Change complexity and security are biggest IT risk

Haydn Pinnell, MD, Gallium (an EOH company), says both growth and organisational change can put strain on applications as they struggle to keep up with rising demand and usage. In a world populated by increasingly sophisticated and fickle customers, business survival, let alone success, depends upon smooth-running applications.

"In every organisation, large or small, there are certain systems and applications that are more important than others. If a Web server which provides customers access to archive information goes down for an hour or two, the impact on your business is likely to be minimal. But, if the Web servers providing customers access to your e-commerce system go down for an hour, preventing you from selling your goods and services, the impact on your business is much more immediate and much more significant."

Gallium is a leading supplier of business technology optimisation solutions from HP Software, and specialised technology based professional services. Pinnell says HP recently released the results of a global survey of 1 125 IT professionals from 20 countries, revealing their views about IT risk and how it relates to business risk.

The study, conducted by the Economist Intelligence Unit on behalf of HP, revealed that the greatest sources of IT risk were the volume of changes, the increasing complexity of systems, and security breaches due to hackers. What emerged clearly is that predictability is the main issue for many IT organisations, and given that IT and business risk are so tightly linked, a lack of predictability for IT equates to a lack of predictability for the business. Companies that manage these issues properly will have a distinct competitive advantage.

Pinnell outlines some of the most important conclusions drawn from the survey:

* In the past three years, change complexity and security have increased IT risk the most.
* One out of four respondents said that 50% of their outages were caused by change.
* 68% of respondents use manual methods to identify application security vulnerabilities.
* Only 28% of respondents described their application security process as mature, with formal policies and tools in place to manage security from development through quality assurance to operations.
* 80% of respondents agree that automation of IT functions frees up time and budget for innovation.

"HP Software helps customers reduce the risk of business service downtime by delivering solutions that help them better manage and automate IT operations," Pinnell says. "The key findings from the study show that the majority of business service disruptions are linked to IT changes. The automation of IT processes ensures that changes are more predictable, which is critical to preventing any negative business impact."

Efficiently performing and reliably accessible applications contribute directly to business success because of the fundamental role they play in:

* The automation of business functions. Increased competition reduces operating margins, forcing cuts in available resources but increasing the pressure to lower operational costs. Process and service automation remains one of the most effective ways to cut costs while improving services and maintaining performance levels without adding resources. Application automation is therefore one of the quickest routes to higher profitability.
* The delivery of competitive advantage. To retain customers today is no easy task, and the only way to attract them to your brand is through updated and modified applications which will increase customer satisfaction. A larger customer base increases market share and the potential for revenue growth, business survival and success.

Pinnell says that Gallium`s team of 116 professional services consultants deliver best-practice based assistance in all sectors. "Applications are the lifeblood of a business, and application security breaches put business outcomes at serious risk. HP application security offerings allow developers, QA teams and security professionals to quickly and cost-effectively perform a security risk assessment, identify security vulnerabilities and remove security defects throughout the application lifecycle."