Technology September 2022 www.bookshq.net

TECH MAHINDRA

He continues: “The third building block
for the network of the future is around
managing and operating the network.
The network learns itself; it's closed-loop
automation. So, it decides, it learns itself,
it post-corrects itself, and it just keeps
refining and refining and refining – to the
point that the network’s operations are self-
managed, self-sustained and self-driven.”

To ensure the automation element of
the network runs well, Tech Mahindra built
a platform called AINOF: an AI-enabled
platform that brings together different tools
to simplify and automate operations.

Driving forward Tech Mahindra’s
vision with Intel
Mangal understands the importance of
strategic partnerships in delivering the
best-in-class service and solutions to
customers. Armed with this understanding,
the executive has cultivated and nurtured
strong partnerships with companies
offering top-quality solutions, enabling
Tech Mahindra to become a catalyst in the
transformation of the telecommunications
industry.

A key partner in this journey is Intel – a
partnership Mangal describes as “a match
made in heaven”.

90+

Countries

1262+

Global customers, including
Fortune 500 companies

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technologymagazine.com 251

TECH MAHINDRA

“Both of us operate in different business our partnership that we have with Intel. Our
layers, but, fundamentally, we are similar. approach is: together, we go to the customer
Intel is an amazing, phenomenal technology and help create these transformation journeys
company. They are the bedrock of all – our partnership has been doing extremely
computing technology. Our partnership well. I believe we’ll be able to drive significant
with Intel started very early to figure out how collective impact in the future,” adds Mangal.
the technologies they are building can be
released into the operator's networks so that The most significant opportunity of this
the customers can use it. Our partnership partnership comes from the mutual growth
stems from a technology collaboration to the pair can generate together. Collaborating
the realisation of the technology, into the closely in the edge space, Mangal explains:
transformation journeys for the customer,” “Intel is inventing chip sets design solutions
he says. that make these edge solutions real to drive
a lot of new revenues for the industry.”
“We also work closely with them in bringing
a software-based cloud-native network to life With Intel, Mangal is confident that Tech
with the operators. That's the second area of Mahindra will be able to speed up the
adoption of 5G as it improves its clients’

www.bookshq.net

TECH MAHINDRA

“We are investing heavily in
technology capabilities; we are investing

heavily in the organisation, the
structure and the people that become

the trusted transformation partners
for our customers”

MANISH MANGAL
GLOBAL HEAD OF BUSINESS,
5G AND NETWORK SERVICES,

TECH MAHINDRA

networks: “Our mission is to be the trusted
transformation partner for the industry. For
us, that involves continuous evolution as a
company and as a network services’ business
to build more and more capability in advanced
technology areas.”

“We are investing heavily in technology
capabilities; we are investing heavily in the
organisation and the structure and the people
that become the trusted transformation
partners for our customers.”

He concludes: “As I look at the next 12 to
18 months, I'm looking at exciting times for
us. One of my mentors said that if you are a
young engineer, this probably is the best time
to be in the industry – it has suddenly become
fashionable and fascinating. For me, the next
12 to 18 months in Tech Mahindra looks like
a continuation of the journey that we have
already taken on – to become the partner
for telecoms and enterprises in the journey
of creating the network of the future for
themselves.”

www.bookshq.net

technologymagazine.com 253

BACK TO TV-
STYLE VIEWING?
THE FUTURE
OF MEDIA
BROADCASTING

WRITTEN BY: www.bookshq.net
JOSEPHINE
WALBANK

PRODUCED BY:
BEN
MALTBY

254 September 2022

OSN Freaky

www.bookshq.net

technologymagazine.com 255

Peter Riz,
former
CTO of
OSN

www.bookshq.net

OSN

Peter Riz, the former CTO of OSN,
reveals his future predictions for
media broadcasting and OSN’s
approach to meeting our ever-
changing entertainment needs

T he birth and stratospheric rise
of streaming services have
completely transformed the way
that we watch. Over less than a
decade, our viewing habits have
evolved: from TV channels and Friday-night-
DVD-rentals, to an endless array of choices
(personalised to your individual tastes) being
made available with just a few clicks.

Not only has this change revolutionised
the way we access and interact with media,
but it has also extended to adverts and our
viewing habits, enacting a complete cultural
shift in the way the world watches.

In short, few sectors have experienced
such a rapid digital transformation as that of
TV and broadcasting. In fact, Blockbuster –
a video and DVD rental company that went
bust in 2014 – famously had the opportunity
to buy Netflix for just US$50mn in 2000 (an
absolute steal considering the streaming
service’s valuation these days). At the time,
Blockbuster essentially laughed the offer
down, doubting that the streaming service
had anything to offer the market.

Now, movie and video streaming represent
one of the largest and fastest growing
global sectors, with a number of pioneering
providers continuously evolving these
services. Such industry figures are connecting
viewers across the world with more choices,
more autonomy and more flexibility.

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technologymagazine.com 257

OSN

Game Of Thrones To find out more about this dynamic
industry, we spoke to Peter Riz, the former
CTO of OSN. We discussed his predictions
for the media streaming industry, the
launch of OSN’s new streaming service,
the company’s future plans, and the digital
transformation – and consequent cultural
shift – that we can expect to see over the
next few years.

Digital transformation, and the move to
expand from satellite-based services
OSN is the leading entertainment company
for premium content across the Middle East
and North Africa (MENA), with the rights to
broadcast in 22 countries across the region.

The modern-media giant is the exclusive
partner to the largest tv studios across the

2009 www.bookshq.net Mission: Impossible II
Year
founded

700+

Number of
Employees

258 September 2022

“ We all need to keep PETER RIZ
being open-minded,
learn new things and, TITLE: FORMER CTO
to an extent, forget INDUSTRY: MEDIA & ENTERTAINMENT
LOCATION: DUBAI, UAE

some of the old

practices, because Peter Riz has over 20 years
they just are not of premium Pay Television
followed anymore in and OTT experience within the
the digital world” Middle East and Europe, with a
focus in Digital Transformation.
PETER RIZ During his carrier Riz has
FORMER CTO, different positions in content
OSN operation, project management,
technical operation, product
development and engineering
roles. In the last 10 years, Riz

assumed various technical

world – across both its box and streaming leadership and strategic

services. Its partnerships with studio responsibilities specifically

majors include HBO, NBC Universal, Fox, focusing on the development

Paramount, MGM, Disney, and Sony, no less. and operations of over-the-top/

Peter Riz, a recent OSN addition, boasts streaming media products.

over 20 years of experience in the prestigious Riz previously held the role

TV and media industry, having overseen rapid of Chief Technology Officer

change during his tenure. Originally from at OSN, where he led both the

Budapest, Riz moved to Dubai and joined broadcasting and streaming

OSN just over three years ago. technology strategy and

“OSN was originally a traditional, execution. Riz also spent over

satellite-based pay TV service. The mission 12 years with HBO Europe

was to provide high quality entertainment where he was the Senior Vice

to the MENA region. At that time, internet EXECUTIVE BIO President – Technology. Under

connectivity wasn’t that developed, so the his leadership at HBO he was

best and easiest way to achieve this was to responsible for all aspects of

use satellite distribution. That was OSN’s Product Design, Development,

original business, and it was very successful Delivery and Operation of the

in the region.” HBO Europe OTT platform

Then, over the last few years, as the branded as HBO GO.

tendency and trends turned to digital

distribution, OSN followed suit and also shifted

www.bookshq.netfocus to the streaming experience, instead.

technologymagazine.com 259

OSN

OSN’s predictions for the
future of media broadcasting

“O ne of the best

pieces of advice When Riz joined the company, OSN’s
I ever received mission was to build a new digital
was to stop streaming platform that the company
speculating, ask owned, which meant they could be sure
more questions it would provide an experience matching
and listen to the that of Netflix and other big companies in
the streaming domain.

“Today, OSN runs these two things
parallel – they are building the user

answers” experience, the commercial and the
technical synergies between the satellite
world and the streaming world. And that's

PETER RIZ really what the mission here is: to find
FORMER CTO, all these synergies and provide the user
OSN
www.bookexspheriqen.cne ien btoth domains.”

260 September 2022

The Girl on the Train

OSN’s digital infrastructure including how to build and operate

changes, and a shift towards the data centre,” commented Riz.

hybrid approaches 22 Today, most of the trends have
According to Riz, a wave moved towards “using and utilising
of new mobile and data OSN is the region’s the cloud” and, from a hardware
technologies has brought leading entertainment point of view, “most of the added
about a change in the way value is somehow connected to the
that companies perceive business, with the software development”.
rights to broadcast in 22
countries across MENA.

physical infrastructure components. Riz explains how, in the past, a broadcast

“Traditionally, the broadcast industry is company tried to own everything and

about equipment, devices and on-prem build (or at least integrate) all the physical

data centres – BIG data centres. Five or ten components together on their own.

years ago, a CTO would have had an equally Now, though, “the balance between the

good knowledge of all the software, all the components that you buy and that you build

www.bookshq.nethardware and all the necessary infrastructure, has changed”.

technologymagazine.com 261

www.bookshq.net

OSN

“ Sometimes, as a CTO, Vanquish

I say that I need to This means that, rather than
run two different broadcasters trying to build everything

organisations – one for their end-to-end streaming platforms
is responsible for the themselves, a hybrid architecture
legacy technology approach is becoming the norm, instead.
and the other is
responsible for the As the market and the available
new technology.” components expand, the goal now
becomes understanding “how to build all
these cloud based services together, in a
way that will really provide the competitive
advantage for your company and give you
the opportunity to customise the user

PETER RIZ experience based on your needs.”
FORMER CTO, OSN still runs some of its infrastructure
OSN
www.bookshq.netoperation in an on-prem environment,

technologymagazine.com 263

OSN

www.bookshq.net

264 September 2022

The Sopranos delivering a modular hybrid platform that
separates different functions in the platform
using the microservice-based architecture
and adopting a hybrid approach to
component construction.

“How I see it, that's really the trend in the
entire industry,” says Riz.

“Since broadcasters no longer try to cover
end-to-end technical responsibilities on
their own, there is much more flexibility,
meaning they can build these types of hybrid
systems. Now, it is down to companies to
maintain well-managed, balanced buy-and-
build strategies.”

The launch of OSN+, and bridging
the gap between old and new
By deploying these technological
advancements and infrastructure changes,
OSN has been able to develop its offerings
to include a brand new streaming service.

Currently, this launch is the main area
of growth for OSN, spearheading the
company’s digital journey and changing the
way that they broadcast.

But, in such a period of transformation
within the industry, a key priority becomes
maintaining the old (and still successful)
service, while consistently making new
additions that the market demands.

“OSN is also working out how to build a
bridge between the legacy broadcast world
and the new streaming world,” Riz explains.

“Sometimes, as a CTO, I say that I need
to run two different organisations. One is
responsible for the legacy technology, and the
other is responsible for the new technology.”

According to Riz, OSN’s vision is that, in the
near future, its viewers will be able to have the
complete TV experience – without needing
any additional satellite capability.

“OSN has a plan to release a new hybrid

www.bookshq.netset top box to the market very soon, which,

technologymagazine.com 265

OSN

from a technical point of view, is connected to mix of contents, as well as guide and help to
the new streaming ecosystem and carry only discover the content in a way that is appealing
some base services from the satellite world.” to the market. I really believe that, based on
the recent trends and changes in the industry,
“Again, the goal is to utilise the same its long-term partners rediscover this value.”
components and achieve an organic
transformation between the current state, this In order to provide the best possible user
hybrid state and the final state, which is the experience, OSN is working hard to build and
internet-connected sector box.” strengthen its partnerships.

What’s next for OSN, and what can we expect “In this industry, we always say that the
for the future of the media streaming market? whole industry is about three things: the
Looking to the future, partnerships exclusivity, because you want to create
remain one of the most critical revenue quickly that you can then reinvest
factors in OSN’s growth strategy. into the next content; the partnerships,
because they help us to maximise the
“The role and the added value of the content monetisation capability of the
strong local brands is, I think, hugely industry; and how we manage and utilise the
important,” Riz comments. long-tail content.”

“A brand like OSN can really talk to the When asked what OSN's broadcasting
local customers and can create the right services will look like in five years’ time, Riz

www.bookshq.net

266 September 2022

“We always say
that the whole
industry is about

three things:
exclusivity, the

partnerships,
and how we
manage and

utilise the long-
tail content”

PETER RIZ
FORMER CTO,

OSN

Halo a lot of initiative to turn the television back

to television.”

“You see more and more partnerships,

laughs and says: “This is one of the questions as if the industry has just again realised that

that keeps us up during the night!” the strong local brands like OSN can add

“If you follow the industry and the trends really good value and help – even the big

in the industry, all the changes and all the brands – to monetise their content.”

directions being taken are changing very, “All these business trends really dictate

very quickly.” how OSN uses the technology, how they

One such emerging trend that Riz broadcast and how they do the distribution.

comments on is the return to a more So, one of my main roles was to keep

conventional TV-style viewing – even everything flexible, secure the basics, and

amongst streaming services. be ready to integrate with the outside

“In the last few months in the industry, world in a different way than before.”

we’re rediscovering how television can

be television again. For example, Netflix is

talking about advertisements and creating

www.bookshq.neta more channel-like experience; Roku has

technologymagazine.com 267

SUPERCHARGING
SOUTHEAST STATES
WITH CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE

WRITTEN BY:
ALEX TUCK

PRODUCED BY:
LEWIS VAUGHAN

www.bookshq.net

268 September 2022

www.bookshq.net

technologymagazine.com 269

DC BLOX

DC BLOX is the data centre provider with a difference.
By connecting communities in the US southeas to the
world, they are enabling massive economic growth

D C BLOX provides secure,
reliable Tier III data centres
and robust connectivity to
businesses in growing markets,
with a particular focus on the
southeast of the United States.

Passionate about driving progress in

communities where the foundational

infrastructure for the digital economy is

limited, CEO Jeff Uphues says that it has

been a “really exciting journey” since they

were founded eight years ago.

“The whole premise behind us was to

serve local mid-size markets that didn't have

the critical infrastructure, like some of the

bigger cities like LA or New York had done.

We've always been in the southeast and

around the Atlanta market.”

Systematically putting in data centre

after data centre throughout the southeast

required purchasing more landed markets

and then integrating them all together within

a private, dark fibre or high-bandwidth

connectivity solution.

This fabric of interconnected data centres

is designed to “serve locally and connect

globally on behalf of our customers”, adds

Uphues, and the approach “brings the

market to major new levels of connectivity”.

DC BLOX took a ‘bottoms up’ approach in

first looking at the markets, size, and growth,

as Uphues explained.

“When you take the landscape around the

southeast United States, you've got some

real growing cities here. You've got Charlotte,

Atlanta, Nashville; other markets like JEFF UPHUES

www.bookshq.netGreenville and Charleston in South Carolina, CEO, DC BLOX

270 September 2022

www.bookshq.net

technologymagazine.com 271

DC BLOX

www.bookshq.net

272 September 2022

“T HIS FABRIC OF With the urgent need for new physical and
INTERCONNECTED network infrastructure, DC BLOX works with
businesses as well as with state and local

DATA CENTRES governments to build that infrastructure,
IS DESIGNED TO and to develop the workforce and culture to
grow their tech economies.

SERVE LOCALLY Myrtle Beach Cable Landing Station –
AND CONNECT a hurricane-proof gateway to the world
GLOBALLY ON In a hyperscale landscape dominated by the
major cloud companies in terms of internet

BEHALF OF OUR transit and capacity, the industry has seen a
CUSTOMERS” shift from the telco internet – birthed from
the likes of AT&T and Verizon – to the next
generation of cloud services. As these cloud

JEFF UPHUES services needed to be distributed further
CEO, DC BLOX outside of core markets, the cloud internet

emerged.

and Birmingham and Huntsville in Alabama. One of the ways the cloud internet

Not to mention many cities throughout expands is internationally through subsea

Florida. The southeast is a fast-growing connections. DC BLOX were able to win

environment and there are great economic the Myrtle Beach project with a large

incentives for businesses to move here. You hyperscaler, one of a number of initiatives

don't have these harsh cold winters either, so that DC BLOX are involved in alongside

it's ideal for infrastructure,” said Uphues. hyperscalers.

Uphues is proud of the services DC BLOX “Of all the cable landing stations on the

provides, as they understand that businesses eastern seaboard of the United States,

are facing increasing challenges that have a Myrtle Beach was directly halfway between

profound impact on their ability to compete New York and Miami, and it's a centralised

and grow in their markets. place that had many core benefits: there's

Infrastructure is considered vital to not a lot of barrier islands to go around; the

the way businesses operate and deliver shelf of the subsea floor is a little shallower

services and must connect customers to in areas before it drops off into deep water;

infrastructure in their markets and across it is close to the burgeoning data centre

the globe. With the pandemic accelerating and communications hub of the southeast

digital transformation – mass migrations to US, and, aside from hurricane-proofing the

the cloud, increased mobility and big data – building – which is common in Miami – it has

www.bookshq.netincreased agility is required.
a great climate”.

technologymagazine.com 273

The Next Generation in
Modular Data Centers

GENIUS Modular Data Centers are purpose-built, Learn more >
compact, economical, energy-efficient and quick
to deploy with an impressive speed to market of
five to eight months. GENIUS delivers the flexibility
of a stick-built data center for edge or colocation
providers while enhancing cloud computing

www.bookshq.netoperations, reducing carbon footprints and

lowering CapEX costs.

DC BLOX

Dark fibre ‘interstate’ along the way, but now owning this dark

As part of the philosophy of serving locally fibre that allows us to create a unique

and connecting globally, Uphues explained capacity for providing connectivity”.

that DC BLOX took the added step of “We have this single purpose to serve

building a dark fibre ‘backbone’ extending locally and connect globally on behalf of

directly from Myrtle Beach, running by our customers. Though we have customers

Charleston and Augusta, all the way into with locations in Germany or AsiaPac, we

Atlanta and landing in Lithia Springs, never truly lived our purpose and vision

“where there's a lot of hyperscale data until we won the Myrtle Beach project,”

centres being built”. said Uphues.

“We've done this by building a multi-duct

conduit and dark fibre system that allows us Southeast as an Edge location

to connect our cable landing station all the DC BLOX continues to expand, currently

way through to core hyperscale data centres running five core data centres with the

and key points of exchange along the way, CLS and a seventh recently announced

like Digital Realty and Telex in downtown and many more to come – all to a modular

Atlanta, or some of the hyperscale data infrastructure that’s right-sized for the

centres that are out in Lithia Springs.” market acting as connectivity exchanges

Uphues describes it as “the expressway that serve those markets.

from the ocean floor all the way into Atlanta. “Just like you have core exchanges

DC BLOX presses the ‘easy’ button for our within larger markets, we've just extended

www.bookshq.netcustomers, not only having data centres
those into the edge markets we serve.

technologymagazine.com 275

DC BLOX

Then, through this dark fibre, we are

interconnecting all our sites together so all

along the route, you have what we'll call

‘gateways’ functioning as access points for

content to be deployed.” MYRTLE BEACH
Uphues continued: “They become CABLE LANDING

connection points for rural cooperatives STATION
and cities to connect into that provides the
capacity and Internet transit services needed In partnership with global
to connect their local broadband networks hyperscale partners,
from their communities to the world. So, in
essence, our ability to empower the edge is DC BLOX is redefining the
hyperscale Cable Landing
Station with its new facility

also helping to bridge the digital divide in our in Myrtle Beach, South
region. It's an exciting time and we've got a Carolina, which is set to
lot ahead of us.” open in the second quarter
of 2023. The CLS will be
With predictions suggesting there’ll be a located in the International
need to double the size of network capacity Technology & Aerospace
in the next five-to-eight years, Uphues
Park (ITAP).

reflected on the core infrastructure that Download ebrief for
is needed. He asked: “How many conduit Myrtle Beach CLS
systems are available in the ground, where

they can pull more cables or pull more fibre

from, and how many fibres are available in

the existing conduit systems?”

As part of the services that they focus on

at DC BLOX, the first is the core infrastructure

of data centres; the second is the DC BLOX has a higher purpose

interconnectivity between those data centres, To conclude, Uphues suggested that many

as well as the interconnectivity between people in the data centre business today

cloud companies and major connectivity have come out of the real-estate business

exchanges; and, thirdly, high capacity data and are still just real-estate focused. While

storage for customers that don't want to put he acknowledges that they founded the

data into the cloud, either because the data industry, this was primarily just to erect a

sets are too large and distant,there are latency building filled with computers containing

issues, or interactiveness with the cloud is storage and power.

cost prohibitive. “The DC BLOX team is made of

These large storage arrays contain technology industry veterans. We have

videos and images, genomic research and always taken the approach that this is, at

healthcare data, and lots of other data sets the end of the day, a technology service

that are kept local in one of the markets, with that you're buying; whether you're renting

network connectivity available between data a cabinet of equipment in a building, you’re

centres to distribute and protect data where moving data to a public cloud provider, or

it is needed. www.bookshq.netyou are backing up your mission critical data

276 September 2022

EXECUTIVE BIO DC BLOX

JEFF UPHUES

TITLE: CEO
INDUSTRY: IT SERVICES
LOCATION: UNITED STATES

Jeff Uphues leads DC BLOX where
he is responsible for setting and
leading the company’s strategy, vision
and execution in designing, building, and
operating a fabric of interconnected,
highly secure, Tier III-rated data centres
across the US southeast.
Jeff is a 30-year veteran in the
information technology industry having
held C-suite leadership roles for Liquid
Web, Cbeyond, Bandwidth, ACSI Network
Technologies, MCI and WilTel.
Jeff is a graduate of the Harvard
Business School, Rice University’s Jones
School of Business Executive Education
programme in Finance and Accounting
and completed his undergraduate studies
at the University of Texas at Arlington.

“DC BLOX PRESSES THE ‘EASY’ BUTTON
FOR OUR CUSTOMERS, NOT ONLY HAVING
DATA CENTRES ALONG THE WAY, BUT NOW
OWNING THIS DARK FIBRE THAT ALLOWS

US TO CREATE A UNIQUE CAPACITY FOR
PROVIDING CONNECTIVITY”

JEFF UPHUES
CEO,

www.boDCoBLkOXshq.net

technologymagazine.com 277

“THE DC BLOX TEAM IS
MADE OF TECHNOLOGY
INDUSTRY VETERANS”

JEFF UPHUES
CEO,

www.boDCoBLkOXshq.net

278 September 2022

DC BLOX

“In every market that we go into, we

attempt to use local contractors. When you

build a data centre, there's lots of different

contractors you use. We try to take a

percentage of our entire construction cost

and say, ‘who are the disadvantaged and

minority-owned businesses here that

can help provide us services?’. We want

to help the community and help them

grow their business.

“Every market that we have is passion-

led by the executives and the people that

we put there. So we hire local people with a

connection to the community,” said Uphues.

There are many wide-ranging causes

that DC BLOX supports, including women's

shelters, food banks, and tech infrastructure

– in the form of giving away thousands of

computers through partner organisations

and volunteering to help where needed.

“A laptop means the world to somebody

when they have connectivity to explore it.

This group then provides training classes

to them, partnering with school systems.

Our values are foundational to how we

serve our markets and have a real impact

on our culture.”

According to Uphues, the pandemic has

taught us all that there's a lot to be said

about having personal connections to the

people with whom you work.

off-site . We are no longer selling services “It's taught us how to be more

to facilities managers or CFOs, we’re interconnected and stay that way. The

selling into CIOs and CTOs. You’ve got to growth of the cloud internet is happening

understand strategic IT – it’s not just a real- everywhere. The remaking of the interstate

estate business anymore.” and the additional capacity that is available

DC BLOX engages in the markets is helping us to stay connected to each other

and contributes to them, too, minding locally and globally”.

local social and environmental concerns,

to ensure the business maintains a higher

purpose. www.bookshq.net

technologymagazine.com 279

Transforming
and Securing
Education
through Tech

WRITTEN BY:
İLKHAN ÖZSEVIM

PRODUCED BY:
TOM VENTURO

www.bookshq.net

280 September 2022

2U

www.bookshq.net

technologymagazine.com 281

2U

Andres Andreu, Chief
Information Security Officer
at 2U, a leading EdTech player,
explains why security is critical to
the present & future of education

T he face of education is
changing. With an evermore
interconnected world, the
times of having to attend
educational establishments in
their physical locations no longer applies.

Educational Technology (EdTech), in the

form of educational delivery platforms, is

transforming this landscape – there may even

come a day when education journeys are

taken entirely online as part of global culture.

This landscape has its challenges of course,

but it also brings with it major opportunities

to overcome some of the restrictions that

traditional educational systems have not

been successful eliminating.

In terms of the challenges, the most

pressing is probably that which concerns

data. 2U is the parent company of global

online learning platform edX which provides

over 45 million learners with access to

over 4000 digital education offerings from STATS

more than 230 colleges, universities and

corporations. Each one of those learners, 2U is the parent company

and the educators that constitute that of global online learning

learning relationship, has data that pertains platform edX which provides

to them. That’s a lot of data. over 45M learners with

Naturally, the security and the trust in the access to over 4000 digital

service is central to the educational dynamic education offerings in

and to 2U’s success – which is invariably tied partnership with more than

to the outcomes of its users. In other words, 230 colleges, universities,

the quality of education is now inseparable and corporations.

www.bookshq.netfrom the quality of the technology, which

282 September 2022

www.bookshq.net Example of
an image caption

technologymagazine.com 283

2U

“ Yes, a user does have implies, amongst other things, the security
an identity, but from of the systems that deliver that education.
Homeschooling has a new face, and if home

an IAM perspective, is where the heart is, then school is wherever
a machine also has an learners want it to be.
identity – even certain
Andres Andreu is the Chief Information
Security Officer at 2U. His role entails
overseeing everything to do with security,

elements of software ensuring those educational potentialities
have identities” are maximised by minimising the risk
involved when such systems are online. “I'm

responsible for the internal side of the house

ANDRES ANDREU – or what is traditionally called IT security,” he
CHIEF INFORMATION says, “and I'm also responsible for everything
SECURITY OFFICER, 2U having to do with the customer-facing side

of the house, which is where we engage with

our partners, instructors and students – a

larger ecosystem than the internal side. I also

oversee SRE (Site Reliability Engineering) or

DevOps and DevSecOps as well.”

As CISO, there could hardly be someone

better fitted for the job at 2U. Andreu has a

long and fruitful professional history, steeped

in the expertise that such a position requires.

His career began in the early nineties, in a

federal law enforcement agency in the US.

At the time, Andreu was actually pursuing a

career in law enforcement in the field, and

“through an interesting series of events”,

ended up on the tech-side, building what's

called 'Title Three' technologies or ‘lawful

intercept’, wire-tap technologies. “I really

never looked back from there and fell in

place with tech,” he says.

Andreu began his tech career as a

software engineer and also did some

hardware engineering at that time. “When

I left the government, I basically ended up

at a large international advertising agency

and took over the entire global applications

operation, which included everything on the

application security side as well – and, in

www.bookshq.netthose days, APPSEC was in its infancy.

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2U

ANDRES ANDREU

TITLE: CHIEF INFORMATION SECURITY
OFFICER

LOCATION: RALEIGH-DURHAM-CHAPEL
HILL AREA, NORTH CAROLINA

Andres Andreu, CISSP-ISSAP
is the Chief Information
Security Officer (CISO) at 2U, Inc.
and a Boardroom Certified Qualified
Technology Expert (QTE). Andres is
an industry veteran and recognised
industry leader. He was chosen as one
of the Top 10 CISOs for 2022 by C-Level
Focus. He was also chosen as CISO/
Leader of the week by the Cyber Startup
Observatory in February 2019 and
Computerworld, where he was voted
one of the Top 100 IT Leaders for 2009.
Andres is the sole author of “Professional
Pen Testing Web Applications” as well
as numerous magazine articles and an
Internationally granted patent.

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Title of the video

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286 September 2022

2U

“On my own, I started doing a lot of

pen testing (penetration testing or ethical

hacking) and built my own business, and this
was before the big players were involved

in pen testing. I also wrote a book on pen

testing in 2006 and that started my public
speaking path. After that, I began consulting

for a number of governments around the
world and ended up with an interesting

contract at the United Nations, oriented

around the technology side of human
trafficking and counter terrorism work.”

From this, Andreu co-invented three

cybersecurity products as employee
number three of Bayshore Networks. “We

started in 2012 and built the company and

the products up to exit in Jan of 2021,” he
says, “where an Israeli company bought

out all the intellectual property and the
engineering team.”

Andreu was then asked to join 2U to

spearhead their security programme. Learning
and security have clearly always been a motif

throughout his impressive career.

“ From an infrastructure As an EdTech company, 2U is presently
perspective, 2U is at an interesting migration point, where
they’re making a very hard push to move

actually in a really from a product company to a platform
good state because company – and there's a sizeable difference
we have a lot of between the two. “From a tech-perspective,
infrastructure as code we feel that an effective platform is the
deployment builds, future of the company. That shift will really
streamline and facilitate our partners' ability
to engage with us.”

so have many security Layer Seven – Securing
guardrails built into the data, not the network
those CI/CD pipelines” Since 2U’s customer-facing solutions were
born in the cloud, Andreu sees cloud and
application security as “very tightly coupled”.

ANDRES ANDREU “This is really the protection of our users,
CHIEF INFORMATION their data, their experience - from what's
SECURITY OFFICER, 2U
www.bookshq.netknown as a 'layer seven' perspective. A lot

technologymagazine.com 287

2U

“G uidepoint Security
have proven
themselves to
be not only very
knowledgeable in
the spaces where
we've used them, but
extremely trustworthy.
And to me, that's a
great combination”

ANDRES ANDREU
CHIEF INFORMATION
SECURITY OFFICER, 2U

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288 September 2022

2U

our objective is always to provide the safest
possible environment for our learners – and
our users and our instructors trust us with
their data – so protecting data at rest is one
extremely critical dynamic.” So there is data
at rest, and then there is data in transit, and
these all fall within Andreu’s remit as CISO.

“Now, there are some obvious challenges
with the space given that we can’t control
what a student has on their machine”, says
Andreu, “and I can’t control how they operate
from their personal machine. So, given these
challenging environments, there are multiple
protective elements we have put in place in
order to maintain the safest possible learning
environment for our customers.”

Risk and Compliance

Since Andreu joined 2U, they’ve built an

enterprise risk management committee,

of traditional security focuses more on the responsibility of which is to understand

networking devices and networking nuances. the identified areas of risk that 2U brings

Layer seven, or application security is a to the table. The committee then makes

totally different animal, because you're decisions in terms of priorities in addressing

dealing with elements at a data level – not those risks, implementing mitigating

at a network level. So to me, application controls within certain areas and calculating

security is the cornerstone of my entire how much budget they're going to put into

programme here. We've put a lot of work those decisions.

into it, but it really encompasses movements “That committee is really at the heart

on both sides of the equation.” of our risk management,” he says. “As a

This means that Andreu and his team company, from a compliance perspective,

have to address security at the core. “In we are mandated by a number of

other words, we need to make sure that our partnerships to have several assessments

software engineers are coding with certain and compliance requirements. So, for

models in their minds, which are protective instance, we are required to have SOC-2

mechanisms at a code-level,” says Andreu. (type-two) within certain business units,

“And then we have the other side, which is we pursue the UK cyber essentials

where we add elements like web application certification, we also are required to have

firewalls and content inspection at the actual PCI-compliance, all the way to externally

delivery points – right on ingress and egress. validated compliance and so on. From a

“And so to me, I see application security compliance perspective then, we're pretty

as an entire ecosystem within itself. Data broad in terms of the requirements that we

www.bookshq.netsecurity is really paramount to us because
have to meet.”

technologymagazine.com 289

THE NEXT 12 TO 18 MONTHS AT 2U The Cyber-Age-Old Question of Identity
“Perhaps a gross oversimplification, but

in any security system, to be able to

2U will be wholly focused on the understand the landscape, we obviously

platform, including everything from have to be able to discern those things

an engineering perspective, from the that are connected to the ecosystem, and

DevOps, DevSecOps perspective and in Identity Access Management (IAM) is really

securing that platform. a framework in terms of the end-to-end

“In my mission statement for the management of digital identities.” Andreu

cybersecurity team,” says Andreu, “it is pauses before continuing, “and I'm going

100% evident that our focus is on providing to be very clear here, because I'm very

the safest possible platform for our students opinionated on this subject.” We’re all-ears.

to learn and for our instructors to engage, so “Every organisation defines identity

everything's focused on the platform.” differently. However, having done a lot of

www.bookshq.network with identities, to me an identity is

290 September 2022

2U

Andreu expresses that he never loses sight
of the idea of software elements as having
identities, “because,” he says, “if you think
about machine-to-machine communications
at an API level, there's no human involvement
at all in that process, and so it really needs to
be thought of in that way.”

Layers of Security and the Locus of Defence

I begin to wonder whether a completely

secure network is even possible, especially in

the face of greater interconnectivity and the

data explosion that’s taking place on such an

unprecedented scale. So I asked him, and his

answer was rather stringent, but honest.

“I think network security is just nonexistent

at this point, and anybody that thinks their

really not just a user. Yes, a user does have networks are secure is, in my opinion,

an identity, but from an IAM perspective, delusional. Think about it. Our perimeters

a machine also has an identity – and even have disappeared, just as the traditional

certain elements of software have identities.” network has in fact, also disappeared. Our

This is an interesting approach. networks now are extended into cloud

“This,” he says, “is all very important if environments and deep into people's

you start thinking in terms of implementing homes. So you put in controls to try to limit

future zero-trust environments, because the attack surface within your network, but

identities are obviously at the heart of zero- honestly, you really have to just come to

trust, and so we're pushing into that space terms with the fact that the network is no

rigorously. From a user-identity perspective, longer the locus where you can protect

I can tell you that we're already on the things. At 2U, we are successful at our

journey to go passwordless and that's an network security, but I also understand that

important part of the access aspect of the the network is not really a good choke-point

IAM framework.” www.bookshq.netto try to implement security effectively.

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2U

GUIDEPOINT SECURITY “ It’s going to be
something that
2U has a meaningful partnership slowly remoulds the
with Guidepoint Security that has entire educational
allowed them to achieve much of their environment through
vision. Andreu says that he considers technology and AI in
Guidepoint Security as a trusted the EdTech space”
partner, which is notable as such a
notion does not come easy with him. ANDRES ANDREU
“Guidepoint have proven themselves CHIEF INFORMATION
to be not only very knowledgeable in SECURITY OFFICER, 2U
the spaces where we've used them,
but extremely trustworthy. And to
me, that's a great combination. It's a
combination that basically becomes an
extension of my team. My team is small,
but our scope of responsibility is broad.
And so I see Guidepoint as a trusted
extension of my team, and it's been an
invaluable relationship.”

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292 September 2022

“If you take the layer seven example for class, all 40 are going to have varying levels

instance: you could have all the network of background and experience – so half the

security in place that you want and an class is going to be bored half the time, while

application that gets deployed, but it's the other class is going to be challenged.

chock-full of holes. Unless you have That’s the traditional model of education.

something looking at layer seven data “But imagine an adaptive environment

natively – at a granular level – your network where a baseline gets set when the

security controls are totally useless. From an class begins. Then the difficulty of the

infrastructure perspective, then, 2U is actually challenges that get presented to students

in a really good state because we have a lot are dynamically adapted based on their

of infrastructure as code deployment builds performance, on their level of knowledge and

and so have many security guardrails built ability. I think that's really powerful, and it’s

into those CI/CD (continuous integration/ going to be something that slowly remoulds

continuous delivery) pipelines. It helps us to the entire educational environment through

automate the entire process of securing the technology and AI in the EdTech space.”

deployment of infrastructure.” 2U's mantra is ‘no back row’, because,

typically, the back row in a classroom misses

The Future of Education out. “They're the ones that are not focused

Andreu predicts that we're going to see a and are not getting the same level of attention

lot of intelligence built into the ecosystems from the professor,” says Andreu. “Our

of the EdTech industry. “For instance, in the objective is to remove that back row and to

same way that there's adaptive testing, like make this accessible to anybody who's willing

where you might get two or three questions, to take on the challenge of these classes.”

and then the difficulty increases accordingly

– there's going to be, I predict, an ‘adaptive

www.bookshq.netlearning’. Imagine 40 students in a coding

technologymagazine.com 293

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294 September 2022

Breaking barriers

to technology,

improving WRITTEN BY:
education TOM SWALLOW

PRODUCED BY:
TOM VENTURO

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technologymagazine.com 295

GBAPS

Amy Sterckx, Executive Director of
Technology and Information at GBAPS,
tells the story of the organisation’s equity
commitment and digital transformation

I n recent months, business leaders
have been crediting the coronavirus
pandemic as the catalyst of mass
digitisation. Schools were closed for
prolonged periods of time, making
winter shutdowns seem like nothing but
mere blips in this wider disruption to
education. If it wasn’t for digital technology,
learning would have fallen even shorter
than expected, as students were given
access to technology that enabled them to
work from home under the watchful eyes of
their parents.
Technology was, and still is, one of
the key enablers of education and, as
COVID-19 provoked years’ worth of digital
transformation in such a short period of
time, technology will continue to play its
role in ensuring that students are educated
properly, dynamically and safely.
Yet, with new technology comes added
risk. Cybersecurity is another core aspect of
digitisation so, although there are increased
attack vectors, there are increasingly more
sophisticated ways of countering these and
adapting such programmes to meet the
needs of users.
This is particularly true for Green Bay Area
Public Schools (GBAPS), which has been on
a journey to transform the way it operates,
squeezing every last ounce of education
into its students’ lives while making learning
easier and more fun inwthewprowce.sbs. ookshq.net

296 September 2022

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GBAPS

Overseeing these projects is Amy student information that flows through

Sterckx, Executive Director of Technology our software systems,” Sterckx explains.

and Information, who was born and raised “Our students have so much of their

in the area in which she now works. She information that is now naturally placed in

began her career as a classroom teacher the digital world, whether it's our student

and now works for the organisation that has information system, online textbooks that

managed education across the city for more we use, or third-party resources that are

than 150 years, overseeing the technology used in our classrooms.”

integration across 42 schools for more than The repeated consideration for student

19,000 students. safety has shaped the way the organisation

uses technology and, through such efforts, the

Securing the future of students and data organisation has obtained over 100 student

Adopting the necessary hardware and data privacy agreements to benefit the schools

software solutions is a key part of enabling under its watch, but also those throughout

success, but Sterckx believes it goes the state of Wisconsin.

beyond that as the commitment of the The group also offers training in collaboration

organisation to security becomes a critical with the county’s law enforcement to educate

part of school operations. all people, internally and externally, on data

“Although hardware and software are security and how to protect their information

large components of our work, technology as well as that of the children in the city. Such

truly encompasses more than devices and education is an important step in allowing

software systems. Here in Green Bay, we children to have access to the powerful tools

www.bookshq.nethave a large focus on the security of our
that enhance their learning.

298 September 2022

EXECUTIVE BIO Amy Sterckx

TITLE: EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF
TECHNOLOGY AND INFORMATION
INDUSTRY: EDUCATION
LOCATION: UNITED STATES

As the Green Bay Public School
District’s Executive Director
of Technology and Information, Amy
serves a crucial role as the liaison
between the District’s operational
teams and educational teams.
Experienced in both large and small
school districts, Amy enjoys working
alongside individuals and teams to
implement initiatives of innovation
for school improvement. A former
classroom teacher, Amy currently
holds a Master's of Arts in Educational
Technology from Marian University.
She earned her Certified Education
Technology Leader (CETL) National
Certificate, International Society
for Technology in Education (ISTE)
Certificate, and most recently was
nominated for the large corporate CIO
ORBIE award.

“ I believe COVID-19
has opened our eyes
up to opportunities
that we may not
have seen”
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GBAPS

Preaching equity in the
learning environment
GBAPS prides itself on implementing the
latest technological changes that impact
the educational symptom as a whole,
particularly as human resources has become
an issue for many schools. Students and
parents also gain peace of mind knowing
that GBAPS is working tirelessly to secure
student information.

“I think about it in a way that, just as we
protect our students in the physical world—
we make sure we know who we're sending
them home with and that our doors are
locked—we strive to do the same in our
digital world,” Sterckx says.

This also plays into the organisation’s
ethos of equity. The ability to provide

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