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LoneStar Advisory & Research

  • LoneStar Advisory & Research
  • LoneStar Advisory & Research
  • 2026,  Research Notes

    Fortinet Architects The Convergence Of Firewall And SASE Services

    July 27, 2026 /

    Many solution providers are charting a path of reimagining SASE services, and it is a logical evolution. With the rapid adoption of agentic AI applications and proliferation of corresponding workloads, SD-WAN and security will have to support the requirements of both human users and agents. It is anticipated that agents will generate far more network traffic than humans through persistent, around-the-clock MCP server, API, task, and orchestration calls across the infrastructure. These demands are expected to continue to escalate over time, and infrastructure providers will have to keep pace with deployments in both the cloud and on-premises as private AI adoption grows. To address these challenges, Fortinet recently announced an…

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    Will Townsend

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    Shadow AI And Endpoint Security Dominate Fortinet 2026 AI Cybersecurity Summit

    May 5, 2026

    Three Big Takeaways From NTT Research Upgrade 2026

    April 16, 2026

    Beyond the Network – Episode 1

    March 30, 2026
  • 2026,  Research Notes

    Three Big Takeaways From Cisco Live U.S. 2026

    June 5, 2026 /

    Cisco recently held its signature Live event in the United States, returning to Las Vegas and featuring over 1,200 sessions, including keynotes, technical demos, and breakouts. Themes related to scaling networking for AI, securing the agentic workforce, and reimagining operations dominated agendas, and I had the opportunity to spend time with company executives, customers, and partners to dive deeper into deployments and business outcomes. The launch payload was massive again this year as Cisco continues to move its solution development at the speed of modern AI. With a continued practice of summarizing my event attendance with three big takeaways – let’s dive in! Maintaining Control Through Chaos This year marks…

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    Will Townsend

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    SmartTechCheck Podcast – Episode 3

    April 6, 2026

    Dell Technologies World 2026 – Top Highlights

    June 2, 2026

    Beyond the Network – Episode 6

    July 29, 2026
  • 2026,  Research Notes

    Three Big Takeaways From Extreme Connect 2026

    May 16, 2026 /

    Extreme Networks turns 30 years old this year, and its recent Connect event in Orlando celebrated many of its achievements. Not surprisingly, AI-driven operations were a big theme, and it is abundantly clear that the company is focusing its efforts on delivering better business outcomes and improved network operational efficiency rather than just competing on speeds and feeds.  With a continued theme of summarizing my event insights with three big takeaways – let’s dive in! Extreme Platform ONE’s Agentic Journey At Extreme Connect, executives spent considerable time discussing how AI can reduce operational burden across wired, wireless, and fabric environments. Enterprise networking teams continue to struggle with complexity, and cloud-managed…

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    Will Townsend

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    Three Big Takeaways From T-Mobile Capital Markets Day 2026

    February 11, 2026

    Beyond the Network – Episode 3

    April 24, 2026

    What’s New In Security – RSA Conference 2026 Insights

    April 4, 2026
  • 2026,  Research Notes

    Three Big Takeaways From NTT Research Upgrade 2026

    April 16, 2026 /

    NTT Research held its signature Upgrade event in the heart of Silicon Valley this week. I had an opportunity for a third year in a row to join customers, partners, and company executives over two days for a visionary keynote, compelling panel sessions, and impactful technical demonstrations. With a continued theme of summarizing my event attendance with three big takeaways – let’s dive in! Incubation Designed To Scale Innovation Upgrade kicked off with its keynote emphasizing NTT Research’s efforts that serve as a foundation for meaningful innovation. It is a message that I have heard at past Upgrade events, but this year the Japanese tech giant put wood behind the…

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    Will Townsend

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    Three Big Takeaways From Okta Showcase NYC 2026

    March 17, 2026

    Three Big Takeaways From T-Mobile Capital Markets Day 2026

    February 11, 2026

    Three Big Takeaways From Fortinet Accelerate 2026

    March 12, 2026
  • 2026,  Research Notes

    NTT DATA’s AI Innovation Journey Leans Into Clouds And Connectivity

    April 9, 2026 /

    The concept of cloud computing can be traced back to the 1960s, rooted in the notion of time-sharing. This year marks its twentieth anniversary, and the cloud continues to play an instrumental role within IT and OT organizations. Cloud services provide scalable, cost-effective on-demand compute, networking, and security infrastructure to power business operations. Its ability to be treated as an operational expense is invaluable, as well as its ability to provide new features and capabilities to meet ever-changing applications and workloads, including the rise of generative AI and agentic frameworks. Over the past several weeks, I have had an opportunity to spend time with two NTT DATA executives and attend…

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    Will Townsend

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    Infineon’s Smart Power Fab Paves A Road To European Semiconductor Sovereignty

    July 17, 2026

    SmartTechCheck Podcast – Episode 2

    March 13, 2026

    Three Emerging Innovators – MWC Barcelona 2026

    March 18, 2026
  • 2026,  Research Notes

    floLIVE Reimagines Connectivity for Intelligent IoT Operations

    February 25, 2026 /

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    Will Townsend

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    Three Big Takeaways From Microsoft Security’s Project Perception Event

    July 30, 2026

    Three Big Takeaways From CyberArk Impact 2026

    May 27, 2026

    Dell Technologies World 2026 – Top Highlights

    June 2, 2026
  • 2024,  Research Notes

    Gigamon Visualyze Bootcamp Shines a Light on Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure Management

    October 14, 2024 /

    Gigamon held its fifth annual Visualyze Bootcamp virtual event over three days in early September. Since its founding 20 years ago, the company has developed a deep observability pipeline that leverages network intelligence to detect threats often missed by traditional security tools. The Bootcamp serves as an opportunity for Gigamon to share its industry and technical knowledge with customers. Most organizations using cloud services employ a multi-cloud model to benefit from competitive pricing and access to best-of-breed service offerings. Additionally, the trend toward containerization and virtualization aims to enhance operational and cost efficiencies. However, hybrid cloud deployments can introduce complexities that require careful management. The Bootcamp addressed many of these challenges, with…

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    John Tipton

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    INTEL SECURE AI

    October 8, 2024
August 10, 2026Video Field Note: Securing Modern AI In A Machine-Versus-Machine World
August 7, 2026Cisco SASE Exchange – August 11th
August 4, 2026Everything is Bigger in Texas!
July 30, 2026Three Big Takeaways From Microsoft Security’s Project Perception Event
July 29, 2026Beyond the Network – Episode 6
July 27, 2026Fortinet Architects The Convergence Of Firewall And SASE Services
July 17, 2026Infineon’s Smart Power Fab Paves A Road To European Semiconductor Sovereignty
July 16, 2026Nokia Stakes Its Claim To Being First To AI-RAN Commercialization
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© 2026 LoneStar Advisory & Research | "Ask Will" is a Denser AI beta agent trained on a subset of the formal published work of Will Townsend. It generates responses based on vast data inputs and lacks critical thinking, so it can't guarantee factual accuracy and may produce content that's incorrect or misleading.