CIO OPINION
Once CIOs have visibility , then comes priorities .
Ishpreet Singh , Chief Information
Officer , Qualys
The CIO ’ s role in securing cloud environments and simplifying cloud management
Ensuring security in the cloud is of paramount importance in today ’ s modern working world . Ishpreet Singh , Chief Information Officer , Qualys , discusses some of the ways CIOs can create business value through the cloud and also how they need to prioritize simplifying the management of their cloud environments in a way that aligns with the businesses ’ goals .
The role of the Chief Information Officer in the board ’ s view is , in simple terms , to ‘ bring it all together ’. To the traditional heads of the C-suite , the role is the driving force of innovation to enable business growth , working cross-functionally to connect each line of the business ’ needs and manage the flow of data .
There ’ s also the ‘ small ’ task of mitigating security risk and meeting the ever-changing regulatory and compliance requirements .
Yet for the CIO themselves , they may only dream that their role was that simple . With continued Digital Transformation efforts hauling businesses into the 21st Century , CIOs are facing the need to manage , connect and secure a constantly moving picture as a tumultuous macro environment leads to ever-evolving internal priorities .
For anyone new to the role and taking their first step into the C-suite lion ’ s den , it can be overwhelming to know where to start with well-intentioned , yet lofty goals set by your colleagues in the boardroom . The overarching goal for the CIO throughout their tenure should be the constant pursuit of eradicating blind spots to improve visibility . This is a never-ending task , as new cloud services are adopted and the business continues to move and scale at pace .
The increase in multi-cloud adoption has exacerbated the existing challenge for CIOs and CISOs alike to
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