations across a breadth of industries. 🇦🇪 Find out more about Somerford in the Middle East on our website: https://www.somerfordassociates.com/somerford-middle-east/ ━━━━ #middleeast #uae #somerford

In this special customer case study episode of the Somerford Associates Technology Podcast, our Chief Cyber Strategy and Innovation Advisor, Bill Balfour, is joined by a special guest from Specsavers, one of the leading providers of eye care services worldwide. Join us as we discuss our successful partnership in deploying Splunk for Cybersecurity and IT Operations. Graham Dawes, Service Tooling and Improvement Manager at Specsavers share his experience on a successful Splunk deployment withi...

In this podcast, join Anne and her expert panel of security strategists as they analyse how organisations can plan to achieve security maturity with Splunk. The panel shares their insights on the importance of proactive security maturity planning and offers guidance on avoiding common mistakes when implementing Splunk for security. Featuring Matthias Maier, EMEA Director of Product Marketing at Splunk, the panel also explore how Splunk can assist in improving threat detection capabilities, r...

Join Somerford's Anne Mundy for a discussion about the importance of your digital identity. Imprivata's Andy Wilcox adds his background and familiarity in exploring why digital identity is so important, as well as delving into tangible workplace examples and how businesses are able to rapidly assess the effectiveness of their current strategy through Imprivata's solution suite. Somerford is a certified Premier Partner with #imprivata. The Imprivata platform addresses critical complian...

Join Somerford's Grace Dolby in our final "Women in Tech" podcast of 2022. In this series finale, Grace is joined by Sarah Lucas, Head of Core Platform & Migration Services at Lloyds Banking Group, in examining key pitfalls organisations should evaluate before migrating to the Cloud. They also explore how Sarah started in the tech industry, and how this experience puts her in an advantageous position to offer advice on the matter. Sarah wraps up this episode by offering prac...

Join Anne for a special edition of the Somerford Podcast. featuring a guest panel in discussion around how Somerford provides further value, to both, its customers and Partners. They explore and detail previous client examples and testimonials, along with examining how the culture and people at Somerford are key to its success. ✓ Get to know Somerford further: https://www.somerfordassociates.com/about-us/ ━━━━ ▶ Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/00soJ9kAQuVCh9EB...

Somerford's 'Women in Tech' Podcast Series continues with Gina Gill, CDIO at the Ministry of Justice UK. Gina gives us an overview of the MoJ's Digital Strategy and how CIOs in large organisations are facing similar IT challenges, regardless of industry, and how the significance of people encompasses a key 'strand' of a successful Digital strategy. ✓ View our full 'Women in Tech' podcast series on our website: https://www.somerfordassociates.com/women-in-tech-podcasts/ ━━━━ ▶ Listen...