FUTURE TECHNOLOGY
Managed security services
prepare for next level
High initial investments, extended payback periods, limited
skilled resources, are not inhibiting the early roll out of
managed security services in the region. Key service players
and vendors share their points of view. By Arun Shankar.
W
ith the increasing use of
cloud services in the Middle
East and globally, there is a
growing focus on the security aspects of IT
infrastructure. The threat landscape has
been extremely volatile and sophisticated
over the last few years with increasing
cybersecurity attacks. Simultaneously,
security solutions have also been witnessing
advancements with most organisations
unable to cope with the speed to stay
updated. This has given rise to the growth
of managed security services.
Gartner has forecasted that 40% of all
managed security services will be bundled
with other security services and broader
IT outsourcing projects by 2020. That is
double of today’s figure of 20%.
As another example, Saudi Arabia
is considered one of the most targeted
Many of the
existing
managed service
providers
have trouble
delivering the
correct service
level to their
customers.
Khaled Charif, Director Technology and Innovation, NXN.
Tusharkanti Dave, Practice Head Cyber
Security Intelligence, ProVise Secure Lab.
countries and organisation of all sizes, in
all industries are struggling to secure their
critical assets, data, brand and reputation.
“The growth of managed services is
a natural evolution of traditional ICT
services, where enterprises and SMEs
alike can leverage centralised analytics,
reporting, decision support tools, skillsets
and expertise of a dedicated operations
team. Well established technologies, such
as Big Data analytics, IoT, and private,
hybrid clouds are helping to fuel this
growth from a technology standpoint,”
points out Khaled Charif, Director
Technology and Innovation, NXN.
Any business enabled by IT or exposed
to the cyber world, needs protection from
cyber-attacks. “Managed service providers
are key enablers to bring any organisation
to a higher security maturity level through
a systematically designed managed
security programme that consists of
various cyber security initiatives spanning
across years. When an organisation is
in need to improve its security maturity
level or improve its security posture, is
when they should look out for a suitable
managed security services partner,” says
Tusharkanti Dave, Practice Head Cyber
Security Intelligence, ProVise Secure Lab.
Power gains
So, what are the characteristics of an ideal
managed security services on boarding
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