Pearl Technology

06/05/2026

June 5 is World Environment Day

Most of your company's digital waste is invisible. That is exactly why it keeps costing you.

June 5 is World Environment Day. A good moment to look at the digital side of sustainability: unused cloud resources, aging hardware, inefficient infrastructure, and devices swapped out before their life is actually over.

We run two data centers at Pearl Technology, so we see this up close. Digital waste shows up everywhere that matters: energy use, operating costs, security, and how long your business can keep running when something breaks.

Four practical places to start:
1. Right-size your cloud and infrastructure. Cut unused resources, and stop paying to power systems that deliver nothing.
2. Extend device lifecycles where it makes sense. Maintenance, security updates, and real asset planning keep hardware in service longer.
3. Dispose of e-waste responsibly. Old equipment needs secure data removal and certified recycling.
4. Build for efficiency from the start. From data centers to endpoint devices, efficient infrastructure cuts waste and runs better.

One question worth asking your team this week: Where are we creating digital waste, and what do we fix first?

06/03/2026

Hmmm… how likely are you to recommend Copilot???

06/02/2026

Powering Possibility at the Caterpillar Visitors Center

The van made a stop at the Caterpillar Visitors Center, celebrating 100 years this year. Peoria and Cat go back a long way. We are proud to keep local organizations connected and secure, the same way Cat has kept Peoria on the map for a century.

06/01/2026

Listen as Pearl Technology's Dave Johnson discusses the good, bad, and reality of on The Greg and Dan Show.

Here are some takeaways:

Central Illinois has recently been up in arms about data centers coming to the area

Full disclosure: owns & operates two data centers used for colocation
• While our data centers aren’t huge, they’re critical to local governments, banks, healthcare institutions, internet providers, etc.

Data centers are a modern necessity; without them, there’s no
• Police body cameras (data centers store video)
• Online shopping (they host websites, process payments, etc.)
• Netflix, Hulu, YouTube, etc.
• Healthcare services like patient records, telehealth, medical imaging, etc.
• Social media
• Safe remote backups for homes & businesses
• Video calls & work from home
• Online banking
• Internet access

The Good
• New data centers create many construction jobs for the trades
• Improved infrastructure to attract more businesses due to more power &connectivity (fiber, etc.)
– These also benefit homes in the area
• Greatly improved tax base (as long as it’s not given away in the deal); this means better schools, public safety & services

The Bad
• Massive power demands; new power infrastructure (substations, transmission lines) can raise everyone’s rates
– A mid-sized data center (15MW) consumes the same amount of electricity as 10K–15K average U.S. homes
• Water usage—the water is lost through evaporative cooling (up to 70%)
– In areas without abundant water supplies, data centers can compete with farms, homes & other businesses for water needs
– A mid-sized data center consumes about the same amount of water as 3 hospitals or two 18-hole golf courses
• Noise
– Data centers create a low frequency tonal noise that can carry & be disruptive, especially at night
· The noise comes from fans, chillers, cooling towers & backup generators

The Reality.
• We need data centers & they have to go somewhere
• Data centers are best located near existing power infrastructure, plentiful water supplies & in industrial parks away from residential areas
– Being located near a large existing power source reduces the buildout of new infrastructure
– Water usage can be mitigated using closed-loop cooling in some cases
– Noise can be lessened with barriers and enclosures
– Being located in an industrial park means there is usually already good power located nearby, as well as internet access
· The data center will also beef up the infrastructure, which will make it more attractive to more businesses needing the resources

There’s no quick, easy answer

We’ll need to continue building data centers somewhere

Greg and Phil talk with Dave Johnson of Pearl Technology about data centers - the good, the bad, and the reality behind them. He explains why there is a growing need for these massive facilities, how they support everyday services like streaming TV, healthcare systems, internet access, cloud computi...

05/25/2026

On , we honor and remember all those who paid the price to preserve our freedoms.

As you spend time with family and friends, please take a moment to remember those who gave their all for us. And, while you're at it, don't forget to thank the veterans, active-duty military, and National Guard who serve our country too.

Have a safe and enjoyable holiday!

05/22/2026

Happy Friday!

05/18/2026

Listen as Pearl Technology's Dave Johnson discusses the on The Greg and Dan Show.

Here are some takeaways:

Canvas, a Learning Management System owned by Instructure, is used by more than 8,800 schools & universities worldwide
• Over 30 million students & educators use Canvas
• Students can submit assignments, take quizzes/exams & message their teachers & classmates, while instructors often use it to input grades, upload instructional materials, & share announcements with their classes
• Several Illinois universities reported issues with Canvas, including Northwestern, the University of Chicago & the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

The breach was done by ShinyHunters, who have been active since 2020
• The group operates under a "Pay or Leak" extortion model: breach an organization, exfiltrate data, issue private ransom demands & publicly shame non-paying victims via a dark web leak site

ShinyHunters first breached the Canvas system around May 1 to steal the data, then struck again on May 7, replacing the login pages with ransom messages during finals week

280 million records were stolen containing student ID numbers, email addresses, names, enrollment records & private messages between students & teachers

ShinyHunters initially demanded ransoms with a May 6 deadline, later extended to May 12, threatening to leak all data
Instructure announced on May 12 that it reached an agreement with the hackers to have the stolen data returned & copies destroyed

Other breaches recently claimed by ShinyHunters include Google, Cisco, PornHub, the European Commission, online dating giant Match Group (Tinder, Match.com, Plenty of Fish, etc.), Rockstar Games, home security giant ADT, video service Vimeo, edtech giant McGraw-Hill, medical device maker Medtronic & Spanish fast-fashion retailer Zara

Greg and Phil talk with Dave Johnson of Pearl Technology about a reported security breach involving the widely used Canvas platform used in schools across the United States. He explains what happened, the scope of the incident, and its overall impact, noting that approximately 280 million records ma...

05/15/2026

If your business needs assistance with technology services, Pearl Technology will make a great partner. Contact us to see how we can help.

05/14/2026

In “Malicious Marketing Ops,” President and Chief Information Security Officer Anthony Mini (CISSP, CCSP) examines an emerging and underappreciated threat model: how modern threat actors are operating less like traditional hackers and more like sophisticated digital marketers. Read more about this white paper and download it now!

White paper reveals how cyber attackers mimic digital marketers, exploiting trust, ads, and user behavior to bypass security

05/13/2026

Pearl Technology has been recognized by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, on its 2026 Tech Elite 250 list. Read more…

Pearl Technology has been recognized by CRN, a brand of The Channel Company, on its 2026 Tech Elite 250 list.