Issue link: https://securitytechnologyexecutive.epubxp.com/i/711942
22 SECURITY TECHNOLOGY EXECUTIVE • July/August 2016 www.SecurityInfoWatch.com A TECHNOLOGY TRENDS B y Ray B er n ard, P SP, CH S - I I I lthough cloud computing is not new, it is still evolving. Cloud computing—along with across- the-board information technology advances— is driving massive change in the ways that people, businesses, and governments inter- act, and the way that organizations operate. Cloud-based systems are changing the expectations that people and organizations have for technology, including security technology. When asked, at the 2014 Gartner Data Center Conference in Decem- ber 2014, about the effects of digital disruption on General Electric, Chris Drumgoole, chief operating officer of GE's cloud division, said, "There is really not a single thing that we do in IT, today, that we'll do the same way two years from now. I struggle to name a single process within our organization that isn't going to change dramatically over the next two years or three years." Drumgoole also said, in a 2014 InfoWorld inter view, " We really believe that the world is chang ing from eng ineered- systems to an integrated-systems world, where the component is no longer the most impor tant piece. It 's around systemic behavior, where systems exist to serve apps." Given the continuing advances in analytics and risk data services, application integration is likely to be the level of design that will bring maximum value—in terms of risk mitigation capabilities — to an organization's electronic physical secu- rity systems. All of this means that a traditional Establishing a strategic Cloud- based systems roadmap can spell the difference between future success or impending disaster. Image Courtesy of ThinkStock.com The Cloud and Your Security Technology Roadmap What impact will the arrival of cloud computing have on your security technology roadmap? three-or five-year technolog y roadmap plan based upon installed hardware system products won't work. 20th Century Technology Planning A traditional but now-outdated approach to secu- rity technology roadmap development is shown in the steps below, which presume knowledge of the organization's risk picture and security's objectives relating to it: • Evaluate the state of your current technology. • Identify candidate new products. • Qualify the integration requirements. • Collaborate with IT on the computing and networking requirements. • Determine the ballpark cost for deployment. • Create a deployment plan with a project timeline. • Obtain management business and financial approval. This approach was acceptable when security product life cycles were 5 to 10 years or more when technology didn't change that much from year to year, and when the rate of business change was much less than it is now. Going for- ward, there are a lot more factors to take into consideration that this traditional product-based approach does not account for.