Greetings, and welcome to IT Brew

Greetings, salutations, and welcome to the first edition of IT Brew, the newest addition to your inbox from Morning Brew. We’re here to talk about cybersecurity, AI, remote work, and the challenges facing the contemporary IT professional.

Why? Well you’d be hard-pressed to find an industry more important to the behind the scenes of our lives than today’s IT industry. Issues like company data breaches, attacks on critical pieces of a country’s infrastructure, and phishing attacks that cost businesses thousands of dollars affect both employers and employees, and leave IT professionals wondering how best to keep up with the ever-changing landscape.

The ongoing pandemic — yes, still — has flipped the concept of “going to work” on its head, and IT teams are the backbone of that transition. Managing remote workers, securing hybrid offices, and battling for bigger budgets is a part of the IT professional’s new normal. And with over eighty percent of employers in a PWC survey stating their businesses have been more successful since shifting toward a remote-friendly workplace, the new normal isn’t going away anytime soon.

Which brings me to you, dear reader. IT Brew is for you, the IT professional. It’s for the CISO and sysadmin who want to keep current with the thoughts and concerns of their colleagues and peers. We’re here to help those making decisions to make the right ones, both for themselves and the people for which they’re responsible. We also want to tell stories that aren’t being told about the nitty gritty of the IT business, and help you answer questions you’ll face daily. How can you secure data even for the most forgetful of us? How do you source new vendors? Who gets priority when it comes to support, blustery execs or customers with legitimate issues? How do you spell “Kubernetes?”

I am IT Brew’s editor and emcee, Patrick Lucas Austin. I’ve covered technology for over a decade for outlets like TIME, Ars Technica, and Consumer Reports, and, in a past life, was part of a medical-imaging company’s IT team. Joining all of us on this journey is senior reporter Tom McKay, formerly of Gizmodo, where he wrote about cybersecurity and the spread of online hate groups. Also joining us is reporter Billy Hurley, who’s covered everything from EV battery tech and cloud computing to developments in space exploration.

We're still kicking the tires over here, so please let us know what you think. We’d love to hear your thoughts on everything from stories to format. Enjoy!—PLA