CIO OPINION both secure cloud environments while simplifying cloud security . Enter multi-cloud approaches , and it ’ s nearly impossible to manage effectively . Research found that CIOs ’ top five challenges encompass ; data privacy and security , cybersecurity and ransomware , the pace of technological change , managed fragmented IT vendor ecosystems and the new technology deployment . It ’ s here that you can understand the pressure CIOs are facing .
Where to start
The first step is to establish your baseline by understanding the current landscape of the organization ’ s system architecture . This can include the security posture of all of your assets , the cloud footprint , networks and any on-prem solutions . The goal is to get a full and complete picture of everything within the architecture . Without this , any next steps are futile as you can ’ t secure what you don ’ t know exists .
It may be tempting during your audit process to start actioning some of the perceived quick wins where there are overlapping or unnecessary tools that no longer seem to serve the business . Still , it ’ s vital to complete the picture before action is taken to avoid any wrong steps .
The complete picture
Once the audit to establish your baseline is complete , it ’ s now necessary to compare and contrast these in line with business context . This is where the value of a successful CIO comes to the fore , as the close connection between business technology and business priority is critical yet not often well aligned .
The key elements to consider at this stage are the maturity level per cloud solution , the technical debt incurred over time and how this debt is currently managed . There may also be some pre-existing plans to consolidate solutions . It ’ s safest not to assume those plans are still accurate and instead take a fresh view based on the information you have collated thus far .
CIOs are facing the need to manage , connect and secure a constantly moving picture as a tumultuous macro environment leads to everevolving internal priorities .
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