Maintaining business agility and data security with the cloud, post-COVID

Welcome to the second and final episode of this two-part podcast series on maintaining business agility and data security with the cloud post-COVID. In episode 1, ‘Designing the right cloud architecture to power digital transformation’ we discussed why CIOs and business leaders really need to take stock of the new digital systems and processes deployed throughout the pandemic to ensure they’re sustainable and able to support agility, innovation and growth for the future. In this second episode, ‘Adopting a risk based approach to address increasing cyber security and compliance challenges’, CIO Australia associate editor, David Binning once again hosts Canon Business Services' chief executive, Luke Clark, who’s joined by the company’s general manager managed services, Raj Khetia, It’s no news that security is major concern for organisations, but COVID has seen a massive uptick in malicious activity as criminals – and state actors – have sought to exploit vulnerabilities stemming from companies having to pivot to work-from-home and alternate business channels. Summing up the times, Clark cites a recent sobering statistic, which is that the combined global value of cybercrime would make it one of the largest economies in the world. Meanwhile, while cyber security was once considered just an IT problem, CEOs and boards are now accountable for breaches and any damage they might cause, including tangible losses as well as reputational damage. For many CIOs, the escalation of cyber challenges has greatly increased their workloads – and stress levels – diverting valuable resources away from projects and tasks focussed on driving innovation and business success. Taking an aerial view of today’s expanding threat landscape, Khetia posits that organisations need an entirely new model for dealing with cyber security today, one which takes account not only of what’s required to keep organisations secure, but also the opportunity costs of having CIOs distracted from their core objectives.

Welcome to the first episode of this two-part podcast series on maintaining business agility and data security with the cloud post-COVID. In this episode, CIO Australia’s associate editor, David Binning speaks to Canon Business Services’ chief executive, Luke Clark, and the company’s general manager, sales and professional services, Lawrence Mills, about the rapid acceleration of digital transformation projects during COVID-19. The upshot was a mass exodus to cloud services as organisations sought to ensure everyone could work effectively and safely from home, while pivoting to maintain customer interactions and business continuity.  Few would argue that without the cloud most organisations would not have been able to stand up an adequate digital response to the pandemic. Yet as Clark and Mills note, technology and business leaders now need to reflect on the new digital solutions and processes that were so hurriedly deployed to determine if they are sustainable in the long term. How do they maintain momentum, innovation and agility looking ahead to the future? As many CIOs have discovered, it can be a tough and lonely road going it alone. Today it’s more important than ever that they partner with a capable and experienced managed services provider that understands their business and can help ensure they configure the optimal combination of cloud solutions to deliver the best performance, management, visibility as well as value for money.