How to Optimize a Microsegmentation Architecture with Elisity

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Elisity Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Elisity

Video Links:

Personnel: Dana Yanch, Piotr Kupisiewicz

This Elisity presentation at Network Field Day 36 focuses on how Elisity’s microsegmentation architecture leverages a cloud-native distributed control plane that separates policy management from enforcement. At its core, the system utilizes a centralized policy management platform that integrates with existing identity providers and maintains the Elisity IdentityGraph—a comprehensive mapping of all network assets, their relationships, and behavior patterns. This identity-centric approach moves beyond traditional IP-based controls to enable context-aware policy enforcement at the network edge.

The implementation relies on Elisity Virtual Edge controller(s) that transform existing access-layer switches into policy enforcement points. These controllers communicate with the Elisity Cloud Control center via secure channels, enabling real-time policy updates without requiring dedicated hardware. For manufacturing environments, this architecture enables granular control over industrial control systems and OT devices while maintaining IEC 62443 compliance. In healthcare settings, it facilitates 405(d) HICP compliance while protecting sensitive medical devices and clinical systems.

Key technical components include the Elisity identity-based Dynamic Policy Engine that leverages machine learning for asset discovery and classification, graphical policy visualization matrices for traffic flow analysis, and virtual edge nodes that enforce policies using native switch functionality. The system continuously monitors east-west and north-south traffic patterns, providing real-time telemetry data for behavior analysis and policy refinement.

This architecture enables security teams to implement zero trust principles at scale, with the ability to microsegment networks down to individual workloads while maintaining the performance requirements of critical manufacturing and healthcare operations. The platform’s ability to learn from traffic patterns and automatically adjust policies based on identity and context makes it particularly effective in environments where traditional agent-based solutions are impractical.


Elisity Top Microsegmentation Challenges and Goals Across the Manufacturing Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Industries

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Elisity Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Elisity

Video Links:

Personnel: Dana Yanch, Piotr Kupisiewicz

This Elisity presentation at Network Field Day 36 focuses on how the convergence of IT and OT networks has created unique cybersecurity challenges across manufacturing, pharmaceutical, and healthcare sectors, where legacy systems, unmanaged devices, and critical operations intersect. This technical talk explores how microsegmentation addresses the distinct security requirements of these regulated industries.

In manufacturing environments, the primary challenge lies in securing industrial control systems that often run on legacy operating systems and utilize proprietary protocols. Organizations must maintain IEC 62443 compliance while enabling secure communication between production zones, enterprise IT systems, and remote access points. Critical goals include protecting intellectual property in manufacturing execution systems (MES) while ensuring zero operational downtime.

Pharmaceutical companies face the additional complexity of FDA-regulated environments where Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) systems require both rigorous access controls and detailed audit trails. These organizations need microsegmentation solutions that can isolate quality control systems, laboratory information management systems (LIMS), and research data while maintaining strict regulatory compliance. Healthcare institutions struggle with an explosion of IoMT (Internet of Medical Things) devices that can’t support traditional security agents.

Meeting 405(d) HICP guidelines requires organizations to implement microsegmentation without disrupting critical care devices or patient monitoring systems. The challenge intensifies with the need to segment clinical networks from billing systems while maintaining HIPAA compliance.

Learn how modern microsegmentation architectures and platforms like Elisity address these challenges. You’ll see how Elisity’s Identity-based microsegmentation platform enables policy enforcement at the network edge, leveraging existing switch infrastructure for policy enforcement.

Learn why success requires continuous asset discovery, automated policy recommendations based on learned traffic patterns, and the ability to enforce segmentation policies without requiring hardware refresh or network redesign.


Elisity Microsegmentation Platform Origin Story

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Elisity Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Elisity

Video Links:

Personnel: Dana Yanch, Piotr Kupisiewicz

This Elisity presentation at Network Field Day 36 includes an overview of the Elisity origin story. Elisity was founded in 2019 and has was built to be a leap forward in network segmentation architecture and today Elisity is leading the enterprise effort to achieve Zero Trust maturity, proactively prevent security risks, and reduce network complexity. Designed to be implemented rapidly, without downtime, upon implementation, the platform instantly discovers every device on an enterprise network and correlates comprehensive device insights into the Elisity IdentityGraph .

This empowers teams with the context needed to automate classification and apply dynamic security policies to any device wherever and whenever it appears on the network. These granular, identity-based microsegmentation security policies are managed in the cloud and enforced using your existing network switching infrastructure in real-time, even on ephemeral IT/IoT/OT devices. Founded in 2019, Elisity has a global employee footprint and a growing number of customers in the Fortune 500.

In 2024 The Forrester Wave : Microsegmentation Solutions, Q3 2024 was published. In this evaluation, Elisity was cited as a Strong Performer in Microsegmentation Solutions. Elisity was one of 11 vendors evaluated for the Forrester Wave based on 23 criteria that examined a vendor’s current offering, strategy, and market presence. In its first appearance in a Forrester Wave, Elisity received the highest score possible in the vision, roadmap, network-based enforcement, and OT, healthcare, and IoT criteria.


Accelerate Zero Trust Maturity Through Enterprise-Wide Microsegmentation with Elisity

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Elisity Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Elisity

Video Links:

Personnel: Dana Yanch, Piotr Kupisiewicz

Elisity empowers enterprises to rapidly improve their security posture and accelerate Zero Trust maturity across their entire digital ecosystem. Our revolutionary approach to microsegmentation delivers comprehensive protection for all users and devices—across IT and IoT/OT—without disruption or complexity.

The Elisity IdentityGraph automatically discovers and correlates your complete network landscape, providing the contextual intelligence needed to automate security policy creation and enforcement. We’ll show how leading enterprises implement Elisity in weeks, not years, achieving immediate risk reduction while advancing their Zero Trust journey.

Elisity is a leap forward in network segmentation architecture and is leading the enterprise effort to achieve Zero Trust maturity, proactively prevent security risks, and reduce network complexity. Designed to be implemented in days, without downtime, upon implementation, the platform rapidly discovers every device on an enterprise network and correlates comprehensive device insights into the Elisity IdentityGraph . This empowers teams with the context needed to automate classification and apply dynamic security policies to any device wherever and whenever it appears on the network. These granular, identity-based microsegmentation security policies are managed in the cloud and enforced using your existing network switching infrastructure in real-time, even on ephemeral IT/IoT/OT devices. Founded in 2019, Elisity has a global employee footprint and a growing number of customers in the Fortune 500.


Arista Multi-Domain Segmentation (MSS)

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Arista Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Arista

Video Links:

Personnel: Alessandro Barbieri

Enterprise-wide zero trust networking across multiple network domains requires a flexible identity-based microsegmentation service enforced in the distributed network. CloudVision delivers multi-domain orchestration and monitoring services of zero trust policies based on microperimeters, with dedicated, easy to use security dashboards to manage the end-to-end microsegmentation lifecycle across the enterprise.


Arista CloudVision 360 Network Observability

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Arista Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Arista

Video Links:

Personnel: Praful Bhaidasna

Also Part of the CloudVision Update, Praful will share a demo of the latest CloudVision capabilities for the Data Center. Arista’s CloudVision dramatically simplifies operations with automation, observability and zero trust security capabilities across all enterprise networking domains, from campus to data center, WAN, and cloud.


Arista CloudVision Campus Demo with Paul Druce

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Arista Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Arista

Video Links:

Personnel: Paul Druce

As part of the CloudVision Update, Paul will share a demo of the latest CloudVision capabilities for the Enterprise campus networks. This uniform approach helps enterprises save operational expenses by removing traditional network operational silos while delivering reliable and resilient networks.


Arista CloudVision for the Multi-Domain Enterprise

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Arista Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Arista

Video Links:

Personnel: Andre Pech

Arista’s CloudVision dramatically simplifies operations with automation, observability and zero trust security capabilities across all enterprise networking domains, from campus to data center, WAN, and cloud. This uniform approach helps enterprises save operational expenses by removing traditional network operational silos while delivering reliable and resilient networks. This CloudVision Update session will be a retrospective on where the product has been and where it is going.


What’s New with Arista in 2024

Event: Networking Field Day 36

Appearance: Arista Presents at Networking Field Day 36

Company: Arista

Video Links:

Personnel: Jeff Raymond

In this video, get an update from Jeff Raymond about the state of Arista in 2024. Hear about expanded use cases for observability, network segmentation, AI platforms, and multi-domain operations. Learn how Arista takes a software-first approach to development and uses their expertise in development to inform everything they do in the networking industry.


Interlock Market Opportunity and Use Cases

Event:

Appearance: Interlock Technology Tech Field Day Showcase

Company: Interlock Technology

Video Links:

Personnel: Noemi Greyzdorf

In this presentation, Noemi Greyzdorf, VP of Operations at Interlock Technology, illustrates how the company’s data migration solutions provide a unique value proposition by simplifying the process, accelerating time to completion, and ensuring compliance and data integrity. Greisdorf highlights two key offerings: DF Classic, a fully managed data migration service where experts handle the entire process, and DATAFORGE, a self-service software designed to automate and expedite data migrations for professionals. This presentation also features a successful case study of a cloud migration for a customer, demonstrating Interlock’s capability to efficiently migrate large volumes of data.


Interlock Architecture and DATAFORGE Demo

Event:

Appearance: Interlock Technology Tech Field Day Showcase

Company: Interlock Technology

Video Links:

Personnel: Massimo Yezzi

In this presentation, Massimo Yezzi, CTO at Interlock Technology, demonstrates the deployment of Interlock technology for optimal operational efficiency and effectiveness. He showcases the DATAFORGE platform, a comprehensive data migration tool designed to facilitate the seamless transfer of large volumes of data across various platforms and storage systems. DATAFORGE offers features such as real-time monitoring of resource usage, a performance scheduler to minimize impact during data transfers, and application-aware transformations that ensure metadata integrity.


Introduction to Interlock

Event:

Appearance: Interlock Technology Tech Field Day Showcase

Company: Interlock Technology

Video Links:

Personnel: Noemi Greyzdorf

In this presentation, Noemi Greyzdorf, VP of Operations at Interlock Technology, introduces Interlock’s data migration solutions. Designed for large-scale data movement, Interlock enables seamless migrations across various storage protocols while maintaining application compatibility. With over 1,000 complex migrations completed, Interlock ensures smooth transitions between protocols such as NAS, SMB, S3, and REST. Their DATAFORGE software facilitates flexible, high-performance migrations across on-premises, cloud, and hybrid environments, bypassing application data paths for minimal disruption.


Ignite Security Field Day – Rethinking Biometrics with Mitch Ashley

Event: Security Field Day 12

Appearance: Ignite Talks at Security Field Day 12

Company: Ignite

Video Links:

Personnel: Mitch Ashley

In this Ignite talk, Mitch Ashley talks about how our public information is creating a biometric digital twin of our experiences. All of the things we buy and the places we go are tracked and integrated with our digital identity and this creates security implications that must be understood.


Ignite Security Field Day – How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Automation

Event: Security Field Day 12

Appearance: Ignite Talks at Security Field Day 12

Company: Ignite

Video Links:

Personnel: Alastair Cooke

In this Ignite talk, Alastair Cooke discusses the rise of automation and the role it plays in design as well as security for DevOps. Also discussed are tips and solutions for streamlining your development environment and ensuring that it is fluid with the current state of advancement.


Ignite Security Field Day – Oh No, IO! The Death of a TLD

Event: Security Field Day 12

Appearance: Ignite Talks at Security Field Day 12

Company: Ignite

Video Links:

Personnel: Tom Hollingsworth

What happens when a ccTLD disappears from the Internet? What if it’s one of the most popular TLDs for new startups? In this Ignite talk, Tom Hollingsworth looks at the pending removal of .io and the impact it could have on the Internet. He also discusses what has happened in the past when the process has failed and how modern innovation could prevent this from happening again.


Own Your Career – Career Management for the Modern Technologist with Jack Poller

Event: Cloud Field Day 21

Appearance: Ignite Talks at Cloud Field Day 21

Company: Ignite

Video Links:

Personnel: Jack Poller

Jack Poller’s talk at Cloud Field Day 21 focuses on the importance of actively managing one’s career, particularly in the technology field. He shares his own career journey, which spans from engineering to marketing, consulting, and eventually becoming an industry analyst. Poller emphasizes that career success is not just about technical skills but also about understanding how to make a company more successful, either by increasing revenue or reducing costs. He highlights the importance of being adaptable and willing to take on new roles, as he did when he transitioned from engineering to marketing. Poller also stresses that in any role, the ultimate goal should be to contribute to the company’s success, and this requires understanding the business’s needs and how your work impacts the bottom line.

Poller also discusses the importance of influence and politics in the workplace, especially as one moves up the career ladder. He acknowledges that many technologists view office politics negatively, but he argues that it is a necessary part of getting things done, particularly in leadership roles. He uses examples from his own career, such as managing a crisis after a theft at a startup, to illustrate how sometimes difficult decisions must be made quickly, even if they are not popular. Poller also references the TV show *The Wire* as a great example of how politics, both formal and informal, play out in different organizations, from drug cartels to police departments. He encourages technologists to embrace the reality of workplace politics and learn how to build coalitions and influence others to achieve their goals.

Finally, Poller emphasizes the importance of networking and personal relationships in career advancement. He points out that while technology has made it easier to apply for jobs, it has also created barriers, such as AI-driven applicant tracking systems that may filter out qualified candidates. Therefore, building a strong professional network is crucial, as most job opportunities come through personal connections rather than resumes. Poller advises technologists to be proactive in seeking out mentors and building trust with colleagues, as trust is a key factor in career success. He concludes by encouraging the audience to take ownership of their careers, set clear goals, and continuously work toward them, rather than passively waiting for promotions or opportunities to come their way.


2010 A Service Odyssey with Jay Cuthrell

Event: Cloud Field Day 21

Appearance: Ignite Talks at Cloud Field Day 21

Company: Ignite

Video Links:

Personnel: Jay Cuthrell

In his presentation, Jay Cuthrell reflects on predictions he made in 2008 and 2009 about the future of technology, particularly in the telecommunications and service provider sectors. He humorously critiques his own foresight, acknowledging both the hits and misses in his predictions. Cuthrell draws parallels between his predictions and the famous film “2001: A Space Odyssey,” suggesting that, like the film’s futuristic vision, his own ideas were speculative at the time. He recalls attending various tech conferences and events, such as Google I/O and TechCrunch, where he gathered insights and trends that informed his predictions. These included the rise of IPTV, mobile TV, fiber-to-the-premises, and voice over IP, many of which have since become mainstream, while others, like WiMAX and certain peer-to-peer technologies, have faded into obscurity.

Cuthrell also discusses the evolution of cloud computing, content delivery networks (CDNs), and the increasing importance of multi-RF devices, which allow for multiple radio frequencies in a single device. He notes that while some of his predictions, such as the widespread adoption of fiber optics in homes, were overly optimistic, others, like the growth of cloud-based services and the dominance of content delivery networks, have largely come to fruition. He highlights the shift from physical media to streaming services, with companies like Netflix and YouTube leading the charge, and the eventual dominance of cloud storage and computing. He also touches on the development of mobile infrastructure, such as femtocells and portable Wi-Fi solutions, which have become essential in rural areas and during large events.

In the latter part of the talk, Cuthrell reflects on the broader implications of his predictions, particularly in areas like session control, virtual routers, and impulse enablement, which aimed to simplify network access and transactions. He acknowledges that while some of these ideas have materialized, others were either ahead of their time or missed the mark. He also discusses the role of companies like Oracle in acquiring legacy telecom systems and the ongoing importance of DNS traffic in understanding user behavior. Ultimately, Cuthrell’s presentation serves as a retrospective on the rapid evolution of technology over the past decade, offering a mix of nostalgia, humor, and insight into the unpredictable nature of technological progress.


Nine More Business Lessons I Learned From Baseball with Stephen Foskett

Event: Cloud Field Day 21

Appearance: Ignite Talks at Cloud Field Day 21

Company: Ignite

Video Links:

Personnel: Stephen Foskett

Stephen Foskett revisits his original Ignite talk from nine years ago, where he shared nine business lessons he learned from baseball, and now presents nine more lessons with a more seasoned perspective. Reflecting on his earlier optimism, Foskett acknowledges that his new insights are perhaps more cynical, shaped by years of experience.

He begins by emphasizing the importance of “working the refs,” a metaphor for standing up for oneself in business, even when things don’t go your way. He also touches on the reality that money can indeed buy success, but warns that it’s not a foolproof strategy, as many teams and businesses have learned the hard way. Foskett highlights how management often chases trends, trying to replicate the success of others, but this approach rarely works because the landscape is constantly changing. Foskett also delves into the significance of attitude, noting that even the most talented teams or companies can fail if their people lack motivation or belief in what they are doing. He draws parallels between sports teams with high payrolls that underperform and businesses that think they can buy success without fostering a positive culture. He critiques the idea of the “wisdom of the crowds,” pointing out that popular opinion is often misguided, whether in sports, business, or politics. This leads to another lesson: past success does not guarantee future success. Foskett warns against relying too heavily on historical performance, as circumstances change, and what worked before may not work again.

In his final lesson, Foskett underscores the importance of resilience, stating that it takes many losses before achieving success. He encourages people not to be discouraged by failure, as it is a natural part of the journey toward winning. He concludes on a lighthearted note, reminding the audience not to take themselves too seriously. Drawing from the fun elements of baseball, like mascots and the “Take Me Out to the Ballgame” tradition, Foskett emphasizes that work should be enjoyable. He reflects on his own career, expressing gratitude for the challenges and joys of running Tech Field Day and Gestalt IT, and encourages others to find the same sense of play and fulfillment in their own professional lives.

Watch the original talk, 9 Business Lessons I Learned From Baseball!


The VMware Cloud Foundation Approach to Platform Security

Event: Security Field Day 13

Appearance: VMware Presents at Cloud Field Day 21

Company: VMware

Video Links:

Personnel: Bob Plankers

VMware Cloud Foundation offers a wide array of features and capabilities to help organizations be and stay secure. In the short time we have we’ll talk about recent improvements aimed at making hard security tasks easy or non-existent (ESXi Live Patch, Image-Based Lifecycle Management, audit & remediation tools, Identity Federation and its relationship to attacker trends, etc.)

In this presentation, Bob Plankers from VMware by Broadcom discusses the VMware Cloud Foundation’s approach to platform security, emphasizing the importance of making security features easy to use and adopt. He highlights that VMware’s goal is to ensure that security is intrinsic to the system, with minimal effort required from users to enable it. The focus is on reducing friction in security processes, making it easier for organizations to comply with regulatory requirements and adopt security best practices. Plankers explains that VMware has been working on several improvements, such as ESXi Live Patch, Image-Based Lifecycle Management, and audit and remediation tools, all aimed at simplifying traditionally complex security tasks. He also touches on the importance of defense in depth, where multiple layers of security are implemented, starting from hardware-level protections like secure boot and trusted platform modules (TPMs) to software-level features like code signing and encryption.

Plankers also delves into the broader security landscape, discussing how VMware Cloud Foundation integrates security across the entire stack, from infrastructure to workloads. He emphasizes the importance of availability and resilience, noting that features like V-motion, DRS, and high availability are critical security features that ensure systems remain operational even during attacks or failures. Additionally, he discusses VMware’s efforts to support post-quantum encryption, identity federation, and continuous monitoring for security controls. The presentation concludes with a focus on reducing the friction associated with patching and updates, including the introduction of live patching for ESXi, which allows for faster and less disruptive updates. Overall, VMware’s approach is to make security a seamless and integral part of the infrastructure, allowing organizations to focus on their workloads while maintaining a strong security posture.


Run Enterprise Workloads with Kubernetes on VMware Cloud Foundation

Event: Cloud Field Day 21

Appearance: VMware Presents at Cloud Field Day 21

Company: VMware

Video Links:

Personnel: Katarina Brookfield, Vincent Riccio

VMware Cloud Foundation allows customers to run any modern workload alongside any traditional workload, all on the same platform, using a unified set of management tools. In short demos we’ll walk through capabilities of main services, such as VM Service and vSphere Kubernetes Service (VKS), and demonstrate their seamless integration with underlying Network and Storage infrastructure to provide Load-balancing and Persistent Volumes for our workloads. Later we’ll discuss how VCF Automation takes the consumption experience to the next level with the introduction of Blueprints and Self-Service Catalog. In addition we will discuss governance and policies, lifecycle management and ongoing cost visibility of your workloads and applications.

VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) offers a unified platform for running both traditional and modern workloads, such as virtual machines (VMs) and Kubernetes clusters, using a consistent set of management tools. The platform integrates compute, storage, and networking resources, allowing users to deploy workloads in a seamless manner. VCF’s declarative API, called the VCF Supervisor, enables the deployment of Kubernetes clusters and VMs, providing resource isolation through vSphere namespaces. This allows administrators to set governance policies, such as access control and resource allocation, while also offering additional services like private container image registries and ingress controllers. The platform supports hybrid applications, where both containers and VMs can coexist, and provides a seamless experience for managing these workloads using the same tools. The demo showcased how easy it is to deploy Kubernetes clusters and VMs using VCF’s interface, with options for customizing configurations, such as networking overlays, storage policies, and VM classes.

In addition to workload deployment, VCF also offers automation capabilities through its VCF Automation tool, which allows users to consume and deploy services across private cloud environments. The tool supports templates and self-service catalogs, enabling users to deploy hybrid applications that combine VMs and containers. The automation tool integrates with various services, such as load balancers and persistent volumes, and provides governance features like lease policies to manage resource usage. The demo highlighted how users can create YAML-based templates to automate the deployment of Kubernetes clusters, VMs, and other services, while also offering flexibility for DevOps teams to manage infrastructure as code. Overall, VCF provides a comprehensive solution for managing both traditional and modern workloads, with a focus on automation, governance, and seamless integration across the infrastructure stack.


« Previous Page
Next Page »