‘Sweating assets’ is a risky move

The global percentage of network devices in use, which have passed last-day-of-support (LDOS), has dropped dramatically from 31% in 2009 to 9% in 2010.

This is according to the Network Barometer Report published by IT services and solutions provider, Dimension Data.

Raoul Tecala, global business development director of network integration at Dimension Data, says while some organisations appear to be wising up to the financial benefits of intelligently ‘sweating’ network assets, they could also be exposing themselves to serious business continuity issues.

This is especially so if cost savings are not weighed against the risks, he points out. Tecala adds that ‘sweating assets’ is a term applied to extending or maximising the useful life of an existing technology asset, and thereby avoiding the need to replace or update it until absolutely necessary.

“This allows organisations to maximise their return on investment while minimising their capital expenditure,” Tecala explains.

He says while there’s no definitive method of telling whether the drop in the percentage of devices beyond LDOS, the finding means organisations are choosing to push certain assets past a certain lifecycle stage.

The results suggest organisations are more aware of their network assets and are refreshing those devices where risk is greatest, he notes.

Tecala says the assertion that older devices are at higher risk of security breaches is acknowledged by standards and compliance bodies.

The report covers aggregate data compiled from 270 Technology Lifecycle Management (TLM) assessments conducted worldwide in 2010 by the group for organisations of all sizes across all industry sectors.

It also reviews the network’s readiness to support business by evaluating the configuration variance from best practices, potential security vulnerabilities, and end-of-life status of those network devices.

The report also reveals that the total amount of technology late in the obsolescence phase remains high, with the percentage of devices in late stage end-of-life sitting at a substantial 47%.

This could be evidence that more organisations are choosing to sweat assets up to, but not beyond, the highest risk lifecycle stage, Dimension Data says.

According to Dimension Data’s global GM of security, Neil Campbell, if organisations detect a critical asset past end-of-software maintenance, they’re not likely to have access to the latest vendor-supplied security patches.

He says failing to apply patches would be a direct violation of many compliance standards, including the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard. “Then the door’s not only open to security breaches, but the ensuing nightmare of litigation, punitive damages and reputation loss,” he adds.

Tecala says previous research not related to the Network Barometer Report that was conducted by Dimension Data found that businesses were unaware of as much as 25% of their networking devices.

“Full visibility of the technology estate is a fundamental prerequisite to intelligent asset management and targeted sweating.”

He says organisations need to know where it is, what it does, and what the implications are when it breaks and becomes unsupportable.

“In order to achieve this, visibility into the lifecycle status of their assets so that their age and viability can be properly assessed is critical, or they’ll continue to run with issues that could have a devastating effect on overall business productivity and efficiency.”