Show Notes
What if your biggest security vulnerability isn’t a hacker, but your support strategy? In this episode of Let’s Solve IT!, Matt Brown sits down with Mike Eubanks, Senior Director of IT Operations at NetApp, to explore why reactive IT support is becoming a growing business risk. From technical debt and aging infrastructure to ransomware and expanding attack surfaces, they discuss why proactive operations, observability, and AI are becoming essential tools for modern IT organizations. You’ll hear:
Why reactive IT support is becoming a growing security risk in the age of ransomware and cyber threats What a technical debt, aging infrastructure, and poor technology hygiene expand an organization’s attack surface The role of observability, AI, and proactive operations in identifying and resolving issues before they impact the business Practical strategies for reducing risk, improving security posture, and shifting IT support from firefighting to prevention
Support teams rarely get recognized when nothing breaks, but that’s exactly the point. The real challenge in modern IT isn’t responding to disasters faster. It prevents outages, ransomware attacks, and operational disruptions before the business ever feels the impact. You are not alone. Let’s Solve IT!
Learn More: IT case studies | NetApp
Connect with us: Matt Brown | LinkedIn Michael Eubanks | LinkedIn
Below is a summary of this episode’s transcript: What does it really mean to make IT support proactive in an era defined by AI? In this episode of Let’s Solve IT!, host Matt Brown sits down with Mike Eubanks, Senior Director of IT Operations at NetApp, for a candid, real-world conversation about why traditional IT support models are breaking—and what it takes to evolve them. Key topics:
Why unsupported systems and legacy applications create hidden security vulnerabilities
How observability enables predictive, proactive IT support
The role of AI in correlating data, reducing troubleshooting time from hours to seconds
How to build a secure AI environment with governance and guardrails
Why culture is critical to shifting from reactive to proactive operations
The importance of failing fast, iterating quickly, and empowering teams to act early
If your team is still waiting for tickets to come in, this conversation will challenge you to rethink what modern IT support should look like—and how to get ahead of risk before it disrupts the business. At the center of the discussion is a fundamental shift: IT support can no longer afford to be reactive. While business leaders continue to invest in innovation and AI-driven transformation, support organizations are expected to operate like a utility—always on, always available, and invisible when working well. But under the surface, aging infrastructure, unsupported systems, and growing data complexity are creating a constant stream of hidden risk. Notable Quotes:
“Being secure requires a different focus." (1:58) - Stated when explaining growth of security risks forced IT and the business to change their approach. AI is fundamentally changing both sides of the equation. On one hand, it’s accelerating innovation and enabling faster insights. On the other, it’s amplifying security risks, exposing new ways for bad actors to identify and exploit weaknesses.
"You have to listen to the experts. You have to let them plan and understand the plan and then communicate that plan." (2:45) - Said while describing his leadership philosophy in IT support, emphasizing collaboration and expertise.
“We don't look for things that are broken. We look for things that are breaking and AI helps us do that." (5:22) - This was Mike's explanation of the shift from traditional monitoring to proactive observability. He shares how his team is shifting from traditional monitoring to modern observability, using AI-powered analytics to identify patterns, detect anomalies, and predict issues before they im
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