In a connected world, there are huge opportunities and it is IT's job to enable the business to take advantage of them. As we become more connected and systems come together, businesses need to be able to respond to changes and, at the same time, they must become increasingly efficient at what they do.
However, these opportunities - cloud, virtualisation, Web 2.0, mobility, big data - come hand-in-hand with huge challenges such as new threats, lack of resources, compliance issues and added complexity.
So said Jeff Longoria, director and GM of Dell SecureWorks EMEA, speaking at the Dell Solutions Summit 2014 in Brussels this morning.
"We have been speaking to CIOs to understand their challenges. The main ones were revealed as data; the security of data as it moves; compliance and regulation; and perimeter security, as the perimeter isn't really a perimeter anymore. However, what stood out the most was their need for having that technical security conversation in the boardroom."
He said security is hard to measure. "How does a company decide whether it is secure or not? If no breaches occurred does that mean you are secure, or can it be seen as too much is being spent on security? Businesses today face tough challenges, they need to enable new technologies, reduce costs and offer return on investment. Today, if you have two companies competing in the same market for the same product and services, security can be the competitive advantage. It's becoming a differentiator."
According to Longoria, Dell believes security silos create risk and limit business innovation. "Having a siloed approach to security is like driving a car while looking in the rear-view mirror. With silos, you create gaps between the solutions and have to scramble to fill gaps with processes, people and suchlike in order to meet an acceptable level of risk for the business."
Speaking of Dell's security evolution, he said the company's CEO and founder, Michael Dell, saw an opportunity for Dell to become a serious security player.
"Before 2010, Dell offered BIOS driver and embedded security for endpoints. In Q1 2010, Dell bought KACE and began to offer endpoint security and patch management, as well as enterprise mobility management."
The major acquisition of SecureWorks in Q1 2011 added managed security services, security and risk consulting, incident response and threat intelligence to the Dell security portfolio.
"In Q2 2012, Dell bought SonicWall, which brought next-generation firewalls, unified threat management, SSL VPN for secure mobile access and e-mail security to the business. The acquisition of Quest Software in Q3 of 2012 added identity governance, privilege management, access management as well as compliance and governance to Dell's offerings. In Q4 of the same year, Dell acquired Credant, bringing data encryption and protection, security tools and protected workspaces to the security stable, and in Q4 of 2013 Connected Security was launched."
He says the Dell difference is security designed for a connected world. "Dell offers an integrated comprehensive portfolio, securing from device to data centre to cloud. We bring shared intelligence across silos, eliminating propriety islands of information that create security gaps. The Dell solution also considers the human factor to keep the good guys good without getting in the way of user productivity. Ultimately it's about three factors - protect, comply and enable."
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