Explain IT

What happens when the technology designed to make work easier becomes too complex, restrictive or difficult to manage? In this episode of Softcat’s Explain IT podcast, Helen Gidney, Softcat’s Head of Architecture, is joined by Scott Manchester, Chief Product and Technology Officer at Nerdio; James Millington, Field CTO for Healthcare, EMEA at IGEL; and Mark Forster, CTO at Softcat.Together, they explore how organisations can create digital workspaces that are secure, manageable and genuinely productive for employees. The conversation covers the changing role of BYOD, the rise of shadow IT and BYOAI, and the growing expectations employees bring from consumer technology into the workplace.The panel discusses the competing pressures facing IT leaders, including investment in artificial intelligence, cyber security, data management and endpoint modernisation. They consider how virtualisation, centralised data and immutable endpoints can reduce risk while still delivering the seamless experience users expect.The conversation highlights that when employees cannot work effectively, the cost extends beyond IT support to lost productivity, talent attrition and disrupted business relationships.The episode covers practical advice for organisations navigating a fast-changing digital workplace: find a trusted advisor, understand your users and consider security, cost, complexity and experience together.The Explain It podcast is released monthly. Subscribe or follow in your app so you don't miss the next one, and if this episode was useful, a review helps other IT leaders find the show.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Modernising infrastructure does not have to mean starting from scratch. In this episode, Helen Gidney, Softcat's Head of Architecture, is joined by Sam Woodcock, Senior Director of Solutions Architecture at 11:11 Systems and Pat Parrish, Proposition Owner for Hybrid Platforms at Softcat to explore how organisations can rethink their hosting strategy in response to rising costs, security pressure, compliance demands, AI, and limited IT resources. The conversation focuses on the practical decisions businesses face when balancing resilience, flexibility, and cost.Sam and Pat break down the realities behind the modern infrastructure debate, including why many companies are reassessing how they host critical applications and data. They discuss the trade-offs between on-premises environments, IaaS, PaaS, SaaS, public cloud, and private cloud, and explain why the best approach often depends on the specific workload. The episode also highlights the importance of shared responsibility, especially when it comes to backup, recovery, access, and data protection.A major theme throughout the discussion is the need to understand what stays with the business and what can be handed over to a service provider. The guests also explore lock-in, portability, and the need to plan for both today’s needs and tomorrow’s growth. By the end of the episode, you will have a clearer framework for making smarter infrastructure decisions that reduce risk without limiting innovation.The Explain It podcast is released monthly. Subscribe or follow in your app so you don't miss the next one, and if this episode was useful, a review helps other IT leaders find the show.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Helen Gidney, Softcat's Head of Architecture, heads to Las Vegas (in spirit, at least) with Tim Loake from Dell Technologies and Softcat's own Tim Jeans to pick apart the biggest announcements from Dell Technologies World 2026.If you work in enterprise IT, this one is especially worth your time. The conversation covers where AI has actually landed after years of hype, why data sovereignty is reshaping infrastructure decisions, and what the current supply chain situation means for your budget right now.AI off the slide deck and into production. The two Tims and Helen look at which AI applications are generating real business value today, from RAG-based knowledge assistants to coding copilots, and why owning your data is the foundation of any competitive AI strategy.Hybrid cloud and the case for on-premise. Data sovereignty and security concerns are pushing many organisations away from purely public cloud deployments. The episode breaks down what Dell Private Cloud and the newly announced Exoscale storage platform actually offer, including the ability to scale compute and storage independently without locking yourself into a single software vendor.The supply chain problem nobody's budgeted for. AI data centre growth has put serious pressure on memory and drive availability well into 2026 and 2027. The conversation covers how consumption models like Dell APEX can help you secure hardware and lock in pricing before the situation gets worse.Why automation isn't optional. Human error in complex IT environments isn't a training problem, it's a systems problem. The episode makes the case for open-standard automation as the practical answer to operational resilience.The Explain It podcast is released monthly. Subscribe or follow in your app so you don't miss the next one, and if this episode was useful, a review helps other IT leaders find the show.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is your business truly cyber resilient, or are you one malicious click away from a system lockdown?In this episode of Softcat's Explain It podcast, host Helen Gidney is joined by James Blake from Cohesity and Gary Hawkins from Softcat to work through what modern data protection and recovery actually looks like, and why it differs from traditional disaster recovery.They discuss why cyber resilience can't be bought off the shelf, how conventional DR approaches risk reintroducing threats into a recovered environment, and why IT, security, and the C-suite must work as one rather than in separate lanes.James and Gary also break down where to start before an attack happens: baselining your IT maturity against NIST and ISO frameworks, treating your backup platforms as a security layer in their own right. As well as building the offline playbooks, digital jump bags, and clean-room environments that determine whether you survive the first 72 hours of a ransomware incident.The episode closes on AI, specifically how cybercriminals now use LLMs to find and exploit software vulnerabilities in under 24 hours, and what that means for how quickly organisations need to be able to respond.Hosted by Helen Gidney, Head of Architecture at Softcat, the Explain IT podcast is where we discuss, debate and demystify tech in simple, jargon-free language.Thanks for listening to the Explain IT podcast from Softcat.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

"It’s not just about where your data lives - it’s about who should, or shouldn’t, have access to it."In this episode of Softcat’s Explain IT podcast, host Helen Gidney, Head of Architecture at Softcat, is joined by Sabina Anja, Chief Technologist, VMware Cloud Foundation at Broadcom, and Gary Hawkins, Chief Technologist, Hybrid Platforms at Softcat, to demystify the complexities of Data Sovereignty.As organisations face increasing regulatory pressure and the rapid adoption of AI, understanding where your data lives - and who controls it - is critical. The discussion explores how governance, the Cloud Act, and GDPR are reshaping cloud strategies across Europe, driving a renewed interest in private cloud and sovereign cloud solutions.In this episode, Helen, Sabina and Gary discuss:• Defining Data Sovereignty: Why it is not just about location, but about jurisdiction, technical control, and operational access.• The Reality of Repatriation: Analysing the shift back to on-premise or Neo cloud environments to control data, without abandoning public cloud entirely.• Modern Infrastructure: How containers, Kubernetes, and AI demands are influencing infrastructure and data design.• The Power of Platforms: Meaningful insights on using VMware Cloud Foundation 9 (VCF9) to provide a unified control plane for policy-based data sovereignty.Thanks for listening to the Explain IT podcast from Softcat.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

2025 was a defining year for technology. From the rapid acceleration of private cloud adoption and growing security risk challenges, to major shifts in digital employee experience driven by Windows 11, businesses have been pushed to rethink what’s possible with IT.In this Best of Explain IT 2025 episode, we revisit our biggest themes and most impactful conversations from the year, bringing together highlights from four standout episodes that shaped how organisations approach modern technology.Including moments from:Navigating Windows 10 End of Support (October)We revisit our episode on Windows 10 end of support, featuring Softcat’s Kelly Calver and Ella Chew. This conversation explores how organisations should prepare for the transition to Windows 11, with a strong focus on application readiness, compatibility, and minimising disruption for end users.Everything Data: From Strategy to Silos (August)From our data-focused episode, Andy Crossley (Oakland) and James Wingham (Softcat) discuss why a clear data strategy must come before tackling data silos. The clip highlights how businesses can unlock real value from data by aligning technology with long-term business goals.Streamlining Your Operations (September)In this episode, Oli Meadows (Softcat) and Adam Sperring (ServiceNow) explore how organisations can streamline operations by thinking about service management across the entire business, not just IT. A must-listen for anyone looking to improve efficiency, visibility and outcomes through enterprise service management.VMware Explore on Tour: is Private Cloud the solution your business needs? – Special Edition (November)One of two special editions in 2025, this episode covers VMware Explore On Tour, featuring Richard Fraser (Softcat) and Joe Bagley (Broadcom). It dives into how a unified private cloud platform is driving innovation and helping businesses modernise securely and at scale.About Explain IT:Hosted by Helen Gidney, Head of Architecture at Softcat; Explain IT, where we talk tech in simple, jargon-free language.Keep Listening:If you enjoyed this episode, please consider leaving a review — it helps others discover the podcast. You can also catch up on all the episodes mentioned here, covering topics like private cloud, VMware innovation, data strategy, and service operations.We release new episodes every month, so make sure you follow the podcast.Coming up: insights into AI-driven security, and how to maximise your technology investments ahead of the 2026 public sector year-end.Thanks for listening to the Explain IT podcast from Softcat.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode of Explain IT explores the evolution of the smart workspace, moving beyond basic connectivity to create environments that act as a "magnet, not a mandate" for employees. Host Ashleigh Baker is joined by experts from Softcat and Cisco to discuss how integrated technology - ranging from seamless networking to AI-powered collaboration tools - drives employee experience and business performance. By focusing on technology that removes "meeting room fear" and enhances creativity, organisations can transform their physical offices into high-IQ hubs that rival the comfort and efficiency of home working. Ashleigh Baker is the guest host of the podcast and a team leader in Softcat's architecture service. Joining her is Tom Rowley, Softcat networking connectivity chief technologist; Jack Lewis, Softcat workspace chief technologist; and Rob Lei, Cisco UKI solutions engineering director and CTO.The conversation highlights the critical role of a performant and secure network as the foundation for these workspaces, ensuring that investments in Unified Communications (UC) are not bottlenecked by poor infrastructure. Using Softcat's own Manchester office refit as a blueprint, the guests explain how leveraging smart sensors for air quality and energy usage supports both sustainability goals and operational efficiency. Looking ahead, the panel predicts a shift toward intelligence at the edge and agentic AI to further optimise real-time interactions and maintain a "distance zero" feeling for remote participants.• Magnet vs. Mandate: Understanding why modern workspaces must be designed to inspire collaboration and outperform the home-working experience to draw employees back to the office.• The Network Foundation: Why a wireless-first strategy and resilient switching are essential to support the density of modern devices without creating performance bottlenecks.• Seamless Integration: How the partnership between Cisco and Microsoft Teams allows businesses to utilise their preferred platforms while benefiting from bleeding-edge hardware and unique breakout experiences.• Sustainability and Observability: Using smart sensors to monitor granular power usage and air quality, while leveraging observability to prove ROI and improve user experience.• The AI Frontier: A look at the next five years of agentic AI and cinematic meeting experiences that use automated camera switching to reduce meeting fatigue.Softcat’s Explain IT podcast is the place where we discuss, debate and demystify tech in simple, jargon-free language.For more information visit softcat.com.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Business leaders are setting AI strategies, and IT teams are expected to deliver results.Research from the IDC shows that 88% of all AI pilots fail to reach production. So enter Private Cloud AI, a new way to role out your AI adoption.In this episode we break down what Private Cloud AI is, why it matters, and how this technology is helping organisations overcome challenges and unlock real value.Podcast host and Softcat's Head of Architecture, Helen Gidney is joined by Nigel Horsell, Private AI Channel leader for UKIMEA; James Brooks, Hybrid Solutions Leader for UKIMEA both at HPE and Gary Hawkins, Chief Technologist for Hybrid Platforms at Softcat.Softcat’s Explain IT podcast is the place where we discuss, debate and demystify tech in simple, jargon-free language.For more information visit softcat.com.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Many organisations are rethinking their cloud strategies and searching for smarter, more secure solutions. Private cloud is gaining traction as an alternative, combining the agility and scalability of public cloud with the added control and protection of a dedicated environment. In this episode, we explore how VMware is redefining the private cloud journey - helping businesses build, secure and manage environments tailored to their unique needs. Hear expert insights from Joe Baguley, CTO EMEA at VMware by Broadcom, and Richard Fraser, Broadcom Product and Services Specialist at Softcat. Hosted by Helen Gidney, Softcat’s Head of Architecture.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

As Microsoft wraps up a decade of Windows 10 support, we’re seeing a real moment of decision for businesses.If you haven’t made the move yet, it’s time to ask - are we upgrading, adapting, or exposing ourselves to risk? With cyber threats ramping up and support winding down, knowing your options isn’t just helpful - it’s essential.This time we're discussing the end of support for Windows 10, what it means for organisations, and what you should do if you’ve missed the October 14th deadline. Joining me is Kelly Calver - Head of Workspace and Ella Chew - Workspace Alliances Lead both at Softcat.Softcat’s Explain IT podcast is the place where we discuss, debate and demystify tech in simple, jargon-free language.For more information visit softcat.com.This podcast is produced by The Podcast Coach. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.