In the current data economy, organisations need to reevaluate the state of their information security processes, tools and roles, according to Taj El-Khayat, Regional Director MENA, Citrix. He believes enterprises in the Middle East should be taking a closer look at their information security processes to remain competitive in the channel.
In an age when ‘data is the new oil’, large-scale processing of data related to customer behaviour and preferences, product usage, or movement patterns will be increasingly critical to every enterprise. Obviously, greater reliance on data means an increased risk and an increased business opportunity for integrators and valued added partners.
As we can all see, the Digital Transformation arriving in this new data economy is moving so fast that IT organisations struggle to keep their information security defences up to date. That’s why enterprise organisations across all industries in the Middle East need help to take a closer look at their information security processes, roles and tools. Otherwise, data-related risks are bound to increase — and this can quite easily result in customer dissatisfaction, compliance violations, reputation damage and financial loss.
Channel partners can seize this opportunity if they propose their customers what they truly need. Namely:
- Stringent, enterprise-wide data classification. Determining which data are sensitive, internal, or personally-identifiable information is crucial
- Technical means to keep track of sensitive information (e.g. personally-identifiable information): This original data needs to be safely stored in databases and content management systems (CMS), while additions, updates and changes must be tracked and kept consistent across platforms. This usually means installing monitoring and asset management tools
- IT security systems for secure role-based access to sensitive information: This aspect of information security requires an identity and access management (IAM) solution, VPN-based access to corporate resources and data leakage prevention (DLP) tools to avert data loss due to targeted attacks or insider threats
- A content collaboration platform (CCP): A platform that provides secure, centrally-controlled sharing of information even across the multi-cloud environments, minimising the risk of data loss
- Intelligent workspaces and endpoint management: An organisation should homogenise end-user access to corporate resources via a virtual workspace platform, allowing for centralised control of all resource access and usage. In a best-practice scenario, this is complemented by an enterprise mobility management solution to manage and secure mobile endpoints (along with Windows 10)
- A software-defined perimeter: Intelligent networking, provided by application delivery controllers and analytics software, extends contextual control and behaviour monitoring beyond the traditional data centre. This allows IT to proactively secure data, detect breaches and mitigate risk across the enterprise
Given the growing importance of data to the modern economy, organisations need to reevaluate the state of their information security processes, tools and roles. A holistic security approach is the only way to protect valuable information, manage risk and achieve compliance.
Value-added integrators must take their deserved share into the process by making the most of the trainings and certifications proposed by the security, workspaces and content management vendors. A holistic approach, that goes beyond pure cybersecurity, is the way to address and master the inherent data complexity organisations deal with on a daily basis.