Looking Back on the 2023 Dell Technologies World Conference

Recently, Dell hosted its annual Dell Technologies World conference, bringing together security and technology leaders from across the globe to discuss how they are changing the world through innovation.

This was Cymulate’s first year in attendance, which provided an excellent opportunity to introduce the company and the outcomes that Cymulate is able to produce for its customers. Dell Technologies World is a major draw for businesses in the technology space, and it was great to be represented beside companies with such a broad range of visions and perspectives.  

The conference focuses on a wide range of emerging trends in the technology field, but it was encouraging to hear Michael Dell himself acknowledge that cybersecurity is the number one challenge Dell customers face today. It’s exciting to be working alongside such a trusted name in the technology world to help deliver innovative new security offerings to the markets where they are sorely needed, and the conference was a great opportunity to showcase those offerings to others in the field.  

Key Focus Areas at Dell Technologies World 

The speakers and panels at the conference covered various topics, though the keynote speeches zeroed in on innovation and new ideas.

On day one, Michael Dell spoke about bringing ideas to life through advanced technology and human creativity, outlining a vision for the future alongside co-CEO Chuck Whitten. They were followed on day two by Dell COO Jeff Clarke, who outlined recent technological advances and their impact on modern life while illustrating the foundation they lay for future innovation. The message was clear: technology continues to advance at a rapid pace, and it’s up to us to determine how it can be used more effectively and responsibly.  

Of course, the keynotes were far from the only presentations at the conference. Speakers touched upon topics like zero trust and managed services — unsurprising as they are two key areas of focus for Dell. It was gratifying to see those topics rise to the surface, as they are also areas in which Cymulate provides tremendous value to clients and providers.

Dell is also setting an example for the rest of the industry by including security validation in their Managed Detection and Response (MDR) offering, further underscoring the growing importance of this critical segment of the security market. And Dell emphasized the value of Attack Surface Management (ASM), citing the importance of shrinking the attack surface to protect the organization’s most important asset: data.  

Automation and improved efficiency also factored into this discussion, with multiple presentations touching on the need to reduce tedious and repetitive tasks that IT and security personnel are responsible for. Security teams today operate through a combination of manual efforts and use case-specific toolsets, which can be difficult to scale as a business grows.

Platforms like Cymulate’s offer a way to perform, replicate, and automate security testing functions on a global scale and allow red and blue teams to collaborate on improving the organization’s overall security posture. By automating the most repetitive tasks, team members are freed up for more meaningful and impactful work—improving not just the organization’s security posture, but job satisfaction as well.  

Trending Topics in the Spotlight 

Given its propensity for making headlines of late, it came as little surprise that generative AI also received considerable attention at the conference. We’re still in the early stages of understanding what generative AI might mean for cyber—right now, much of the focus remains on what information is being shared with Large Language Models (LLMs) and AI as a Service platforms. That puts data leakage and loss prevention at the forefront, and Cymulate is in an ideal position to help organizations test the controls they have in place to prevent data loss.

It is increasingly important for businesses to have solutions that can prevent intellectual property or sensitive data from reaching LLMs and AI platforms, and Cymulate expects to play a prominent role in shaping how those controls operate moving forward.   

Finally, the need to operate more efficiently in today’s hybrid environments was a popular topic among security organizations. Hybrid models have presented unique challenges for security teams: the traditional concept of a “network perimeter” is effectively dead, with most employees no longer within the safe embrace of a common physical location.

As a result, endpoint protection and cloud-based solutions have become increasingly important, forcing enterprises to shift how they think about security. Dell Technology World included multiple breakout sessions on these topics, including a fascinating one on modeling how to combat security threats at the endpoint.  

Cymulate Partnerships in the Spotlight 

This year’s Dell Technology World was significant to Cymulate because it provided the opportunity to introduce the world to the new Cymulate partnership with Dell. Cymulate has been working closely with the technology leader to develop Dell Managed Detection and Response (MDR) Pro Plus, a fully managed, SecOps solution to protect endpoints, networks, and clouds. 

Unlike traditional managed response services, Dell MDR Pro Plus allows customers to take a more proactive approach to security. Instead of just focusing an attack in progress, the Dell service includes security validation based on Cymulate products and technology. This enables enterprises to validate, identify and remediate vulnerabilities and control weaknesses. 

By applying Cymulate products and technology for continuous automated red teaming and breach and attack simulation, the Dell MDR Pro Plus service gives their customers insights to improve security posture by understanding where faulty controls may lie and whether attackers attempting to accomplish a specific goal can capitalize on them.  

Cymulate is proud to play a key role in developing Dell MDR Pro Plus, and this conference was a welcome opportunity to engage with other Dell partners and learn about the fantastic, innovative solutions being created today across the security and technology fields. 

Looking Forward to Next Year 

The Dell Technology World conference was a great event—one the Cymulate can’t wait to return next year. The focus on innovation ensured that the keynotes and sessions focused on building a better, stronger, and safer future. It’s always inspiring to be in a room with so many big thinkers, and the Cymulate team came away feeling like Cymulate is well-positioned to help meet the emerging needs of organizations worldwide.

Cymulate is proud of its partnership with Dell and looks forward to seeing where next year takes us!