What people say about their file infrastructure once the badge comes off

The real-world challenges of managing legacy file infrastructure for remote teams are now being openly discussed.

The Register is hosting an off-the-record dinner event in Soho, London, on October 20, 2026, for infrastructure leaders to discuss their inherited file infrastructure. The event, chaired by Joe Fay and featuring Rupert Watson of LucidLink, aims to uncover candid insights often omitted from case studies. Topics will include the realities of managing distributed teams with outdated, office-centric storage solutions, including temporary VPNs and NAS devices that have outlasted migration plans. Discussions will also cover governance and security challenges in keeping unstructured data controlled across dispersed locations, as well as the costs and performance implications of duplicated storage. The evening will conclude with discussions on how current setups impact users' ability to access necessary files.

This event highlights a critical but often unaddressed pain point for IT leaders: the gap between official infrastructure deployments and the reality of how distributed teams actually manage their files. The focus on "off the record" discussions and "Chatham House Rule" suggests a desire to share practical, unvarnished truths about the workarounds and compromises organizations have made. This signals a market need for solutions that acknowledge and address the complexities of hybrid and remote work environments, moving beyond theoretical best practices to real-world usability and security.

The conversations at this dinner will likely reveal common challenges in data governance, security, cost control, and performance that arise from using infrastructure designed for on-premises offices to support a dispersed workforce. The insights gained could influence future product development and strategic decisions for vendors in the file infrastructure and cloud storage space, pushing them to offer more flexible, secure, and performant solutions tailored to modern work paradigms. Organizations attending will gain practical, peer-validated perspectives on how to improve their own file infrastructure.